The Grenada gazette., 1888-04-14
ONATOGA'S SACRIFICE.
Indian Tradition Of a Great Man
Eating Bird.
The Terrible Piasau and the Noble Chief
The Heroic Manner in Which
the Latter Saved His
People.

Once, in the long ago, before the
white man had heard of the continent
on which we live, red men, who were
brave and knew not what fear was in
battle, trembled at the mention of a
great man-eating bird that had lived
before the time told of in the traditions
known of their oldest chiefs.
This bird which, according to the
Indian legends, ate men, was known
as the Piasau.
The favorite haunt of this terrible
bird was bluff on the Mississippi
river. a short distance above the site
of the present city of Alton. Illinois.
There it was said to lie in wait, and to
keep watch over the broad, open
prairies. Whenever some rash Indian
ventured out alone to hunt upon this
fatal ground, he became the monsters
prey. The legend says that the bird,
swooping down with the fierce swift
ness of hawk. seized upon its victim
and bore him to gloomy cave wherein
it made its horrid feasts. The monster
must have had an Unsuitable appetite
or prolonged existence, for tradition
declares that it depopulated whole vii
lagos. Then it was that the wise men
began to see visions and to prophesy
the speedy extinction Of the tribe.
Years of its ravages followed one
upon another, until at length, accord
ing to the legend, was lost all reckon
ing of the time when first that strange,
foul creature came to scourge their
sunny plains. Years before had died
the last of the wise men whose fathers
had once hunted the mastodon, or
chased the ostrich-like diornis. where
now the grandsons followed the bison
and the deer. The aged men. whose
youth was but dim memory, could
say only that the bird was as it had al
ways been. Nothing like it had ever
been heard of save in vague traditions
carried from the far distant Darien
Isthmus. There, the legends ran, near
Dobayba. a wild hurricane had once
brought bird-fent that plagued their
coast for many weary moon, until
wise man caught it in snare. But no
snare could save the men of the Illinois
tribe, the "Illini''-they were doomed!
Nets, arrows, stratagems planned by
the most cunning warriors, alike had
failed. Still the bird preyed upon
them.
There was one, Onatoga, who began
to ponder.
Now, Onatoga was the great leader
of the Illini; one whose name was
spoken with awe even in the distant
wigwams north of the Great Lake.
Long had he grieved and wondered
over the will of the Great Spirit; that
he should look upon the men Of the
Western prairies, not as warriors, but as
deer Or bison. only fit to fill the nav
of so pcstilent thing as this mon
strous bird Before the new moon
began to grow upon the face of the
tky, Onatoga's resolve was taken. He
would 60 to some spot deep in the for
est, where by fasting and prayer his
spirit would become SO pure that the
Great Master of Life would hear him
and once again be kind and turn His
face back. in light, upon the lllini.
Stealing away from his tribe in the
night, he plunged far into the trackless
forest. Then. blackening his face, for
T. whole moon he tasted. The moon
waxed full and then waned; but no
vision came to assure him that the
Great Spirit had heard his prayers.
Only one more night remained.
Wearied and sorrow-worn, he closed
his eyes. But, through the deep sleep
that fell upon him, came the voice of
the Great Spirit. And this is the mes
sage that came to Onatoga, as he lay
sleeping in body but, in his soul,
awake:
Arise, Chief of the Illin! Thou
shalt save thy race. Choose thou
twenty of thy warriors; noble-hearted,
strong-armed, eaglc-cyed. Put in each
warriors hand bow. Give to each
an arrow dipped in the venom Of the
snake. Seek then the man whose
heart loveth the Great Spirit. Let
him not fear to look the Piasau in the
face; but see that the warriors, with
ready bows, stand near in the shadow
of the trees"
Onatoga awoke; strong. though he
had tasted month; happy. though he
knew he was soon to die. Who, but
he. the Great Chief Of the lllini, should
die for his people-for was it not death
to look on the face of the Piasau?
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