Then the lightning flashed so
that they could not see the bird. One flash killed a hunter.

The other Indians fled back to the camp. They knew it was the Thunder
Bird.

Once the Thunder Bird, in the days of the grandfathers, came down to
the ground and alighted there. You may know that is so, because the
grass remains burned off a large space, and the outlines are those of
a large bird with outspread wings.

THE THUNDER BIRD

_Assiniboin_

The Sioux, or Dakotas, of whom the Assiniboins are a branch, pretend
that thunder is an enormous bird, and that the muffled sound of the
distant thunder is caused by a countless number of young birds! The
great bird, they say, gives the first sound, and the young ones repeat
it; this is the cause of the reverberations. The Sioux declare that
the young Thunders do all the mischief, like boys who will not listen
to good advice; but the old Thunder, or big bird, is wise and
excellent; he never kills or injures any one!

SONG TO THE THUNDER GODS[A]

_Omaha_

Ye four, come hither and stand, near shall ye stand,[B]
In four groups shall ye stand,
Here shall ye stand, in this place stand.

[The thunder rolls]

Turned by the wind goes the one I send yonder;
Yonder he goes who is whirled by the winds;
Goes, where the four hills of life and the four winds are standing;
There in the midst of the winds do I send him,
Into the midst of the winds standing there.

[The thunder rolls]

FOOTNOTES:

[A] By Alice C. Fletcher.

[B] The "four" are the four winds.

SONGS OF THE BUFFALO HUNT

_Sioux_

The whole world is coming,
A nation is coming, a nation is coming,
The Eagle has brought the message to the tribe.
The father says so, the father says so,
Over the whole earth they are coming.
The buffalo are coming, the buffalo are coming,
The Crow has brought the message to the tribe,
The father says so, the father says so.[C]

FOOTNOTE:

[C] "This fine song summarizes the whole hope of the Ghost-dance--the
return of the buffalo and the departed dead, the message being brought
to the people by the sacred birds, the Eagle and the Crow."

SONGS OF THE BUFFALO HUNT[D]

_Sioux_

_He!_ They have come back racing,[E]
_He!_ They have come back racing,
Why, they say there is to be a buffalo hunt over here,
Why, they say there is to be a buffalo hunt over here.