Indian Legends of Minnesota

O'er a vast prairie stoops the sultry night; The moon in her broad kingdom wanders white; High hung in space, she swims the murky blue. Low lies yon village of the roaming Sioux-- Its smoke-stained lodges, moving toward the west, By conquering Sleep invaded and possessed.

All there, save one, own his benign command; Their chief has lately left this little band, And up the glittering path of spirits fled; Thus his young widow, not a twelvemonth wed, In yonder solitary tent conceals The aching hope, the trembling pangs she feels.

How breathless is the night! None saw it rise-- That black cloud stealing up the glassy skies-- Till threatening murmurs, loud and louder grown, Burst from its swelling bosom, and the moon Slips into brief oblivion, while a glare As of far, flickering torches, seems to bear The challenge of the gods. Awake, awake! Make ready for the tempest, ere it break! Drive tent-pins deeper, stretch the covering tight-- Hobble the ponies, scattering in affright Before the thunder-peals. When all is fast, Keep vigil, then, till the gods' wrath be past!

A sudden fury sweeps the somber plain, In dizzy slant descends the sheeted rain; Sharp lightnings rend in twain the sable gloom, While, cannon-like, the unchained thunders boom! On this wild tumult of the angry skies No ear discerns a woman's thrilling cries; Yet, ere its sullen echoes die away In caverns where the mocking spirits play, Faint, but rejoicing, on a couch of skins, A new-made mother lays her lusty twins!

The wise men of the tribe strange signs relate-- This stormy birth portends a stormy fate-- And since the warring heavens, that should affright, Called forth these daring boys on such a night, Their names must own the event that marked their birth-- The elder, "As-he-walks-he-shakes-the-earth," The younger twin, "Coming-his-voice-is-heard"-- Thus saith the oracle.

This mighty word Darkens the mother's heart with nameless dread, But casts no shadow on the unconscious head Of either sturdy twin. Their mutual play With joyous echoes fills the livelong day! From helpless infancy to boyhood grown, One brother never had been seen alone, Till sudden sorrow bowed the mother's pride-- The elder sickened and untimely died.

The gossips point to him that's left alone-- "He, too, will die, for half himself is gone!" At first, distraught he seemed--unlike a child; He ate not, slept not, neither spoke nor smiled. Then sought the forest--wandered there alone For days--his tender mother frantic grown-- Till he returned to her, and smiling, said, "My spirit meets and talks with him that's dead!" Thenceforth he seemed as one who, hand-in-hand, Walks with a brother in the spirit land.

Among the Sioux, in those heroic days, When certain valor gained the meed of praise, The seasoned warrior, old and full of scars, Counted the hero of a hundred wars, Yet craving higher honor, went alone, On foot, to meet the enemy, and won (If he returned victorious), on that day A proud distinction.

Fancy her dismay,-- The mother of a tender youth untried,-- When he, the twin we know of, seeks her side And murmurs in her ear, who loves him so,-- "Mother, my elder brother bids me go On a lone war-path." Knowing well 'twere vain To plead with him, her tears must fall like rain On 'broidered moccasins for those dear feet; His pouch, her choicest store of pounded meat Must fill before the dawn, which sends him forth On foot, alone, to pierce the savage north.

(DAKOTA WAR SONG.)

I hear them coming who made thee weep![A] Leap on thy father's steed And urge him to his utmost speed, And rush to meet the warlike host, And meet them first, who hurt thee most. Strike one among ten thousand, And make but one to bleed! So shall thy name be known, Through all the world be known, If one is made to bleed! Heh-eh-eh-eh! Heh!

Now to the journey gallantly addressed, (Still at his twin's mysterious behest), He kills a buck with branching horns, and takes The tongue and heart for food--then straightway makes A sacrifice to that stern deity-- The thunder-god--who rules his destiny. On a fair, level spot, encompassed round With trees, he pins the carcass to the ground; Prays for success, his burning heart's desire,-- Then sleeps beside the embers of his fire.

How wearisome, how long the painful days That follow, as he treads by unknown ways A mazy wilderness, where lurk unseen All perils challenging his eye-sight keen. Yet on--with tattered shoes and blistering feet-- To find the savage foe he longs to meet! At last, to wearied eyes that search in vain, The far-off meeting-place of sky and plain, A fleck of dazzling whiteness doth appear. The youth exclaims, "My enemy is near!" Toward that white gleam his cautious steps are bent, Surely some roving Blackfoot's lonely tent.

Nearer and nearer creeps, with cat-like tread, The watchful Sioux. Above his lowered head The plumy grasses rear a swaying crest; His sinuous motion ripples the broad breast Of this ripe prairie, like a playful wind That leaves its shining, silver track behind.

A tent of skins--that piercing eye saw true-- Wondrously white and beautifully new; In all the colors known to savage art, A life-size figure with a blood-red heart Guards the low door. But who shall more divine, Since not a thread of smoke, nor sound, nor sign Of human presence makes the story clear, Save yonder dappled ponies grazing near?

Crouched in deep grass the wily Indian lies, Ambitious that lone hunter to surprise-- His gaze the wide horizon ranges low For the first glimpse of his returning foe; The painted lodge full many a glance doth win-- Each moment may reveal who lurks within!

At last it moves--that swinging oval door-- At last she steps upon the prairie floor, Shading her dark eyes from the dazzling ray-- A dusky princess, lovelier than the day! No matron, to her hidden foeman's sight, Has ever seemed so radiantly bright. Her dress is rich, in style unlike the Sioux. (These belles in doe-skin have their fashions, too!)

On either shoulder lies a jetty braid; Her slender form, most delicately made, Her deep, black eyes and winsome features miss Naught of proportion. What a conquest this! To such an enemy who would not bow? Truly our warrior is a captive now! Vainly she gazes--turns and disappears, His beating heart our youthful hero hears! Rashly he thinks to follow and surprise This charming stranger--carry off the prize Before her lord's return. By impulse led, To the low door he stoops his stately head, Flings a last hurried glance to left and right, Then enters, and beholds this beauty bright Seated upon a pile of costly skins, Embroidering her hunter's moccasins! He stands abashed--she glances up to greet His hasty entrance with a smile so sweet, Then drops her lashes with such coquetry. Amazed, he thinks, "No mortal woman she, Who does not fear a stranger entering so! Rather some teasing fairy, or a doe In woman's form." Abruptly he exclaims "What are you--a Dakota?" As he names That warlike tribe, at last she starts, and shakes Her head; then with her slender fingers makes, Slowly, the signs all tribes of Indians know-- "I do not speak your language."

"Is it so? Where is your husband?" asks our hero young, In this same silent, yet most graphic tongue. "I am the daughter of a Blackfoot chief, Whose home is three days' journey north. In brief, My brother is a hunter. I am here To keep his lodge, while he pursues the deer." "Then I will leave you," he replies, "and when Your brother comes, I shall return again!" Thus saying, takes his leave; but, ere he goes, One longing, lingering, backward glance he throws, Which tells the maid how straight her arrow sped To pierce the heart of him she else must dread.

(DAKOTA LOVE SONG.)

My heart is heavy--my heart is sore-- I heard you were going away! I wept all night--I wept all day-- I wept till I could weep no more When I heard you were going away Far, far away! O my heart! O my poor heart! Heh-eh-eh-eh! Ho-o-o!

Concealing in the grass his eagle plumes, The patient Sioux his lonely watch resumes. The reddening sun is low, when, far away, He sees a moving speck. With its last ray A handsome youth dismounts before the door. His sister, as the custom was of yore, Removes the body of the doe with speed, Unsaddles, waters, pickets out his steed, Leaving the wearied hunter to repose. A film of smoke, dissolving as it goes, Curls upward from the Blackfoot's lodge.

At last, The youthful pair have ended their repast, And reappear without, to taste the cool Of evening. All their sportive converse, full Of meaning gestures, doth right well supply Its story to their unseen watcher's eye, Who through the night his tireless vigil keeps, While, wrapt in dreams, the unconscious Blackfoot sleeps.

At earliest dawn, in the chill morning gray, Again the youthful hunter rides away; And, when the sun mounts half way up the sky, Her lover meets the Blackfoot maiden's eye. Archly she greets him--"Laggard! why so late? He whom you seek is gone--he could not wait!" "But you--you told him not," the youth replies, "Of my first visit!" In each other's eyes They look and laugh; and in that laughter free Dissolves the ancient, tribal enmity! The wooing of an Indian is but brief. He tells his tale, "My father was a chief-- These eighteen years in yonder heaven he dwells." The maiden's heart with awe and wonder swells On hearing that mysterious name and birth Which mark him as a being scarce of earth. Then, too, his gallant height and handsome face, Equipment strange, and bearing full of grace Ensnare her fancy.

When the bold demand Comes from this hero for her heart and hand, In blush and smile her answer may be guessed; Yet, womanlike, she puts him to the test! "Ere I consent, you must return with me Unto my father's lodge. And first--but see This raw-hide trunk. I pray you, creep inside--" (All this by signs); "then you can safely hide! I dread my brother's anger, when he hears Our foeman asks me for a wife."

Such fears (Prettily figured, it may be), win with ease The youth's consent to any scheme you please; Danger, discomfort, ridicule--all three This gallant wooer scorns, and smilingly Consents to crowd his noble length of limb Within the narrow space allotted him.

Captive he lies, and, all defenseless, hears The brother's late return. His jealous ears Miss no least accent in the voice of each, Yet glean so little from their foreign speech That, spite of passion (knowing woman's art), A spasm of dread contracts the hero's heart. Suppose, while thus in helpless case he lay, The maid his place of hiding should betray! Clutching with iron grasp his trusty gun, Scarce breathing, he awaits the morrow's sun. Meanwhile, she prattles of adventures gay-- Tells how a handsome stranger called that day, Describes his splendid dress,--the arms he bore, Such as no Blackfoot ever saw before; But not a word her cunning lips let fall Of love and courtship as the sum of all!

At daybreak forth again the hunter fares, But with his artful sister first prepares A fresh surprise. When scarcely out of sight, She hastens to relieve her captive knight; And while he gladly tastes the savory fare Which presently her willing hands prepare, Stretches his cramped limbs to the grateful sun, And drinks the favoring smiles so hardly won, A sudden shadow falls athwart his feet-- At last the war-like Sioux and Blackfoot meet.