Walks With Dog felt the cool breeze across her face as she waited quietly behind a tree.  She brushed her long braids away from her face as she watched for Sting Like Bee to come down the path towards the river.  Her moccasin feet were small and dainty, and she was sometimes referred to as “she-with-tiny-dancing-feet.”  Walks With Dog was generally a happy girl and loved her family.  Her father, He-Who-Never-Sleeps, adored her but her mother, Little Dove, found her oldest daughter somewhat difficult to understand.  Walks With Dog was a dreamer—she often spoke of her dream of traveling all over  the world, which as her mother pointed out, was silly—they were a tribe who followed the buffalo, so travel was a daily part of their lives.  Impatient, Walks With Dog would say, “I mean I want to see how other people live!” 

Her mother would then say with finality, “Get to work, girl!  We will be traveling again by nightfall!”  Her father would smile and brag to his friends that his Walks With Dog would someday return from traveling and tell them stories about the world. Walks With Dog was also an accomplished story teller, keeping the tribe enthralled with her tales spun from her fertile imagination.

“Once in the before time,” she would begin every story.  Her enthralled audience would sit listening to her as she spun tales of the long-ago-people and how the world came to be. Sometimes she would finish her story and there would be silence as the others would think about what they had learned.  Other times, people would ask questions and she would add more details to her stories.  She never seemed to run out of ideas and her stories were often retold many times during the long journeys when the people followed the buffalo. (ADD A FAVORITE” story here)

As she waited for Sting Like Bee to come down to the water, she thought about her friend.  He was 15 summers, like her, but, as a boy, was allowed to hunt and she was envious of that!  His life was so much more exciting than hers!  She was supposed to be gathering firewood for the mid-day meal, but had decided to wait and talk to her friend.  He often entertained her with stories of the hunt and described the country they had traveled.  She felt that he sometimes exaggerated the dangers he faced, but loved to listen to his thrilling tales anyway!

He had been captured in a raid on a Mandan village many years ago when he was a very small pappose. Sting Like Bee had always said he wanted to return to his own village.  Walks With Dog asked him once, “But, how will you find it?  Do you know where it is?   He shrugged and she went on, “What if they do not want a Shoshone to live with them? They are enemy!”

“I am Mandan! I will follow my spirit guide,” he bragged, although not really knowing what that was.  “He will lead me back to my people and I will become their chief!”  He added, in a mock-scolding voice, “You are a woman and cannot understand!  You ask too many questions!”  He had stalked away, pretending he had important “man business” to take care of, but she heard his laughter as he disappeared into the lodge.

FIND OUT ABOUT MANDAN OR SHOSHONE “SPIRIT GUIDES”

They had become close friends and shared a special bond. They often met after a hunt and made many plans for the future.  Most of their plans involved traveling and facing dangers as they hunted for the village where he said his family was waiting to welcome him as their long lost chief.  No one else from the tribe was allowed to know of their meetings, as she had been promised to Hunter Man in marriage on her 16th birthday, which was coming up in two short months.  Walks With Dog had begged Sting Like Bee to talk to her father, but he had been afraid.  He said, “He will say I am nothing.  I do not think he even knows my name!”

She said, “Yes, I am sure he does know who you are and has heard the stories about your hunting and tracking skills!”

He smiled weakly, “Well, some of those stories were really about other hunters.  If only I could bring down a great buffalo alone!  THAT would make him want to honor me!”

Excited, she said, “Do it!  Then he will have to let us marry!  After all,” she added with a blush, “a chief’s daughter deserves to marry the best hunter!”

They were quiet, thinking about Hunter Man, her promised bridegroom.  She had never even spoken to him because he scared her.  He was very serious and seemed somewhat indifferent to his approaching marriage.  He was always meeting with the tribe leaders and seemed to ignore the beautiful girl who had been promised to him long ago.

Now, here she was ~ waiting for Sting Like Bee to return from his hunt.  He had left late at night after others in the lodge were asleep.  He had been gone three moons and had promised to come to her and tell her about his hunt first.  Then, he promised to go and speak with her father and tell the chief of his love for Walks With Dog.

ARE THERE STORIES ABOUT MARRIAGE RITUALS/CUSTOMS OF THE SHOSHONE?

Getting anxious, Walks With Dog wondered when he would return.  It was beginning to be dusk and she had been warned that there were sightings of Mandan in the area.  The Mandan Tribe had been known to take others as slaves if they found them alone at dusk.  They were tillers of the ground and reportedly used the slaves to help with the spring planting and the fall harvest.  What happened in between was unknown, as few Shoshones had returned from the far away Mandan villages.  The Shoshones usually avoided hunting in the areas frequented by other tribes, especially the hated “ground tillers.”   ??????????—LOOK UP MORE INFO ON THIS

Suddenly, Walks With Dog looked up.  She had heard a small sound.  Smiling, she whispered, “Sting Like Bee?  Is that you at last?”  Her heart lifted and she stepped out of the lengthening shadows. She was grabbed by an unseen hand and hauled up on to a horse. Too scared to make a sound, the girl felt the wind blowing through her long dark hair, as the rider wheeled his horse and they rode quickly away.

They rode on and on.  Walks With Dog was terrified, but she was trying to pay attention to her surroundings and find out where they were going.  The stern-faced rider made no sound as they galloped through the darkening skies.  He held her tightly as they rode and she was not afraid of falling, but wondered where they were taking her.  She also wondered who they were.  There had been some Sioux in the area and she knew they were known to grab people from other tribes in order to make them slaves.  She wondered if she could somehow make this man drop her so she could run back to her people.  She thought of trying to bite his arm, which held her tightly against his sweat-coated chest.  She slowly tipped her face down to see if she could reach his arm, but he suddenly shifted and her head jerked back as they picked up speed.

Even in her fear, there was some excitement in the speed they were traveling. Her wind-blown hair whipped back from her face leaving her cheeks open to the wind. The late summer day had been hot and the wind felt good against her face.  She noticed it was beginning to get dark and wondered if her mother was worrying about where she was.   Walks With Dog felt a quick pang of guilt as she realized she had forgotten to bring the water into the camp as her mother had asked her to do before she went into the woods.  Her younger brother, Little Smiling Fox, would have to get it and she smiled as she pictured him dragging the bucket, with water sloshing over the side.  He was only a small boy, but already pretended to be a fierce warrior.  He would sometimes jump out at her from behind a bush and she would always pretend to be frightened.  She would then call him a Warrior and he would do a victory dance until he fell over and began to laugh.

The ride seemed to last forever and  Walks With Dog began growing sleepy.  As night fell and there was no sign of stopping, she wondered how far they had come.  There were a few times when it seemed as if they had doubled back, but she was getting confused and finally began dozing.

Walks With Dog jerked awake.  She was sitting on the cold ground, leaning against a tree and at first thought she had been dreaming.  She tried to sit up, but realized, her hands were tethered behind her.  Looking around in panic, she saw vague outlines of several figures and some horses.  Listening, she heard some low voiced conversation in a language she didn’t understand.  Looking around frantically, she tried to figure out where she was and what was happening to her.  A tall man stepped into the light of the fire.  Heart pounding, she saw a Mandan warrior!  Curling into a small ball with a whimper, she tried to control her shivering.  He paced over and looked down at her.  She lay still pretending to be asleep.  He said something in a harsh tone and a man stepped over towards them.  She looked up through slitted eyes as the new figure joined the tall warrior.  Her eyes flew open and a small scared sound escaped her lips.  It was a white man!

Walks With Dog had never seen a white man before, but had heard many stories of their cruelty. She was truly terrified as she looked up at the huge men with the beard.  He bared his teeth in a smile and said something to her in a gentle voice.  She shook her head.  He carefully put out his hands in an unmistakable gesture of peace and she relaxed a little.  She asked, in a quavering voice, “Why have you taken me?  I want to return to my people!”  He shook his head and pointed to the fire.  Raising his bushy eyebrows, he sent her a questioning look.  She shook her head again.  He stood for a moment and then turned to the Indian beside him.  In a different language, he made a statement.  The warrior frowned, but nodded reluctantly and walked over to some mounds of fur.  Grabbing the top one, he came back and dumped it on the ground next to her.  He grunted something in a gruff tone, pointing first to her and then to the blanket.  She shook her head. The white man slowly picked up the blanket and held it out to her.  Cautiously, she reached out her arms and he draped the blanket around her.

He turned to the warrior and asked a question.  The young Indian grunted and pointed somewhere behind her.  Squinting into the shadows, the white man exclaimed and walked quickly around her. The warrior sent a scowl her way and walked back towards the fire.  The sun was rising behind her and helped her to orient herself.  It seemed somehow to be different and she wondered how far they had traveled in the night.  She had vague recollections of riding quickly through the night and hearing little but muffled hoof beats. At first, conquering her initial fear, she had tried to ask questions, but had only gotten silence for an answer.  Finally, she had fallen into a doze, and didn’t remember stopping at this place.

She heard a moan behind her and the white man’s quiet reassuring voice.  She didn’t trust white men, but felt as if maybe this one was attempting to be kind.  The moans got louder and she tried to twist around to see who was there. As she moved, she felt eyes on her.  Looking up, she saw the young warrior frowning at her from a few feet away.