Old Indian Days | Page 3

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OLD INDIAN DAYS

BY CHARLES A. EASTMAN (Ohiyesa)

To My Daughters DORA, IRENE, VIRGINIA, ELEANOR, AND FLORENCE I Dedicate these Stories of the Old Indian Life, and especially of the Courageous and Womanly Indian Woman
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION

PART I. THE WARRIOR
I. THE LOVE OF ANTELOPE II. THE MADNESS OF BALD EAGLE III. THE SINGING SPIRIT IV. THE FAMINE V. THE CHIEF SOLDIER VI. THE WHITE MAN'S ERRAND VII. THE GRAVE OF THE DOG

PART II. THE WOMAN
I. WINONA, THE WOMAN-CHILD II. WINONA, THE CHILD-WOMAN III. SNANA'S FAWN IV. SHE-WHO-HAS-A-SOUL V. THE PEACE-MAKER VI. BLUE SKY VII. THE FAITHFULNESS OF LONG EARS VIII. THE WAR MAIDEN
GLOSSARY

PART ONE
THE WARRIOR

I
THE LOVE OF ANTELOPE
I Upon a hanging precipice atop of the Eagle Scout Butte there appeared a motionless and solitary figure--almost eagle-like he perched! The people in the camp below saw him, but none looked at him long. They turned their heads quickly away with a nervous tingling, for the height above the plains was great. Almost spirit-like among the upper clouds the young warrior sat immovable.
It was Antelope. He was fasting and seek- ing a sign from the "Great Mystery," for such was the first step of the young and ambitious Sioux [who wished to be a noted warrior among his people.
He is a princely youth, among the wild Sioux, who hunts for his tribe and not for him- self! His voice is soft and low at the camp- fire of his nation, but terror-giving in the field of battle. Such was Antelope's reputation. The more he sought the "Great Mystery" in solitude, the more gentle and retiring he be- came, and in the same proportion his courage and manliness grew. None could say that he was not a kind son and a good hunter, for he had already passed the "two-arrow-to-kill," his buffalo examination.
On a hot midsummer morning a few weeks later, while most of the inmates of the teepees were breakfasting in the open air, the powerful voice of the herald resounded among the pine- clad heights and green valleys.
"Hear ye, hear ye, warriors!" he chanted loudly. "The council has decreed that four brave young men must scout the country to the sunsetward of the camp, for the peace and protection of our people!"
All listened eagerly for the names of the chosen warriors, and in another moment there came the sonorous call: "Antelope, Ante- lope! the council has selected you!"
The camp was large--fully four hundred paces across; but in that country, in the clear morning air, such an announcement can be heard a great way, and in the silence that fol- lowed the hills repeated over and over the mu- sical name of Antelope.
In due time the four chosen youths appeared before the council fire. The oath of the pipe was administered, and each took a few whiffs as reverently as a Churchman would partake of the sacrament. The chief of the council, who was old and of a striking appearance, gave the charge and command to the youthful braves.
There was a score or more of warriors ready mounted to escort them beyond the precincts of the camp, and the "fearless heart" song was sung according to the custom, as the four ran lightly from the door of the council teepee and disappeared in the woods.
It was a peculiarly trying and hazardous moment in which to perform the duties of a scout. The Sioux were encroaching upon the territory of hostile tribes, here in the foot-hills of the Big Horn Mountains, and now and then one of their hunters was cut off by the enemy. If continual vigilance could not save them, it might soon become necessary to retreat to their own hunting-grounds.
It was a savage fetish that a warrior must be proof against the alluring ways of pretty maidens; that he must place his honor far above the temptations of self-indulgence and indolence. Cold, hunger, and personal hard- ship did not count with Antelope when there was required of him any special exertion for the common good. It was cause to him of secret satisfaction that the council-men had se- lected him for a dangerous service in prefer- ence to some of his rivals and comrades.
He had been running for two or three hours at a good, even gait, and had crossed more than one of the smaller creeks, yet many deep gulches and bad lands lay between him and the furthest peak that melted into the blue dome above.
"I shall stand upon the Bear's Heart," he said to himself. "If I can do that, and still report before the others, I shall do well!" His keen eyes were constantly sweeping the country in his front, and suddenly he paused