 | Dahcotah, or, Life and legends of the Sioux around Fort Snelling |  |
SHAH-CO-PEE;
THE ORATOR OF THE SIOUX.
Shah-co-pee (or Six) is one of the chiefs of the Dahcotahs;
his village is about twenty-five miles from Fort Snelling.
He belongs to the bands that are called Men-da-wa-can-ton,
or People of the Spirit Lakes.
No one who has lived at Fort Snelling can ever forget
him, for at what house has he not called to shake hands and
smoke; to say that he is a great chief, and that he is
hungry and must eat before he starts for home? If the
hint is not immediately acted upon, he adds that the sun is
dying fast, and it is time for him to set out.
Shah-co-pee is not so tall or fine looking as Bad Hail, nor
has he the fine Roman features of old Man in the Cloud.
His face is decidedly ugly; but there is an expression of intelligence
about his quick black eye and fine forehead, that
makes him friends, notwithstanding his many troublesome
qualities.
At present he is in mourning; his face is painted black.
He never combs his hair, but wears a black silk handkerchief
tied across his forehead.
When he speaks he uses a great deal of gesture, suiting
the action to the word. His hands, which are small and
duties of the toilet.
He is the orator of the Dahcotahs. No matter how
trifling the occasion, he talks well; and assumes an air of
importance that would become him if he were discoursing
on matters of life and death.
Some years ago, our government wished the Chippeways
and Dahcotahs to conclude a treaty of peace among themselves.
Frequently have these two bands made peace, but
rarely kept it any length of time. On this occasion many
promises were made on both sides; promises which would
be broken by some inconsiderate young warrior before long,
and then retaliation must follow.
Shah-co-pee has great influence among the Dahcotahs, and
he was to come to Fort Snelling to be present at the council
of peace. Early in the morning he and about twenty warriors
left their village on the banks of the St. Peters, for the
Fort.
When they were very near, so that their actions could
be distinguished, they assembled in their canoes, drawing
them close together, that they might hear the speech which
their chief was about to make them.
They raised the stars and stripes, and their own flag,
which is a staff adorned with feathers from the war eagle;
and the noon-day sun gave brilliancy to their gay dresses,
and the feathers and ornaments that they wore.
Shah-co-pee stood straight and firm in his canoe—and
not the less proudly that the walls of the Fort towered
above him.
“My boys,” he said (for thus he always addressed his
men), “the Dahcotahs are all braves; never has a coward
women and children fear their enemies, but we will face
our foes, and always conquer.
“We are going to talk with the white men; our great
Father wishes us to be at peace with our enemies. We
have long enough shed the blood of the Chippeways; we
have danced round their scalps, and our children have
kicked their heads about in the dust. What more do we
want? When we are in council, listen to the words of the
Interpreter as he tells us what our great Father says, and
I will answer him for you; and when we have eaten and
smoked the pipe of peace, we will return to our village.”
The chief took his seat with all the importance of a public
benefactor. He intended to have all the talking to himself,
to arrange matters according to his own ideas; but he
did it with the utmost condescension, and his warriors were
satisfied.
Besides being an orator, Shah-co-pee is a beggar, and one
of a high order too, for he will neither take offence nor a
refusal. Tell him one day that you will not give him pork
and flour, and on the next he returns, nothing daunted,
shaking hands, and asking for pork and flour. He always
gains his point, for you are obliged to give in order to get
rid of him. He will take up his quarters at the Interpreter's,
and come down upon you every day for a week
just at meal time—and as he is always blessed with a ferocious
appetite, it is much better to capitulate, come to
terms by giving him what he wants, and let him go. And
after he has once started, ten to one if he does not come
back to say he wants to shoot and bring you some ducks;
you must give him powder and shot to enable him to do so.
That will probably be the last of it.
2. CHAPTER II.
It was a beautiful morning in June when we left Fort
Snelling to go on a pleasure party up the St. Peters, in a
steamboat, the first that had ever ascended that river.
There were many drawbacks in the commencement, as
there always are on such occasions. The morning was
rather cool, thought some, and as they hesitated about going,
of course their toilets were delayed to the last moment.
And when all were fairly in the boat, wood was yet to
be found. Then something was the matter with one of
the wheels—and the mothers were almost sorry they had
consented to come; while the children, frantic with joy,
were in danger of beign drowned every moment, by the
energetic movements they made near the sides of the boat,
by way of indicating their satisfaction at the state of
things.
In the cabin, extensive preparations were making in case
the excursion brought on a good appetite. Everybody contributed
loaf upon loaf of bread and cake; pies, coffee
and sugar; cold meats of every description; with milk and
cream in bottles. Now and then, one of these was broken
or upset, by way of adding to the confusion, which was
already intolerable.
Champaigne and old Cogniac were brought by the young
gentlemen, only for fear the ladies should be sea-sick; or,
perhaps, in case the gentlemen should think it positively
necessary to drink the ladies' health.
When we thought all was ready, there was still another
delay. Sha-co-pee and two of his warriors were seen coming
down the hill, the chief making an animated appeal to
some one on board the boat; and as he reached the shore
he gave us to understand that his business was concluded,
and that he would like to go with us. But it was very
evident that he considered his company a favor.
The bright sun brought warmth, and we sat on the
upper deck admiring the beautiful shores of the St. Peter's.
Not a creature was to be seen for some distance on the
banks, and the birds as they flew over our heads seemed to
be the fit and only inhabitants of such a region.
When tired of admiring the scenery, there was enough
to employ us. The table was to be set for dinner; the
children had already found out which basket contained the
cake, and they were casting admiring looks towards it.
When we were all assembled to partake of some refreshments,
it was delightful to find that there were not enough
chairs for half the party. We borrowed each other's knives
and forks too, and etiquette, that petty tyrant of society,
retired from the scene.
Shah-co-pee found his way to the cabin, where he manifested
strong symptoms of shaking hands over again; in
order to keep him quiet, we gave him plenty to eat. How
he seemed to enjoy a piece of cake that had accidentally
dropped into the oyster-soup! and with equal gravity would
he eat apple-pie and ham together. And then his cry of
“wakun”[1]
when the cork flew from the champaigne bottle
across the table!
How happily the day passed—how few such days occur
in the longest life!
As Shah-co-pee's village appeared in sight, the chief addressed
Col. D—, who was at that time in command
of Fort Snelling, asking him why we had come on such an
excursion.
“To escort you home” was the ready reply; “you are
a great chief, and worthy of being honored, and we have
chosen this as the best way of showing our respect and admiration
of you.”
The Dahcotah chief believed all; he never for a moment
thought there was anything like jesting on the subject of
his own high merits; his face beamed with delight on receiving
such a compliment.
The men and women of the village crowded on the shore
as the boat landed, as well they might, for a steamboat
was a new sight to them.
The chief sprang from the boat, and swelling with pride
and self admiration he took the most conspicuous station
on a rock near the shore, among his people, and made them
a speech.
We could but admire his native eloquence. Here, with
all that is wild in nature surrounding him, did the untaught
orator address his people. His lips gave rapid utterance to
thoughts which did honor to his feelings, when we consider
who and what he was.
He told them that the white people were their friends;
that they wished them to give up murder and intemperance,
and to live quietly and happily. They taught them
to plant corn, and they were anxious to instruct their children.
“When we are suffering,” said he, “during the
medicine and bread.”
And finally he told them of the honor that had been paid
him. “I went, as you know, to talk with the big Captain
of the Fort, and he, knowing the bravery of the Dahcotahs,
and that I was a great chief, has brought me home, as you
see. Never has a Dahcotah warrior been thus honored!”
Never indeed! But we took care not to undeceive him.
It was a harmless error, and as no efforts on our part
could have diminished his self importance, we listened with
apparent, indeed with real admiration of his eloquent
speech. The women brought ducks on board, and in exchange
we gave them bread; and it was evening as we
watched the last teepee of Shah-co-pee's village fade away
in the distance.
But sorrow mingles with the remembrance of that bright
day. One of those who contributed most to its pleasures
is gone from us—one whom all esteemed and many loved,
and justly, for never beat a kinder or a nobler heart.
3. CHAPTER III.
Shah-co-pee has looked rather grave lately. There is
trouble in the wigwam.
The old chief is the husband of three wives, and they and
their children are always fighting. The first wife is old as
the hills, wrinkled and haggard; the chief cares no more for
her than he does for the stick of wood she is chopping.
her from being quite forgotten.
The day of the second wife is past too, it is of no use for
her to plait her hair and put on her ornaments; for the old
chief's heart is wrapped up in his third wife.
The girl did not love him, how could she? and he did
not succeed in talking her into the match; but he induced
the parents to sell her to him, and the young wife went
weeping to the teepee of the chief.
Hers was a sad fate. She hated her husband as much
as he loved her. No presents could reconcile her to her situation.
The two forsaken wives never ceased annoying
her, and their children assisted them. The young wife had
not the courage to resent their ill treatment, for the loss of
her lover had broken her heart. But that lover did not
seem to be in such despair as she was—he did not quit the
village, or drown himself, or commit any act of desperation.
He lounged and smoked as much as ever. On one
occasion when Shah-co-pee was absent from the village the
lovers met.
They had to look well around them, for the two old
wives were always on the look out for something to tell of
the young one; but there was no one near. The wind
whistled keenly round the bend of the river as the Dahcotah
told the weeping girl to listen to him.
When had she refused? How had she longed to hear
the sound of his voice when wearied to death with the long
boastings of the old chief.
But how did her heart beat when Red Stone told her that
he loved her still—that he had only been waiting an opportunity
him far away.
She hesitated a little, but not long; and when Shah-co-pee
returned to his teepee his young wife was gone—no
one had seen her depart—no one knew where to seek for
her. When the old man heard that Red Stone was gone
too, his rage knew no bounds. He beat his two wives
almost to death, and would have given his handsomest
pipe-stem to have seen the faithless one again.
His passion did not last long; it would have killed him
if it had. His wives moaned all through the night, bruised
and bleeding, for the fault of their rival; while the chief
had recourse to the pipe, the never-failing refuge of the
Dahcotah.
“I thought,” said the chief, “that some calamity was
going to happen to me” (for, being more composed, he began
to talk to the other Indians who sat with him in his
teepee, somewhat after the manner and in the spirit of Job's
friends). “I saw Unk-a-tahe, the great fish of the water,
and it showed its horns; and we know that that is always a
sign of trouble.”
“Ho!” replied an old medicine man, “I remember when
Unk-a-tahe got in under the falls” (of St. Anthony) “and
broke up the ice. The large pieces of ice went swiftly
down, and the water forced its way until it was frightful
to see it. The trees near the shore were thrown down, and
the small islands were left bare. Near Fort Snelling there
was a house where a white man and his wife lived. The
woman heard the noise, and, waking her husband, ran out;
but as he did not follow her quick enough, the house was
soon afloat and he was drowned.”
There was an Indian camp near this house, for the body
of Wenona, the sick girl who was carried over the Falls,
was found here. It was placed on a scaffold on the shore,
near where the Indians found her, and Checkered Cloud
moved her teepee, to be near her daughter. Several other
Dahcotah families were also near her.
But what was their fright when they heard the ice breaking,
and the waters roaring as they carried everything before
them? The father of Wenona clung to his daughter's
scaffold, and no entreaties of his wife or others could induce
him to leave.
“Unk-a-tahe has done this,” cried the old man, “and I
care not. He carried my sick daughter under the waters,
and he may bury me there too.” And while the others fled
from the power of Unk-a-tahe, the father and mother clung
to the scaffold of their daughter.
They were saved, and they lived by the body of Wenona
until they buried her. The power of Unk-a-tahe is great!”
so spoke the medicine man, and Shah-co-pee almost forgot
his loss in the fear and admiration of this monster of the
deep, this terror of the Dahcotahs.
He will do well to forget the young wife altogether; for
she is far away, making mocassins for the man she loves.
She rejoices at her escape from the old man, and his two
wives; while he is always making speeches to his men,
commencing by saying he is a great chief, and ending with
the assertion that Red Stone should have respected his old
age, and not have stolen from him the only wife he loved.
4. CHAPTER IV.
SHAH-CO-PEE came, a few days ago, with twenty other
warriors, some of them chiefs, on a visit to the commanding
officer of Fort Snelling.
The Dahcotahs had heard that the Winnebagoes were
about to be removed, and that they were to pass through
their hunting grounds on their way to their future homes.
They did not approve of this arrangement. Last summer
the Dahcotahs took some scalps of the Winnebagoes, and
it was decided at Washington that the Dahcotabs should
pay four thousand dollars of their annuities as an atonement
for the act. This caused much suffering among the Dahcotas;
fever was making great havoc among them, and
to deprive them of their flour and other articles of food
was only enfeebling their constitutions, and rendering them
an easy prey for disease. The Dahcotahs thought this very
hard at the time; they have not forgotten the circumstance,
and they think that they ought to be consulted
before their lands are made a thoroughfare by their enemies.
They accordingly assembled, and, accompanied by the
Indian agent and the interpreter, came to Fort Snelling to
make their complaint. When they were all seated, (all on
the floor but one, who looked most uncomfortable, mounted
on a high chair), the agent introduced the subject, and it
was discussed for a while; the Dahcotahs paying the most
profound attention, although they could not understand a
word of what was passing; and when there was a few
moments' silence, the chiefs rose each in his turn to protest
against the Winnebagoes passing through their country.
They all spoke sensibly and well; and when one finished,
the others all intimated their approval by crying “Ho!” as a
kind of chorus. After a while Shah-co-pee rose; his manner
said “I am Sir Oracle.” He shook hands with the
commanding officer, with the agent and interpreter, and
then with some strangers who were visiting the fort.
His attitude was perfectly erect as he addressed the
officer.
“We are the children of our great Father, the President
of the United States; look upon us, for we are your children
too. You are placed here to see that the Dahcotahs
are protected, that their rights are not infringed upon.”
While the Indians cried Ho! ho! with great emphasis,
Shah-co-pee shook hands all round again, and then resumed
his place and speech.
“Once this country all belonged to the Dahcotahs.
Where had the white man a place to call his own on our
prairies? He could not even pass through our country
without our permission!
“Our great Father has signified to us that he wants our
lands. We have sold some of them to him, and we are
content to do so, but he has promised to protect us, to be a
friend to us, to take care of us as a father does of his
children.
“When the white man wishes to visit us, we open the
door of our country to him; we treat him with hospitality.
He looks at our rocks, our river, our trees, and we do not
friends.
“But the Winnebagoes are not our friends, we suffered
for them not long ago; our children wanted food; our
wives were sick; they could not plant corn or gather the
Indian potato. Many of our nation died; their bodies are
now resting on their scaffolds. The night birds clap their
wings as the winds howl over them!
“And we are told that our great Father will let the
Winnebagoes make a path through our hunting grounds:
they will subsist upon our game; every bird or animal they
kill will be a loss to us.
“The Dahcotah's lands are not free to others. If our
great Father wishes to make any use of our lands, he
should pay us. We object to the Winnebagoes passing
through our country; but if it is too late to prevent this,
then we demand a thousand dollars for every village they
shall pass.”
Ho! cried the Indians again; and Shah-co-pee, after
shaking hands once more, took his seat.
I doubt if you will ever get the thousand dollars a village,
Shah-co-pee; but I like the spirit that induces you
to demand it. May you live long to make speeches and
beg bread—the unrivalled orator and most notorious beggar
of the Dahcotahs!
| Dahcotah, or, Life and legends of the Sioux around Fort Snelling | |