Search Results: Pawnee

The Pawnee are a Native American nation of the Plains Indians culture originally from the region of modern Nebraska. Prior to the European colonization of the Americas, they were among the most powerful of the Plains Indian tribes numbering...

A Storm Eagle is a Cheyenne story recounting a battle fought between the Cheyenne and Pawnee in the winter of 1854-1855 when the Cheyenne retrieved the horses that the Pawnee had stolen from the Arapaho, who were allies of the Cheyenne. The...

The Prophecy of Bear Man is a war story from the Cheyenne nation relating their response to a Pawnee horse-raiding party and how they defeated their enemy, regaining most of the horses taken. The story exemplifies Native American warfare...

Making the Sacred Bundle is an origin story of the medicine bag from the Pawnee nation. A medicine bag is a pouch or bundle containing items of resonant spiritual power for an individual or the tribal community that symbolize and maintain...

The Ghost Bride is a story from the Pawnee nation on the danger of interacting with ghosts but also emphasizes the importance of keeping one's word, whether with the living or the dead. The young man in the tale does not know he is dealing...

The Ghost Wife is a Pawnee story dealing with loss, grief, the inability to let go of the past, and the danger of dealing with ghosts. It reflects the Pawnee understanding of the unpredictable nature of life, the certainty of death, and the...

The Boy Who Was Sacrificed is a legend of the Pawnee nation highlighting the belief that everything happens for a reason according to the will of Ti-ra'wa ("Father Above"), the supreme creator, and how even the smallest creatures have an...

The Boy Who Saw A-ti'us is a legend of the Pawnee nation about a young man who is granted a vision of the Creator Ti-ra'wa A-ti'us (also known simply as Ti-ra'wa or as A-ti'us) and, through his faith, is able to see what others cannot and...

The Bear Man is a Pawnee legend exemplifying the Native American understanding of the natural world and serving as an origin tale for the Bear Dance, which was performed to awaken the bears in spring from their winter hibernation and also...

The Medicine Arrows and the Sacred Hat is a short essay by anthropologist George Bird Grinnell (l. 1849-1938) explaining the origin and significance of the medicine arrows and buffalo hat, central to Cheyenne culture. The essay provides a...