Only after this did the spirits, rolling bits of magic mud in their fingers, call into existence Homo sapiens and all other creatures of the world.

Homo sapiens were wise and soon came to worship the bison whom they called buffalo. Homo sapiens known as Teatun Soo performed a ritual - nothing more important in their lives! - the Buffalo God Ceremony.

The Key Owah Homo sapiens worshipped the Sun God of the sky. Sun God's agents on earth were the peyote plant and the buffalo - both deified by the Key Owah.

There were many tribes of Homo sapiens and among all nothing was more sacred than the buffalo skull. In an honored place in the compound it protected all members of the tribe from harm.

Homo sapiens wore buffalo robes. They draped buffalo bonnets - fur and horns - over their heads. Even the droppings of the buffalo were held holy!

In dances Homo sapiens imitated the buffalo. They desired to become one with the buffalo, to enter into its very spirit. Homo sapiens named their offspring "Suckling Buffalo Calf," and "Big Female Buffalo," and "Shaggy Walker," and so forth...

Homo sapiens sought to marry the buffalo gods they worshipped. A youth of the Paw Knee tribe, walking alone, came across a buffalo cow. She was caught and held fast in mire and muck. He quickly undressed and mounted her. In time she gave birth to a male calf. The Homo sapien was tested severely by many bulls, but finally he was permitted to live with the herd.

I will leave him there and return to my theme. The Homo sapiens, I have told you, were wise. And yet where did they get their wisdom? From the buffalo! Homo sapiens learned the art of HEALING from the bison. The "Buffalo Doctors" will confess this to you sure as I stand here. The lessons they learned from the buffalo, the obligations Homo sapien owes to the buffalo, are as thick as fleas.

Does everyone follow my story? For now my tale takes a curious turn.

I hear no sound so I resume. But I must use a trick of our rhyming cricket, this twist is so odd: Homo sapiens BUTCHERED their Buffalo God!

Homo sapiens would kill a cow, rip her open, and dip their hands into the bleeding carcass. They would ladle up hand after handful of warm blood, sip it and swallow it down.

Much more than this: with sticks and stones they would batter the head, crush the skull, thrust their hands inside to scoop out and eat the raw brains.

Using a small rib area as a bowl they mixed marrow and brains to make pudding. Homo sapiens devoured - raw and still warm! - buffalo liver, tongue and testicle... kidney, stomach and eye. They slit the nipple of a cow to drink the still warm milk. Most delectable of all was the fetus - the unborn calf.

Homo sapiens feasted upon roasted skin, baked hump, blood soup. The Shy Anne boiled lungs with corn. The Brown Feet rolled a slaughtered buffalo over on its back and cleaned out all the entrails. The ribs then formed a huge pot already containing blood and fat. They added a bit of water, roots, hot stones and so made soup.

I see this makes your flesh creep, some of you - the vegetarians, I wager. Of course, I am a vegetarian myself and it makes my hair stand on end. But the snake there smiles and understands.

The fact is many primitive Homo sapiens killed their rulers, lords and gods - killed them and consumed their flesh and blood. It all had to do with magic or what is now called religion.

The buffalo were sacrificed in reverence, with piety and sanctity. The tribal Homo sapiens and the buffalo herds lived in equilibrium thousands of years. But then came an unquestionable, unimaginable catastrophe.

We saw it coming: the bird of ill omen was familiar to us - the birth of a white calf!