A Warriors Daughter

A Warrior's Daughter.
By Zitkala-Sa
1902

In the afternoon shadow of a large teepee, with red-painted smoke
lapels, sat a warrior father with crossed shins. His head was so poised
that his eye swept easily the vast level land to the eastern horizon line.
He was the chieftain's bravest warrior. He had won by heroic deeds the
privilege of staking his wigwam within the great circle of teepees.
He was also one of the most generous gift givers to the toothless old
people. For this he was entitled to the red-painted smoke lapels on his
cone-shaped dwelling. He was proud of his honors. He never wearied
of rehearsing nightly his own brave deeds. Though by wigwam fires he
prated much of his high rank and widespread fame, his great joy was a
wee black-eyed daughter of eight sturdy winters. Thus as he sat upon
the soft grass with his wife at his side, bent over her bead work, he was
singing a dance song, and beat lightly the rhythm with his slender
hands.
His shrewd eyes softened with pleasure as he watched the easy
movements of the small body dancing on the green before him.
Tusee is taking her first dancing lesson. Her tightly-braided hair curves
over both brown ears like a pair of crooked little horns which glisten in
the summer sun.
With her snugly moccasined feet close together, and a wee hand at her
belt to stay the long string of beads which hang from her bare neck, she
bends her knees gently to the rhythm of her father's voice.

Now she ventures upon the earnest movement, slightly upward and
sidewise, in a circle. At length the song drops into a closing cadence,
and the little woman, clad in beaded deerskin, sits down beside the
elder one. Like her mother, she sits upon her feet. In a brief moment the
warrior repeats the last refrain. Again Tusee springs to her feet and
dances to the swing of the few final measures.
Just as the dance was finished, an elderly man, with short, thick hair
loose about his square shoulders, rode into their presence from the rear,
and leaped lightly from his pony's back. Dropping the rawhide rein to
the ground, he tossed himself lazily on the grass. "Hunhe, you have
returned soon," said the warrior, while extending a hand to his little
daughter.
Quickly the child ran to her father's side and cuddled close to him,
while he tenderly placed a strong arm about her. Both father and child,
eyeing the figure on the grass, waited to hear the man's report.
"It is true," began the man, with a stranger's accent. "This is the night of
the dance."
"Hunha!" muttered the warrior with some surprise.
Propping himself upon his elbows, the man raised his face. His features
were of the Southern type. From an enemy's camp he was taken captive
long years ago by Tusee's father. But the unusual qualities of the slave
had won the Sioux warrior's heart, and for the last three winters the
man had had his freedom. He was made real man again. His hair was
allowed to grow. However, he himself had chosen to stay in the
warrior's family.
"Hunha!" again ejaculated the warrior father. Then turning to his little
daughter, he asked, "Tusee, do you hear that?"
"Yes, father, and I am going to dance to-night!"
With these words she bounded out of his arm and frolicked about in
glee. Hereupon the proud mother's voice rang out in a chiding laugh.

"My child, in honor of your first dance your father must give a
generous gift. His ponies are wild, and roam beyond the great hill. Pray,
what has he fit to offer?" she questioned, the pair of puzzled eyes fixed
upon her.
"A pony from the herd, mother, a fleet-footed pony from the herd!"
Tusee shouted with sudden inspiration.
Pointing a small forefinger toward the man lying on the grass, she cried,
"Uncle, you will go after the pony to-morrow!" And pleased with her
solution of the problem, she skipped wildly about. Her childish faith in
her elders was not conditioned by a knowledge of human limitations,
but thought all things possible to grown-ups.
"Hähob!" exclaimed the mother, with a rising inflection, implying by
the expletive that her child's buoyant spirit be not weighted with a
denial.
Quickly to the hard request the man replied, "How! I go if Tusee tells
me so!"
This delighted the little one, whose black eyes brimmed over with light.
Standing in front of the strong man, she clapped her small, brown
hands with joy.
"That makes me glad! My heart is good! Go, uncle, and bring a
handsome pony!" she cried. In an instant she would have frisked away,
but an impulse held her tilting where