The morning call., 1891-03-01
LEGENDS OF THE
SIOUX INDIANS.
A Poetic Element That Has Been Dis
covered in the Red Men.
Cheekered Cloud" the Medicine Woman and
the Great Story-Teller of the Dacotahs.
A Sioux Belle Tells FAIRY Tale.

u
savage IT. the Dakota Indians. yet there
exists poetic element in their nature which
is said to be plainly seen in their legends and
superstiti0ns. These tell quaint tales oil
things unseen, with directness when
shows how bold and vivid are the ideas OF
the Imagination. The war-song-the death
| song-the song of ylctory-the cradle-chaht
the lament for the slan-these are the
! overfowings of the essential poetry OF these
untaught souls.
Their eloQuence is soaring and fgurative,
| and to their unenlightened minds all nature
is invested with mystic power and beauty
| The signing Winds the fierce storms which
devastate the land and ruffle the placid
waters of the Mississippi are to them won
drous mysteries yielding only to the control
of their Great Spirit. He rules and governs
all things, and every object that he has
made, from the highest mountain to the
smallest stone, is worshped by the In
dian, who fears to offend his deity.
The legends and traits of Indian charae-
ter and belief have been saved from oblivion
| by those who have taken the trouble to
listen to the stories as they fell from the
lips of the red people. Seated around
log-wood fire, and smoking the pipe OF
peace, the old medicine women would thrill
their listeners with the quaintness and SIM
plicity of their old-time legends. 1t needs
Scott to weave these tales into border TO
! nance; Homer to build up an Had out OF
| these tieetng accounts of war-like encOun-
tiers, TO immortalize these traditions, as
| LODgfellow has lmmortaliZed the story OF
| 1llwatha. Soon the waves of time Will
| flow over the marks of the retreating foot
| steps Of the red man, and nothing Will be
l left 10 US but the lake and the forest, noun
tain and cataract, without the poetry and
| romance with which the Indian: has en-
1 dowed them. 49,
Within afew miles of Fort Smelling lives
| Checkered Cloud, the medicine woman, the
great story-teller of the Dacatahs Ii there
is feast in the village, Checkered Cloud
must be there to recall to the mind OF the
youthful warrior and the timid maiden the
traditions that have been handed down from
time immemOrial. As she would sit at the
door of her wigwam, wrapped in her
| blanket and smoking a long clay pipe,
which she filled from time to time, the Ind
ans would gather round and listen WIN
bated breath to her wondrous stories.
She would tell them about the time when
they owned all the land now claimed by the
/ pale-faces, and when the trees and rivers
| were all their own. But the Great Spirit
was angry with his children, and he took
their great forests and hunting grounds
away from them. The glory of the Indian
nassed away. and they became as the set
ting sun, while the white man was the
sun rising in all its power. They were
fallen leaves, which the white man trampied
under foot But yet Checkered Cloud
would say to them that no nation was near
as great as The DacOtah.
In those days the great hunters killed buff
falOes on the prairesi and roamed at will
over the land. Where the white people now
wander, mighty giants lived in those DAYS.
who strobe over the widest rivers and pushed
aside the tal!est trees as if they were reeds.
They could lay their hands unon the highest
i hills as they walked the earth, and almost
touch the sky with their heads. But they
were not warllke men. They did not fight
great battles as do the
THUNDER BIRD. AND HIS WARRIORS.
Then Cloudy Sky, boaster and great
warrior, would rise up and tell about the
Thunder Bird, whose footprints are to be
seen to this day in the rocks near the source
OF the st. Peters, only twenty miles apart.
A wOudrouS stride, forsOoth and vet a
wondrous bird! One night whilet seeking
rest, after weary day Of hunting the buff
falo, Cloudy Sky dreamed a wondrous
dream. His spirit wandered through the
air, following the Thunder Birds, ais they
darted among the clouds. When the heavens
were black and the rain fell in big drops,
and the streaked lightning frightened the
women and children, he thought he was a
warrior fighting against the sons OF the
Thunder Bird.
Unktahe rose up before him, and sixty of
his friends who had joined him; the waters
heaved and pitched as the spirits left them
to seek vengeance against the Thunder
Birds. They showed their terrible hCrns,
but they tried 10 frigEten the warrior in
vain. They flew toward them, holding
their sh ields before their breasts; the wind
tore up the trees and threw down the tee
pes as the warriors passed on their way.
All day long they fought, and when they
were tired they rested awhile; and then the
winds were still and the frightened sun
peeped from behind the dark angry-l0oking
clouds. But soon they were at war again.
The winds flew along swifter than the eagle
as the Thunder Birds clapped their wings,
and again they fought terrible battle.
The son of Unktahe come toward Cloudy
Sky; his eyes shOne like fire, but the Sioux
warrior was not afraid. He held his shield
before him as his enemy tried TO pierce him
with his spear. He turned his shield aside
and struck him to the heart. He fell and
the waters whirled round as they received
his body, and the sons Of the Unktahe
shouted fearful cries OF rage, while Cloudy
Sky gave yell of triumph which resouDded
through the skies.
The water spirits shrank to their home,
while the warriors returned to the sky. The
large rain-drops fell slowly, and bow of
bright colors rested between the heavens
and the earth. The strife was over and
Cloudy Sky had conquered. He knew that
from thencelOrth Unktahe would hate him
and destroy him if he could, but the Thun-
der Bird had greater power than Unktahe :;
the friend OF the Man OF the Vest (an-
other name for the Thunder) is always safe
from harm Ever will Unktahe, the God of
the Waters, and Wahkeon, the God of
Thunder, do battle against each other.
Sometimes the Thunder Birds are conquer
ors-often the God Of the Waters chases his
enemies back to the distant clouds.
But Harpstenah, tine belle of the village,
a maiden of IA years, shivered as she COW.
! cred over the fire, listening 10 the story OF
the boaster, Cloudy Sky. He had bought
her for his wife, and she hated the old and
decrepit medicine man, who had seen the
SHOWS of eighty winters. But one bright
night in the " moon for strawb berries,
when Harpstenah had wept herself to sleep
over her sad fate. the Fairy of the Waters
stood before ner and comforted her.
why do you tremble, maiden? only
the wicked need fear the anger of the gods.
You have neither offended us nor the spirits
OF the dead. You have danced the scalp
dance, and have Teverenced the customs oI
Sioux, you have shed many tears. \ on love
Red Deer, aud your father has sold you to
| Cloudy Sky, the medicine man. 1t is win
you to marry the man you love or
THE ONE YOU HATE.
IF you know everything" sighed the girl,
then Won must know that in four days
am to take my seat beside Cloudy Sky in his
wigwam. He has twice brought calico and
cloth and laid them at the door Of my
fathers tepee.'
You shall not marry Cloudy Sky If you
= have a strong heart and fear nothing" re-
pied tue fairy The spirits of the water
have determined upon the death OF Cloudy
Sky. For many years he has wandered
through the air with the sons OF the Thun
der Bird; like them he was ever fighting
against the friends Of Unltahe. With his
own hand he killed the son Of the god, ana
for that he was sent on earth to be a medl
cine man. But long ago we have said tha'
the time should come when we would de
, stroy him from the earth. 1t is for you u
take his life when he sleeps. Can Daco'
tab woman want courage when she d
forced to marry man she hates?"
And now as Harpesuenah listened to tht
Boosting of Cloudy Sky the words OF TIN
fairy echoed in her heart: "Can a SiouI
woman want courage when she is forced tt
marry the man she hates"
g 1t is all true" she muttered, "the fair!
of the water told me that he had offended
, her race. will do their bidding. Cloudy SIX.
may boast of his power, but ere two night
= have passed away he will find he canno