Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-08-15
The Honeward Way.
Some Carry Cradles in Their Hearts and Allow None to Look
Within. But the Cradle is There.

or ever the silver cord be loosed. or the golden bowl be roken Ec. xiii 6.
Here is a little sermon on death, written by an American Indian
aa%ad frs; St printed by American Indians at the government Indian
n Far to the west is the land where dwell! together the souls Of
winter do not sweep over its prairie; there is always good hunting;
the old men tell their stories and young men woo the maidens; life is
'sThe journey to that land is called Kew a-knn-ah~th Homeward
spirit cannot see for a shadow has fallen across it's eyes, but it shl
hears the voices of those it leaves behind. For this reason the funeral
him not to be anxious about his family. Some of our tribes sing a
fh hHr'i Sod dins w sS "i En;yvs a to tn" sho sS"s sh ct fs ssis si''S fh M'f hspgy s sny Is s'i so
cheer their friend on his way.
lage that one will nourish him through ~" all N" his ;o~ nm He ' Dicks ks
one Of these berries and travels many days, until he h" reaches as stream stream
thf is deep tee and wide His eyes r opened and beyond the stream
as they make the pemmiean; he es the men preparing the frame for
"a 1sfss as"% n xu There n ; all the liam fs%I; ;s scenes mes. Of fa a village, Mag ;, but 4n he
white m men mails also speak of a river which the spirits must Q and that
our people have believed since the world was new.
us know nast tSat it the "a d ssss do % nss aesa IN ea all fs snS Of ss3 Ssff.,a Tn %.s wx s,t 1%ssE
we place it beside a grave Some will tell you that the horse slain
wise among Us understand better than hi The I'll things - a man "su has hs
%ads part d t, of hn amM should perish perish, as as much as his hands o r feet
character he has borne For this reason W e do not refer to the dead
say 5 ne n no, was our FRIEND ~ mention some incident with which
those who cannot cease the daily habit of miniisstering to their rf friends.
gather him "a a little tie birch Grs bark ban fs "tS' of "t Themes OF 1t ' comforts hr w% to
do fhsmpe ahap the boy knows about tive cannot tell!
filled with black feathers She carries it for a year, and is never sep
afated from IT day or night, because her baby who died was too little
to find its way alone to the bush of heart-berries and the swayins
bridge. We say she carries it to help the baby spirit. but the wise
among III know that the weight of the little cradle is her only com
tort: have been among the white people and know their ways.
White women carry the empty cradle in their hearts and pretend
that it is not there.
cannot explain to you what we believe-lndians understand
each other by silence. or else we sing to each other-wordsc come last.
Yet every OJibwa knows OF ke-wa-kun-ah that leads to the west. for
III old men have told is in the Grand Medicine Lodge that their
grandfathers said the whole tribe came from the west. and iourneved
as far a a great water beneath the rising sun, carrying a white shell
as a sacred memento of the land from which they came.
The lodge grows dark-and yet SEE the eagle which appeared
in my vision a a boy. Once only have seen it since, and that was
u a SIOUX arrow had wounded he. Now its wing ~ snread frI
flight. 1t turns toward the west. Beyond the lodges and the camp
hire 1T is taking he-wa-kun-ah, the Homeward Way, and through the
dark T. Shaata. follow on