Stone Song

by Win Blevins

  Otherwise we have facts but not truth. For no record is complete enough, or trustworthy enough, to give us a person’s spirit. That lies within reach only of the artist, not the analyst. In the end it is not right because it satisfies the mind but because it satisfies the spirit.

  In this book I have treated the record with scrupulous fidelity. I have read the books and the archival materials. I have consulted closely with Lakota people and studied their oral traditions about their great warrior. Yet I have also gone beyond the record. In the last months of composition I have dreamed of His Crazy Horse many nights. Those dreams, in the broadest sense of the word dream, are the breath of these pages, the spirit of the book.

  One example: Ethnologists tell us that most Lakota of His Crazy Horse’s time had spirit guides, animals who were their counselors or models. That spirit guide was at the center of the person’s life. Not to know about a Lakota’s spirit guide would be like not knowing that Billy Graham’s guide is Jesus of Nazareth.

  Though His Crazy Horse, the Strange Man of the Lakota, surely had such a guide, the record only hints at what creature it was. Nor does the record tell us what His Crazy Horse learned from his guide. Striving to reach beyond the facts to the truth, I have given my Strange Man a hawk as a guide, and have put that spirit creature at the very center of his being.

  But the reader objects, “We don’t know that his spirit guide was a hawk.” That’s true. In giving him that friend I speculate. I may be mistaken. In my view, however, not to do it would be both error and cowardice. It would falsify his life utterly.

  This is the freedom that the novelist claims but the biographer dares not.

  Thus: This is a work of imagination. Of dream.

  —Win Blevins

  Jackson Hole

  January 1994

  LAKOTA WORDS AND PHRASES USED IN THIS BOOK

  Note: These commonsense English pronunciations are very approximate, for some Lakota vowel and consonant sounds do not have equivalents in English. The n represents one such sound: It is not pronounced but signals that the preceding vowel is nasalized.

  Pronunciations have changed over time. The ones indicated here aim at representing neither the very old Lakota nor the contemporary language but the speech of the early reservation period. The expression hiye haya is a vocable and so has no translation.

  a-i-i-i an expression or exclamation of anxiety. AH-eeee.

  ake wancinyankin ktelo literally, “until I see you again”; farewell. ah-KAY wahn-CHEEn-yahn-keen k’TAY-loh.

  akicita tribal police; men of a warrior society delegated to keep order. ah-KEE-chee-tah.

  ate father (used to address the biological father and his brothers). ah-TAY.

  Canapegi Wi September, Moon When Leaves Turn Brown. chah-NAH-peh-GHEE wee.

  Canapekasna Wi October, Moon When the Leaves Fall, Moon When the Wind Shakes Off Leaves. chah-NAH-peh-ka-SNAH wee.

  Cannanpopa Wi February, Moon of Popping Trees. chahn-NAHn-poh-pah wee.

  cansasa tobacco (the shredded inner bark of the red willow, red alder, or red dogwood). chahn-SHAH-shah.

  cante heart. chahn-TAY.

  cante ista the (one) eye of the heart. chahn-TAY eesh-TAH.

  canupa pipe. chahn-NOO-pah.

  ce adult penis. CHAY.

  e-i-i-i an expression or exclamation of regret. AY-eeee.

  hai an expression or exclamation indicating startlement. HAH-ee.

  han yes. HAHn.

  hanbleceyapi crying for a vision; vision quest. hahn-BLAY-chee-AH-pee.

  hau welcome; a greeting; literally, “I am listening.” HAH-oo, which sounds like HOW.

  he, he an expression of regret. HAY, HAY.

  hecitu welo (or yelo) an expression or exclamation of affirmation; literally, “that is true.” hay-CHEE-too way-LOH or yay-LOH.

  heyoka thunder dreamer, especially one who, by dreaming of thunder, becomes a contrary, a person who does things backward. hay-YOH-kah.

  hinu, hinu a woman’s expression or exclamation of astonishment. hee-NOO, hee-NOO.

  hokahe a war cry. HOH-kah HAY.

  hoye expression or exclamation of assent. ho-YAY.

  hu ikhpeya wicayapo an expression or exclamation calling for total defeat of enemy, including buggery. hoo EE-k’pay-yah wee-CHAH-yah-poh.

  hunhunhe a man’s expression or exclamation of sorrow, astonishment, or apprehension. hoon-hoon-HAY.

  hunka relative by choice. The ceremony by which a person is made your relative is the hunka lowanpi or hunkapi. hoon-KAH.

  Hunkpapa One of the seven council fires of the Lakota, Those Who Camp by the Entrance of the Circle. HOOn-k’pah-pah.

  Hunkpatila His Crazy Horse’s subband of the Oglala. Like Hunkpapa, it means “those who camp by the entrance” but does not refer to one of the seven council fires. HOOn-k’pah-tee-lah.

  inyan stone, pebble. When capitalized, medicine stone. een-YAHn.

  isna tipi the lodge of seclusion during menstruation; literally, “alone lodge.” eesh-NAH tee-pee. See also isnati.

  isnati menstruation. eesh-NAH-tee. See also isna tipi.

  Itazipicola One of the seven council fires of the Lakota, Those Without Bows or the Sans Arcs. ee-TAH-zee-pee-CHOH-lah.

  iyotancila I love you. ee-YOH-tahn-chee-lah.

  Kangi Yuha The Raven Owners, a warrior society. kahn-GHEE yoo-HAH.

  kola friend. KOH-lah.

  leksi maternal uncle. leh-K’SHEE.

  mahpiya sky. Mahpiya Luta, Red Cloud’s name, means “colored sky” or “colored cloud.” mah-K’PEE-yah.

  mahpiyato cloud. Capitalized, it means the Arapaho tribe. mah-K’PEE-yah-toh.

  maka earth. When capitalized, Mother Earth. MAH-kah

  mitakuye oyasin all my relations, or we are all related, a phrase repeated ritually in almost all Lakota prayers and ceremonies. mee-TAH-koo-yeh oi-AH-seen, often elided to mee-TAH-kwee AH-seen.

  mni water. MNEE.

  mni wakan spirit water, whiskey. mnee wah-KAHn.

  Mniconjou One of the seven council fires of the Lakota, Those Who Plant by the River. mnee-KOHn-zhoo.

  nagi, wanagi soul; spiritual self. wah-NAH-gee.

  Oglala One of the seven council fires of the Lakota, Sand Throwers. oh-GLAH-lah.

  Oohenumpa One of the seven council fires of the Lakota, the Two Boilings or Kettles band. oh-oh-HAY-noom-pah.

  opawinge one hundred. oh-PAH-ween-hay.

  Paha Sapa Black Hills (of modern South Dakota and Wyoming). pah-HAH sah-PAH.

  Pani the Pawnee tribe. pah-NEE.

  Pehingnunipi Wi May, Moon of Shedding Ponies. pay-HEEn-g’noo-NEE-pee wee.

  pezuta wicasa healer; herbalist.

  pila maya thank you. The ceremonial phrase was hiye pila maya. pee-LAH mah-YAH.

  Psatoka Crow enemies. Psa alone means “crow.” Or the Absaroka, “the people of the big-beaked bird” (the raven). P’SAH-toh-KAH.

  pte buffalo. p’TAY. The time of pte, the time of the buffalo, is one of the great ages of the earth. The bull is pte bloka, the cow, pte winyela.

  Sahiyela the Cheyenne tribe. shah-HEE-yay-lah.

  Sicangu one of the seven council fire of the Lakota, generally called the Brulés (Burnt Thighs). see-CHAHn-hoo.

  Sihasapa One of the seven council fires of the Lakota, the Blackfoot. see-HAH-sah-PAH.

  sinte tail. sheen-TAY.

  skan spiritual vitality. SHKAHn.

  Taku Skanskan literally, “that which moves all that moves”; spiritual vitality. tah-KOO SHKAHn SHKAHn.

  tanke a man’s term for an older sister. tahn-KAY.

  tasunke his or her horse. tah-SHOOn-kah.

  Tioheynuka Wi January, Moon of Frost in the Lodge. tee-OH-hay-NOO-kah wee.

  tipsila prairie-turnip. TEE-p’see-lah.

  Titunwan Teton, part of the formal name of the Lakota people. tee-TOOn-wahn.

  to a vigorous affirmative, like “damn right!” TOH.

  tonwan spirit, bad spirit. tohn-WAHn.

  tunk
asila grandfather (used for the biological grandfathers and for the ancestors generally and for an approximate equivalent of “God”). toon-KAH-shee-lah.

  unci grandmother. oon-CHEE.

  unse ma la yelo, unse ma la ye a phrase used in prayer—take pity on me. oon-SHAY mah lah yay-LOH.

  wakan sacred, mysterious. wah-KAHn.

  Wakan Tanka the mysterious, the first principle or supreme spirit, the father-creator. wah-KAHn-tahn-kah.

  wakinyan lightning. wah-KEEn-yahn.

  Wakinyan Tanka the thunderbird, or thunder being, the power of the west. wah-KEEn-yahn TAHn-kah.

  wambli eagle. The wambli gleska is the spotted or immature golden eagle, the highest-flying of all creatures and symbol of Wakan Tanka. wahm-BLEE.

  wanh an exclamation of pleased surprise. WAHn.

  Wanicokan Wi December, Midwinter Moon. wah-NEE-choh-kahn wee.

  wanisugna living seed within the shell; creativity. wah-NEE-soo-gnah.

  Waniyetu Wi November, Winter Moon. wah-NEE-yay-too wee.

  wasicu white man; literally, “one who takes the fat” or “one who brings the message” (of the Church). wah-SHEE-choo.

  wasiyuta el unpi those who live among the whites; the loaf-around-the-fort people. wah-SHEE-yoo-tah el oon-PEE.

  Wasutun Wi August, Moon When All Things Ripen. wa-SOO-toon wee.

  Waziya north; the giant that lives in the north. wah-ZEE-yah.

  wi, anpetuwi sun. WEE.

  wicasa man. wee-CHAH-shah.

  wicasa wakan holy man. wee-CHAH-shah wah-KAHn.

  wicasa yatapika shirtman; literally, “owner of the tribe.” wee-CHAH-shah yah-TAH-pee-kah.

  Wicokannanji July, Middle Moon. wee-CHOH-kahn-nahn-gee.

  win a suffix meaning “female.” ween.

  winkte literally, “a man who wants to be a woman”; a psychological hermaphrodite. Such men took women’s roles entirely, even married men, had special spiritual power because of their participation in both sexes, and had particular ceremonial roles. ween-TAY.

  Wipazuka Waste Wi June, Moon When the Chokecherries Ripen, Moon of Ripening Berries, Moon When the Ponies Get Fat. wee-PAH-zhoo-kah wahsh-TAY wee.

  witko crazy. weet-KOH.

  wiwanyag wachipi the sun dance, or gazing-at-the-sun-pole dance. wee-WAHn-yahg wah-CHEE-pee.

  yaspapi the time of the bitten moon; the first half of the new moon and last half of the old one. yah-SPAH-pee.

  LAKOTA PLACE NAMES

  The Lakota people naturally had and have their own terms (sometimes multiple terms) for everything modern Americans use proper nouns for—rivers, mountains, other geographic features of the land they lived in, and other tribal peoples. When the white people came, they sometimes adopted these designations and other times used those of other tribes or their own names. Here is a list of place names and the names of other tribes used in this book in which the modern English and a literal translation of the Lakota are different.

  Arapaho tribe—Mahpiyato, Blue Sky People.

  Badlands of South Dakota—the Maka Sica.

  Bighorn Mountains—Heska, Shining Mountains.

  Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming—Paha Sapa.

  Cheyenne tribe—Sahiyela.

  Crow Tribe (the Absaroka)—Psa (this word often occurred in the form Psatoka, Crow enemies).

  Laramie River—Waga Wakpa, Swimming Bird River.

  Little Bighorn River—Peji Sluta, Greasy Grass River.

  Loup River—Kasleca Wakpa, Split River.

  Mississippi River—Hahawokpa, River of Canoes.

  Missouri River—Mnisose, Muddy Water River.

  Niobrara River—Mnilusa, Running Water River.

  Omaha tribe—Oyatenupa, Two Circle People.

  Oregon Trail—Canku Wakan, Holy Road.

  Pawnee tribe—Pani.

  Platte River (North Platte)—Pankeska Wakpa, Shell River.

  Powder River—Maka Blu Wakpa, Shifting Sands River.

  Rosebud Creek—Onjinjintka Wakpa, Red Flower Creek.

  Shoshone or Snake tribe—Susuni.

  Tongue River—Tatonka Ceji Wakpa, Buffalo Tongue River.

  White River of South Dakota—Make Ska, White Earth (or Earth-Smoke) River.

  Yellowstone River—Hehaka Wakpa, Elk River.

  FURTHER READING

  I think that we are on the threshold of a great burgeoning of excellent writing about Lakota culture, much of it by Lakota people. Surely among those new books will be a splendid biography of His Crazy Horse, and I hope it will be the forthcoming one by my friend Joseph C. Porter. In the meantime these are the books I have used in writing Stone Song and those I suggest for those attracted to the Lakota people, His Crazy Horse, or the time of the Plains Indian wars:

  The best beginning is surely Mari Sandoz’s biography His Crazy Horse: Strange Man of the Oglalas, published in 1942 and still in print more than half a century later, incomplete and outdated but poetic.

  A grand introduction to the Lakota spirit is John G. Neihardt’s Black Elk Speaks. The edition by Raymond DeMallie, The Sixth Grandfather (University of Nebraska Press, 1984), is especially useful. Joseph Epes Brown’s The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk’s Account of the Seven Sacred Rites of the Oglala Sioux (University of Oklahoma Press, 1953) is a fine companion piece.

  James C. Olson’s Red Cloud and the Sioux Problem (University of Nebraska Press, 1965) offers an understanding of the political and military dilemma of the Lakota in the 1860s and ’70s and shows a Lakota point of view more accommodating than His Crazy Horse’s.

  Ruth Beebe Hill’s Hanta Yo pioneered truly ambitious fiction about the Lakota and captured their mind-set with great immediacy.

  The interested reader will want to pursue more specialized works such as Royal Hassrick’s The Sioux: Life and Customs of a Warrior Society, Eleanor Hinman’s Oglala Sources on the Life of His Crazy Horse, Remi Nadeau’s Fort Laramie and the Sioux, The Killing of Chief His Crazy Horse, edited by Robert A. Clark, Prayers of Smoke by the Oglala Lakota Barbara Means Adams, William Powers’s Lakota Religion, and the editions by DeMallie and Elaine A. Jahner of James Walker’s seminal works Lakota Belief and Ritual, Lakota Society, and Lakota Myth.

  These books should be read not only with the analytical mind but with the single eye of the heart.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Twenty years ago, thinking myself an iconoclastic rationalist, I had an intoxicating and wildly seductive attraction to a man named His Crazy Horse, who was a warrior and a mystic, a man who looked at the world through primal eyes. Without knowing why, I craved to understand him. So I started prowling through the literature.

  Soon I wondered why more good books about his life were not available. The only excellent biography, for me, was the poetic one by Mari Sandoz. Though His Crazy Horse popped up everywhere as a fictional character, no serious biographical novel had been written. I wanted to write … something.

  These many years later I know why libraries offer few good books on His Crazy Horse. The researching and writing have been a hard road, inspiring and tedious, revealing and painstaking, exhilarating and exhausting. To come to know this man of another time, another culture, another way of life, in the end I have had to become a different man myself.

  I am surprised and overjoyed to be here at journey’s end, and extraordinarily grateful to my companions.

  These people grandly gave me what I needed most, their encouragement and emotional support over the long years—Martha Stearn, Leeds Davis, Hooman Aprin, Larry Gneiting, my old novelist compadre Max Evans, Michael and Kathleen Gear, Richard S. Wheeler, Jenna Caplette, Lenore Carroll, and W. C. Jameson. You are people to ride the river with.

  Martha Stearn, the mother of my younger son, and a novelist herself, was my first reader and made wonderful suggestions. Jane Candia Coleman read the first draft helpfully. Dale L. Walker, a man of big heart, worked and worked and supported and supported. Thanks.

  Joseph C. Porter is now writing a biography of His Crazy Horse, one I expect t
o become the standard life. He has been generous in answering questions, kicking around ideas, and reading my manuscript. Ruth Beebe Hill, author of the pioneering Hanta Yo and the possessor of extraordinary knowledge, talked, supported, encouraged, and greatly refined my understanding of the Lakota lifeway.

  Dozens, scores, probably hundreds of people indulged my obsession with His Crazy Horse with hour upon hour of fine talk. Lots of librarians and archivists went beyond their job descriptions for me. Sandra Porter helped me with the research in the first couple of years, giving not only time but understanding. In the last several years Ruth Valsing has chased down innumerable leads and skillfully found the answers to innumerable questions. Bert Raynes repeatedly gave me information on the behavior of hawks and other birds. I thank all these people not only for their generosity with time and effort and ability, but for their generosity of the heart.

  Some people I met along the way, Anglo and Indian, have become my teachers. I thank especially Frank Caplette of the Absaroka people, Jenna Caplette, and Murphy Fox. Ernie Bulow acted as my counselor. Richard Willow, Arapaho, helped me start on the new path by taking me into the sweat lodge for the first time. Bill Westbrook made a fine gesture. Victor Dourville of Sinte Gleska College read the manuscript and gave useful advice. Reginald and Gladys Laubin gave to me of their time, their knowledge, and their hearts.

  Several descendents of His Crazy Horse have helped me—Seth Big Crow, Dolores Mills, and especially Barbara Means Adams. Herself the author of Prayers of Smoke, Barbara Adams labored greatly. Other Indian friends have contributed to this book in major ways. Many of them have answered questions, have tolerated my white-man impatience with smiles, have treated me to the wonderful humor of Indian peoples, and have let me see the spirit that vivifies them. The painter Itazipico (Louis Bowker) of the Mniconjou and Itazipico Lakota, the Cherokee Ardy Bowker, and Cherokee novelist Robert Conley have been my teachers. Thank you.

  My greatest obligations for this book are to two Indian men who started out as resources for answering questions and ended as not only friends but guides.

  Joseph C. Marshall, Sicangu Lakota, author of Soldiers Falling into Camp and Winter of the Holy Iron, himself in love with His Crazy Horse, has been my adviser on every page of this book. His vast knowledge of both the printed material about his people and their oral traditions and the presence of Spirit in his own life have been my sustenance and my light. When the student is ready, the teacher appears.