The western sentinel., 1889-06-27

Climbing to the heights above,
Chants a song to brave Wacouta,
Telling of her deathless love.
"Hearken to me, O! Winona,
Come back to me, o. my love-
Cried the frightened brave, Wasewa,
To the dauntless girl above;
'"ThOu art madP' exclaimed Ramona,
From the distant depths below;
'sThou art right!'' replied Winona,
'But It's thou hast made me So"
And the maiden, climbing higher,
Reached the cliffs most distant
crest,
And her form seemed bathed in fire
AS the sun sank in the west.
Then she raised herself up proudly,
But her form swayed to and fro,
AS she raised her voice and loudly
Spake to all the tribe below:
''Thou art false and do not love me,
For in this no love is found,
That We drove Wacouta from me
To the happy hunting ground.
Thou didst take an oath, Ramona,
That | should Wasewa wed,
But the fragile maid, Winona,
Oft to thee has sternly said
That she would not wed Wasewa,
And forfeit now my life,
Since l cannot wed Wacouta,
Since l cannot be his wife.
But in other worlds, feel it,
It1must surely come to pass,
And, though thou didst try to stealit,
| shall have my hope at last;
All about thee thou hast conquered,
Save the realms of light above,
But, behold! the chief is conquered
By woman's deathless love-"
Then hushed and solemn silence
Filled the balmy evening air,
Broken only by the cadence
OF the maiden's voice in prayer:
''kashamanetO
My spirit receive
And take to Wacouta
Forever to live"
AS the balmy breath of evening
Waited forth the sad refrain,
Then the dauntless Indian maiden
Sake unto her tribe again:
FAREWELL FAREWELL! she wildly cried,
In voice of deepest woe,
AS she leaped from mountain side
Down to yawning depths below.
Loving hands were there to help her
And to raise her mangled head,
But no human hand could save her
For the maiden's soul had fled
To the great kashamaneto
In the blissful realms above,
There to dwell with brave Wacouta
And be happy in his love.
So they buried brave WinOna
In her gay-decked wedding frock,
And with aching heart Ramona
Called the place 'THE MAIDEN
ROCK"
Where the mountains of the prairie
In their arms the waters lock
Like a mighty estuary,
There the solemn Maiden Rock,
Looking down into the water
From the dizzy heights above,
Tells thee of Zamcna's daughter
Of a woman's deathless love.
*NOTE.-The form of courtshfI
among the Wabashas, the Chippewas
and generally among the tribes O
Northern Minnesota was as follows
When young brave had conceived
Oil III al Ctlltl w
ed to make her his wife, the first init
nation of his design was given by
throwing deer into the lodge of the
girls parents. This he would repeat
| three times, at each successive change
of the moon, after which it was the
| custom for the father to ask hin
what object he had in so doing, an(
if he wished to marry his daughter
If the young man replied in the af
frmative, the relatives of the girl
should they approve Of the match
would prepare a dress for the youth
which they would take to his wigwan
and there the father would inves
| him with it. He was then take1
home by the father Of the damsel an(
introduced to his future bride will
great solemnity, in the presence of al
their relations. There the lover re
| mained for ten Or twelve days unit
the presents, which it was usual TO
his friends and family to present tt
! the bride S parents, could be prepared
The only marriage ceremony was ;
simple presentation of the girl to tn
lover, usually done by the father
though sometimes by the chief o
Others in authority. 1t was also us
ual for the young couple to remain
with the brides parents for the spac
of a year, during which time tn
young husband was virtually a sci
want in the family, giving to hi
father-in-law all the produce of tn
hunt
*Winona, in the Indian tongue
signifies the first born.
*Ka-sha-ma-ne-to, the great Spirit
or God of the Wabashas.