XVThe Sun Dance
“I think Wakon Tonka knows we are going to remember my first sun dance today,” said Eagle Voice with the crinkled look of amusement about his eyes. “You see the sun is shining again this morning; the wind is still and the edge of the air is like a dull knife. There will be a little melting on the day sides of the hills before night.”
It was truly a beautiful winter morning, and I had noted a light breath from the southwest. The tepee was cozy, the pipe had been passed, and I waited. After a long silence, the old man began speaking again in a low voice, looking towards me with a long-focused gaze as though I were transparent or not there at all. “She was a pretty girl,” he said with seeming irrelevance. “Tashina Wanblee. Her name is like singing when I remember now, far-away singing. When I was riding around the village with the Crow scalp on my coup-stick after we got back with all those horses, I saw her. She was pushing through the tight ring of people to get closer, and she was right under me looking up. I know now that she was very pretty, for she was still both girl and woman. Her face was all shining and she was singing to me. I cannot say what look was in her eyes. I think I did not see the look clearly until I was older and my eyes were getting tired of all I had seen instead. I saw that she was very proud of me because I had become a great warrior, and that made my heart leap. We had played together, and then I was only her horse; but now I was a man at last, high above her, and all the people were praising me. So I made my horse rear and plunge. I did not see her again until I was dancing the sun dance.
“It is the sun dance we are going to remember now.
“When cherry seeds begin to harden, the sun is like a strong man just past his youth and not yet growing old. It is then that the sun is highest in the sky and his power is the greatest. There he stands a little while before he starts back towards the winter again. That is the time for all the people to come together and dance his sacred dance, that his powermay be theirs and their hearts may be strengthened for the road of difficulties ahead. Maybe the people have been wandering in small bands, living in little hoops by themselves. Maybe some of them have almost forgotten the power of the great hoop to shield and make them strong. And maybe even in the little hoops some people are so proud they begin to forget that by themselves they are nothing. It is good for them to feel the sacred power of the great hoop again, for it is the power of Wakon Tonka. And at the center of that hoop the Sacred Tree shall grow and spread above them all and fill with leaves and bloom and singing birds. It is a time of happiness for all the people; for it is then that relatives, from far places maybe, see each other again and tell all that has happened. And there is feasting; and the old men and women remember, and the little boys and the youths look and listen, thinking of the great deeds they are going to do. And under many a lover’s blanket the girls hear whispered words that make their hearts like birds singing in their breasts.
“It is a happy time; but also it is a time to suffer and endure, for pain is wise to teach and without courage there is nothing good.
“It was the time of hardening cherry seeds when we got back with all those Crow horses and the scalp. Already a wide flat place by a creek was chosen for the sun dance, and the sacred societies were building a big round enclosure for the ceremony. They cut poles and placed them in the ground; and over these, other poles were placed, and on these poles leafy branches were laid to make a circular shade where the people would sit and watch. And around the outside of this big circle of shade, tepee skins would be hung to make an enclosure for the holy place. Inside this circle was the bare flat dancing ground, open to the strong sun; and in the center of this, the sacred tree would stand. They stopped working a little while when we came back, but when the victory dance was over, they went on with the work of getting ready.
“While they were doing this, four old men came to our tepee early in the morning, and one of them was Chagla, Kicking Bear’s father-in-law and also a relative to me, but not a very close one. He wasowankarathat year, the one who prepares the dance for the people. It is a great honor, like a victory, to do that. Chagla had a pipe with him, and when he entered our tepee with the three other old men behind him, he held the pipe in front of him with both hands, the mouthpiece forward. I knew what they had come for, and all at once I was afraid and wanted to run away. When we were driving all those horses away from the Crow village in the night, my heart sang and I was not afraid. Now I wanted to run away; but I was ashamed of being afraid, so I waited.
“The four old men sat down, and when my mother had given them something to eat and they had eaten, Chagla began to talk about the sun dance. It was a great thing to be young and brave and to go forth into enemy country to do great deeds or to die. But the heart may be strong to do that because it is proud and hungry for praise.
“In the sacred dance the proud heart dies with pain and thirst, hunger and weariness, that the power of Wakon Tonka may come in and live there for the good of all the people. Many brave men had taken the pipe and would dance.
“When Chagla was through talking, the other old men said, ‘hetchetu,’ meaning it was so; and then Chagla held the stem of the pipe towards me.
“As I told you before, we boys had made a vow to dance and we had dedicated a pipe to Wakon Tonka. We were back home safe now with many horses and much honor. But I was afraid. This thing I had to do waswakonand a fearful thing. I wished I had not made the vow, so that I could refuse the pipe. The four old men and my step-father and mother were all looking hard at me, but for a while I could not reach out and take the pipe. Then when Chagla began to draw it back towards him, all at once my heart leaped within me and I grasped the pipe and held it to my mouth; and the four old men said, ‘hi-yay.’ Then they went away.
“Now I had to dance, for I had made a vow and I had taken the pipe. I was not afraid any more. When the enemies are many and you are few, and it seems there is nothing to do but to die right there, you raise a death-song, and then you are not afraid of anything, because you are dead already, and what can hurt you? It was something like that with me.
“My step-father and mother were very proud of me when I came back with those Crow horses, and now they were still prouder because I was going to dance. So they made a feast and asked many to come. Many came to eat and they told my mother and step-father what a brave young man their son was, and maybe I would grow up to be a great chief.
“The dancing place was prepared, and the next thing was to find thechun wakon[the sacred tree] which would stand in the center of the circle. It must be a tall slender cottonwood and everything had to be done just right. When I was young I heard the old men say why this was so. A long while ago—beyond so many snows and grasses that the oldest man’s grandfather and his grandfather before him, and his and his could not remember—there was a beautiful girl who was big withchild. The child was a boy and would grow up to be a greatwichasha wakon. And while he was still inside his mother, at the time when cherry seeds harden and the sun is strongest, he had a great vision about the sun dance, and everything was shown to him just as it should be. So when he became a young man he remembered his vision and taught the people. He was the firstowankara, the first to prepare a sun dance. This is what the old men told when I was young.
“Four were chosen to go forth and find thechun wakon—two men and two women. Both men were great warriors andwichasha yatapika, and no bad thing could be said of them. They belonged to the Chante Tinza society [Strong Hearts]. The two women were mothers, neither young nor old, and they were always helping the sick and the needy, and no one among all the people could say anything but good of them. So these four went forth with axes to find the sacred cottonwood, and after them went young warriors wearing their war bonnets and painted as for war. Maybe the tree was a long way off; maybe it was near. But when it was found, standing tall and straight with a fork near the top, the young warriors charged upon it, crying, ‘hoka-hey,’ as in a battle, and couping the tree with their coup-sticks. When this was done, the two chosen men took their axes and struck the tree; and between strokes they told of brave deeds they had done. Then when the tree was cut more than halfway through, the two chosen women approached with their axes and chopped carefully, so that the tree did not fall all at once, but slowly; and as it fell it cried out as with great pain. When it was lying on the ground, four poles were placed under it and eight men lifted it so, placing the butt towards the quarter whence comes the sun, bringing light and wisdom and the peace that wisdom gives. Then the two women began chopping off all the branches, and only the two forks were left at the top. The young warriors now were riding fast back and forth between the sacred tree and the happy people, who were feasting; and to these they brought the news of the tree, telling all that the four chosen ones were doing. ‘They have found thechun wakon—they are chopping it—the tree has fallen—the women are cutting the limbs away,’ Every little thing the young warriors told the people, riding fast back and forth; and the people heard, crying, ‘hi-yay,’ and singing as for a victory.
“No one could touch the tree with hands, for it waswakon. When it was all ready to be brought home, eight men lifted it on the four poles, four men on each side. And four would change with another four, so that many brought it home. These walked slowly in a sacred manner; and as they walked, the young warriors rode fast back and forth betweenthe holy tree and the happy people yonder, telling where it was now, and where now, and now. And the people heard, cheering and singing as for a great victory. When at last thechun wakonhad come in sight of home, one of the carriers, who was a great warrior and had counted many coups, raised a long howl the way a dog does when the moon is big, and the other carriers joined with him. Then all the people swarmed forth to meet the tree, singing together as they crowded about it, but not too close. You remember how the warriors at the wagon boxes were like a blooming mountain valley walking; but those were singing the death-song. Now the happy people were singing to the Ever-Living One, and they were all blooming—the girls and women with flowers braided into their hair, and the men with their war bonnets.
“So thechun wakoncame home. The carriers placed the tree in the center of the dancing ring with its butt pointing to where the sun comes up; and there a hole had been dug for the planting. But before it was planted, Blue Spotted Horse, the old holy man—the same who prepared me for my vision quest—came to paint the tree. First he prayed to the Six Powers, as he had taught me, and then he took red paint that he had made by mixing red clay with bison tallow, and painted from the top down to the butt, so that the whole tree was bright with the sacred color. And as he painted thechun wakon, all the people sat round about in a great circle and watched, and there was no sound; and the sun watched too.
“Next Chagla came with a bundle of chokecherry branches which must be tied in the crotch of the tree. No chokecherries were growing in the country where we were, so a band of young warriors had been sent all the way to Mini Shoshay [the Missouri] to fetch the branches. Below these the bundle of offerings must be tied. It was a pouch made of buffalo skin, and inside were all kinds of little things the people had brought—locks of hair, little pieces of their own flesh, sinew for sewing and bone needles, rings, beads, and many other little things that the people might think of giving so that the sacred power might not forget them; and last of all a flint, an arrow, and a gun were placed in the bundle. Before he tied these bundles in their places with thongs of bison hide, Chagla prayed; holding his pipe towards the sun, stem forward. And when he had prayed, he told the people about a vision that had come to him. It was the vision that had commanded him to prepare the dance for the good of the people, that they might be a nation and live to see their children flourish, and their children’s children. Last of all, before the tree was planted, Chagla took a piece of buffalo tallow and dropped it in the hole. It was the gift to Maka [earth], the mother ofall living things, the only mother, she who has shown mercy to her children.
“Next, long thongs of buffalo hide were tied to the top of the tree, and when the carriers had raised the tree on forked poles and set the butt upon the hole, young warriors pulled upon the thongs and the tree arose until it dropped into the hole. Then all the people cried out together with one voice, rejoicing.
“So the sacred tree was planted. And the sun went down.
“All the while these things were being done, we who were going to dance had to wait in a big lodge that had been made for us, and when the tree had come home, our attendants told us everything that was being done out there, and we could hear Blue Spotted Horse and Chagla praying. When the people cried out with one voice, we knew the tree was planted. We had all gone through the sweat bath, as I did before my vision quest; and afterwards we were rubbed with the sacred sage and painted red all over with the sacred paint. We could hear the happy people outside and what the young warriors cried to them about the preparing and coming of the tree. High Horse, Kicking Bear, and Charging Cat were in there too, because the four of us had dedicated the pipe and made the vow together the way I told you. But we could not go outside and be seen until it was time to dance. What I have told you is what I have seen many times when I did not dance.
“It was night now. Before we slept they gave us some food and water, and that was the last that we could have until our vows were fulfilled. It was not long before there was snoring all around me, but it was hard for me to go to sleep. Maybe I was a little afraid. Sometimes I would hold my breath because something might happen all at once. When the snoring stopped, now and then, the big night outside held its breath too, waiting for something. Maybe a voice would roar all at once, as when I stole my grandfather’s pipe and the thunder beings scolded. Kicking Bear was lying on one side of me and High Horse on the other. Next to High Horse was Charging Cat. I could hear Kicking Bear and Charging Cat breathing deep, as though nothing was going to happen, and I wondered if maybe I was a coward after all. Then I remembered how my heart sang when we were driving the Crow herd away from the village that night. I was not a coward then. Afterwhile I knew that High Horse was not sleeping either. He would turn over and then turn back; and when he was still for a while I could feel he was awake yet. That made me feel better, because I knew he was brave. After we had lain there awake for a long while, he put his mouth close to my ear and whispered: ‘Brother, are you awake?’ And I answered, whispering: ‘Yes,brother, I cannot go to sleep.’ He was still for a while, and then he whispered: ‘Shewasfunny, wasn’t she—the fat old woman—the way she bounced?’ Then we put our arms around each other and lay close together, snickering like little boys.
“Suddenly someone was shaking me by the shoulder, saying: ‘Get up! It is time!’ Then I knew that the attendants were waking the dancers, and I had been sleeping deep.
“It was still dark. They told us to put on our skirts of bison fur, and that is all we wore—not even moccasins. Then they led us outside into the still, starry night. Some people were moving like shadows among the tepees and some were coming towards the dancing ring.”
The old man ceased speaking and fell into a reverie, blowing softly the while on his eagle-bone whistle, highly polished by years of thumbing.
“I had this in my hand,” he said at length. “Chagla gave it to me. I also carried a pipe. The stem was wrapped with colored porcupine quills up to the mouthpiece, and that was covered with the green skin of a mallard. They led us through the opening of the dancing ring, and I was first because I had taken the scalp. Next came High Horse, Kicking Bear, and Charging Cat, because of all those Crow horses and the victory. There were about thirty other dancers.
“As I entered, they gave me a buffalo skull to carry because I was the principal dancer. We went around the ring from left to right, which is walking in a sacred manner, and stopped facing the place where the sun comes up. I put the skull down in front of me with the nose to the coming day. Low down at the rim of earth yonder was a faint streak of light. The morning star was big and bright and still. As I gazed at it, I wanted to cry, but I could feel something like wings lifting me too. It was the same way the star looked down at me that time after I dreamed beneath my father’s scaffold and heard him tell me always to be kind to old people and never to be afraid of anything. Then the drummers began singing to the coming sun, and their drumsticks, with bison tails fastened on the ends, made a slapping sound.”
The old man ceased. Getting to his feet with some difficulty, he danced feebly, keeping time with drums long silent and blowing on his whistle pointed towards no earthly dawn. “So!” he said at length with a little cackling laugh and panting like a runner. “Washtay!It was good. But I cannot dance very well any more. There is no strength in what I eat these days.”
Seated again, he waited until normal breathing was restored, and then:
“We danced to the drums and the singing, and I stared at the place where the sky was getting white. Sometimes I could not feel the ground at all, for something seemed to lift me and it was like floating on drumbeats and singing. Then suddenly the great round sun leaped yellow and glaring over the edge of the world, and all the people cried out together with one voice.
“The singing and drumming stopped now, and they led us dancers back to the sacred tree, placing us in a circle around it. I had the bison skull in front of me. Chagla told me I must put it in a certain place that was prepared near the tree. There was a heap of white clay, and into this I thrust the skull three times. The fourth time I pushed it deep and left it there. So Maka’s sacred gift of the bison to the people was given back to the giver with thanks. Also at that place there were two forked sticks in the ground with another stick lying across. Against this I must set my pipe with the stem pointed up. This was a gift to Wakon Tonka and the life-giving sun.
“The drums and the singing began again, and we danced with our faces to the blazing sun, holding our whistles in our mouths and blowing upon them in time with the dancing. Somebody was talking close to my ear, and it was Chagla. ‘Do not look directly at the sun,’ he said; ‘look just a little below.’ I tried to do that, but it did not help much at first, it was like white-hot knives in my eyes. After a while I did not feel anything, and it was dark. The drumbeats and the singing seemed far away in empty night, and they lifted me, floating alone. I was lost in the blindness of my eyes, and I kept praying in my mind in time with the whistle and the far-off drums, ‘Let me see, let me see!’
“I did not see anything. Then all at once, I could see everything, and far away was near. There was a wide green land; wide, wide, green, green, with hills and valleys and streams glittering bright. And the sky over it was deeper and wider and bluer than I can say. It was the same land I saw when I dreamed under the scaffold and my father came to me on his spirit horse. The drumbeats and singing were dim and far away—more like remembering than hearing. I was looking hard at a hilltop for a horseback to come out of the sky. Then someone shook me by the shoulder, and I knew it was Chagla.
“The drums and singing were still. This world came back slowly out of the dark. I was looking down at my shadow. It was right under me like a puddle. Then I was very thirsty, but I made myself remember the green land and the glittering streams, and when I could do that, I forgot I was thirsty.
“All the people were around us in a crowd, watching us while theyfeasted; but when I thought about eating, it was water that I wanted. Also while the people were watching and eating, the relatives of the dancers were giving away many things—horses and fine clothing, beaded work, and maybe tepees; for giving is a sacred deed and is pleasing to the Mysterious One who gives everything.
“Chagla took my pipe from where I had placed it, and told me I should give it to one of the singers and drummers. So I went to a man, and when he held out his hands I spread his fingers and pretended to give him the pipe. Three times he tried to grasp it, but I pulled it away. The fourth time, I let him seize it. Others were doing the same with other drummers and singers.
“The high sun was burning hot. The attendants came now and rubbed us all over with sacred sage until the red paint was gone and our skins were dry. Then they painted us again. They made my body yellow for the power to grow. Then they took some blue paint made from clay we used to get at Rawhide Buttes. With this my arms were painted from the elbows down, and my legs below the knees. The blue was for the power of the quarter where the sun goes down, the power to make live and to destroy, the power of the Thunder Beings and the rain. With these powers to help me, I would grow to be a great warrior; also a helper of the people, for the hoop of the people and the shielding tree belong to the yellow quarter. When they had done this, they painted something on my back, and it was a half-moon. They did not paint a new moon, because that would have meant going down to the spiritland beyond where the days of man end; and I was to grow in this world and be a great warrior.
“While they were painting us the drummers sang about it like this.” The old man lifted a cracked, quavering voice, drumming on one hand with the other:
“‘Father, paint the earth on me.A nation I will make over.A two-legged nation I will make holy.Father, paint the earth on me.’
“‘Father, paint the earth on me.A nation I will make over.A two-legged nation I will make holy.Father, paint the earth on me.’
“‘Father, paint the earth on me.A nation I will make over.A two-legged nation I will make holy.Father, paint the earth on me.’
“‘Father, paint the earth on me.
A nation I will make over.
A two-legged nation I will make holy.
Father, paint the earth on me.’
“Last of all, they fastened strips of bison-hide around my wrists and ankles, that the strength of the bison might be mine.
“I was then told to get my pipe back and place it again where I had placed it in the morning. The man held it in front of him with both hands, and when I reached for it he pulled it away. Three times he did this. Then I placed both of my hands on the top of his head and brought them slowly down along his neck and shoulders and arms. That was thefourth time I reached for the pipe, and he let me take it, saying, ‘palamo yelo[thanks].’ Then I placed it against the cross-stick again, with the stem pointing upward. While I was doing this, other dancers were doing the same thing, and so the singers shared in the gift to the Ever-Living One. The power fell on them too, and drew us all closer together.
“Blue Spotted Horse came and pierced the flesh on the breasts of two of the dancers, and through the cut on each he tied the end of one of the rawhide thongs that were fastened to the top of the sacred tree. When he did this, the two dancers only stared at the sun. They did not move; they did not make a sound. I had vowed secretly to do this on the fourth day, and I wondered if I could be as brave as they were.
“Now the drumming and singing began again. I saw the two dancers, with pierced breasts, lean back against the thongs with blood running down their bellies. Then we all began dancing with our eyes to the blazing sun. I did not see them after that, for the hot light stabbed my eyes and the blindness came back quickly. I heard later that one of them fainted when the sun was getting low, and there he hung from the tree until his father had him cut down. But he danced again next day, after the holy men had fixed his wound and he had slept. The other one leaned so hard upon the thong that he soon pulled it through the flesh. After the holy men had washed the wound and put medicine in it, he danced until night.
“I saw nothing. In the darkness of my eyes I floated alone on the drumbeats and the singing, and as I floated I prayed, ‘Let me see! Let me see!’ I wanted to get back to the wide green land and the sparkling streams; but I saw nothing. Someone came and put a piece of slippery bark into my mouth. I think it was Chagla. I chewed on this, and it made my mouth feel better. I went on dancing and praying in the darkness, ‘Let me see again! Let me see!’ All at once I did see, and I was not thirsty any more. It was the same wide green land under the wide blue sky. It was beautiful, but it was empty. I looked and looked, but there were no people, and no horseback came out of the sky. When the far-off drums and singing stopped, and this world came back, the sun was down, and the night was coming.
“I dropped down where I was, and I must have gone to sleep right away. Then someone was shaking me by the shoulder, and I thought I heard my father saying, ‘Hold fast! There is more!’ But when I was awake, it was one of the attendants who were waking the dancers. It was still dark, but there were stars. The sky was fading a little over where the sun comes up. People were moving about in the starlight yonder.When I stood up and looked at the morning star, a power went through me and I felt good. I was not heavy at all. I felt very strong. Blue Spotted Horse was praying. There was no sound but his voice raised high. He prayed that the nation might live. To the Six Powers he prayed and to the coming sun, and the morning star looked and listened. Then the drumming began and the singing. It was the sun singing while it came up out of the night yonder:
“‘With visible face I am appearing.In a sacred manner I appear.For the greening earth a pleasantness I make.The center of the nation’s hoop I have made pleasant.With visible face behold me!The four-leggeds and two-leggeds, I have made them to walk.The wings of the air, I have made them to fly.The finned of the streams, I have made them to swim.The rooted ones, I have made them to rise.With visible face, behold, I appear!My day, I have made it holy.’
“‘With visible face I am appearing.In a sacred manner I appear.For the greening earth a pleasantness I make.The center of the nation’s hoop I have made pleasant.With visible face behold me!The four-leggeds and two-leggeds, I have made them to walk.The wings of the air, I have made them to fly.The finned of the streams, I have made them to swim.The rooted ones, I have made them to rise.With visible face, behold, I appear!My day, I have made it holy.’
“‘With visible face I am appearing.In a sacred manner I appear.For the greening earth a pleasantness I make.The center of the nation’s hoop I have made pleasant.With visible face behold me!The four-leggeds and two-leggeds, I have made them to walk.The wings of the air, I have made them to fly.The finned of the streams, I have made them to swim.The rooted ones, I have made them to rise.With visible face, behold, I appear!My day, I have made it holy.’
“‘With visible face I am appearing.
In a sacred manner I appear.
For the greening earth a pleasantness I make.
The center of the nation’s hoop I have made pleasant.
With visible face behold me!
The four-leggeds and two-leggeds, I have made them to walk.
The wings of the air, I have made them to fly.
The finned of the streams, I have made them to swim.
The rooted ones, I have made them to rise.
With visible face, behold, I appear!
My day, I have made it holy.’
“The morning star went out and the sun blazed over the edge of the earth. The blindness came. I prayed hard, ‘Let me see!’ I danced hard, like a homesick runner going home. The blindness did not go away. The darkness was burning hot. It pressed down upon me with great power. I did not float on the drumbeats and the singing. I worked hard to keep on dancing. My tongue was a stranger in my mouth. It was hard to blow upon my eagle-bone whistle. I kept on trying to pray and to remember, ‘Hold fast, there is more.’ I held fast, but I could not see. Someone put the slippery bark into my mouth. It was not easy to chew, but it helped a little. That day, it was like dancing always, but I held fast; and the drums stopped and the singing. I slept there on the ground, and had bad dreams about rivers too far off to reach, or they were not there when I came to where I saw them.
“The third day was harder, and it was very hot. I could not see, and my tongue filled my mouth. Afterwards I heard that five of the dancers fell down that day and could not get up. They had to be carried out. Charging Cat was one of them; but High Horse and Kicking Bear went through. I prayed to see, but it was only words. I kept on dancing because I remembered, ‘Hold fast, there is more!’
“That night I dreamed of crawling around in the dark trying to find water. Afterwhile I heard a voice, and I knew it was my father. I couldnot see him, but his voice was like a wind out in the night, everywhere, nowhere: ‘Let your heart be strong—it is nearly finished—you will see—you will see!’
“Then the attendant was shaking me awake.
“It was going to be the last day. When I got up from the ground, my body felt dead and it was hard to lift. But when I looked at the morning star above the pale streak yonder, my father’s words seemed to fill the hollow world that listened, and a power ran through me stronger than ever before. While a holy man was praying, the power in me grew; and when the drums began and the singers sang, my heart sang too.
“‘See where the sacred sun is walking!In the blue robe of morning he is walking,With his power greenward walking,Hey-o-ha, hey-o-haHey-o-ha, hey-o-ha.’
“‘See where the sacred sun is walking!In the blue robe of morning he is walking,With his power greenward walking,Hey-o-ha, hey-o-haHey-o-ha, hey-o-ha.’
“‘See where the sacred sun is walking!In the blue robe of morning he is walking,With his power greenward walking,Hey-o-ha, hey-o-haHey-o-ha, hey-o-ha.’
“‘See where the sacred sun is walking!
In the blue robe of morning he is walking,
With his power greenward walking,
Hey-o-ha, hey-o-ha
Hey-o-ha, hey-o-ha.’
“I danced, but I did not feel the ground. The star died; the sun blazed up; the drums and singing stopped. It was time to fulfill the vow I made when I saw the Crow village and all those horses from the hill. I had told Chagla about this, and now it was the time. He came to me and said, so that many could hear, and his words spread through the crowd:
“‘Eagle Voice, the people are asking, that you give them a day.’ And I answered: ‘I will give them a day.’ My tongue could not make the words clear, but Chagla said them so that all could understand: ‘Eagle Voice has said it. He will give a day to the people. Eagle Voice has said it.’ When they heard, the people cheered with one voice, ‘hi-ya!’
“The attendants began painting the dancers again after they had rubbed our bodies with the sacred sage. My body they painted red all over, except from the elbows and knees down, and that was blue for the power to make live and to destroy, as before. My body was red to make me holy, for through me a sacred gift would come to the people. From each wrist they hung an eagle feather, and one was tied in my hair, standing up. These were for the Great Mysterious One whose gift would come through me, and whose strength must be mine. When this was done, Blue Spotted Horse came and painted something on my back. It was a flying eagle, for the one that spoke to me with my father’s voice in my vision on the hill when I was a boy and Blue Spotted Horse prepared me for my quest. That is why I am Eagle Voice. So it was painted on my back.
“While this was being done, another holy man came with some sacred sage to where I had placed the bison skull. He was wearing a bison robepainted half yellow and half red. Into the eye sockets and the ear and nose holes of the skull he thrust the sage. Then he sang a bison song:
“‘A sacred nation, they are appearing.They are appearing, may you behold!The bison nation, they are appearing!May you behold!’
“‘A sacred nation, they are appearing.They are appearing, may you behold!The bison nation, they are appearing!May you behold!’
“‘A sacred nation, they are appearing.They are appearing, may you behold!The bison nation, they are appearing!May you behold!’
“‘A sacred nation, they are appearing.
They are appearing, may you behold!
The bison nation, they are appearing!
May you behold!’
“As he was singing the bison song, all at once the sage was blown out of the holes with great power, and a deep bellowing came forth. I do not know how this was, but I saw and heard; and I could feel the power growing in me, so that I felt strong as a bison and light as an eagle floating.
“When I was painted, they hung the bison skull on my back with a thong across the back of my neck and under my arms. Then they turned me to the blazing sun, and I stared straight at it. The burning blindness turned dark. I heard Blue Spotted Horse praying, and then, far off, I felt the knife in the flesh of my chest and the thong pushed through. If it hurt, I do not remember. I think the power lifted me above my body.
“When the drums and singing began again, I swung backward, leaning from the thong in my breast. It was like waking all at once from a dream. I forgot that I wanted to see. I wanted to cry out, but I did not. It was pulling the raw heart out of my breast. I wanted to stop dancing, but I kept on. This is the first time I ever told anybody; but now I am too old to be ashamed. I forgot to pray. I just kept saying to myself, ‘Hold fast, hold fast, hold fast.’ All the power had left me alone with my body in the burning dark, and my heart was tearing from its roots.
“This was always; and then it was not. Maybe my body was still dancing on the ground; I do not know. I was swinging in a great hollow night, back and forth, farther and farther, farther and farther. I was doing this always; I could not stop; I could not get loose. There was no one to cry to, there was nothing to grasp, for everywhere it was empty.
“This was always too; and then I swung so far that I broke loose and flew, head first, belly down, with my hands in front of me—like diving—no, like an arrow when a strong man draws the bow—whang!I flew so fast that my body sang. Then I saw the morning star straight ahead of me, and day was coming very fast. No, it was not coming; it was yonder and I was going to it. The star went out, and I was there, floating in clear, white light. The sun did not rise, but day was everywhere upon a wide green land—hills and valleys and gleaming streams.
“Then right below me there was a great village, a wide hoop of people,and they were all looking up at me and singing thanks for the good day. The light was so clear that I could see their happy faces, and I knew they were all my people. Many, many of them were glowing, and those were the ever-living ones who had died. I saw many darker ones who were still in this world, but all were united in the clear, happy day. When I looked for my father, he was there all glowing, and beside him was a young man who did not glow. When I looked harder at the young man, I could see it was myself. Then the wide land went out and I was falling, dizzy, in a darkness.
“Blue Spotted Horse was looking down at me and someone was dropping water into my mouth. They told me I had danced until the thong pulled out when the sun was starting down the sky. I had fulfilled my vow, and the water dropping on my tongue felt good; but I was very tired and my breast ached. Then I knew I was lying in a shade, and I could hear the drums and singing out yonder where they were still dancing. Afterwhile when I could talk a little, because the water softened my tongue, I told Blue Spotted Horse what I had seen. He said, ‘My grandson, it is good. The power has come to you and you must send forth a voice for all the people to the Six Grandfathers.’
“They rubbed me all over with sage and painted me again—red as before, and blue from the elbows and knees down. While they were doing this they kept dropping water into my mouth a little at a time, and Blue Spotted Horse sang a medicine song. I could feel the power coming back into me while he sang. The water helped too.
“The sun was getting ready to go down, but it was still about the breadth of a hand above the earth. Then Chagla came and led me out into the dancing ring. I was naked now except for a breech clout, for I came naked into the world, and I must go to the Six Powers as I came. When they saw me, the drummers and singers stopped, and all the people cheered with one great voice, for the word had spread among the people. When I heard the voice of my people, it was like my vision and the power came over me stronger than ever. I felt light and happy and my heart sang again.
“Chagla had made a quirt out of bison-hide fringed into many little thongs at one end, and at the other end was a loop to hang about the neck. This was painted red. He gave it to me, and said, ‘Hang this down your back and never let it go. If you do this, no arrow or bullet can ever touch you, for the quirt will brush them away like flies.’ I thanked him and hung it down my back, as he said. Then he led me to where a black horse was waiting for me at the entrance to the ring. The horse waspainted blue on the nose and blue across the withers. From his tail one eagle feather hung.
“Before I got on the horse, Chagla told me what I must do. I felt light and strong when I put my hand on the horse’s mane and sprang onto his back.
“Chagla brought my pipe from where I had placed it and gave it to me. Then I rode to the quarter where the sun comes up and raised my hands, palms out, with the pipe in the right one. There I sent a voice for all the people: ‘Grandfather, you have given me this pipe and the morning star. Give me the eyes to see and the strength to understand, so that I may be a nation and live.’ And when I had said it, all the people cried out together, giving thanks.
“Then I rode back to the quarter where you are always facing, which was the entrance. It is where the summer brings the power to grow. There I raised my hands and the pipe as before, and sent forth a voice: ‘Grandfather, you have given me the hoop and the tree. Make them flourish that I may be a nation and live.’ Again the people cried out together, giving thanks.
“When I was riding to the quarter where the sun goes down, all at once there was a face just under my horse’s left ear. It was all bright and shining from inside like the people in my vision, and it was Tashina looking up. She was so close that I could see tears on her cheeks. When I was much older I thought about this, and it was like rain when the sun is shining. But it was mixed up with my vision then, and I was full of the great thing I was doing for the people. At the quarter where the sun goes down, I faced the level sun and sent forth a voice: ‘Thunder Beings, you who make live and destroy, hear me and give me your power that I may be a nation and flourish.’ Again the people raised one voice, giving thanks.
“When I had sent a voice at the quarter where the great white giant lives and asked for cleansing and healing, I rode again to the quarter where the sun comes up. But I did not stop there. I turned and rode straight in to the sacred tree at the center. There I stopped and raised my hands and the pipe to the sky straight above me. Then I sent forth a voice:
“‘Grandfather, Great Mysterious One, you have been always, and before you nothing has been. There is no one to pray to but you. You are older than all need, older than all pain and prayer. The star nations all over the heavens are yours, and yours are the grasses of the earth.
“‘Grandfather, it is finished now, and I have fulfilled the vow I madeto you. Send me the good day that you have shown me. I want to be a nation and live.’
“When I had said this, the people cried out again with a great voice, giving thanks, and my horse lifted his head high and neighed and neighed; and the other horses grazing in the valley heard and raised their voices too. People talked about this afterwards. Some said the power was so strong that even the four-leggeds gave thanks. Others said my horse saw his ghost relatives in the world of spirit, and was crying out to them.
“When this was done, Chagla gave me a piece of red cloth, with which I must make an offering to earth, the mother of all. There was a stake pushed into the hole against the bottom of the sacred tree, and he pulled this out. Then I leaned over the horse’s neck and held the red cloth above the hole. As I did this, the horse put his nose to the ground. Maybe he wanted to nibble some grass; maybe the power was strong in him and he was giving thanks. I do not know. Then I sent a voice to the earth and said: ‘Maka, all creeping things, the wings of the air, those that swim in the waters, the rooted ones, the four-leggeds and the two-leggeds—they all belong to you. You are the mother of all, the only mother, she who has shown mercy to her children. Have mercy on me, for I want to be a nation and live.’ Just as I finished saying this, something sucked the red cloth out of my hand and down into the hole. I do not know how this was, but Chagla and I and some others saw it.
“Now I had finished, and as I rode back to where the sun comes up and then to the opening and out of the circle, the voice of the people was loud, giving thanks for the good day. When the voice of the people was still, I could hear Chagla. He was facing the quarter where the sun had just gone down, and he was singing:
“‘A sacred praise I am making.A sacred praise I am making.My nation, behold it in kindness.The day of the sun has been my strength.The path of the moon shall be my robe.A sacred praise I am making.A sacred praise I am making.’
“‘A sacred praise I am making.A sacred praise I am making.My nation, behold it in kindness.The day of the sun has been my strength.The path of the moon shall be my robe.A sacred praise I am making.A sacred praise I am making.’
“‘A sacred praise I am making.A sacred praise I am making.My nation, behold it in kindness.The day of the sun has been my strength.The path of the moon shall be my robe.A sacred praise I am making.A sacred praise I am making.’
“‘A sacred praise I am making.
A sacred praise I am making.
My nation, behold it in kindness.
The day of the sun has been my strength.
The path of the moon shall be my robe.
A sacred praise I am making.
A sacred praise I am making.’
“When I got off my horse at our tepee, the power left me, and my legs would not hold me. My mother and step-father held me up. When I was lying down inside, Blue Spotted Horse and Chagla came. The last I remember they were washing my body and dropping water and meat juice into my mouth. The people danced and feasted most of the night,but I did not hear them. In the morning, they ’woke me, and when I had drunk some water and eaten a little, I slept. That evening they fed me again and gave me water, and I slept. Next morning I was very hungry and thirsty. So I drank and ate all I wanted. I felt strong again, and my breast did not hurt. Blue Spotted Horse made it heal fast. Look. You can see it yet.”
With fumbling fingers the old man unbuttoned his shirt, exposing puckered scars on the skinny chest.
“Washtay!” he said, as he rebuttoned his shirt. “It was good. Wakon Tonka sent the people good days when I was young. The hoop was not yet broken, and the people had not forgotten all that is true.”
Eagle Voice seemed to have forgotten me suddenly. Gazing at the ground, he began blowing softly on his whistle. “Grandfather,” I said at length; “you still have your eagle-bone whistle; but where is the sacred quirt that Chagla gave you?”
The old man regarded me for a while with that crinkled look of amusement about his eyes. “Grandson, you are in a hurry again,” he said. “Can you not wait for a story?”