CHAPTER XI
THE HEAD-CHIEF AND HIS WIFE
White Calf, head-chief of the tribe, and Mad Wolf lived near each other on Cutbank River. They had been friends for many years. Mad Wolf secured his sacred Beaver Bundle from White Calf; and the ceremonies brought the two chiefs and their wives into close relations. Their families, too, were on intimate terms and continually visited each other. Dives-Under-Water, granddaughter of White Calf, and Anatapsa, granddaughter of Mad Wolf, were bosom companions; and the four stalwart sons of the head-chief, Wolf Tail, Cross Guns, Two Guns, and Night Gun came often to our camp.
White Calf was then over seventy. But, in spite of his years, he still stood erect; rode horseback and walked with brisk step. For nearly thirty years he had been head-chief and was a real father to his people. He was called upon to settle all manner of disputes; and to make peace with those who quarreled. He had a gentle and benevolent spirit, and his kindness of heart showed in his benign countenance. He gave freely to the poor and helped widows and orphans. He was brave in war, deliberate and sound of judgment. But his most prominent trait was his love for fellow tribesmen. All his life he strove for their welfare with an earnestness and devotion rarely equaled by rulers of civilized peoples. In the defense of his tribe, he had a sturdy earnestness and devotion which the bullying threats of United States Government officials could not sway.
I remember a band of Sioux Indians who came as visitors to our camp. They had been on the way for over a month —a journey of more than six hundred miles over the arid plains. As soon as they arrived, our Indian agent ordered them home; he refused to allow them time to rest their tired horses.
Then White Calf went to the Sioux camp and told them to remain. He warned the Government agent that his tribe would go on the warpath if their visitors were not allowed to stay; and the venerable head-chief had his way.
For sixty years White Calf roamed the plains, happy in his freedom. His tribe were free to wander from the Saskatchewan River to the Yellowstone in the south. Their hunting-grounds extended over thousands of square miles, and their war expeditions roamed as far south as Mexico. The conquering white men came. The herds of buffalo suddenly disappeared; and the Indians were confined to a reservation by the white men. Then White Calf advised his people not to fight, but to adapt themselves to their new conditions of living.
White Calf had three wives who were sisters. When I first met him, two of his wives were living, Catches-Two-Horses and Black-Snake-Woman. His first wife, the oldest of the sisters, was dead. Her grave was on a high hill near his home.
One day I went with Little Creek to White Calf’s lodge and found Catches-Two-Horses. She was a fine type of Indian woman, a good mother, industrious and conscientious. She had been sacred woman in the Sun Dance and was beloved by all for her generosity and kindness of heart.
When we entered the lodge, Little Creek said: “Our white brother wants you to tell about the past.” And Catches-Two-Horses answered: “Tales of the past should only be told after dark. I might become blind if I tell them in the daytime.”
Her son Two Guns and his wife, a daughter of Little Dog the war chief, were also at home. She was young and lively; like her father, she was always smiling. There were also visitors present from the north—a Blood Indian and his wife whom they called Sarcee Face. She was a wit and kept them laughing. She told about a swarm of bees attacking her while in the middle of a river; her face was still swollen from their stings. So I advised her to go to the river bank and cover the wounds with soft mud. She came back astonished at the success of my strange remedy. Then she made the rest laugh by saying: “I have a brother who is always being stung by bees. I am going to roll him in the mud when I get home.”
I asked Catches-Two-Horses to tell about the Sun Dance. The lively young wife of Two Guns laughed and said:
“He wants to find out about the Sun Dance, because he thinks of taking an Indian wife and will want to give the ceremony himself.” Sarcee Face made them laugh again by saying to me:
“You would make a funny medicine man. They would take off your clothes and paint you black all over; your white skin would show through and you would be a pink-looking medicine man.”
By this time Catches-Two-Horses was ready to talk. She made an end of the joking when she said:
“I was seven years old when I became the wife of White Calf. My older sister was already his wife. I remember my age, because I had lived one year with my husband before I lost my first teeth. I have never cared for any other man, nor did I have a secret lover. My father was Black-Snake-Man. He was head-chief of the tribe many years ago. I remember when he first told our people they were going to get food from the Government. At that time we were camped at the place where the Yellowstone River flows into the Missouri. Then many Indians were starving, because the buffalo had disappeared.
“During my life I have given three sun-dance ceremonies. I was a young girl when I saw my first Sun Dance; and looked for the first time upon a medicine woman. I wanted to be like her, to live a good life and be honored by all the people.
“I gave my first Sun Dance because of a battle with the Assiniboines. I made a vow in order that the Sun might keep some of my relatives from being injured in the fight. I gave my second, to fulfill a vow by my son Cross Guns. He made it in battle when surrounded by enemies. He looked up to the Sun and prayed:
“ ‘Great Spirit in the Sun, have pity and spare my life. If I escape from this danger, I promise that my mother will give a Sun Dance in your honor.’
“Cross Guns escaped and came home. When I saw him I ran out to meet him. He kissed me and said:
“ ‘Mother, I have made a lot of trouble for you. In a fight with the Crows, I was surrounded and thought I was going to be killed; I made a vow to the Sun; I promised that if I came through alive, you would make a medicine lodge (Sun Dance). I know this means suffering for you—to starve yourself and become thin and weak.’
“But I was glad. Quickly I made my vow; I kept praying day and night:
“ ‘Sun Above! Pity me!
May I be pure and lead a straight life.
May I be kind-hearted and good to every one.
May my children and relatives live to be old.’
“Another time I was ill; the doctors said I was going to die. A messenger carried this news to my son Cross Guns who was camped on Badger Creek. It was midnight when he was told. He looked up to the sky and prayed:
“ ‘Moon and Stars! Have pity on my mother.
May she live!
If she recovers from this night,
I promise you she will give the Sun Dance.’
“Cross Guns generally prayed to the Sun. But that night he prayed to the Moon and Stars, because they were in the sky. Next day he came to my tepee and made known his vow.
“We began our preparations in the early spring, before the snow was gone. We gathered tongues for the food and purchased a sacred headdress. I fasted and prayed day and night. On our way to the circle camp I had three travois, for the sacred tongues and my clothes.”
Then the old woman changed from the subject of the Sun Dance and began to tell about her first experience with a Medicine Pipe. She said:
“Many years ago our people had a big camp at the lower end of the Cypress Hills. It was midsummer. The four tribes, Bloods, Piegans, Sarcees and North Blackfoot, came together in the same camp. It was so large that our chiefs formed two great circles, instead of one as was our custom. My father, Black-Snake-Man, and Lone Chief were head men; Little Dog was war chief and Four Bears head medicine man. I was then a girl of fourteen; and in that camp I first learned about the Medicine Pipe.
“One day White Calf had visitors at our tepee. He ran short of tobacco and asked me to borrow from his friend Four Bears, the medicine man. A large crowd was about his lodge, and inside many men dressed in fine costumes. I wondered what was going on; but I never thought it was a medicine-pipe ceremony. I stood at the door and asked Four Bears for the tobacco. At first he said he had none. Then I started to go away and he called me back. He left his seat at the back of the tepee and took some tobacco from a bundle hanging over the door. I saw him burn some incense and hold the tobacco in the smoke. He also made a prayer and said:
“ ‘Here is tobacco. With it I give you the sacred bundle that hangs over the door. From it you can take tobacco whenever you want.’
“I felt proud of his having given such a fine present. I took the tobacco to White Calf and gave him the message. He looked at me strangely and said:
“ ‘Go back to Four Bears and tell him: “White Calf made a vow in his youth, that if any one ever offered him a Medicine Pipe he would take it.” ’
“I was frightened at these words and the way my husband looked. But I went back and told Four Bears before his guests. Then they all began to sing and to beat on their drums. They came forth and marched towards our tepee, singing and drumming and shaking their rattles. Four of them put a robe about White Calf and took him back to the lodge of Four Bears.
“Then came the ceremony of transferring the pipe. Four Bears pitched a large lodge near the center of the camp. His wife came and dressed me for the occasion. I wore a buckskin dress with beaded leggings and moccasins to match, and a robe of soft tanned elkskin. My husband had a buckskin suit fringed over the shoulders and arms with scalp-locks taken in battle, and a fine buffalo robe decorated with a band of colored beads. Four Bears gave us a bay horse with the Medicine Pipe, a saddle, whip, and painted rawhide rope. When we were ready to start for the big dance lodge, Four Bears led this horse bearing the Medicine Pipe and White Calf, with the buffalo robe over his head and extending back over the horse’s flanks. I followed with my sister, Black-Snake-Woman, carrying the sacred bundles. In the dance lodge we had a pile of presents which our friends and relatives gave to help us pay for the pipe. We had to give Four Bears many horses, besides robes and blankets. Then he taught us the chants, prayers, and dances that go to make up the ceremony, and the rules we must follow in the care of the pipe.
“Soon after this ceremony five Gros Ventres attacked our camp and took some horses. White Calf followed with a band of our warriors and killed all of them. He took their scalps and we had a Scalp Dance. After that Four Bears, the former owner of the Medicine Pipe, and his two wives, took us to the dance. Because White Calf had taken the scalps, it was now proper for his wives to take part in the Scalp Dance. And this is the end of my tale.”