Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1891-11-19
SAVAGE RErRIsuTIoN.
A Curious Legend of the Indians Of

''Sikyatky" means yellow house. N
Sikyatky was one of the ancient towns
of the Moquis' enemies in the times
when the rivers were wider and the
white man had never seen even the
tallest peaks of the mountains. The
young corn people who came from the
east lived there. They were a very
warlike people and proud race But
they were not so old as the Snakes,
who came much earlier, and lived up
on the mesa The Syks and the Snakes
quarreled over w alter, and the young
singers of the Snakes came over from
Walpi and tormented the Syks, for
they could throw SO true as to hit a
bird in tree. So tine Syks put up two
towers in their village, and after that
they had the best of the fighting so
long as they remained at home But
they were not content with that They
wanted to destroy the Snakes so there
would be plenty of water.
One day Syk prowled about Walpi,
the village of the Snakes up there on
the mesa, and he saw a maiden at a
window. She was a very beautiful
girl. and the daughter of a chief Her
brother was the bravest man in the
whole Moqui tribe, and when he was
older he would become the principal
chief. The Syk took his bow and ar
row, and when no one was looking he
leaped upon a rock and shot the
maiden His arrow went through her
neck Then her brothers heart was
very heavy. He loved his beautiful
sister and resolved to avenge her death
But he did not say what he meant to
do. He waited till the Syks celebrated
the corn dance and he attended it 1t
was the custom for all those VINO took
part in the games at this festival to
wear helmets which hid their faces,
that no one might tell who they were.
The brother was alone in the Syk
town. but he was not afraid.
There was no one in the village who
could run so fast as he nor any one
who could throw him down. He won
the prize, and then. as that was the
way of the Syks, he selected from
among the women watching the sports
the most beautiful maiden and he
climbed up to where she sat in the wall
of the tower. He had in his hand the
token of his victory in the games, and
this he offered to her. As she leaned
forward to receive it, smiling upon
IfhAs oho " MIC Oil tuC RCOPlC WOAoCIOo
who her brave lover might be, he drew
his stone knife and killed her. All the
Syks sprang up and cried out when
they saw her fall They We're mad.
because they believed this must be
Snake. Then they were surprised, for
he threw off the helmet and they saw
it was the brother of the girl who had
been killed. And the maiden he had
was the only sister of the bow
man who had slain the girl in Walpi
All the Syks darted after him. but he
climbed swiftly up the wall of the mesa,
stopping only to cast stones at them
from his sling till he reached his home.
But the Syks raised an army and began
again the war against the Snakes. The
battle ragged every day and every night
Not a man from either tribe could go
away from home, for his women and
children would be killed while he was
gone. Many people were killed while
tending their gardens or fiocks, and
the corn of the Syks could not ripen
because the Snakes would not let them
have water enough to fill the bitches
After great many years. when the
young Snake whose sister had been shot
with an arrow had become a war chief,
an old Snake was coming home one
night carrying a bundle of wood He
was very old and very good But he
was tired elm bling up the mesa with
his heavy load He sat down on a stone
and was thinking. His heart was very
heavy, for the war had been going
against his people, and the Syks had
been able to get water for their land,
and the corn was ready to plant While
he sat there thinking a spirit came to
him. 1t was the girl who had been
shot by the Syk youth as she sat at her
window. She told the old man that
tomorrow the Syks would plant their
corn, and all the men in the tribe would
be in the fields, for that was the custom
of the people. She told the old man to
go to the war chief and get him to lead
the Snakes against the Syks as soon as
the sun was up.
So the old man took up his bundle of
wood, and it was not heavy any more.
for he could hear the cries of the Syks
he had killed As soon as the chief
heard this he was very glad. He called
all his people together and they went
into the khevas and painted themselves
and prepared for battle. In the morn
ing, before the stars went out, he led
his men down to the Syk town, where
the towers stood mp in the starlight,
and saw all the Syks go out with their
medicine men to plant the corn No
one but the women and children was
left in the village. When they had all
gone the war chief bounded down into
the town with his men and they drove
all the women and children out, but
they burned up all the houses and they
tore down the two towers Then the
Syks had no place to fight and they
were driven away from the country.
There are no more of them in the world
and their country and their springs are
In the hands of the Snakes.
When the war chief came to die his
men asked him why he had saved the
and the children of the Syk vii
lage, and he told them the spirit of his
sister whispered to him as he lay there
IN the starlight waiting for the enemy
TO go out to plant that there was beside
her. though he could not see, the girl
who had been killed the day of the
corn dance. His sister told him she
Owed the girl, and wanted him to keep
alive all women and children, and take
,are of them in the village of the
Snakes. And after that no Snake or
Moqui Indian had ever killed a woman
or a child-Chicago Herald