There was a camp-circle. A party of women went out after some wood for the fire. One
of them saw a porcupine near a cottonwood tree and informed her companions of the
fact. The porcupine ran around the tree , finally climbing it, where upon the woman tried
to hit the animal, but he dodged from one side of the trunk of the tree to the other, for
protection. At length one of the women started to climb the tree to catch the porcupine,
but it ever stopped just beyond her reach. She even tried to reach it with a stick, but with
each effort it went a little higher.
"Well!" said she, "I am climbing to catch the porcupine, for I want those quills, and if
necessary I will go to the top."
When porcupine had reached the top of the tree the woman was still climbing, although
the cottonwood was dangerous and the branches were waving to and fro; but as she
approached the top and was about to lay hands upon the porcupine, the tree suddenly
lengthened, when the porcupine resumed his climbing.
Looking down, she saw her friends looking up at her, and beckoning her to come down;
but having passed under the influence of the porcupine and fearful for the great distance
between herself and the ground, she continued to climb, until she became the merest
speck to those looking up from below, and with the orcupine she finally reached the
sky.
The porcupine took the woman into the camp-circle where his father and mother lived.
The folks welcomed her arrival and furnished her with the very best kind of
accommodation. The lodge was then put up for them to live in. The porcupine was very
industrious and of course the old folks were well supplied with hides and food.
One day she decided to save all the sinew from the buffalo, at the same time doing work
on buffalo robes and other things with it, in order to avoid all suspicion on the part of her
husband and the old folks, as to why she was saving the sinew. Thus she continued to
save a portion of the sinew from each beef brought in by her husband, until she had a
supply suitable for her purpose.
One day her husband cautioned her that while in search of roots, wild turnips and other
herbs, she should not dig and that should she use the digging stick, she should not dig
too deep, and that she should go home early when out for a walk.
The husband was constantly bringing in the beef and hide, in order that he might keep
his wife at work at home all the time. But she was a good worker and soon finished what
was required for them.
Seeing that she had done considerable work, one day she started out in search of hog
potatoes, and carried with her the digging stick. She ran to a thick patch and kept
digging away to fill her bag. She accidentally struck a hole which surprised her very
much, and so she stooped down and looked in and through the hole, seeing below, a
green earth with a camp-circle on it.
After questioning herself and recognizing the camp-circle below, she carefully covered
the spot and marked it. She took the bag and went to her own tipi, giving the folks some
of the hog potatoes. The old folks were pleased and ate the hog potatoes to satisfy their
daughter-in-law. The husband returned home too, bringing in beef and hides.
Early one morning the husband started off for more beef and hides, telling his wife to be
careful about herself.
After he was gone, she took the digging stick and the sinew she had to the place where
she struck the hole. When she got to the hole, she sat down and began tying string, so
as to make the sinew long enough to reach the bottom.
She then opened the hole and laid the digging stick across the hole which she had dug,
and tied one of the sinew strings in the center of this stick, and then also fastened
herself to the end of the lariat. She gradually loosened the sinew lariat as she let herself
down, finally finding herself suspended above the top of the tree which she had climbed,
but not near enough so that she could possibly reach it.
When the husband missed her, he scolded the old people for not watching their
daughter-in-law. He began to look for her in the direction in which she usually started off,
but found no fresh tracks, though he kept traveling until he tracked her to the digging
stick which was lying across the hole.
The husband stooped down and looked into this hole and saw his wife suspended from
this stick by means of a sinew lariat or string. "Well, the only way to do is to see her
touch the bottom," said he. So he looked around and found a circular stone two or three
inches thick, and brought it to the place.
Again he continued, "I want this stone to light right on top of her head," and he dropped the stone carefully along the sinew string, and it struck the top of her head and broke her off and landed her safe on the ground. She took up the stone and went to the campcircle. This is the way the woman returned.
An Arapaho Legend