under the name na´pi, old man, have been confused two wholly different persons talked of by the blackfeet. the sun, the creator of the universe, giver of light, heat, and life, and reverenced by every one, is often called old man, but there is another personality who bears the same name, but who is very different in his character. this last na´pi is a mixture of wisdom and foolishness; he is malicious, selfish, childish, and weak. he delights in tormenting people. yet the mean things he does are so foolish that he is constantly getting himself into scrapes, and is often obliged to ask the animals to help him out of his troubles. his bad deeds almost always bring their own punishment.

interpreters commonly translate this word na´pi as old man, but it is also the term for white man; and the cheyenne and arapahoe tribes tell just such stories about a similar person whom they also call "white man." tribes of dakota stock tell of a similar person whom they call "the spider."

the stories about this old man are told by the blackfeet for entertainment rather than with any serious purpose, and when that part of the story is reached where old man is in some difficulty which he cannot get out of, the man who is telling the story, and those who are listening to it, laugh delightedly.

some stories of this kind are these: