WATCHDOGS of the CHEYENNE
It happened, according to Cheyenne oral tradition, far out on the mixedgrass prairies of the high Plains somewhere between the Missouri and Platte river valleys. We don’t know exactly when, but it was before horses were introduced from the south, when the Cheyennes were transforming from farmers to hunters. A young man of little influence, his name lost to time, left his camp circle one night, rebuffed in his efforts to form a warrior society and wailing in desperation to receive a vision from the prophet Sweet Medicine and the creator, Maheo. All the dogs from the village, carrying their puppies in their mouths, followed the young man out onto the prairie. When he finally sat down to rest, a buffalo hide lodge formed around him. At that the dogs rushed inside, took human form and began to sing. The “dog humans” blessed the young man and instructed him to form a new warrior society based on the ceremonies and instructions they taught him over the next three days. First and foremost, its members were to pledge to protect Tsistsistas (“the people”), as the Cheyennes called themselves.
On the fourth day two Cheyennes looking for their dogs arrived at the lodge, and the young man shared with them what he had learned. The pair rushed back to the camp circle to share the news while the dog humans transformed back into dogs. When the other villagers arrived, the young man asked warriors to join his society, and hundreds did so. He then directed the villagers to set up their lodges around his. After this the Dog Men, as society members called themselves, were welcomed to pitch their lodges within the camp circles of the people, and dogs became sacred to the Cheyennes.
(or , as translated by period ethnologist George Bird Grinnell) were
