Lakota Dawn

by Janelle Taylor

  “Chase Martin. So what are you men doing here?”

  “The treaty says we kin hunt in this area. We hafta go where them buffalo are agrazin’. We don’t intend to take more ‘an fifty or sixty today; that leaves aplenty for them Injuns. Why you aridin’ with ‘em?”

  “I’m staying with them for a while. I think it’s best if you men go hunt elsewhere. They’re hunting here for the next few weeks, and the area isn’t big enough to share with you. Staying around will only provoke them. No need to do that when you can hunt a day’s ride from here.”

  “We done took down about twenty and they be ready to skin. We cain’t go alosin’ that much ball and powder and time. We’ll be gone by sun-up.”

  “Like I said, Hardin, your gunfire is spooking the herd, so you need to move along before these Lakotas get riled.”

  “You sayin’ them Injuns is gonna attack us if’n we don’t leave?”

  “They got here first, five days back, and you’re intruding. It’s much easier for you men to move your camp than for them to do so. There’s no need to spark trouble when you can hunt elsewhere.”

  “Like I said, Martin, we done got started on our work, so we cain’t be obligin’ you today. If they attack us, they’ll be in big trouble; soldiers will come and punish ‘em good and hard. You tell ‘em that for us. I’m takin’ it they knows what the treaty says and they agreed to honor it. Them is Sioux with you, ain’t they?”

  “Sioux is a white man’s word, Hardin, and it’s an insult to them, so I’d drop it from my vocabulary if I were you. These are Lakota warriors; they’re highly skilled and well trained, so I wouldn’t go antagonizing them.”

  “Don’t make no never mind to us who or what they be, ‘cause we got a right to be here. You start trouble and the soldiers’ll finish it.”

  “If you men don’t ride out now, we’ll have to capture you and take you to the fort to check out your claim that you have permission to be hunting here today. It’s my guess, the soldiers don’t want you causing trouble they’ll have to resolve. Why don’t we just pack up and ride in to check out your story? Of course, accidents do happen along the trail, so I hope we can make it there without any of you men getting injured or killed, if you catch my meaning.” Chase saw the man and his companions eye the Indians closer, no doubt assessing the warriors’ strengths and weaknesses.

  “Tell me, Martin, why are you sidin’ with them Injuns?”

  “They’re my friends, and I’m trying to prevent unnecessary trouble. I’m sure the soldiers will agree with my line of thinking.”

  Jake huddled and whispered to his companions, then turned and said, “We’ll be agoin’, but don’t go acrossin’ paths with us again. Might not be healthy for you or them, if you catch my meanin’.”

  “Fair enough,” Chase scoffed at the implied threat. As the Whites galloped off, he again stressed to Wind Dancer, “We must get our hands on that treaty, my brother, to know all it contains.”

  “I will think on your plan,” was all Wind Dancer could say at that time, though he thought it was a good idea.

  “Why not have the women skin and butcher the slain buffalo since the kills and meat are fresh?” Chase suggested.

  “No, for their iron balls taint the meat,” Two Feathers snarled.

  “Cut off the area where the iron ball entered the animal,” Chase reasoned, “but use the rest of it. If the meat is prayed over and cooked well, surely that will purify it of any evil.”

  “If Whites watch us, they will think we frightened them away so we can take their kills. We do our own hunting. Is that not true, our leader?”

  Wind Dancer felt compelled to agree with his cousin to prevent trouble, and he saw Two Feathers grin in victory. “We will let the coyotes, sky birds, and others feast on their carcasses. Come. We must hunt before the sun sleeps.”

  * * *

  When they returned to camp at dusk, Rising Bear and a large group of men were waiting for them to get a report on the day’s events.

  After the news was given, Winona’s brother asked, “What will we do if the Whites return and bring more men and weapons with them and scare away the buffalo? Will we move to another place or will we fight them?”

  “You must not attack them, Strong Rock,” Chase urged, “or soldiers will come to punish the Red Shields. The White hunters said the treaty gave them permission to hunt here. Do you remember if that is true, Father?”

  “I do not remember such things being told to us at Long Meadows.”

  Chase was pleased that his father had responded directly to his question. Before he could speak again, Strong Rock made an accusation.

  “The White leaders tricked us and put in words you were not told.”

  “Perhaps that is true, Father,” Chase agreed with the older man. “Let me ride to Fort Laramie and get the papers with the treaty words so we will know what they say. I can read the white man’s marks for you.”

  Runs Fast, the father of Two Feathers and Broken Lance, said, “It is dangerous to steal the treaty words. The soldiers will follow you and attack our camp.”

  Chase glanced at Runs Fast and hoped the man did not possess his first son’s irascible traits. “I will sneak into the fort and find where the papers are stored. I will write them on other paper, return the others to their place, and bring my words to you so we will know what they say. I will be careful and cunning.”

  “I say it is dangerous to let Cloud Chaser ride to the fort.”

  Chase’s concern over the man increased. He knew others were observing them and feared the man would incite mistrust and dissension. “Why is it dangerous, Runs Fast?”

  “You could betray us while you are there.”

  “I would not endanger my family and people. I want them to remain unharmed and alive. Things are changing swiftly in these lands and the Red Shields must learn other ways to survive. I will teach my people to farm and we can cut and sell wood to the trading posts and steamships to earn money to buy goods and we will not need to depend on Whites and their treaty trade goods. We can buy cattle to raise to prepare for the season when the buffalo and other game have been slain and there are not enough to clothe and feed our band. Perhaps that is why the Great Spirit summoned me here.”

  “The white man’s animals are too skinny to feed us,” Two Feathers argued. “We have seen those given to others; they have only hide and bones and little meat.”

  “We can fatten them on the Plains, my cousin, for there is much grass there, and we can grow corn and other grasses to give them during the cold season. In the hot season, we can fence in areas to protect them from roaming too far from our camp; and in the cold season, they can graze in canyons with one entry. They will provide much meat and hides.”

  “Animals are not to be trapped by wood and ropes,” Two Feathers scoffed. “They must be free, as we must be free. We must enslave no creature.”

  “The Red Shields must prepare for dark days ahead when the buffalo are few, my cousin, or they will go hungry, naked, and without shelter. The cows we raise will supply the same things we get from the buffalo: hides, meat, horns, hooves, stomachs, sinew, bones, and such. The females give milk which is nourishing for the young and old.”

  “You try to make white men of us. Next, you will ask us to dress, look, speak, and live as they do. We will never do so, will we, my Lakota brothers? Your mind has been stolen by evil spirits and you speak foolish.”

  Chase realized Two Feathers was attempting to rile the people against him. He saw nods of agreement from others. Think and talk fast and smart, or you’ll lose another battle to that sorry snake. “No, my cousin, I try to find ways to help my people survive the changes the white man brings with him. I speak from all I have seen and learned about them. Their numbers are great and their weapons are powerful; it will be hard to push them out of these lands, for they have a strong grip upon it. You must think of peace, my father and people, for many of the Whites are not very different from Indians.”

&nb
sp; Two Feathers laughed aloud. “How are our enemies like us?”

  Chase tried to explain the similarities between the two cultures and that many settlers only wanted freedom and peace. “There are good and bad people on both sides,” he clarified. “Do not forget how one tribe wars with another from a different nation, how hunting grounds are taken by the strongest, how some tribes enslave their enemies, and how they raid them for possessions; it is the same with the Whites. Even if real peace is not possible, trick the Whites and enemy tribes into believing it is for as long as you can; for with each passing sun and moon, our band grows stronger and larger for the day when such enemies must be challenged.”

  “If you truly want to become a Red Shield, yield to the Sun Dance and vision-quest to prove your words and feelings,” Two Feathers said. “If you are strong and true, you will find victory at the cottonwood pole.”

  “I have told you, my cousin, this is not the time for me to do so. I believe the sun will rise when I must ride among the Whites and soldiers to learn their secrets. If I submit to the Sun Dance, I will have scars to expose who and what I am.” Chase saw his cousin frown when the shaman lifted his hand for silence and started to speak to the group.

  “I will seek a sacred vision soon and the Great Spirit will tell us what we must do,” Nahemana said. “Until that sun, we must continue our work. When you talked with the encroachers, did you believe their words?” he asked Cloud Chaser.

  “No, Wise One; I think they spoke with false tongues.”

  “Why did you not slay them and hide their bodies?” Nahemana asked.

  “Others might know they are here or might be watching and would ride to summon the soldiers to attack us. All should learn English, so—”

  “We become White except for our skins? Your words are—”

  Nahemana sent Two Feathers a silencing stare. “Let him speak.”

  “No, my cousin, I do not wish to make Whiteskins of my people. I say learn their tongue, so when contact is made anyone can pick up potential deceit. I beg you, Father, let me go scout for you at the forts.”

  “If he meets with our enemies, he will reveal our secrets.”

  Chase stared at his tenacious first cousin. What bloody “secrets” do you keep talking about? Obviously there’s something I don’t know…

  Rising Bear frowned at Two Feathers and said, “We will do nothing until after Nahemana’s vision-quest.”

  “If the Great Spirit orders him slain or banished, will you do so?”

  Rising Bear studied the persistent son of his only sister and realized Wind Dancer and War Eagle were right about the younger man’s distrust and animosity toward Cloud Chaser, and was concerned and mystified by it. “You should know by now, I always obey the commands of the Creator. Go to your tepees, my people, to eat and rest for our tasks on the new sun.”

  Chase nodded and returned to his secluded site, worried about the way many of the men had looked at him during his talk. He feared the Red Shields were not ready or willing to accept the truth about the grim situation facing them. It seemed to him as if he had to do something soon, something daring…

  Chapter Eight

  On the third morning following their encounter with the white men, Nahemana met with Rising Bear and others to reveal, “The Great Spirit gave me a sacred dream on the past moon. I saw Cloud Chaser talking with Bluecoats and other Whites who hunger to destroy us. I could not hear their words, but next I saw many Bluecoats riding against the Lakotas.”

  “What does the dream mean, Wise One?” Rising Bear asked without glancing at Chase, who stood nearby and listened as he waited to go hunting with his other two sons.

  “I do not know; that is all I was shown,” Nahemana replied.

  Before allowing others time to speculate, Chase ventured, “Our shaman saw me tricking the soldiers and Whites to learn their intentions against us and our allies, for I believe that is why the Great Spirit summoned me here. I have asked many times to go and steal their treaty words and plans, but I am forbidden to do so, for I am not yet trusted or accepted among you. How can we stop attacks and prevent trouble if we do not know from where and when it will come? At the fort, I could learn such secrets, return, and reveal them to you, Father.”

  When Rising Bear remained silent and stoic, Nahemana said, “I will seek a vision on the next sun and pray for answers from the Creator. He will tell us what we must do during this dangerous season and those to come.”

  Two Feathers could no longer keep still. “He has given you answers, Wise One, but you do not wish to accept them, for Wakantanka speaks against the second son of our chief and it is hard for you to believe one from Rising Bear’s blood and seed can be evil.”

  The worried shaman responded quickly to avert trouble, “Your words and feelings have not been proven, Two Feathers.”

  “They will be soon, Wise One. I say we slay him to protect our band, for we cannot banish him to ride to them and join their side.”

  Nahemana shook his head. “Cloud Chaser has done nothing to this sun to earn his death by our hands. Until the Great Spirit speaks to me in my vision or he betrays us, Cloud Chaser will stay alive and with us.”

  “But he seeks to make white men of us.”

  “No, my cousin,” Chase argued. “I seek to protect my people and to tell them ways to adjust in this new world which surrounds us. Who is to say if the Great Spirit did not create all peoples and make them different? Perhaps that is why many of the things I learned about the white man’s beliefs match ours, for I have told you about their Great Flood and how their Creator used one chosen man and woman to replenish the Earth and their people. Perhaps He gave each a territory, but when the Whites’ number grew large, they spread out into the lands of others.”

  “You speak evil words, for Wakantanka did not create our enemies; they are the work of Evil Spirits.”

  “How do you know that is true, my cousin? Can you see into the heart and mind of Wakantanka? Do you grasp all of His mysteries and deeds?”

  “This is not the time to speak of such mysteries,” Nahemana said. “Go to prepare yourselves for hunting, my friends, for we have much to do.”

  As the men dispersed to gather their weapons and horses, Chase realized that the time had come to take action.

  * * *

  When Hanmani came to bring Chase his evening meal, he told her, “It is as clear as the water nearby, my sister, I cannot prove myself here; and Two Feathers seeks harder each sun to turn others against me. I must leave to carry out the tasks which the Great Spirit puts within my heart and head, for only by doing them can I help my people and win their acceptance. I will leave while the moon rides the sky and go to Fort Laramie. There, I will get the treaty words and scout for my people. With that proof of my love and loyalty, I will return. Speak to Dawn for me of my love for her.”

  “No, my brother, you must take her with you,” Hanmani whispered, “for Two Feathers will ask for her in joining on the next moon and she will be entrapped by him. She will go with you.”

  Chase’s heart began to pound with a mixture of dread and excitement. “How do you know such things, my sister?”

  “I heard my cousin telling his brother of his plan to do so. Perhaps he suspects your feelings for each other and seeks to hurt and defeat you. It will be useless for you to approach her parents, for they will not give her to one who is not a Red Shield; they will command her to join to him. You must call upon the Old Ways to win her: if you two sneak away and mate, when you return to our camp, you will be viewed as husband and wife.”

  “You say she will go with me?” he asked, almost holding his breath in suspense.

  “I am sure, for her love for you is great and she believes your Life-Circles must be entwined, as do you, as do I. Save her from Two Feathers and walk the path Wakantanka shows you to prove yourself to our people.”

  “I thank the Great Spirit for warming your heart and opening your mind to me. Without your trust and help, I would be defeated h
ere.”

  “We must not allow Evil to find victory over Good; that is why I act as I do. I believe your heart and words are true and you are my brother.”

  Chase knew he needed her assistance to carry out such a daring plan, but he was concerned about his sister’s fate if her role was discovered. “What will Father and your mother do if they learn of your help? It would pain me to cause trouble and sadness for you.”

  Hanmani took a deep breath before replying, “I will not reveal what I have done; but if they learn of it and ask me, I will not speak falsely. I must do as the Great Spirit tells me.”

  “You are brave and smart, my sister, and I have much love for you. Surely the Great Spirit will protect you from all harm and will reward you.”

  “The safety and survival of our family and people is the reward I need.”

  “I will do all I can to obtain them, my sister,” he vowed, then made plans for his secret departure with Macha for later that night…

  Macha’s heart thudded fast and hard within her chest as she sneaked toward where her family’s horses were hobbled with the others to graze during the night. Her parted lips dried swiftly as she took short and shallow breaths in the hot summer air. Her hands—clutching a small bundle of her possessions and food—trembled, her legs felt weak and shaky, and her thoughts spun with all sorts of imaginary dangers and punishments. She had escaped her sleeping family’s abode and had slipped from tepee to tepee without being discovered as she headed for her first destination. At the last conical dwelling, she waited to be sure no man was lurking near the animals, as the camp guards were supposed to be positioned farther away. Sighting and hearing no one, she crept to her horse, removed his leg bonds, grasped his neck thong, and guided him toward her second destination, where she was to meet her beloved and flee with him. She walked slowly and quietly, her head shifting from side to side and glancing backward to watch for intrusion. At the riverbank, she headed southward to join Cloud Chaser to begin a daring future with him, unaware she was being followed…