- [Narrator] A prairie dog forages for food near his borough. Nearby, an Indian boy, Red Cloud, is stalking the prairie dog. He approaches against the wind so the wind will carry his scent away from the prairie dog. This was the first rule he learned about stalking game. He will learn more, for whenever he makes a mistake, he learns another rule that must be obeyed if he's still become a Brave with the men of his tribe to hunt the buffalo. Red Cloud is typical of thousands of Indians who lived a long time ago on the Great Plains grasslands. Before the coming of the white man, the plain was in most places open grassland. The grass supported huge herds of bison or buffalo. The buffalo provided food and other essentials for the people who lived on the plains. For centuries, these Indians had no way to hunt except on foot. They could bring down only a few buffalo at a time, and from those few came most of their food, clothing, and shelter. When the Spaniards came from Mexico and Florida, they brought with them the horse and the horse brought a new era to the plains Indians. With horses that escaped or were stolen from the Spaniards, the Indian could easily follow the buffalo and its wanderings over the prairie. With the horse, the plains Indian could begin to enjoy a prosperity he had never known before. It is during the time between the coming of the horse and the coming of white settlers, a time that lasted about 300 years that we pick up the story of Red Cloud and his family. On this winter evening in the year 1750, Red Cloud is learning his history lesson. Old Eagle, his grandfather, repeats stories of the great deeds of his people as his grandfather told them to him. And Red Cloud must remember these stories word for word because there is no written language, no other way to study history.

- [Narrator] His sister, Bright Moon, helps their mother, Quiet Woman, cook the evening meal. Buffalo meat is already roasting over the fire and now it is time to cook the vegetables, wild turnips and squash. They go into a cooking skin made of buffalo hide. Then Quiet Woman lifts hot stones out of the coals of the fire and drops them into the skin. Steam hisses up as the hot stones begin to heat the water, which will cook the vegetables. Using hot stones is one of the fastest ways to heat water and the cooking skin is easy to carry when they move. Red Cloud's father, Bold Buffalo, uses winter evenings to make new arrows. Carefully straightening each shaft with a tool made of bone. He then smooths the shaft with a pair of stones, which have been grooved to make sanding blocks. When he makes an arrow point, he uses flint, a very hard kind of stone. As he presses down on the edge of the flint with a bone tool, flakes come off, but the flakes come off from the side opposite the one on which the pressure is applied, the underneath side. So Bold Buffalo shapes the arrow point on a piece of buck skin, which protects his hand from the sharp flakes of flint. He keeps turning it as he works so that it is flaked evenly on top and bottom. The edges of the new arrow point will be razor sharp. Little Foot is the only one who has nothing very important to do, So he plays on the floor of the teepee. Little Foot is his baby name, given to him because his feet were very small at birth. Like his brother and sister, he will have a different name when he grows up. Red Cloud's name when he becomes a Brave will be a name that tells what kind of man he is and Red Cloud hopes it will be a proud name like his father's. To be called Bold Buffalo is an honor for the buffalo is the mightiest of living things. Bold Buffalo is one of the chiefs of the tribe. He is a great hunter, so he is chief of the hunt. But there are other chiefs as well as Bold Buffalo. There are the war chiefs, they know about fighting and are the most fearless warriors in the tribe. There is the medicine man who understands how to read the signs the great spirit sends them, but the wisest of all is the great chief. He makes decisions for the whole tribe based on the advice of his other chiefs. Winter is almost over and before he sleeps, Red Cloud dreams of the day soon to come when the tribe will move north to follow the great buffalo herds. That will be an exciting time. The large poles will be tied over the backs of horses to make a travois, a frame which drags behind the horse and on which the women can pack the teepee covers and all the rest of their belongings. When the medicine man decides that the time is right, the tribe begins its march to the new campgrounds. Most of the men will ride horses. The women and children will walk. Those who cannot walk so far will be cared for. The very old will ride a horse or travois, and the very young, such as Little Foot will ride papoose boards strapped to their mother's backs. They have prepared well for this trip because it may be many days before they reach the summer range of the buffalo. Red Cloud is happy to reach the summer campground. He has had enough of travel and this is the best time of year, the time of the great hunts, of warm weather, plenty of food, games and festivities. But there is also much work to do. The teepees must be put up and all the household goods unpacked. The horses must be fed and led to water. Buffalo chips must be gathered for this is the best fuel for the cooking fires. Most of this labor must be done by Quiet Woman and the children. Everything from the job of lighting the fire with a pointed stick twirled by a bowl string to the job of getting water in a water skin, for Bold Buffalo and the other Braves have more important work to do. They must plan the strategy of the hunt upon which the welfare of the whole tribe depends. Scouts have brought word that a large herd of buffalo roams just to the west and with all their skill as hunters, the men plan how best to surround the herd and take many fine hides and much meat. As the hunters ride out of camp, Red Cloud wishes he could ride with him. But he knows his time will come when he has learned all the lessons a Brave must learn. So he and the other boys work hour after hour with their practice bows and blunt arrows dipped in soot. The arrows leave a mark and the boys will hear from their teacher, Old Eagle if they do not learn to make the arrow hit close to the killing spot. There are other classes too where the boys learn animal calls, Old Eagle sounds each call. And each boy in his turn must repeat the call until he can do it well. With these calls, a hunter can signal to other hunters nearby without alarming the wild things that might in turn warn the buffalo of the hunter's approach. There are lessons in horsemanship too, and these lessons Red Cloud enjoys most of all. When he's a Brave, he will have his own horses and he must learn to ride so well that he and the horse work together as one. The men of the tribe have found the buffalo herd. As the first kills are brought in by the hunting party, there is much for the women to do. First the fresh hide is staked out tight with the hair side down, then all the flesh and fat must be cleaned away from the skin. This is done with tools like this flesher made from bone and this scraper made from sharpened flint. After the skin is clean, it is smoked and after many hours of hand rubbing, it will be soft and pliable and will make fine teepee covers and clothing. Using a sharpened piece of bone, Bright Moon punches a hole in the tanned skin through which a length of buffalo sinew will be laced to make a moccasin. Bone, skin, horn, hair, sinew, and of course meat, no part of the animal that supplies their livelihood is wasted. The parts of the meat they cannot eat immediately, Quiet Woman prepares to make into pemmican, a kind of dried food that will nourish the family if the hunters should ever return empty handed. Thin strips of meat are dried either in the sun or over the campfire. Wild berries and fruits are also gathered and dried. The dried meat and fruit are pounded into a coarse, flaky meal that is high in food value. The meal is stored in skin bags, a layer of meal, then a layer of buffalo fat, which is eaten along with the meal. Pemmican is eaten both summer and winter. It's convenient for hunters or warriors to carry on long rides and it serves as emergency food during those periods that sometimes occur in winter when the Great Spirit is displeased and sends the buffalo herds far from camp. Although there is a lot of work to be done, life is not all work. The hunters have got back word that a friendly tribe is camped nearby and an invitation has been sent to them to attend a festival at Red Cloud's camp. Everyone helps prepare for the festival. Quiet Woman and Bright Moon are preparing food for the feast. Red Cloud is making a necklace of buffalo teeth, a gift to seal the friendships he will make at the festival. At last, the visitors arrive and the whole village turns out to greet them. The men of both tribes can carry on a conversation in the sign language that is understood wherever Indians gather together on the Great Plains. Learning this graceful silent speech is another of the skills Red Cloud must acquire before he becomes Brave. Red Cloud can hardly believe his ears as an older boy translates for him what the visiting chiefs are saying. The visitors in their travels have met up with a strange creature, a man, but like no other man ever seen on the prairies before, with pale skin and light eyes and much hair on his face. Red Cloud finds it difficult to picture such a man in his mind, and yet he has a feeling of awe as well, for he is heard before of these men with hair on their faces. Pale skins in the tales his grandfather tells. After the greetings, gifts are exchanged, there is a fine flint arrow point for Red Cloud and it does not matter that he and his new friend do not speak the same language for there are other ways to say thank you between friends. Now it is time for the games. Pony races between the best riders from each tribe And contest to show who's best at the difficult art of shooting from the back of a running horse. Then Red Cloud's new friend makes the signal that is a challenge to a foot race and Red Cloud accepts the challenge. Tensely, Red Cloud awaits the signal to go. If he starts before the spear touches the ground, he will lose. If he waits too long, his friend will get a headstart in the race. Though he runs as fast as he can, Red Cloud cannot pass his new friend. But a smaller boy causes the runner to fall and Red Cloud wins. The band of victory belongs on the arm of the one who crossed the line first. But no Red Cloud will not have it that way, his friend was ahead in the race and would've won if he had not fallen. The band of victory belongs on the arm of the one who can run the faster. Of all the virtues a Brave must have, sportsmanship is the one hardest to learn and the most highly prized. Now that the chiefs and the hunters have eaten, the younger boys may share in the feast. Enjoying the rare treat of roasted nuts dipped in honey, Red Cloud thinks he has never known such a memorable day. There was dancing the Round Dance where all the people took part. And special dances where the Braves and chiefs competed with one another to see who was the best dancer. Later there was a special ceremony in the council teepee where one of their own chiefs was honored with a buffalo headdress for his hunting ability. It is night now, but Red Cloud cannot sleep. As he sits before the fire in the teepee, he dreams of what the future may hold for him. He looks forward to the time, perhaps not so very far away, when he will be tested by the council found ready to be a Brave and can earn his first eagle feather. He thinks of his good life on the prairies that stretch away without end, of the buffalo herd sent by the Great Spirit, and he remembers the stories of the pale face men. But he does not dream that these pale face men will soon sweep across the plains, killing off the buffalo, destroying the prairie, and driving Red Cloud's people from their land. For he cannot know that the way of life of his people is soon to disappear. His rest is not disturbed by such thoughts. He dreams as many boys before and since of becoming a good man in a great and wonderful country.