Chapter 38
“Sometimes Dreams Are Wiser Than Waking.” Black Elk – Oglala Sioux
Esben pulled up and looked down at the activity in the village below. There was a time when nobody could have gotten this close without being seen and the village being alerted. The Sioux were getting complacent. It was all a part of the white man’s plan to change the culture to be more like theirs. They have been teaching the Sioux how to farm; how to grow corn and raise cattle. It wasn’t working. The Sioux were known as Tetons, or plainsmen and buffalo- hunters. Many of the young braves were rebelling and leaving the reservation and joining up with other young braves. They were coming from the Oglala, the Sicangu and the Hunkpapa tribes. Little Elk spoke many times about leaving the reservation with his wife, Chee Wakiyela, Small Dove, and their young son Blue Eagle only to be convinced to stay by his mother and uncle, Chief Dull Knife.
Esben wondered if Little Elk took part in the battle with Custer. It wasn’t long before he got his answer.
As he rode in, he noticed a crowd gathered in front of Little Elk’s lodge; Two Rivers, Spirit Talker, Walking Bird, Little Bird, Shadow Talker and Tree In The Wind, all young warriors Esben had grown up with all watched as he dismounted.
Blue Eagle stepped out of their tent and the crowd parted as he walked over to greet him. From the grave look on his face, Esben knew something bad had happened.
“Ya a teh - greetings Yellow Hair. We were hoping you would arrive soon. My father has been asking for you. Come. Inside. Owa sicha - bad wound.”
He turned and pointed to a large tree behind the village where an owl was quietly perched. The Sioux believed the presence of owls indicated that death was near.
Stepping through the entrance of the lodge, Esben saw Little Elk lying on buffalo robes next to a fire with Chee Wakiyela, Small Dove and Chief Dull Knife sitting by him.
Esben walked over and knelt down. Little Elk reached up and grasped his forearm and looked in his eyes, “Nacacijin - loyal Yellow Hair, I was hoping you would come soon, he murmured. You will have to go alone now to kill the Washichus who killed our fathers.
Mieyebo lela oosni, I am very cold,” he said.
“Ai, I will get him, Little Elk,” Esben replied
His face was pale and his eyes were sunken and dark.
“What happened?” Esben asked, turning to look at Dull Knife.
“He was at the Little Big Horn. He was shot by a mila hanskas, a long knife. He killed Custer” Chief Dull Knife replied.
Little Elk reached under the buffalo blankets and pulled out a bloody scalp of yellow hair. A grin spread across his face as he lifted it for Esben to see.
“It looks like yours,” he said laughing. The pain from his wound caused him to wince when he laughed.
Esben couldn’t help but smile at the childlike pride he showed.
“Now I must take the spirit path to the place of souls. Custer will no longer bother my people.”
He closed his eyes and was quiet for a few moments. Then his mouth and eyes opened and his breathing became heavy and raspy. Soon the death rattle came and he was gone.
“Amba, le mita cola, good bye my friend,” Esben whispered.
Small Dove began the death chant and others joined in. Esben turned and looked at Dull Knife again. His face was lined by age and etched with grief for his young nephew. He rose and nodded his head to beckon Esben to leave the lodge.
They walked out into the afternoon sun and stretched their backs as they looked out over the Wyoming plains where the buffalo used to number in the thousands but were no more.
“We will be leaving soon. The mila hanska are near and will be coming.
“Where will you be going? Esben asked. The white men in the East are like birds. They are hatching out of their eggs every year, and there is not room enough in the East, and they must go elsewhere. They come out West, as you have seen them coming for the last few years. And they are still coming and will come until they overrun all of this country and you can’t prevent it. Nor can the President prevent it. Everything is decided in Washington by the majority and these people come out West and see that the Indians have a big body of land that they are not using and they say, ‘we want the land.’ And they take the land.”
Dull Knife looked at Esben with his weary eyes and said, “Sitting Bull saw a vision of a large number of white soldiers falling from the sky upside down. As a result of this vision he predicted his people were about to enjoy a great victory. We did, but this isn’t over yet, Yellow Hair. The mila hanskas captured Joseph Brown Thunder, who they call American Horse. He was one of our leaders at Little Bighorn. They will come here soon and kill as many of us as they can. We will keep moving north if we have to. Soon we will be in Crow country and we will have to fight them again as well. I see no peace for our people.
The Lakota have pride in defeat, the Wasichus shame in their victory,” he said as he turned and walked back into the lodge and join in the death chant and mourn the loss of his nephew and Esben’s friend, Little Elk.