Black Hawk War, 1832 -- Fiction; Sauk Indians -- Fiction
Floating Lily's voice was strong. Hungry already, and she had only been
in the world a few moments. Redbird pressed the little mouth against her
breast. She prayed that she would have milk. She had eaten as much as
she could; now she must give nourishment.
She felt the rhythmic pull on her breast. The baby's mouth was full of
milk; no more crying. A warm feeling spread through Redbird's body.
After Redbird had fed Floating Lily, they both slept. It was near
sundown when the three women attending her helped her limp with the baby
back to her own wickiup. Each time she took a step it felt as if a club
hit her between her legs, but her heart rejoiced that the ordeal was
over.
Yellow Hair said that she would go and look for Woodrow and Eagle
Feather. She was crying. Redbird was not sure why.
In the wickiup, White Bear was waiting for her. As she lay on her bed
with Floating Lily, his eyes lit up with joy at the sight of his
daughter. He picked the baby up, which made her cry, and he laughed and
handed her back to Redbird.
"I was not with you to see our son born," he said. "I have never been
happier in my life than I am at this moment."
The hide curtain over the wickiup doorway was pulled aside and Owl
Carver entered, holding his owl's head medicine stick in one hand and a
bowl of smoking aromatic herbs and wood shavings in another. His white
hair was getting thinner and thinner, Redbird noticed, and he walked
with a permanent stoop. He blew the smoke over Redbird and Floating Lily
to bless them.
"May she walk her path with honor," he said, laying his hand on Floating
Lily's head. He left, the scented smoke lingering behind him.
When Redbird bared her breast, White Bear leaned over and kissed her
nipple, his lips catching a droplet of milk that had formed there. She
put Floating Lily to her breast and lay in contented silence with her
husband sitting beside her.
He took up his book and read aloud:
"Whence Hail to thee,
Eve, rightly called Mother of all Mankind,
Mother of all things living, since by thee
Man is to live, and all things live for Man."
"What does that mean?" she asked.
He translated the words into Sauk, and said, "It means that all life
comes from woman."
Iron Knife's head suddenly appeared in the doorway, his eyes wide, his
mouth drawn down.
"White Bear! Long knives coming this way, thousands of them."
Redbird's body went cold, and she clutched the baby to her. How could
she keep this tender new life safe in the midst of flight and fighting?
"Maybe they will not be able to find us," White Bear said.
"No, the scouts say they have Potawatomi guides riding with them, who
know where to look for us. Potawatomi dogs! To side with the long knives
against us."
"The Potawatomi must have been forced to help," said White Bear quietly.
Iron Knife said, "Black Hawk says we must break camp right now. We will
head west as quickly as we can toward the Great River."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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