Legends of the Northwest Part 9

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

Mini-yata ite wakande maku, Ate wakan--Tunkansidan,

Tunkansidan pejihuta wakan Micage--he Wicage!

Miniyata ite wakande maku.

Taukansidan ite, nape du-win-ta woo, Wahutopa wan yuha, nape du-win-ta too."

TRANSLATION

In red swan-down he made it for me; In red swan-down he made it for me; He of the water--he of the mysterious face-- Gave it to me; Sacred Father--Grandfather!

Grandfather made me magical medicine That is true!

Being of mystery,--grown in the water-- He gave it to me!

To the face of our Grandfather stretch out your hand; Holding a quadruped, stretch out your hand!

Till high o'er the hills of the east Anpetuwee walked on his journey, In secret they danced at the feast, and communed with the mighty Unktehee.

Then opened the door of the tee to the eyes of the day and the people, And the sons of Unktehee, to be, were endowed with the sacred Ozuha [82]

By the son of tall Wazi-kute, Tamdoka, the chief of the Magi.

And thus since the birth-day of man --since he sprang from the heart of the mountains, [69]

Has the sacred "Wacepee Wakan"

by the warlike Dakotas been honored, And the G.o.d-favored sons of the clan work their will with the help of the spirits.

'Twas sunrise; the spirits of mist trailed their white robes on dewy savannas, And the flowers raised their heads to be kissed by the first golden beams of the morning.

The breeze was abroad with the breath of the rose of the Isles of the Summer, And the humming-bird hummed on the heath from his home in the land of the rain-bow. [a]

'Twas the morn of departure.

Duluth stood alone by the roar of the Ha-ha; Tall and fair in the strength of his youth stood the blue-eyed and fair-bearded Frenchman.

A rustle of robes on the gra.s.s broke his dream as he mused by the waters, And, turning, he looked on the face of Winona, wild rose of the prairies, Half hid in her forest of hair, like the round, golden moon in the pine tops.

Admiring he gazed--she was fair as his own blooming Flore in her orchards, With her golden locks loose on the air, like the gleam of the sun through the olives, Far away on the vine-covered sh.o.r.e, in the sun-favored land of his fathers.

"Lists the chief to the cataract's roar for the mournful lament of the Spirit?" [b]

Said Winona,--"The wail of the sprite for her babe and its father unfaithful, Is heard in the midst of the night, when the moon wanders dim in the heavens."

[a] The Dakotas say the humming-bird comes from the "land of the rain-bow."

[b] See Legend of the Falls or Note 28--Appendix.

"Wild-Rose of the Prairies," he said, "DuLuth listens not to the Ha-ha, For the wail of the ghost of the dead, for her babe and its father unfaithful; But he lists to a voice in his heart that is heard by the ear of no other, And to-day will the White Chief depart --he returns to the land of the sunrise."

"Let Winona depart with the chief, --she will kindle the fire in his teepee; For long are the days of her grief, if she stay in the tee of Ta-te-psin,"

She replied and her cheeks were aflame with the bloom of the wild prairie lilies.

"Tanke, [a] is the White Chief to blame?"

said DuLuth to the blus.h.i.+ng Winona.

"The White Chief is blameless," she said, "but the heart of Winona will follow Wherever thy footsteps may lead, O blue-eyed brave Chief of the white men.

For her mother sleeps long in the mound, and a step-mother rules in the teepee.

And her father, once strong and renowned, is bent with the weight of his winters.

No longer he handles the spear, --no longer his swift, humming arrows Overtake the fleet feet of the deer, or the bear of the woods, or the bison; But he bends as he walks, and the wind shakes his white hair and hinders his footsteps; And soon will he leave me behind, without brother or sister or kindred.

The doe scents the wolf in the wind, and a wolf walks the path of Winona.

Three times have the gifts for the bride [25]

to the lodge of Ta-te-psin been carried.

But the voice of Winona replied that she liked not the haughty Tamdoka.

And thrice were the gifts sent away, but the tongue of the mother protested, And the were wolf [52] still follows his prey, abides but the death of my father."

[a] My Sister.

"I pity Winona," he said, "but my path is a pathway of danger, And long is the trail for the maid to the far-away land of the sunrise; And few are the braves of my band, and the braves of Tamdoka are many; But soon I return to the land, and a cloud of my hunters will follow.

When the cold winds of winter return, and toss the white robes of the prairies, The fire of the White Chief will burn in his lodge at the Meeting-of-Waters; [a]

And when from the Sunrise again comes the chief of the suns of the Morning, Many moons will his hunters remain in the land of the friendly Dakotas.

The son of Chief Wazi-kute guides the White Chief afar on his journey; Nor long on the Tonka Mede [b]

--on the breast of the blue, bounding billows-- Shall the bark of the Frenchman delay, but his pathway shall kindle behind him."

[a] Mendota, properly _Mdo-te_--meaning the outlet of lake or river into another, commonly applied to the region about Fort Snelling.

[b] Tonka Mede--Great Lake, i.e. Lake Superior. The Dakotas seem to have had no other name for it. They generally referred to it as _Mini-ya-ta--There at the water._

She was pale, and her hurried voice swelled with alarm as she questioned replying "Tamdoka thy guide?

--I beheld thy death in his face at the races!

He covers his heart with a smile, but revenge never sleeps in his bosom; His tongue--it is soft to beguile; but beware of the pur of the panther!

For death, like a shadow, will walk by thy side in the midst of the forest, Or follow thy path like a hawk on the trail of a wounded Mastinca. [a]

A son of Unktehee is he, --the Chief of the crafty magicians; They have plotted thy death; I foresee, and thy trail, it is red in the forest; Beware of Tamdoka,--beware.

Slumber not like the grouse of the woodlands, With head under wing, for the glare of the eyes that sleep not are upon thee."

[a] The rabbit. The Dakotas called the Crees "Mastincapi"--Rabbits.

"Winona, fear not," said Duluth, "for I carry the fire of Wakinyan, [a]

And strong is the arm of my youth, and stout are the hearts of my warriors; But Winona has spoken the truth, and the heart of the White Chief is thankful.

Hide this in thy bosom, dear maid, --'tis the crucified Christ of the white men. [b]

Lift thy voice to his spirit in need, and his spirit will hear thee and answer; For often he comes to my aid; he is stronger than all the Dakotas; And the Spirits of evil, afraid, hide away when he looks from the heavens."

In her swelling brown bosom she hid the crucified Jesus in silver; "Niwaste," [c] she sadly replied; in her low voice the rising tears trembled; Her dewy eyes turned she aside, and she slowly returned to the teepees.

But still on the swift river's strand, admiring the graceful Winona, As she gathered, with brown, dimpled hand, her hair from the wind, stood the Frenchman.

[a] i.e. a fire arm which the Dakotas compare to the roar of the wings of the Thunder-bird and the fiery arrows he shoots.

[b] Duluth was a devout Catholic.

[c] Nee-wahshtay--Thou art good.

To bid the brave White Chief adieu, on the shady sh.o.r.e gathered the warriors; His glad boatmen manned the canoe, and the oars in their hands were impatient.

Spake the Chief of Isantees, --"A feast will await the return of my brother In peace rose the sun in the East, in peace in the West he descended.

May the feet of my brother be swift, till they bring him again to our teepees; The red pipe he takes as a gift, may he smoke that red pipe many winters.

At my lodge-fire his pipe shall be lit, when the White Chief returns to Kathaga; On the robes of my tee shall he sit, he shall smoke with the chiefs of my people.

The brave love the brave; and his son sends the Chief as a guide for his brother, By the way of the Wakpa Wakan [a]

to the Chief at the Lake of the Spirits.

[a] Spirit River, now called _Rum_ River.

As light as the foot-steps of dawn are the feet of the stealthy Tamdoka, And he fears not the Maza Wakan; [a]

he is sly as the fox of the forest.

When he dances the dance of red war all the hungry wolves howl by the Big Sea, [b]

For they scent on the south-wind afar their feast on the bones of Ojibways."

Thrice the Chief puffed the red pipe of peace, ere it pa.s.sed to the lips of the Frenchman.

Spake DuLuth,--"May the Great Spirit bless with abundance the Chief and his people; May their sons and their daughters increase, and the fire ever burn in their teepees."

Then he waved with a flag his adieu to the Chief and the warriors a.s.sembled; And away shot Tamdoka's canoe to the strokes of ten sinewy hunters; And a white path he clove up the blue, bubbling stream of the swift Mississippi; And away on his foaming trail flew, like a Sea-Gull the bark of the Frenchman.