Now one of the hunters' had a
daughter who was very proud of her
father's skill with the bow. During the
fullness of summer, he always brought
her the best of hides to dress, and she
in turn would work the deerskins into
the softest, whitest of garments for
him to wear. Her own dresses were like
the down of a snow goose, and the
moccasins she made for the children and
the grandmothers in the village were the
most welcome of gifts.

But now with the hint of snow on the
wind, and deer becoming more scarce in
the willow breaks, she could see this
reluctance on the part of the buffalo
families could become a real problem.

       Hunter's Daughter decided she would do
something about it.

She went to the base of the cliff
and looked up. She began to sing in a
low, soft voice, "Oh, buffalo family,
come down and visit me. If you come
down and feed my relatives in a wedding
feast, I will join your family as the
bride of your strongest warrior."

     She stopped and listened. She thought
she heard the slight rumbling sound of
thunder in the distance.

       Again she sang, "Oh, buffalo family,
come down and visit me. Feed my family
in a wedding feast so that I may be a bride."

The thunder was much louder now.
Suddenly the buffalo family began
falling from the sky at her feet.

     One very large bull landed on top of
the others, and walked across the
backs of his relatives to stand before
Hunter's Daughter.

     "I am here to claim you as my bride,"
said Large Buffalo.

"Oh, but now I am afraid to go with
you," said Hunter's Daughter.

"Ah, but you must," said Large
Buffalo, "For my people have come to
provide your people with a wedding feast.
As you can see, they have offered
themselves up."

"Yes, but I must run and tell my
relatives the good news," said Hunter's
Daughter. "No," said Large Buffalo. No
word need be sent. You are not getting
away so easily."

     And with that said, Large Buffalo
lifted her between his horns and carried
her off to his village in the rolling
grass hills.

     The next morning the whole village was
out looking for Hunter's Daughter. When
they found the mound of buffalo below
the cliff, the father, who was in fact
a fine tracker as well as a skilled
hunter, looked at his daughter's
footprints in the dust.

     "She's gone off with a buffalo, he
said. I shall follow them and bring
her back."

So Hunter walked out upon the
plains, with only his bow and arrows
as companions. He walked and walked a
great distance until he was so tired
that he had to sit down to rest beside
a buffalo wallow.

     Along came Magpie and sat down beside him.

Hunter spoke to Magpie in a
respectful tone, "O knowledgeable bird,
has my daughter been stolen from me by
a buffalo? Have you seen them? Can you
tell me where they have gone?"

     Magpie replied with understanding,
"Yes, I have seen them pass this way.
They are resting just over this hill."

"Well," said Hunter, would you kindly
take my daughter a message for me?
Will you tell her I am here just over
the hill?"

     So Magpie flew to where Large
Buffalo lay asleep amidst his relatives
in the dry prairie grass. He hopped
over to where Hunter's Daughter was
quilling moccasins, as she sat dutifully
beside her sleeping husband. "Your
father is waiting for you on the other
side of the hill," whispered Magpie to
the maiden.

     "Oh, this is very dangerous," she told
him. These buffalo are not friendly to
us and they might try to hurt my father
if he should come this way. Please
tell him to wait for me and I will try
to slip away to see him."

Just then her husband, Large Buffalo,
awoke and took off his horn. "Go bring
me a drink from the wallow just over
this hill," said her husband.

So she took the horn in her hand
and walked very casually over the hill.

Her father motioned silently for
her to come with him, as he bent into
a low crouch in the grass. "No," she
whispered. The buffalo are angry with
our people who have killed their people.
They will run after us and trample us
into the dirt. I will go back and see
what I can do to soothe their feelings."

And so Hunter's daughter took the
horn of water back to her husband who
gave a loud snort when he took a drink.
The snort turned into a bellow and all
of the buffalo got up in alarm. They
all put their tails in the air and
danced a buffalo dance over the hill,
trampling the poor man to pieces who
was still waiting for his daughter
near the buffalo wallow.

His daughter sat down on the edge
of the wallow and broke into tears.

"Why are you crying?" said her
buffalo husband.

     "You have killed my father and I am
a prisoner, besides," she sobbed.

"Well, what of my people?" her
husband replied. We have given our
children, our parents and some of our
wives up to your relatives in exchange
for your presence among us. A deal
is a deal."

     But after some consideration of her
feelings, Large Buffalo knelt down
beside her and said to her, "If you can
bring your father back to life again, we
will let him take you back home to
your people."

So Hunter's Daughter started to
sing a little song. "Magpie, Magpie help
me find some piece of my father which I
can mend back whole again."

Magpie appeared and sat down in
front of her with his head cocked to
the side.

"Magpie, Magpie, please see what
you can find," she sang softly to the
wind which bent the grasses slightly
apart. Magpie cocked his head to the
side and looked carefully within the
layered folds of the grasses as the wind
sighed again. Quickly he picked out a
piece of her father that had been hidden
there, a little bit of bone.

"That will be enough to do the
trick," said Hunter's Daughter, as she
put the bone on the ground and covered
it with her blanket.