Plenty Proud

by Jeanie P Johnson

  Then he tied a strip of cloth around their thumbs, and Eagle Eye led Mackenzie off, leading his horse behind them. The village began singing love songs, chanting, playing love flutes and beating their drums while dancing around the fire in celebration. The young braves were dreaming of when they would take a wife while the young women anticipated being asked to become a brave’s wife. However, the husband and wife did not join the celebration. They returned to their tepee to begin their married life together, as they listened to the chanting and drums that would continue throughout the night because the Sioux people loved dancing and singing.

  When Eagle Eye brought Mackenzie into the Tepee, the fire under the tub had already gone out. Mackenzie dipped her hand in the water to feel it, and smiled.

  “Your bath awaits you,” she said. “And I have a surprise for you,” she told him as she brought out a bar of soap. She brought it to his nose to smell. “It is called soap and will make you smell fresh and clean when it is used.”

  Eagle Eye grinned at her, as he began removing his shirt. When he stepped into the tub, his grin broadened. “I think I am going to like this white man’s tub,” he told her. “Remove your clothes so I can look upon you,” he said, and she obeyed. “Now, come bathe me as you promised to do,” he murmured softly, and as she knelt beside the tub, he pulled her head to him and consumed her lips, as her hand slid under the water clutching the bar of soap.

  Although Mackenzie had made love to both Plenty Proud and Eagle Eye, she had never actually touched them intimately, and this was a whole new experience for her. She found she loved the feel of Eagle Eye’s strong body beneath her fingers as she smoothed the soap over his skin. He encouraged her to touch him more, bringing her hand to where he waited for her touch, sighing at the very feel of her finger tips upon the part of him that longed to express all of his love for her.

  He gave a low laugh, and then he was pulling her into the tub on top of him, laughing as she squealed in surprise. “It seems this tub is big enough for the both of us after all,” he chuckled as he hugged her bare skin against him. The water sloshed out of the tub, as they embraced each other, extinguishing whatever coals had continued to burn, and causing them to hiss as the smoke and steam rose together around the tub.

  Then Eagle Eye was standing with her in his arms, carrying her to the buffalo robes, and laying her down, as his mouth began to drink the drops of water from her skin. Mackenzie purred in response as Eagle Eye slowly became reacquainted with her every curve.

  Mackenzie’s desires rose with each touch, giving her new husband free rein to direct the course of their love-making. Eagle Eye took his time, exploring his new wife’s body, discovering all the places she enjoyed being touched, and introducing her to his deepest desires as well. They both smelled of sweet lavender soap, and the smell would ever bring to memory the moments they began to share together, learning to become one, as they were told to become. Each discovered the other in the expected way a man and wife should, holding nothing back, determined to please one another in every way.

  Mackenzie was carried away to a height she had not experienced before with either Eagle Eye or Plenty Proud, and she knew it was because what they were sharing was supposed to be shared instead of just stolen because of their attraction to each other. She was willing to give herself more than completely, because now her heart and soul was involved, and she knew this would last forever. All thoughts of Plenty Proud vanished from her mind, and now her thoughts, soul, and body was filled only by Eagle Eye and the love he was pouring out on her. She realized then that becoming Eagle Eye’s wife had been the right choice to make.

  Making the biscuits or even the white man’s bread had been completely forgotten. The Water in the tub turned cold, and a new fire was never lit in the center of the tepee. Instead the two lovers were kept warm throughout the night, as they matched the other in showing how much they loved each other. At last the words tumbled from Mackenzie’s mouth.

  “I love you, Eagle Eye. I may never forget Plenty Proud, only you have shown me true love. I shall honor you until the day you die, which I hope will never come as long as I am alive,” she whispered.

  “I will be here to make you happy, as the chief has told us a husband must do. Only I do not do it as an obligation to the one I love, but because I always wish to see you happy. You will not be sorry for becoming my wife,” he promised.

  Mackenzie and Eagle Eye fell asleep in each other’s arms, and when morning came, they began their love making all over again. Then they went to the river to have their morning bath, playing and frolicking in the water like children, and Mackenzie had never felt happier in her life. She decided she was going to enjoy being Eagle Eyes wife.

  However, her heart fell a little when she noticed Plenty Proud at a distance watching them bathe and play in the water together. She paused in their game, and took Eagle Eye into her arms and kissed him. She wanted Plenty Proud to know she was getting over the love she had felt for him. At least, she told herself that. She wondered how it was possible to love two men at the same time. It helped her understand how a brave could have two wives and love them both.

  When she looked up again, Plenty Proud was no longer there, she couldn’t understand why it made her sad. After all, she loved Eagle Eye, and he was her husband now.

  When they returned to the Tepee, Mackenzie started taking her duty as a wife seriously. “I will start to make the bread now,” she told Eagle Eye. “Then we can eat it for the evening meal. It will take most of the day for it to rise and be ready to put in the loaf pans I brought and then rise again. In the meantime, while the bread rises, I will make biscuits and we can have biscuits and jam for breakfast,” she smiled.

  Eagle Eye also smiled and nodded. He felt all was well now and life could go on the way it was meant to be. Now he had a wife and a child to look forward to. He was positive it was his own child, and even if it wasn’t, he would love it as though it was his own child.

  They ate the biscuits and jam together, and Eagle Eye believed he had never tasted anything so good. “Can you make more when this is gone?” he asked.

  “Only, if I can get sugar from the trading post and a big pot to cook it in. I can reuse the jars to put it in, once it is made. When I sold all my household belongings, I had extra money left over. When we go to the trading post again, I will get the things we need. Only we will have to find a lot of berries to make more jam with.”

  “Many berries grow here in the summer. The women gather them and dry them to eat during the winter,” Eagle Eye told her.

  “I can also make pie with berries,” Mackenzie told him. “I can’t tell you how much having an oven to bake in will make a difference in what one can cook.”

  “Then I am happy you brought it,” Eagle Eye smiled.

  Later, after the bread was baked, Mackenzie approached Eagle Eye. “I wish to take a loaf of bread over to Plenty Proud’s family, and give them the gifts I brought with me. I want us to be friends, even if Plenty Proud has turned his back on you. It is not my fault he chose to take Little Bird as his wife before I had a chance to return to him. He should not hate me because of it.”

  “You may do it with my blessing,” Eagle Eye told her, “but I must remain so it does not anger Plenty Proud even more.”

  “I won’t be long,” she smiled, wrapping the bread in a dishtowel she had brought with her, and putting it, along with her other gifts in a basket, she placed over her arm.

  When she reached Plenty Proud’s tepee, she knew the family was gathered for their evening meal. She called out and White Wing opened the flap of the Tepee.

  “I have brought something for you,” she told White Wing. “I wish to thank your family for taking me in when I needed it most.”

  White Wing smiled at Mackenzie. She was happy the way things had turned out because now her son was the husband of her old girlfriend’s daughter and it made her heart happy. She was glad Firelight had gone with Eagle Eye, and that she was now his
wife instead.

  “Come into our Tepee,” she said. “You are welcome here.”

  When she entered, Plenty Proud frowned up at her, but Little Bird smiled happily. Because of Firelight, she had the man she loved. She only worried because she feared Plenty Proud had loved Firelight more than he could learn to love her.

  “I have brought you gifts,” Mackenzie said. She brought out the loaf of bread and set it with the food they were getting ready to eat. “I have baked you white man’s bread. I hope you like it. Also I have brought you other gifts, which I chose before I came back, wanting to thank you for taking me in.”

  She handed Springwater the pouch of tobacco she had gotten him, causing him to smile broadly at her. Then she gave White Wing a shawl.

  “This Shawl belonged to my own mother,” she told White Wing. “I consider you a mother, even though I have not become your son’s wife. I have no mother now and you are the only other mother I have known. I hope we can remain friends.”

  Then she turned to Little Bird and gave her the combs for her hair, placing them in her hair, the cut glass along the edge, sparkled against Little Bird’s dark strands.

  “I hope we can become like sisters,” Mackenzie said. “I never had a sister. I wish you happiness with Plenty Proud because I love both of you.”

  Then she came to Plenty Proud. “I am sorry I had to leave you, only I had to discover if my father and brother had returned to our home. Had they been there, I probably never would have come back, so it is good you took Little Bird for your wife so you could find some happiness. My love for you is still remains, only I am Eagle Eye’s wife now and must honor him. I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive him for trying to take me home. It was I who insisted he do it, and it almost cost him his life. He wanted to honor you as a friend and regrets that he displeased you.”

  She handed him a black hat with a feather in the band. “This hat belonged to my brother, whom I probably will never see again. I hope you can become like a brother to me.”

  Then Mackenzie bowed her head, and left the Tepee. She did not want to stay and see the sadness in Plenty Proud’s eyes, because she feared she would break down crying and embarrass herself.

  As Mackenzie started to walk away from the tepee, she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to find Plenty Proud. He held the hat out to her. “I cannot take your gift,” he mumbled. “It is not right I be as your brother. Though Little Bird is my wife now, my love for you will always be strong. Only your husband is no longer my friend. As long as you are with him, I cannot be your friend or brother.”

  He placed the hat on her head, and started to turn away.

  “It is cruel of you to turn your back on us like this,” Mackenzie cried. “I thought you had more honor than that! I am glad it is Eagle Eye I chose instead of you, if this is the way you are going to act. I do not treat your wife with disdain, even though I wanted to come back to you and you could not wait to take her instead of me. You vowed to remain like the girl in the myth, never to take a wife if I left you. I can see that was just empty talk. Do as you please, but now you have lost any love I had left for you!”

  Then she turned as the tears spilled over her lids and ran from his sight, knowing nothing could be changed. The hat fell from her head because it was too big, but she didn’t stop to pick it up. If he had only waited, she moaned inside. She pushed the lost hope aside and returned to Eagle Eye’s tepee. He had been right. Plenty Proud was stubborn in his anger at both of them.

  Plenty Proud picked the hat up and dusted it off, holding it in his hands as he watched Firelight flee from his sight. She had been right. He was being cruel, only the pain he felt inside consumed him and he didn’t know what else to do. He put the hat on his own head, knowing it would only make him miserable knowing Firelight would only consider him a brother. Yet, what else could she do? She was tied to Eagle Eye now and adultery was forbidden. The punishment was death, banishment, or the cutting off of a wife’s nose. There was always hope that Eagle Eye might divorce her. A very slim hope, considering he knew that Eagle Eye loved her, and he was still tied to Little Bird. She had just told him that morning that she believed she was with child. Now, he must honor that too. It was better he shunned Firelight so he wouldn’t have to fight against the love he still felt for her. He didn’t know if it would do much good, though. The very thought of Eagle Eye making love to her filled him with rage and anguish, yet there was nothing he could do about it.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  As the days began to pass, Mackenzie settled into the regular routine of village life. The women busied themselves with preparing food, brought in wood and water, dried the meat, and dressed the robes, tanned hides, made useful objects from the hides, such as leggings, dresses, shirts and moccasins. Bead work was labored over by those women that had the patience and talent.

  The women had been trained in sewing from early childhood, using beads, porcupine quills, bird quills, grasses, paints, ermine tails, fringes from other fine furs, small animal and bird bones, bars of metal, bells, braided hair, and fleeces, which were all available to utilize in the making of articles,.

  Mackenzie learned that the women made clothes in the traditions of art and crafts that were old and rigid. As with a man’s duties, religious rituals guaranteed the quality, and were a part of every task. The older women either taught or sold their skills to the younger women. A specialized item such as a chief’s gift, or even some steps in the making of an ordinary item, might be forbidden to any but those who had the right to make them.

  The young boys watched the horses and the braves trained their horses in between going on regular hunts to furnish their personal families with food. The society clubs policed the village, discussed the running of the tribe whether it be raids, ceremonies, buffalo hunts, or vision quests. When the men were not occupied with other things, they put their energy into making weapons and practiced using them in war-games, which to Mackenzie seemed rather dangerous since they did all but kill their companions with challenging each other’s skills.

  The women gathered early berries and roots, along with sweet-smelling leaves which were gathered and preserved, especially during the ‘Moon of the Ripe June Berries’.

  Men would paint their tepee, sometimes putting pictures on them that they had found in an enemy’s village, to prove their success of managing to sneak in and touch one of the tepees which had the painting on it, and escaping with their lives. It was a risky, dangerous, occupation the braves participated in to hone their skills, because if they were caught by the enemy, they would certainly be killed.

  Sometimes small buffalo hunts would take place if there was a herd passing through, and all the young braves, who had never hunted before, were given the privilege of taking part in the small buffalo hunts. They would celebrate their first kill by leaping off of their horse, cutting out the buffalo’s liver and eating it raw.

  The ceremonies were without end, dances to bring the buffalo or to propitiate some supernatural appointed time, private magic or gopher dust that required the cooperation of neighbors, fraternity rites, lodge meetings, supplications for aphrodisiacs, and commemoration of the heroes. Village criers were always summoning emergency assemblies to meet special situations. Medicine men were usually yelling and clattering rattles to chase diseases out of the sick. Day or night there was no escape from the drums, and thumping of moccasin covered feet, accompanied with singing that was just ‘hi-ya” in Indian scales. Because the Sioux loved to dance and sing so much, it seemed they chose to do it constantly.

  In the evening, the aged warriors gathered the children and anyone else who wished to listen and told endless stories of their noble performances in days gone by. There was even another, and perhaps more important, kind of storytelling going on. The tribe had a historian who considered it his sacred duty to instruct selected young men carefully in the traditions of the Indian nation, just as his own teachers had taught him. The pupils would gather in the lodges, and
the old man would repeat in words and actions the captivating tales again and again, until at last the students had committed them to memory, so some day they could also pass on the information to a younger generation.

  Mackenzie knew how to sew, but she knew nothing about making Indian clothing or doing bead work, so she occupied herself with what she knew best in helping with the village chores, and that was scraping and tanning hides. It was hard, time-consuming labor, but after living with Griz, she had become used to hard labor. She mostly stayed to herself since she couldn’t speak the Sioux language, and Eagle Eye was usually gone during the day, taking care of his own chores, and no telling what else.

  When she wasn’t doing work in the village, such as gathering wood, and collecting berries, herbs, and roots, with the other women, she took care of making meals, baking bread, and doing her own kind of needle work, which was embroidering.

  When the members of the tribe learned of her ability to bake white man’s bread, Indian wives would come to her tepee and offer to trade their talented creations for a loaf of her bread. She always made extra loafs to be sure to have enough to use for trading.

  She had brought some of her old clothes and sewing supplies so she could make her future baby clothes with the material. She also brought old flour sacks with her to make into diapers. Eagle eye told her, they did not dress their babies. They merely put cattail cotton between their legs, and wrapped them in soft doeskin robes, then put them in a cradle board so they would feel snug and safe, changing the cotton when necessary. When they were able to toddle around, then they would have clothes to wear, he explained.

  “Well, I am sorry,” Mackenzie informed him, “while I don’t mind putting my baby in a cradle board, it will wear something other than cattail cotton.”

  “It is the custom for the father’s sister to make a cradle board for a new mother, only my father had no sisters.”