Ya, Mr. Roufs, I've always carried these. The Indian[s] believe in their Indian way of life. They believe in a Spirit, on earth, in their personal [lives].

And I have a weasel hide that I went along with all the time. And I show [it to] my friends in my hometown, and they ask me a lot of things.

This is tobacco that's falling out. This is tobacco that's falling out, here.

These weasel hides we carry, they lived one time on this earth -- maybe [a] hard life -- and they died. So, for luck, we carry them. Then we use them as a [part of our] Grand Medicine [religion]; when we go to a Grand Medicine dance we use them, [we] operate with them, and [we] dance with them. They dance with them. And that's what they do. The Grand Medicine [followers] are a strong . . . higher [i.e., are of higher power] than the beliefers [believers, i.e., those who believe in the Indian religion or way of life, but who do not belong to the Grand Medicine Society]. The beliefers are either side, either they go to church [as well as believing in the Indian way, or they do not], but they believe in God. But the Grand Medicine is really higher staff [i.e. higher position or rank]! [It's] strong, and they got a lot more power.

But we got some destructors [who] hurt, or people that destructs [i.e. destroys] this [Indian] belief [by] trying to tear [it] down. We find that any where, in any church or any religion. [So] we don't laugh [at peoples' beliefs]. We don't pay no attention to little spots [i.e. peoples' shortcomings] you know.

But when it comes to religion the Indian had believed in their religion full in mind. And they believe in seeing things. They dream of things. They see things. And by this, by seeing things, they get results. Just as I said today [in a class], we get warnings. We get. . . . [When] we see something unusual that comes before us that's a bad sign. You notice in the books, you notice in shows, [that] when you hear a hoot-owl that's trouble. When he comes and hoots [its] trouble, [the] hoot-owl. We know now that when he squeals -- we have a screech-owl [and] when they squeal -- its' death. Bad sign. And [when] a dog howls in front of you, that's another thing. [Those all are] bad warnings. Everything has got a warning. That means [there's] something ahead that's coming. How do they know? How does them warnings come?

I have a drum down home. And they [the people of the community have] been asking me for two years -- [those that go to] the community hall, our community center -- to make a drum. So I answered them [finally, by making a drum]. I waited for them to give me a hide, but they didn't give me a hide. So I run into a boy that had a hide. He has cattle. So he says, I'll give you hide if you want a drum." So I says, "No." I said, "I'll give you two dollars for that hide." And it was a calf hide, [a] bull hide, you know. I don't know how . . . [big it is in feet and inches, but] it's pretty good size you know. So I took the hair off of there, and I made the drum. And [I] strapped it over [i.e., tied the two drum heads together by lacing], and dried it. And the day I made the drum it was [a] clear day. That drum, I took that drum, and [said], "This drum is for good purpose. Good for weather, good for people, good for health [and] peace on earth." I call it the thunderbird [drum, so I say,] "Thunderbird please help us. Thunders of all please help me.'' I was talking to it on the porch. And when I took that thunderbird, the drum, in the house, that cloud came up in a little bit, [and] about twenty-five [or] thirty feet away my tree was split by the thunder. That's the answer. Where did the lightning come from [that] split that tree? So I took and hit that tree three times [and] I answered, ''OK. That's what it will be." Then I had a thunder-bird drawed up [on the drum head] and [now] there's a thunderbird on my drum. That's the way we believe in things, ya.

So . . . , I met one fireball one time, [and] this guy [my friend] said to me, "If you don't shoot that fireball," he said, "one of us is going to have trouble."

"Well, it's only a fireball,'' I says. "Why I don't believe in that," I says, "I'm young you know. I'm stucked. I don't believe in that."

"Yes!," he says. He's an Indian boy.

So I pulled up [my gun] and I shot it.

So [after I shot the fireball I says to my friend,] "I'll go there in the morning to see this. [I'll go to see] if there's any bones or anything, [like] feathers.

There was nothing but bark, you know. But this fireball came down the road and lit before us. And then [it] lit on a tree, on a Norway [pine]. And then [when it was] about forty feet [away] I shot it. [The] fireball come, [but because I shot it] nothing happened. I cured it. I stopped the [bad] message [so it] couldn't get to me. We seen a lot of them.

But there was a little sickness around, you know, that flu, ya. There was lots of them [fireballs] that year [that the flu killed lots of people.] Sometimes there's a lot of fireballs.

There's many more behind me [i.e, in addition to me who] could talk the same as I do, but a lot of them won't say a word. They've [i.e., many have] told me they've tried [to get] a lot of them [to talk, but] they won't say a word. But a lot of them don't know what to say. Even I don't know what to say [sometimes]. But [after working with you all this time] I always got it figured out what you want to know.

Now I'm here to help you learn this [lndian way of life, I'm here] to help, [to] do all I can, to get a betterment for our people of the area.

I will pray with my own belief. I will pray [along] with the [words of] Christianity [to the] God, the Great Spirit on earth that loves us, that gives use the world for peace and happiness on earth. Oh!. . . . I'll pray for it.

[Paul Buffalo meditates UMD with a prayer in the Anishinabe language. The prayer lasts just under two minutes.]

O.K., Paul, I'd like to ask you just one more question, if I may. And that is if you that is, if you could explain to us what the meaning of power is, and how it's used among your people?

[You want me to] explain the power [and] how it's used? The power is used by what you believe in. And if you believe in that power you fast for it, so many days. You got to fast for it and talk to your bird, pick out the birds, the trees, or they got namesakes of the birds a do-daym [i.e., totem]. And you . . . you believe in that some of them's got a bear for their namesake. It's a false namesake, ya. And then that way why they . . . they fast for these three days and they fast, they hang out clothes [symbiotic items of clothing], they give out food and everything, set it out and they give. And then they pound the drum for [a] cert[ain time, for] so many days. And they go through a lot of method before they empower. Then it becomes empower.

They just mention name, that's all. Mention name.

[PB does not want to answer this question.]

You know I had a lot of laughs over that. One time I says ah . . . I said to my . . . the next table I says, “pass that baa-tay . . .” , it's ah . . . apple pie, “Pass that baa - tay - mi - shi - mi - ni - /\ - bii - tu - sI - jay - g/\n - i - bash - kI - mI - /\ - ssay - g - /\/ - d/\ - b/\ - kway - \ii - g/\n - sI - gu - bun.” And everybody looked at me. “What happened to you?”

[Laughs]

I said . . . I said “Pass the pie over there.”

[Laughs]

ji - gay - tay - uu - zo - mi - nI - bi/\sh - k/\mI - /\ - ssi - g/\ - d/\ - b/\ - kway - jii - g/\n - i - ssI - gu - b/\n, that's “the pie” in Indian, blueberry pie and apple pie.

Gee.

[Laughs]

That's how it's made, the sauce and all that stuff you know, how . . . how it's prepared. And a lot of the jaw-breakers

[laughs]

[pause]

Anything else?