When the tree flowered : $b An authentic tale of the old Sioux worldNeihardt, John G.
History
When the tree flowered : $b An authentic tale of the old Sioux world
Neihardt, John G.
Historical fiction; Oglala Indians -- Fiction
“Next morning we started out again for Shoshoni country. When we had
slept once, we walked until the sun was high and we camped in a good
place to hunt and rest, for those who had followed were more tired than
we who went first. So we were eating there when the sun was just down,
and a big moon was coming up. The air was sharp and it was blowing a
little from the way we were going. There was a low bank along the creek
on that side, and it broke the wind. Our little fires felt good, and we
were not looking for enemies yet.
“But all at once--men were there on the bank looking down at us, and
they were not some more Lakotas! They were Crows! The country was rough
on that side and the wind was at their backs. They were going to camp
where we were, and they ran right into us. My mouth was full of meat,
but I forgot to chew--I think all of us forgot to chew. They were
looking at us and we were looking at them. It seemed long, but I think
it would have been only a breath or two, if any of us, Crow or Lakota,
were breathing.”
Eagle Voice paused to stare open-mouthed. Then he clapped his hands.
“_Whang!_ One yonder yelled and sent an arrow among us. Then everybody
was yelling; and there was nobody on the bank. They were running away.
“When we were up the bank, they were strung out and running fast
towards a high butte yonder. There were about thirty of them, all _maka
mani_. One was leading a horse with a pack and another was running
behind, beating the horse with a bow. There was a dog, and he was
running and leaping among them and yelping. Maybe he was saying, ‘_Hoka
hey!_ It’s a good day to die, brothers!’ But nobody was stopping to
die. We were shooting at them by now, and one of them tumbled. Most of
us just couped the man as we ran past, and some boys got the scalp.
There were plenty of scalps running away yonder, and we wanted to stop
them before they got to the butte.
“But they had the start and got there first. There was a way up into
the butte through some big rocks, and it was narrow at the bottom where
the rocks were. Most of them ran in there with the horse, while the
others stopped to shoot at us. Then those ran after the others.
“It was beginning to get dark and the big moon was back of the butte
yet. They had some guns too, and we shot at each other for a while;
but there were many rocks around there and we were scattered out among
them. It was getting dark fast, and maybe the Crows were too scared to
hit anything. Between shooting we could hear them rolling rocks into
the narrow way, and we knew we could not charge up in the dark. So we
sent some scouts around the butte to see where the Crows could get down
and run away. It was high and steep all around, and they could never
get down alive, even if they left the horse.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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