Napi
& Women selecting Husbands
Towards the
last days of Napi, the single women had their own head woman and the single men
had their own Chief, who was Napi. Those chiefs could not get along and one
day, the ladies’ group decided to move out of the main camp. The women moved
far away and made their camp and build their pis-kun where nowadays is High
River, south of Calgary.
Everything
went along quite well in both camps until the single men in the main camp
started to bellyache about not having single women around. They were only
normal human beings and needed company of the opposite sex. There was no one to
flirt with and to take out and they dare not get mixed up with the married
women. They hounded Napi until he took
all the single men and they went looking for the women’s camp.
After many
days their scouts located a good sized
camp by the river and saw that it was the single women’s camp. Napi and his men
set up their camp on the other side of the High River. Some of the old-timers
of the Piegan people still hold this place as a historic landmark.
Both groups
were doing their own thing every day. Most of all each group was minding their
own business, not trying to bother each other. The women were hunting their
buffalo, and carried the meat on their backs. Soon they realized that being
segregated from men wasn’t an easy task. How they wished their head women would
change her mind about men so they could have help on these heavy jobs. Many of
the women were ready to give in and looked longingly across the river. After a
while the head women got tired of her women pestering her that they needed help
from the men. She called a meeting and told them she decided she will meet with
their chief and they all get to marry a man to help them and that goes for all
of them.
In the
middle of Napi’s camp, the two chiefs met to talk about the good news and had
an understanding that the selection of choosing a husband should be made the
day after the next full moon. All the women were glad of this news and the men
were too. The head woman as a leader was to be the very first to select a
husband, then after her all the other women would have their turn.
The night of
the full moon came at last. Most of the
women and men just could not sleep at all that night, it was a big day for them
the next day. For some reason, the head
woman was busy with her work when the women reminded her it was time to go. The
other ladies were ready and dressed in their finery that day but the head women
was still in her working clothes when they left. She decided that she knew she
would ask Napi, so it did not matter how she looked.
All the men
had gone up to the top and made a line along the river’s bank. Napi was placed
right in the center of the men and he had dressed up. The women stood at the
bottom, waiting for the head woman to go up and make her selection. She looked somewhat messy and dirty but
everyone knew she was a very good looking woman. She went straight for Napi but
he stepped back each time she held out her hand for him and hid behind the men
as he had not recognized her as the head women. After the fourth try she gave up and held up
her hand to her followers. This head lady was very upset and embarrassed over
the head man of the men refusing her. She told the women to hold off while she
went back to get changed and adorn herself.
As she came
back, she was about the nicest looking woman the men had ever seen. This time
Napi made his way towards her but now it was her turn to sidestep Napi and she
choose a nice looking younger man. She then gave the signal to her woman to
choose their husbands after instructing them not to choose Napi who had scorned
her. As each woman came up the hill to choose a husband, Napi always got in
front to be selected but they all ignored him and took another man until Napi
was left over after everyone paired off.
As the head woman saw him standing there alone she went up to Napi and
told him: “Stand there forever and turn into a pine tree,” which he did. That
was the last time Napi was seen and as far as can be said, that lone pine tree
still stands there on the bank of the Highwood River, Alberta.
Story by Percy Bullchild, from the book The Sun Came Down, the History
of the World as My Blackfeet Elders Told it
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