Legends of the Northwest Part 8

Now swift from the lake they return, o'er the emerald hills and the heather; Like grey-hounds they pant and they yearn, and the leader of all is Tamdoka.

At his heels flies Hu-pa-hu, [a] the fleet --the pride of the band of Kaoza, A warrior with eagle-winged feet, but his prize is the bow and the quiver.

Tamdoka first reaches the post, and his are the knife and the blanket, By the mighty acclaim of the host and award of the chief and the judges.

Then proud was the tall warrior's stride, and haughty his look and demeanor; He boasted aloud in his pride, and he scoffed at the rest of the runners.

"Behold me, for I am a man! [b]

my feet are as swift as the West wind.

With the c.o.o.ns and the beavers I ran; but where is the elk or the cabri? [80]

Come!--where is the hunter will dare match his feet with the feet of Tamdoka?

Let him think of Tate [c] and beware, ere he stake his last robe on the trial."

"Oho! Ho! Ho-heca!" [d] they jeered, for they liked not the boast of the boaster; But to match him no warrior appeared, for his feet wore the wings of the west-wind.

[a] The wings.

[b] A favorite boast of the Dakota braves.

[c] The wind.

[d] About equivalent to Oho--Aha--fudge.

Then forth from the side of the chief stepped DuLuth and he looked on the boaster; "The words of a warrior are brief, --I will run with the brave," said the Frenchman; "But the feet of Tamdoka are tired; abide till the cool of the sunset."

All the hunters and maidens admired, for strong were the limbs of the stranger.

"Hiwo! Ho!" [a] they shouted and loud rose the cheers of the mult.i.tude mingled; And there in the midst of the crowd stood the glad-eyed and blus.h.i.+ng Winona.

[a] Hurra there!

Now afar o'er the plains of the west walked the sun at the end of his journey, And forth came the brave and the guest, at the tap of the drum, for the trial.

Like a forest of larches the hordes were gathered to witness the contest; As loud is the drums were their words and they roared like the roar of the Ha-ha.

For some for Tamdoka contend, and some for the fair, bearded stranger, And the betting runs high to the end, with the skins of the bison and beaver.

A wife of tall Wazi-kute --the mother of boastful Tamdoka-- Brought her handsomest robe from the tee, with a vaunting and loud proclamation: She would stake her last robe on her son who, she boasted, was fleet as the Cabri [80]

And the tall, tawny chieftain looked on, approving the boast of the mother.

Then fleet as the feet of a fawn to her lodge ran the dark eyed Winona, She brought and she staked on the lawn, by the side of the robe of the boaster, The lily-red mantle Duluth, with his own hands, had laid on her shoulders.

"Tamdoka is swift, but forsooth, the tongue of his mother is swifter,"

She said, and her face was aflame with the red of the rose and the lily, And loud was the roar of acclaim; but dark was the face of Tamdoka.

They strip for the race and prepare, --DuLuth in his breeches and leggins; And the brown, curling locks of his hair downward droop to his bare, brawny shoulders, And his face wears a smile debonair, as he tightens his red sash around him; But stripped to the moccasins bare, save the belt and the breech-clout of buckskin, Stands the haughty Tamdoka aware that the eyes of the warriors admire him; For his arms are the arms of a bear and his legs are the legs of a panther.

The drum beats,--the chief waves the flag, and away on the course speed the runners, And away leads the brave like a stag, --like a hound on his track flies the Frenchman; And away haste the hunters, once more, to the hills for a view to the lake-side, And the dark-swarming hill-tops, they roar with the storm of loud voices commingled.

Far away o'er the prairie they fly, and still in the lead is Tamdoka, But the feet of his rival are nigh, and slowly he gains on the hunter.

Now they turn on the post at the lake, --now they run full abreast on the home-stretch; Side by side they contend for the stake, for a long mile or more on the prairie.

They strain like a stag and a hound, when the swift river gleams through the thicket, And the horns of the rulers resound, winding shrill through the depths of the forest.

But behold!--at full length on the ground falls the fleet-footed Frenchman abruptly.

And away with a whoop and a bound, springs the eager, exulting Tamdoka.

Long and loud on the hills is the shout of his swarthy admirers and backers; "But the race is not won till it's out,"

said DuLuth, to himself as he gathered, With a frown on his face, for the foot of the wily Tamdoka had tripped him.

Far ahead ran the brave on the route, and turning he boasted exultant.

Like spurs to the steed to DuLuth were the jeers and the taunts of the boaster; Indignant was he and red wroth, at the trick of the runner dishonest; And away like a whirlwind he speeds --like a hurricane mad from the mountains; He gains on Tamdoka,--he leads!

--and behold, with the spring of a panther, He leaps to the goal and succeeds, 'mid the roar of the mad acclamation.

Then glad as the robin in May was the voice of Winona exulting; And the crest-fallen brave turned away, and lonely he walked by the river; He glowered as he went and the fire of revenge in his bosom was kindled, But he strove to dissemble his ire, and he whistled alone by the Ha-ha.

THE "WAKAN WACEPEE," OR SACRED DANCE. [81]

Lo the lights in the "Teepee Wakan!"

'tis the night of the Wakan-Wacepee.

Round and round walks the chief of the clan, as he rattles the sacred Ta-sha-kay; [81]

Long and loud on the Chan-che-ga [81]

beat the drummers with magical drumsticks, And the notes of the Cho-tanka [81] greet, like the murmur of winds on the waters.

By the friction of white-cedar wood for the feast was a Virgin-fire [20] kindled.

They that enter the firm brotherhood first must fast and be cleansed by E-nee-pee; [81]

And from foot-sole to crown of the head must they paint with the favorite colors; For Unktehee likes bands of blood-red, with the stripings of blue intermingled.

In the hollow earth, dark and profound, Unktehee and fiery Wakin-yan Long fought and the terrible sound of the battle was louder than thunder; The mountains were heaved and around were scattered the hills and the boulders, And the vast solid plains of the ground rose and fell like the waves of the ocean.

But the G.o.d of the waters prevailed.

Wakin-yan escaped from the cavern, And long on the mountains he wailed, and his hatred endureth forever.

When Unktehee had finished the earth, and the beasts and the birds and the fishes, And men at his bidding came forth from the heart of the huge hollow mountains [69]

A band chose the G.o.d from the hordes, and he said "Ye are sons of Unktehee; Ye are lords of the beasts and the birds, and the fishes that swim in the waters.

But hearken ye now to my words, --let them sound in your bosoms forever.

Ye shall honor Unktehee and hate Wakinyan, the Spirit of Thunder, For the power of Unktehee is great, and he laughs at the darts of Wakinyan.

Ye shall honor the Earth and the Sun, --for they are your father and mother. [70]

Let your prayer to the Sun be --_Wakan, Ate: on-si-ma-da ohee-nee_ [a]

And remember the Taku Wakan, [73]

all pervading in earth and in ether-- Invisible ever to man, but he dwells in the midst of all matter; Yea, he dwells in the heart of the stone --in the hard granite heart of the boulder; Ye shall call him forever Tunkan --grandfather of all the Dakotas.

Ye are men that I choose for my own; ye shall be as a strong band of brothers, Now I give you the magical bone and the magical pouch of the spirits. [b]

And these are the laws ye shall heed: Ye shall honor the pouch and the giver.

Ye shall walk as twin-brothers; in need, one shall forfeit his life for another.

Listen not to the voice of the crow. [c]

Hold as sacred the wife of a brother.

Strike, and fear not the shaft of the foe, for the soul of the brave is immortal.

Slay the warrior in battle, but spare the innocent babe and the mother.

Remember a promise;--beware, --let the word of a warrior be sacred.

When a stranger arrives at the tee --be he friend of the band or a foeman, Give him food; let your bounty be free; lay a robe for the guest by the lodge-fire; Let him go to his kindred in peace, if the peace-pipe he smoke in the teepee; And so shall your children increase, and your lodges shall laugh with abundance.

And long shall ye live in the land, and the spirits of earth and the waters Shall come to your aid, at command, with the power of invisible magic.

And at last, when you journey afar --o'er the s.h.i.+ning "_Wanagee Ta-chan-ku_," [70]

You shall walk as a red, s.h.i.+ning star, [18]

in the land of perpetual summer."

[a] "Sacred Spirit, Father have pity on me always"

[b] Riggs' Tahkoo Wakan, p. 90.

[c] Slander.

All the night in the teepee they sang, and they danced to the mighty Unktehee, While the loud-braying Chan-che-ga rang and the shrill-piping flute and the rattle, Till Anpetuwee [70] rose in the east --from the couch of the blus.h.i.+ng Han-nan-na.

And then at the dance and the feast sang the song of Unktehee in chorus:

"Wa-du-ta o-hna mi-ka-ge!