The great race

Found a Cheyenne turtle and the hare.

THE GREAT RACE CHEYENNE

When the Great Mystery created the earth and all living things upon it the People and the animals lived in peace. None, neither People animals, ate flesh. Now it happened in the course of many seasons tha the buffalo began to think they were the most powerful beings in world. They came to believe that this gave them the right to kill and eat other animals, and people as well. Then the People said. "This isn't fair we humans and the buffalo were created equal. But if it happens that one or the other must be the most powerful, then it should be Us!" The buffalo said. "Let's get this settled. We should have a contest to see whether we eat you or you eat us. How about a race)' The people said: "But in a race you have an unfair advantage; two legs can't compete with four. Suppose we let the birds race for us. They have wings you have four legs, that makes it more even. The buffalo said. "Agreed. We'll choose our fastest runner, and you choose some birds to race for you." Then some of the other animals said: "We should have race too." a chance to race "That's right, its only fair," said the bulfalo and the people. So all living things went to a place at the edge of the Black Hills called Buffalo Gap. There they lined up for the race As their contestant the buffalo had chosen Running Slim Buffalo Woman, a young cow who was the fastest of all animals and had never been beaten in a footrace To race for them the human beings had chosen four birds: a humming bird, a meadowlark, a hawk, and a magpie. In those early days of the world, the birds and animals had no color. Now for the race they all painted themselves carefully, each creature according to its own medicine, its own vision For example, the skunk painted a white on its back , the black tailed deer painted its tail black, the antelope took some red-brown earth and, mixing it with water, painted its whole hide. And as all the creatures painted themselves for this great race, so they have looked ever since Then the signal to race was given, and the crowd of runners started toward a hill which was the halfway point. Running Slim took off in a 

Flash, with the buffalo cheering her on. For a while Hummingbird flew along with her but Soon he fell back exhausted and Meadowlark took over Still, Running Slim kept far ahead leading the great mass of racers with their thundering hooves Though they had already covered great 

distance, Running Slim was fresh. By the time Running Slim reached the halfway point, she and the lark were far ahead of the field. At the hill the umpires were shouting: "Now turn and race back to the starting point, to Buffalo Gap!" The Lark heard this and thought: "I can't make it that far. He dropped out of the race, but already Hawk was coming on strongly. Now Hawk, acknowledged to be the fastest of the birds, suddenly shot ahead of Running Slim. The people shouted for joy- but not for long. Hawk's endurance did not match his swiftness, and the sudden spurt exhausted him. Again the Hawk acknowledged to be the fastest of the birds suddenly shot ahead of running slim. The people shouted in joy. But not for long. Hawks endurance did not match his swiftness , and the sudder spurt exhausted him.Again Running Slim came on, thundering ahead With her deep chest, powerful legs, and great lungs, it seemed that she could keep the pace forever Then far in the rear a little black and white dot could dn be seen, coming up, flying hard. This was Magpie, strong-hearted and persevering The buffalo herd paid no attention to a slow bird but Magpie; they were cheering their runner while the People watched silently. Some of the racers were running so hard now that blood spurted from heir mouths and nostrils. It colored the earth beneath, which has ever remained red along the trail where the race where the race was run. At last Buffalo Gap came into sight. Powerful and confident as she was Running Slim herself was beginning to slow down. though it seamled hardly noticeable. Even she was not even aware of it, but ran along feeling sure lat she would win. Then very slowly, imperceptibly, Magpie begen to gain on her. Buffalo Gap was closer now though still a ways off, thought Slim 

Running She could feel herself tiring The buffalo were grunting iomping, trying to encourage her. Magpie was behind, but coming on Steadily Now Buffalo Gap was near. Running Slim Buffalo Woman was really tired but she gathered all her strength for the last spurt, thundering Pey come 

her heart close to bursting. By then, however, Magpie had come up even with her. Both the buffalo and the people were cheering their racers on, calling out to them, yelling and stomping. So the two were speeding up, putting the very last of their strength into it-Running Slim Buffalo Woman and Magpie. Thus they neared the sticks, painted red, Planted in the earth, which marked the fnishing line. It was not until they were hand breadth away from those sticks, at the last moment, that Magpie finally shot ahead. The People gave a great shout of happiness, and both racers fell exhausted 

So the bumans had won and the buffalo had lost. And ever since the people have respected the magpie, never hunting it or eating it. So the people became more powerful than the buffalo and all the other animals, and from that time on, People have hunted the buffalo for their food.