Sioux County pioneer. (Fort Yates, Sioux County, N.D.) 1914-1929, 1917-04-26

Hardy smiled. "Have no fear, DIN
ma. He is too great chief to kill a
guest In his camp. Tell him I came
to the reservation to be friend to the
tribe. Though am a chief Of the
Longknives. my heart is good toward
his people. It would be foolish Of
him to kill or drive away the friend
Of his people,"
This time T-owa-konza gave the in-
truder an open stare Of contempt. The
surrounding bucks glared more Zero
ciously than ever.
He says you are fork-tongued,"
Oinna translated the reply. "He says,
If you are friend, why did you say
at the council that you would punish
all the tribe for the killing Of Nogen7"
"That is mistake. I did not say I
would punish the tribe"
Oinna interpreted the answer and
the grim old chiefs rejoinder: "The
Longknife's mouth was big at the
agency. Here he is alone in my camp
and his mouth is small"
II talk as I talked at the agency.
What T-owa-konza claims said about
Furnishing the tribe is not the truth.
There must have been a mistake in
the Interpretation, or the chiefs did
not hear Alright. I had only peace and
friendship in my heart. said that
did not blame the killing of Mr.. Nogen
on the tribe"
This statement failed to break
Thunderbolt's mask Of stolidity,
though some of the other Indians
slightly relaxed their menacing atti-
tude. Hardy took Off his hat to show
the red scar above his temple, and
spoke again:
II do not blame the killing Of Mr..
Nogen on the tribe; nor do blame
the tribe for the wrongdoing Of the
bad-hearted Indian who shot me in
the head five days ago. The same
man, or another man with bad heart,
tried to shoot me, after shutdown to-
day, as came up the trail over on the
other side Of the broken-topped noun
tain"
Oinna's Interpretation was met by q
cultural "Ughl" Of surprise even from
the chief. He asked shrewdly: IF the
Longknife does not lie, is he not afraid
to be in my camp? It is the nearest
to the TRAIL"
Hardy smiled and held out his open
palm to the chief. II trust T-owa-
konza and his people. There is only
one bad Indian, and even he may come
to feel good In his heart toward me
when he learns that am the friend Of
the tribe"
Still the old chiefs face remained
inscrutably immobile. He pondered,
and at last made another sharp query {:
1.-THE Longknife claims that he Is q
friend. Why, then, did he say at the
council that he will do the way Nogen
did and make my people dig stones
and dirt from the big holes, without
giving them any trade goods for their
work."
Hardy's clear eyes dimmed for a
moment, and then sparkled with COM
prehension. he answered with an
earnest sincerity Of tone that COM
PEELED belief:
II now see that at the council Red
bear nistook much Of what I told him
to say, or else, in their anger, Ti-owa-
konza and his subchiefs failed to I'M
derstand Alright the Interpretation. The
place where stones are dug is on In
dian ground. It belongs to the tribe.
No white man has any right to make
your people dig stones. II they are
willing to dig, they must be given
trade goods for their work.
The response to this statement was
unmistakable. The moment that Oinna
had interpreted it the last trace Of
menace disappeared from the bearing
Of the Indians, and even the chief
began to relax. Yet he had still an
other query:
ibid the Longknife say he would
stop the issue to the tribe of all gov
eminent goods and that he would take
away from the tribe all their lands
and give them to the white menu"
At last the real cause Of the failure
Of the council was disclosed. Either
Intentionally or through stupid blum
dering, Redbear Fad made the chiefs
furious by twisted Interpretation
that had given the exact reverse of
what had been intended. With the
key to the situation in his hands,
Hardy at once began to make clear
what he had tried to tell at the coun.
Gil. He explained why the issues Of
goods would cease the following
spring, and what was meant by an al.
lotting Of tribal land in severalty. he
added that If there was gold on any
Of the reservation land It would be
well f@r the tribe to sell that part Of
what they owned: otherwise bad
white men would, sooner or later
come I'm and steal 1t.
More than half convinced Of Har'
dy's sincerity, though with still lin
gerlnk suspicion, T-owa-konza ex
planned in turn that the tribe was moi
only willing to allot the farming land
Of the reservation and sell the min
era1 land, but treaty to that effect
had been agreed upon BY the tribe. the
I--L->-. - ~