Note 35 — NOTES AND PARALLELS TO MYTHS

Animal chiefs and councils—In Pawnee belief, according to Grinnell, the animals, or Nahurac, possess miraculous attributes given them by the great creator, Tirawa. “The Pawnees know of five places where these animals meet to hold council—five of these Nahurac lodges.” He gives a detailed description of each. The fourth is a mound-shaped hill, on the top of which is a deep well or water hole, into which the Pawnee throw offerings. The fifth is a rock hill in Kansas, known to the whites as Guide rock, and “in the side of the hill there is a great hole where the Nahurac hold councils.”35