No-Tongue

Family: Arikara · Role: young man · First appears: Tale 16 · No-Tongue and the Sun and the Moon · Part 1

Late in the evening, the Sun demanded No-Tongue’s tongue. No-Tongue cut it off and handed it over, and died; in the dark, the Moon revived him and claimed him as a son, saying, “hereafter you shall be my son; but let your other father, the Sun, come after you first.” In the morning, the Sun took No-Tongue to his home and invited him to choose among his possessions. No-Tongue chose the oldest things, which would give him long life and greatness—outcomes the Sun did not want for him.

When night came, No-Tongue followed the Moon’s instructions to make a dark-brown robe look white. Later, in battle, he killed Little-Sun, and his people defeated the enemy. The Sun tried repeatedly to kill him: when the Sun became a Buffalo and pursued him, No-Tongue escaped the mud-hole and had the Buffalo burned. After seeing No-Tongue was not scalped, the Sun said he would leave him alone until he was old and great.

Years went by, and No-Tongue lived peacefully until he became old and blind. He told the Sun, “My father, the Moon is also my father; he has helped me all along.” The Sun was satisfied, took him up to his home, and gave back the tongue he had taken.