Dahcotah: Life and Legends of the Sioux Around Fort SnellingEastman, Mary H. (Mary Henderson)
History
Dahcotah: Life and Legends of the Sioux Around Fort Snelling
Eastman, Mary H. (Mary Henderson)
Dakota Indians -- Folklore; Dakota Indians -- History; Dakota Indians -- Social life and customs
The first blow she received from the side of the rock must have killed
her, for she fell like a dead bird, amidst the shouts of the hunters
above, and the shrieks of the women below.
Her body was arrayed in her handsomest clothing, placed upon a scaffold,
and afterwards buried.
But the Dahcotahs say that her spirit does not watch over her earthly
remains; for her spirit was offended when she brought trouble upon her
aged mother and father.
Such is the story told by the Dahcotahs; and why not apply to them for
their own traditions?
Neither is there any reason to doubt the actual occurrence of the
incident.
Not a season passes away but we hear of some Dahcotah girl who puts an
end to her life in consequence of jealousy, or from the fear of being
forced to marry some one she dislikes. A short time ago a very young
girl hung herself, rather than become the wife of a man who was already
the husband of one of her sisters.
The parents told her they had promised her, and insisted upon her
fulfilling the engagement. Even her sister did not object, nay, rather
seemed anxious to forward the scheme, which would give her a rival from
among her nearest relations.
The young girl finally ran away, and the lover, leaving his wife,
pursued the fugitive, and soon overtook her. He renewed his entreaties,
and finding her still obstinate, he told her that she should become his
wife, and that he would kill her if she made any more trouble.
This last argument seemed to have the desired effect, for the girl
expressed her willingness to return home.
After they arrived, the man went to his wigwam to tell his wife of the
return of her sister, and that everything was now in readiness for
their marriage.
But one hour after, the girl was missing; and when found, was hanging to
a tree, forever free from the power of her tormentors. Her friends
celebrated the ceremonies of death instead of marriage.
It must be conceded that an Indian girl, when desperate with her love
affairs, chooses a most unromantic way of ending her troubles. She
almost invariably hangs herself; when there are so many beautiful lakes
near her where she could die an easier death, and at the same time one
that would tell better, than where she fastens an old leather strap
about her neck, and dies literally by choking. But there is this to be
taken into consideration. When she hangs herself near the village, she
can manage affairs so that she can be cut down if she concludes to live
a little longer; for this frequently occurs, and the suicide lives forty
and sometimes sixty years after. But when Wenona took the resolution of
ending her earthly sorrows, no doubt there were other passions beside
love influencing her mind.
Love was the most powerful. With him she loved, life would have been all
happiness--without him, all misery. Such was the reasoning of her
young heart.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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