stories that are current among the Blackfeet
are told of him among those tribes. The more southern of these tribes do
not venerate him as of old, but the Plains and Timber Crees of the north,
and the north Chippeways, are said still to be firm believers in Old
Man. He was their Creator, and is still their chief god. He is believed in
less by the younger generation than the older. The Crees are regarded by
the Indians of the Northwest as having very powerful medicine, and this all
comes from Old Man.

Old Man can never die. Long ago he left the Blackfeet and went away to the
West, disappearing in the mountains. Before his departure he told them
that he would always take care of them, and some day would return. Even
now, many of the old people believe that he spoke the truth, and that some
day he will come back, and will bring with him the buffalo, which they
believe the white men have hidden. It is sometimes said, however, that when
he left them he told them also that, when he returned, he would find them
changed--a different people and living in a different way from that which
they practised when he went away. Sometimes, also, it is said that when he
disappeared he went to the East.

It is generally believed that Old Man is no longer the principal god of the
Blackfeet, that the Sun has taken his place. There is some reason to
suspect, however, that the Sun and Old Man are one, that _N[=a]t[=o]s_' is
only another name for _Na'pi_, for I have been told by two or three old men
that "the Sun is the person whom we call Old Man." However this may be, it
is certain that _Na'pi_--even if he no longer occupies the chief place in
the Blackfoot religious system--is still reverenced, and is still addressed
in prayer. Now, however, every good thing, success in war, in the chase,
health, long life, all happiness, come by the special favor of the Sun.

The Sun is a man, the supreme chief of the world. The flat, circular earth
in fact is his home, the floor of his lodge, and the over-arching sky is
its covering. The moon, _K[=o]-k[=o]-mik'-[=e]-[)i]s,_ night light, is the
Sun's wife. The pair have had a number of children, all but one of whom
were killed by pelicans. The survivor is the morning star,
_A-pi-su-ahts_--early riser.

In attributes the Sun is very unlike Old Man. He is a beneficent person, of
great wisdom and kindness, good to those who do right. As a special means
of obtaining his favor, sacrifices must be made. These ar