Chapter 9

Spoke the mother to the Raven: "O my son--my brave young hunter, Feed my tender little orphan; Be a father to my orphan; Be a mother to my orphan,-- For the Crafty Red Fox robbed us,-- Robbed the Sea-Gull of her husband, Robbed the infant of her mother. From this cliff the treacherous woman Headlong into Gitchee Gumee Plunged the mother of my orphan. Then a Nébe-nâw-baig caught me,-- Chief of all the Nébe-nâw-baigs-- Took me to his shining wigwam, In the cavern of the waters, Deep beneath the might waters. All below is burnished copper, All above is burnished silver Gemmed with amethyst and agates. As his wife the Spirit holds me; By this silver chain he holds me.

When my little one is famished, When with long and piteous wailing Cries the orphan for her mother, Hither bring her, O my Raven; I will hear her,--I will answer. Now the Nébe-nâw-baig calls me,-- Pulls the chain,--I must obey him."

Thus she spoke and in the twinkling Of a star the spirit-woman Changed into a snow-white sea-gull, Spread her wings and o'er the waters Swiftly flew and swiftly vanished.

Then in secret to the Panther Raven told his tale of wonder. Sad and sullen was the hunter; Sorrow gnawed his heart like hunger; All the old love came upon him, And the new love was a hatred. Hateful to his heart was Red Fox, But he kept from her the secret-- Kept his knowledge of the murder. Vain was she and very haughty---

Oge-mâ-kwa [1025] of the wigwam. All in vain her fond caresses On the Panther now she lavished; When she smiled his face was sullen, When she laughed he frowned upon her; In her net of raven tresses Now no more she held him tangled. Now through all her fair disguises Panther saw an evil spirit, Saw the false heart of the woman.

On the tall cliff o'er the waters Raven sat with Waub-omeé-meé, Sat and watched again and waited, Till the wee one faint and famished, Made a long and piteous wailing. Then again the snow-white Sea-Gull From afar where sky and waters Meet in misty haze and mingle, Straight toward the rocky highland, Straight as flies the feathered arrow, Straight to Raven and the infant, With the silver chain around her, Flew and touched the earth a woman. In her arms she caught her infant-- Caught the wailing Waub-omeé-meé, Sang a lullaby and nursed her.

Sprang the Panther from the thicket-- Sprang and broke the chain of silver! With his tomahawk he broke it. Thus he freed the willing Sea-Gull-- From the Water-Spirit freed her, From the Chief of Nébe-nâw-baigs.

Very angry was the Spirit; When he drew the chain of silver, Drew and found that it was broken, Found that he had lost the woman, Very angry was the Spirit. Then he raged beneath the waters, Raged and smote the mighty waters, Till the big sea boiled and bubbled, Till the white-haired, bounding billows Roared around the rocky head-lands, Roared and plashed upon the shingle.

To the wigwam happy Panther, As when first he wooed and won her, Led his wife--as young and handsome. For the waves of Gitchee Gumee Washed away the frost and wrinkles, And the Spirits by their magic Made her young and fair forever.

In the wigwam sat the Red Fox, Sat and sang a song of triumph, For she little dreamed of danger, Till the haughty hunter entered, Followed by the happy mother, Holding in her arms her infant. Then the Red Fox saw the Sea-Gull-- Saw the dead a living woman, One wild cry she gave despairing, One wild cry as of a demon. Up she sprang and from the wigwam To the tall cliff flew in terror; Frantic sprang upon the margin, Frantic plunged into the water, Headlong plunged into the waters.

Dead she tossed upon the billows; For the Nébe-nâw-baigs knew her, Knew the crafty, wicked woman, And they cast her from the waters, Spurned her from their shining wigwams; Far away upon the shingle With the roaring waves they cast her. There upon her bloated body Fed the cawing crows and ravens, Fed the hungry wolves and foxes.

On the shore of Gitchee Gumee, Ever young and ever handsome, Long and happy lived the Sea-Gull, Long and happy with the Panther. Evermore the happy hunter Loved the mother of his children. Like a red star many winters Blazed their lodge-fire on the sea-shore. O'er the Bridge of Souls together [1026] Walked the Sea-Gull and the Panther. To the far-off Sunny Islands-- To the Summer-Land of Spirits, Where no more the happy hunter Feels the fangs of frost or famine, Or the keen blasts of Kewâydin. Where no pain or sorrow enters, And no crafty, wicked woman, Sea-Gull journeyed with her husband. There she rules his lodge forever, And the twain are very happy, On the far-off Sunny Islands, In the Summer-Land of Spirits.

On the rocks of Gitchee Gumee-- On the Pictured Rocks--the Legend Long ago was traced and written, Pictured by the Water Spirits; But the storms of many winters Have bedimmed the pictured story, So that none can read the legend But the Jossakeeds, the prophets. [1027]

MINNETONKA

Note: The Dakota name for this beautiful lake is _Me-ne-a-tan-ka_--Broad Water. By dropping the a before tánka, we have changed the name to _Big Water_.

I sit once more on breezy shore, at sunset in this glorious June. I hear the dip of gleaming oar. I list the singer's merry tune. Beneath my feet the waters beat and ripple on the polished stones. The squirrel chatters from his seat: the bag-pipe beetle hums and drones. The pink and gold in blooming wold,--the green hills mirrored in the lake! The deep, blue waters, zephyr-rolled, along the murmuring pebbles break. The maples screen the ferns, and lean the leafy lindens o'er the deep; The sapphire, set in emerald green, lies like an Orient gem asleep. The crimsoned west glows like the breast of _Rhuddin_ [a] when he pipes in May, As downward droops the sun to rest, and shadows gather on the bay.

[a] The Welsh name for the robin.

In amber sky the swallows fly, and sail and circle o'er the deep; The light-winged night-hawks whir and cry; the silver pike and salmon leap. The rising moon, the woods aboon, looks laughing down on lake and lea; Weird o'er the waters shrills the loon; the high stars twinkle in the sea. From bank and hill the whippowil sends piping forth his flute-like notes, And clear and shrill the answers trill from leafy isles and silver throats. The twinkling light on cape and height; the hum of voices on the shores; The merry laughter on the night; the dip and plash of frolic oars,-- These tell the tale. On hill and dale the cities pour their gay and fair; Along the sapphire lake they sail, and quaff like wine the balmy air.

'Tis well. Of yore from isle and shore the smoke of Indian teepees [a] rose; The hunter plied the silent oar; the forest lay in still repose. The moon-faced maid, in leafy glade, her warrior waited from the chase; The nut-brown, naked children played, and chased the gopher on the grass. The dappled fawn, on wooded lawn, peeped out upon the birch canoe, Swift-gliding in the gray of dawn along the silent waters blue. In yonder tree the great _Wanm-dee_ [b] securely built her spacious nest; The blast that swept the land-locked sea [c] but rocked her clamorous babes to rest. By grassy mere the elk and deer gazed on the hunter as he came; Nor fled with fear from bow or spear;--"so wild were they that they were tame."

[a] Lodges.

[b] Wanm-dee--the war-eagle of the Dakotas.

[c] Lake Superior.

Ah, birch canoe, and hunter, too, have long forsaken lake and shore: He bade his father's bones adieu and turned away forevermore. But still, methinks, on dusky brinks the spirit of the warrior moves; At crystal springs the hunter drinks, and nightly haunts the spot he loves. For oft at night I see the light of lodge-fires on the shadowy shores, And hear the wail some maiden's sprite above her slaughtered warrior pours. I hear the sob on Spirit Knob [a] of Indian mother o'er her child; And on the midnight waters throb her low _yun-he-he's_ [b] weird and wild. And sometimes, too, the light canoe glides like a shadow o'er the deep At midnight, when the moon is low, and all the shores are hushed in sleep.

[a] Spirit Knob is a small hill up on a point in the lake in full view from Wayzata. The spirit of a Dakota mother whose only child was drowned in the lake during a storm, many, many years ago often wails at midnight (so the Dakotas say), on this hill. So they called it _Wa-na-gee Pa-ze-dan_--Spirit Knob. (Literally--little hill of the spirit.)

[b] Pronounced _Yoon-hay-hay_--the exclamation used by Dakota women in their lament for the dead, and equivalent to "woe is me."

Alas--Alas!--for all things pass; and we shall vanish, too, as they; We build our monuments of brass, and granite, but they waste away.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: Called in the Dakota tongue "Hok-sée-win-nâ-pee Wo-hàn-pee"--Virgins Dance (or Feast).]

[Footnote 2: One of the favorite and most exciting games of the Dakotas is ball-playing. A smooth place on the prairie, or in winter, on a frozen lake or river, is chosen. Each player has a sort of bat, called "Tâ-kée-cha-psé-cha," about thirty two inches long with a hoop at the lower end four or five inches in diameter, interlaced with thongs of deer-skin, forming a sort of pocket. With these bats they catch and throw the ball. Stakes are set as bounds at a considerable distance from the centre on either side. Two parties are then formed, and each chooses a leader or chief. The ball (Tâ-pa) is then thrown up half way between the bounds, and the game begins, the contestants contending with their bats for the ball as it falls. When one succeeds in getting it fairly in the pocket of his bat he swings it aloft and throws it as far as he can towards the bound to which his party is working, taking care to send it, if possible, where some of his own side will take it up. Thus the ball is thrown and contended for till one party succeeds in casting it beyond the bound of the opposite party. A hundred players on a side are sometimes engaged in this exciting game. Betting on the result often runs high. Moccasins, pipes, knives, hatchets, blankets, robes and guns are hung on the prize-pole. Not unfrequently horses are staked on the issue, and sometimes even women. Old men and mothers are among the spectators praising their swift-footed sons, and young wives and maidens are there to stimulate their husbands and lovers. This game is not confined to the warriors, but is also a favorite amusement of the Dakota maidens who generally play for prizes offered by the chief or warriors. See Neill's Hist. Minn. pp 74-5; Riggs' "Tâkoo Wakân," pp 44-5, and Mrs Eastman's Dacotah, p 55.]

[Footnote 3: Pronounced Wah-zeé-yah. The god of the North, or Winter. A fabled spirit who dwells in the frozen North, in a great teepee of ice and snow. From his mouth and nostrils he blows the cold blasts of winter. He and "I-tó-ka-ga Wi-câs-ta"--the spirit or god of the South (literally the "South Man"), are inveterate enemies, and always on the war-path against each other. In winter Wa-zí-ya advances southward and drives "I-tó-ka-ga Wi-câs-ta" before him to the Summer-Islands. But in Spring the god of the South, having renewed his youth and strength, in the "Happy Hunting Grounds," is able to drive Wa-zí-ya back again to his icy wigwam in the North. Some Dakotas say that the numerous granite boulders, scattered over the prairies of Minnesota and Dakota, were hurled in battle by Wa-zí-ya from his home in the North at "I-tó-ka-ga Wi-câs-ta." The Wa-zí-ya of the Dakotas is substantially the name as "_Ka-be-bón-ik-ka_"--the "Winter-maker" of the Ojibways.]

[Footnote 4: Mendota--(meeting of the waters) at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. See view of the valley—front cut. The true Dakota word is Mdó tè--applied to the mouth of a river flowing into another,--also to the outlet of a lake.]

[Footnote 5: Pronounced Wee-wâh-stay; literally--a beautiful virgin, or woman.]

[Footnote 6: Cetân-wa-ká-wa-mâni--"He who shoots pigeon-hawks walking"--was the full Dakota name of the grandfather of the celebrated "Little Crow" (Ta-ó-ya-te-dú-ta.--His Red People) who led his warriors in the terrible outbreak in Minnesota in 1862-3. The Chippewas called the grandfather "Kâ-kâ-keé"--crow or raven--from his war-badge, a crow-skin; and hence the French traders and _courriers du bois_ called him "_Petit Corbeau_"--Little Crow. This sobriquet, of which he was proud, descended to his son, Wakínyan Tânka--Big Thunder, who succeeded him as chief; and from Big Thunder to his son Ta-ó-ya-te-dú-ta, who became chief on the death of Wakínyan Tânka. These several "Little Crows" were successively Chiefs of the Light-foot, or Kapóza band of Dakotas. Kapóza, the principal village of this band, was originally located on the east bank of the Mississippi near the site of the city of St. Paul. Col. Minn. Hist. Soc., 1864, p. 29. It was in later years moved to the west bank. The grandfather, whom I, for short, call Wakâwa, died the death of a brave in battle against the Ojibways (commonly called Chippewas)--the hereditary enemies of the Dakotas. Wakínyan Tânka.--Big Thunder, was killed by the accidental discharge of his own gun. They were both buried with their kindred near the "Wakan Teepee," the sacred Cave--(Carver's Cave). Ta-ó-ya-te-dú-ta, the last of the Little Crows, was killed July 3, 1863, near Hutchinson, Minnesota, by one Lamson, and his bones were duly "done up" for the Historical Society of Minnesota. For a part of the foregoing information I am indebted to Gen. H. H. Sibley. See Heard's Hist. Sioux War, and Neill's Hist. Minnesota, Third Edition.]

[Footnote 7: Hârps-te-nâh. The first-born _daughter_ of a Dakota is called Winona; the second, Hârpen; the third, Hârpstinâ; the fourth. Wâska; the fifth, Wehârka. The first born _son_ is called Chaskè; the second, Hârpam; the third, Hapéda; the fourth, Châtun; the fifth, Hârka. They retain these names till others are given them on account of some action, peculiarity, etc. The females often retain their child-names through life.]

[Footnote 8: Wah-pah-sâh was the hereditary name of a long and illustrious lineof Dakota Chiefs. Wabashaw is a corrupt pronounciation. The name is a contraction of "Wâ-pa-hâ-sa," which is from "Wâ-ha-pa," the standard or pole used in the Dakota dances, and upon which feathers of various colors are tied, and not from "Wâ-pa"--leaf or leaves, as has been generally supposed. Therefore Wâpasa means the Standard--and not the "Leaf-Shaker," as many writers have it. The principal village of these hereditary Chiefs was Ke-úk-sa, or Ke-ó-sa,--where now stands the fair city of Winona. Ke-úk-sa signifies--The village of law-breakers; so-called because this band broke the law or custom of the Dakotas against marrying blood relatives of any degree. I get this information from Rev. Stephen R. Riggs, author of the Dakota Grammar and Dictionary, "_Takoo Wakan_," etc. Wapasa, grandfather of the last Chief of that name, and a contemporary of Cetan-Wa-kâ-wa-mâni, was a noted Chief, and a friend of the British in the war of the Revolution. Neill's Hist. Minn., pp. 225-9.]

[Footnote 9: E-hó, E-tó--Exclamations of surprise and delight.]

[Footnote 10: Mah-gâh--The wild-goose.]

[Footnote 11: Teé-peé--A lodge or wigwam, often contracted to "tee."]

[Footnote 12: Pronounced Mahr-peé-yah-doó-tah--literally, Cloud Red.]

[Footnote 13: Pronounced Wahnmdeé--The War-Eagle. Each feather worn by a warrior represents an enemy slain or captured--man, woman or child; but the Dakotas, before they became desperate under the cruel warfare of their enemies, generally spared the lives of their captives, and never killed women or infants, except in rare instances, under the _lex talionis_. Neill's Hist. Minn., p. 112.]

[Footnote 14: Mah-tó--The polar bear--_ursus maritimus_. The Dakotas say that, in olden times, white bears were often found about Rainy Lake and the Lake of the Woods, in winter, and sometimes as far south as the mouth of the Minnesota. They say one was once killed at White Bear Lake (but a few miles from St. Paul and Minneapolis), and they therefore named the lake Medé Mató--White Bear Lake.]

[Footnote 15: The Hó-hé (Hó-hây) are the Assiniboins or "Stone-roasters." Their home is the region of the Assiniboin river in British America. They speak the Dakota tongue, and originally were a band of that nation. Tradition says a Dakota "Helen" was the cause of the separation and a bloody feud that lasted for many years. The Hohés are called "Stone roasters," because, until recently at least, they used "Wa-ta-pe" kettles and vessels made of birch bark in which they cooked their food. They boiled water in these vessels by heating stones and putting them in the water. The "wa-ta-pe" kettle is made of the fibrous roots of the white cedar, interlaced and tightly woven. When the vessel is soaked it becomes watertight. (Footnote Snelling's) Tales of the North west, p 21. Mackenzie's Travels.]

[Footnote 16: Hey-ó-ka is one of the principal Dakota deities. He is a Giant, but can change himself into a buffalo, a bear, a fish or a bird. He is called the Anti-natural God or Spirit. In summer he shivers with cold, in winter he suffers from heat; he cries when he laughs and he laughs when he cries, &c. He is the reverse of nature in all things. Heyóka is universally feared and reverenced by the Dakotas, but so severe is the ordeal that the Heyóka Wacípee (the dance to Heyóka) is now rarely celebrated. It is said that the "Medicine-men" use a secret preparation which enables them to handle fire and dip their hands in boiling water without injury, and thereby gain great _eclat_ from the uninitiated. The chiefs and the leading warriors usually belong to the secret order of "Medicine-men," or "Sons of Unktéhee"--the Spirit of the Waters.]

[Footnote 17: The Dakota name for the moon is Han-yé-tu-wee--literally, Night-Sun. He is the twin brother of An-pé-tu-wee--the Day Sun. See note 70.]

[Footnote 18: The Dakotas believe that the stars are the spirits of their departed friends.]

[Footnote 19: Tee--Contracted from teepee, lodge or wigwam, and means the same.]

[Footnote 20: For all their sacred feasts the Dakotas kindle a new fire called "The Virgin Fire." This is done with flint and steel, or by rubbing together pieces of wood till friction produces fire. It must be done by a virgin, nor must any woman, except a virgin, ever touch the "sacred armor" of a Dakota warrior. White cedar is "Wakân"--sacred. See note 50. Riggs' "Tahkoo Wakân," p. 84.]

[Footnote 21: All Northern Indians consider the East a mysterious and sacred land whence comes the sun. The Dakota name for the East is Wee-yo-heé-yan-pa--the sunrise. The Ojibways call it Waub-ó-nong--the white land or land of light, and they have many myths, legends and traditions relating thereto. Barbarous peoples of all times have regarded the East with superstitious reverence, simply because the sun rises in that quarter.]

[Footnote 22: See Mrs. Eastman's Dacotah, pp. 225-8, describing the feast to Heyóka.]

[Footnote 23: This stone from which the Dakotas have made their pipes for ages, is esteemed "wakân"--sacred. They call it I-yân-ska, probably from "íya," to speak, and "ska," white, truthful, peaceful,--hence, peace-pipe, herald of peace, pledge of truth, etc. In the cabinet at Albany, N.Y., there is a very ancient pipe of this material which the Iroquois obtained from the Dakotas. Charlevoix speaks of this pipe-stone in his History of New France. LeSueur refers to the Yanktons as the village of the Dakotas at the Red-Stone Quarry, See Neill's Hist. Minn., p. 514.]

[Footnote 24: "Ho" is an exclamation of approval—-yea, yes, bravo.]

[Footnote 25: Buying is the honorable way of taking a wife among the Dakotas. The proposed husband usually gives a horse or its, value in other articles to the father or natural guardian of the woman selected--sometimes against her will. See note 75.]

[Footnote 26: The Dakotas believe that the _Aurora Borealis_ is an evil omen and the threatening of an evil spirit, (perhaps Wazíya, the Winter-god--some say a witch, or a very ugly old woman). When the lights appear, danger threatens, and the warriors shoot at, and often slay, the evil spirit, but it rises from the dead again.]

[Footnote 27: Se-só-kah--The Robin.]

[Footnote 28: The spirit of Anpétu-sâpa that haunts the Falls of St. Anthony with her dead babe in her arms. See the Legend in Neill's Hist. Minn., or my "Legend of the Falls."]

[Footnote 29: Mee-coónk-shee--My daughter.]

[Footnote 30: The Dakotas call the meteor, "Wakân-denda" (sacred fire) and Wakân-wohlpa (sacred gift.) Meteors are messengers from the Land of Spirits, warning of impending danger. It is a curious fact that the "sacred stone" of the Mohammedans, in the Kaaba at Mecca, is a meteoric stone, and obtains its sacred character from the fact that it fell from heaven. 31: Kah-nó-te-dahn--The little, mysterious dweller in the woods. This spirit lives in the forest in hollow trees. Mrs. Eastman's Dacotah, Pre. Rem. xxxi. "The Dakota god of the woods--an unknown animal said to resemble a man, which the Dakotas worship; perhaps, the monkey." Riggs' Dakota Dic. Tit--_Canotidan_.]

[Footnote 32: The Dakotas believe that thunder is produced by the flapping of the wings of an immense bird which they call Wakínyan--the Thunder-bird. Near the source of the Minnesota River is a place called "Thunder-Tracks" where the foot-prints of a "Thunder-bird" are seen on the rocks twenty-five miles apart. Mrs. Eastman's Dacotah, p. 71. There are many Thunder-birds. The father of all the Thunder-birds--"Wakínyan Tanka"--or "Big Thunder," has his teepee on a lofty mountain in the far West. His teepee has four openings, at each of which is a sentinel; at the east, a butterfly; at the west, a bear; at the south, a red deer; at the north, a caribou. He has a bitter enmity against Unktéhee (god of waters) and often shoots his fiery arrows at him, and hits the earth, trees, rocks, and sometimes men. Wakínyan created wild-rice, the bow and arrow, the tomahawk and the spear. He is a great war-spirit, and Wanmdée (the war-eagle) is his messenger. A Thunder-bird (say the Dakotas) was once killed near Kapóza by the son of Cetan-Wakawa-mâni, and he there upon took the name of "Wakínyan Tanka"--"Big Thunder."]

[Footnote 33: Pronounced Tah-tâhn-kah--Bison or Buffalo.]

[Footnote 34: Enâh--An exclamation of wonder. Ehó--Behold! see there!]

[Footnote 35: The Crees are the Knisteneaux of Alexander Mackenzie. See his account of them, Mackenzie's Travels, (London 1801) p. xci. to cvii.]

[Footnote 36: Lake Superior. The only names the Dakotas have for Lake Superior are Medé Tânka or Tânka Medé--Great Lake, and Me-ne-yâ-ta--literally, _At-the-Water_.]

[Footnote 37: April--Literally, the moon when the geese lay eggs. See note 71.]