Post by ephriam on Jun 5, 2014 9:56:53 GMT -5
Meany Interview with His War, 1907:
His War
O-ki-chi-ze-ta-wa
White Clay, S.D. 13 VII [July] 07
John Monroe, Interpreter
75 years old
Ogalala Sioux
Chief and his son, Red Horn, or Shot-in-the-Mouth, is now chief of this district.
Red Cloud’s father was a chief and the present Red Cloud inherited the chieftainship. That is the custom of the Sioux when the father dies the son takes his place.
Crazy Horse’s father was also a chief by the same name of Crazy Horse.
His own father was Strikes-the-Bucket, a chief from who he inherited his chieftainship.
It is the duty of a chief to teach his son to follow in his father’s footsteps.
He thinks Crazy Horse was the greatest war chief of the Ogalalas. Young-Man-Afraid-of-his-horses and Red Cloud and others were good but Crazy Horse was greatest of them all. Sitting Bull was a brave man. He was a medicine man and it was that which gave him victories. Crazy Horse was killed in a cowardly way or else he would have been still greater.
Crazy Horse was only 29 years old when he was killed in 1877, but in consultation with Bad Wound it was figured out that Crazy Horse was about 40 years old. The two called each other cowards for letting him be killed in that way. Bad Wound was standing near Crazy Horse when he was killed.
Red Cloud’s father of the same name was the greatest chief of the Ogalalas in the last generation.
Beyond that generation he only remembers his father telling of the chiefs as if they were equal but he recalled the name of Little Thunder, and Crow Feather was the big chief in the generation before Little Thunder, making four generations recalled.
He heard the Sioux got their horses in the reign of chiefs before Crow Feather, long before. Before that they used dogs to carry burdens.
He cannot read or write but he learned from stories of his great grandfathers that the Indians had started from near the ocean a little north of the rising of the sun. The Great Spirit gave them a pipe and they started and travelled on and on to where the sun goes down. He counts from then till now seven generations. When they came to the Muddy Water, Mini-sho-she, Missouri River, they saw two horses, the first horses ever seen by the Sioux and those horses came from the Cheyennes. They had started as one tribe but they formed villages, obtained chiefs, and thus scattered toward the setting sun.
He was born at Bear Butte and that was what his father told him. He was once with Sitting Bull’s band. When he first came here 25 years ago this place was held by Red Cloud’s band.
When he was a young man his people were this side of the Missouri. They pushed west with war parties and in the Black Hills they found the Crows and pushed them westward to the Big Horn Mountains and then came back and settled here on the plains.
When they were on the other side of the Missouri River they hunted buffalo before they got horses. They were rounding up a herd o foot when they chased into the center of the ring six strange Indians of the Mi-wa-tani tribe from the north (probably the Gros Ventre). This six Indians were killed and the ear and part of the scalp of each Indian were cut off and put with the medicine pipe. This pipe was carried by a virgin at the head of the tribe as it moved on its way.
The Mi-wa-tani had probably separated from the general band before this. After the killing of these six men, two chiefs of the Mi-wat-tani quarreled over a buffalo liver and from that quarrel grew a separation. Part of the tribe went off and became the Crows, and from the killing of the six men in the buffalo hunt began the intertribal wars.
This buffalo hunt he says was the first time the Sioux saw the buffalo.
He was at the age of fourteen when he started on a war party.
Before they started out they made a feast of dry meat, dogs and pemmican. The two chiefs were Long Bear and Buffalo Head. They were equal and rivals in leadership, but it seems that Long Bear was more influential and had more followers.
When they started toward the Crows, it was a muddy day and the horses of the two chiefs played out and the leaders were left behind. When they got close to the Crows they were found to have been hunting buffalo. They were cutting up the meat when the Sioux charged them. They killed two Crows and took their scalps. The first Sioux to strike them was Yellow Thunder. The one who struck the other Crow was Red Star. They took about ten horses from the Crows. His War’s horse had also played out and he was not in the charge.
They returned home and had a great scalp dance all night.
The young fellows on a war party “watch the bag” – take care of the food, the clothing (as warriors charge nearly naked) and the extra horses but he never “watched the bag.” He went in to fight.
Warriors always wore the war bonnet because it could be seen a long ways. It looks so nice that the enemy would wish to charge and take your scalp. That is the reason I wear mine so that if I am shot they will take my war bonnet. Though I am dead that is what I wish in my heart. I never died and never went to the happiny [happy] hunting grounds and I never knew one who had so I do not know whether the war bonnet was worn so the soul could go there with the war bonnet on.
This ended this first battle. His War went on another party when about 40 years old [and] he went in another fight.
When the enemy was sighted the young men often go to the medicine man to get medicine for good luck. The medicine man on this fight was White Man’s Fire.
When the enemy was sighted the party halted. The medicine man in his dress including horns on his head made of eagle feathers, went forward and “made medicine.” The chief war pipe was unlighted but was held forward while the Medicine Man was praying. His War had a pipe and he held it forward in prayer as did also any other warriors. The medicine man also had a whistle made of the bone of an eagle wing. After prayer the medicine man rode toward the pipe. He got off his horse and sat in front of the pipe and His War took the main pipe and held it toward the medicine man, who was using this boy in this ceremony.
The boy said: “Brother-in-law you may go on and tell the warriors, what you have seen,” and then gave him the pipe. They took a pinch of buffalo chip and put the dust on top of the pipe to catch a spark from the flint.
The Medicine Man pointed with his thumbs and thrust one hand after the other in the direction in which he declared the Crow village to be exclaiming “sheh, sheh” showing his heart was much against the Crows and he then said he saw about 100 horses coming toward them which indicated victory. The medicine man said they would kill three Crows and there was one good man in it, dressed fine.
Then they started to charge.
As they approached the village, they got away with all the horses about 800.
The battle then began. The two first one killed were boys who came out for the horses, but there was a dispute as to who first struck the enemy and the dispute is going on yet.
In settling a dispute among the Sioux they fill up a pipe, hold it to the Great Spirit and pray to him. In front of the pipe lays an arrow, knife and bullet. The disputers are brought in and are told that if they tell a lie they will die with one of these weapons. When they come up who are going to tell the truth they raise their open hands up to the Great Spirit and then touch with open hands the pipe and weapons on the ground. If one of these should lie he will die in battle by weapons like these. If one dies by accident or in war before the other it proves him the liar. They are afraid of this ceremony and it does not happen often.
In the above battle they killed five, three men besides the two boys. One of the men wore a coat covered with weasel skins and he was therefore supposed to be a chief.
After the battle the Crows turned back, took away half of the horses and 20 Sioux were killed in the running fight. The Crows gave them a hard fight until sundown. The Sioux had some men run on ahead with the stolen horses and thus send half of them.
When they returned they did not have a scalp dance. There was mourning for the dead Sioux. There was a big chief among the slain. It was Fire Thunder, and there was mourning for him and the others.
His War got second honor on the Crow chief of the weasel skins, whose name was Big Otter, a chief of the Crows.
Northeast from here on a creek called Red Water between the Mussel Shell and the Missouri.
His War went up on a hill near White Clay starting on foot. He did not do it in war times but he did it lately. His boy was sick and so he promised he would fast for three days. The principal offering was a red blanket. He got a vision while awake and saw a buffalo on the third day at night. The moon came up from the west instead of the east. The buffalo tried three times and the fourth time he came clear out and stood looking at him, but did not speak.
He saw a great wind coming with horses, wagons, trees and people all turning over and over in the wind. They did not tell me it meant bad events. He thinks the whirlwind that afterward struck Standing Rock was what the vision meant.
The fasting was because the boy recovered and the boy is now well and has four children.
His War says in the Black Hills is a gap in which is a water of which the Indians are afraid. The water comes out boiling and all at once it is still .White Man’s Fire the medicine man painted himself white and tied his hair in a lump in front, took as offerings red blankets that had never been used, and rods prepared for the purpose and eagle bone whistle in his mouth. He started for that water and went into the water deeper and deeper until he got out of sight. When he got out of sight the offerings floated. He remained out of sight a long time and while there the others, including His War and others, were siging the Medicine Man’s holy songs and all at once he came up and he had two white looking things in his mouth and in his hands he had other white looking things. He made a noise like a horse as he came out toward the others. When he came to them his eyes were turned up so only the white part showed and a girl painted her face red and pressing her hands on the ground she passed her palms on his eyes until they were restored to normal conditions. When he had come to and in his hands they saw five roots in each hand and two in his mouth. They were as large as a finger and were all white and pretty.
White Man’s Fire told them that something would come up out of the water if they would stay and see it. There was a dispute but it was decided to wait and see what would come up. He then told them not to be afraid of whatever came up. Then the waters began to boil and some disobeyed the medicine man and ran away and vomited as they left. The thing that came up was about three feet across, it was round, had horns, eyes were ten inches across, looked like an owl’s eyes, and it had a mouth. While it stood there the warriors stretched their hands toward it and said: “May we live long and may we get enemies’ scalps,” and this they did until it disappeared.
He was about forty years old. It was just before the big battle.
The Medicine Man gave each warriors a white root which was wrapped in buckskin. He told them whenever they went into battle to paint their faces and bodies with white clay to tie their hair in a knot in front and to carry an eagle-wing whistle hanging on a string and to blow it every once in a while in the fight.
[drawing]
His War’s shield drawn by John Monroe at His War’s dictation.
His War’s Shield
Body painted red. Snake with head, hors and face and spines along back, painted black.
Suspended from the shield are four groups of four eagle feathers each. Suspended from the snake’s mouth is suspended a white eagle plume.
Between the point of the snake’s tail and chin of its head was placed the medicine he had obtained in the Black Hills.
The Medicine Man told him that wherever he hung his shield he would find a snake but not to kill it. This he did often and he said we would have a snake in the tipi because we had drawn a picture of his shield.
He went on a hill and cried and left it there so the medicine owner would see it there. This he did because he heard the maker of it had died. White Man’s Fire died about twelve or thirteen years ago.
His War was in the Custer Battle under Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, but was at Crow Creek during the Wounded Knee fight.
He got the name His War from his full brother. His father and his cousins wanted to give him a name but he chose his brave brother’s name.
His War has a letter from J. M. Humphrey Government Beef Contractor expressing gratitude for the protection afforded by His War when Red Elk’s band were lurking in night 2 Feb. 1893. It is dated 14 Feb. 1893 and is countersigned by Mary T. Wells teacher of No. 5 Day School and by W. J. Cleveland preacher at Standing Rock Agency. The original is yellow and in four parts with handling but some friend has provided a type written copy.
His War
O-ki-chi-ze-ta-wa
White Clay, S.D. 13 VII [July] 07
John Monroe, Interpreter
75 years old
Ogalala Sioux
Chief and his son, Red Horn, or Shot-in-the-Mouth, is now chief of this district.
Red Cloud’s father was a chief and the present Red Cloud inherited the chieftainship. That is the custom of the Sioux when the father dies the son takes his place.
Crazy Horse’s father was also a chief by the same name of Crazy Horse.
His own father was Strikes-the-Bucket, a chief from who he inherited his chieftainship.
It is the duty of a chief to teach his son to follow in his father’s footsteps.
He thinks Crazy Horse was the greatest war chief of the Ogalalas. Young-Man-Afraid-of-his-horses and Red Cloud and others were good but Crazy Horse was greatest of them all. Sitting Bull was a brave man. He was a medicine man and it was that which gave him victories. Crazy Horse was killed in a cowardly way or else he would have been still greater.
Crazy Horse was only 29 years old when he was killed in 1877, but in consultation with Bad Wound it was figured out that Crazy Horse was about 40 years old. The two called each other cowards for letting him be killed in that way. Bad Wound was standing near Crazy Horse when he was killed.
Red Cloud’s father of the same name was the greatest chief of the Ogalalas in the last generation.
Beyond that generation he only remembers his father telling of the chiefs as if they were equal but he recalled the name of Little Thunder, and Crow Feather was the big chief in the generation before Little Thunder, making four generations recalled.
He heard the Sioux got their horses in the reign of chiefs before Crow Feather, long before. Before that they used dogs to carry burdens.
He cannot read or write but he learned from stories of his great grandfathers that the Indians had started from near the ocean a little north of the rising of the sun. The Great Spirit gave them a pipe and they started and travelled on and on to where the sun goes down. He counts from then till now seven generations. When they came to the Muddy Water, Mini-sho-she, Missouri River, they saw two horses, the first horses ever seen by the Sioux and those horses came from the Cheyennes. They had started as one tribe but they formed villages, obtained chiefs, and thus scattered toward the setting sun.
He was born at Bear Butte and that was what his father told him. He was once with Sitting Bull’s band. When he first came here 25 years ago this place was held by Red Cloud’s band.
When he was a young man his people were this side of the Missouri. They pushed west with war parties and in the Black Hills they found the Crows and pushed them westward to the Big Horn Mountains and then came back and settled here on the plains.
When they were on the other side of the Missouri River they hunted buffalo before they got horses. They were rounding up a herd o foot when they chased into the center of the ring six strange Indians of the Mi-wa-tani tribe from the north (probably the Gros Ventre). This six Indians were killed and the ear and part of the scalp of each Indian were cut off and put with the medicine pipe. This pipe was carried by a virgin at the head of the tribe as it moved on its way.
The Mi-wa-tani had probably separated from the general band before this. After the killing of these six men, two chiefs of the Mi-wat-tani quarreled over a buffalo liver and from that quarrel grew a separation. Part of the tribe went off and became the Crows, and from the killing of the six men in the buffalo hunt began the intertribal wars.
This buffalo hunt he says was the first time the Sioux saw the buffalo.
He was at the age of fourteen when he started on a war party.
Before they started out they made a feast of dry meat, dogs and pemmican. The two chiefs were Long Bear and Buffalo Head. They were equal and rivals in leadership, but it seems that Long Bear was more influential and had more followers.
When they started toward the Crows, it was a muddy day and the horses of the two chiefs played out and the leaders were left behind. When they got close to the Crows they were found to have been hunting buffalo. They were cutting up the meat when the Sioux charged them. They killed two Crows and took their scalps. The first Sioux to strike them was Yellow Thunder. The one who struck the other Crow was Red Star. They took about ten horses from the Crows. His War’s horse had also played out and he was not in the charge.
They returned home and had a great scalp dance all night.
The young fellows on a war party “watch the bag” – take care of the food, the clothing (as warriors charge nearly naked) and the extra horses but he never “watched the bag.” He went in to fight.
Warriors always wore the war bonnet because it could be seen a long ways. It looks so nice that the enemy would wish to charge and take your scalp. That is the reason I wear mine so that if I am shot they will take my war bonnet. Though I am dead that is what I wish in my heart. I never died and never went to the happiny [happy] hunting grounds and I never knew one who had so I do not know whether the war bonnet was worn so the soul could go there with the war bonnet on.
This ended this first battle. His War went on another party when about 40 years old [and] he went in another fight.
When the enemy was sighted the young men often go to the medicine man to get medicine for good luck. The medicine man on this fight was White Man’s Fire.
When the enemy was sighted the party halted. The medicine man in his dress including horns on his head made of eagle feathers, went forward and “made medicine.” The chief war pipe was unlighted but was held forward while the Medicine Man was praying. His War had a pipe and he held it forward in prayer as did also any other warriors. The medicine man also had a whistle made of the bone of an eagle wing. After prayer the medicine man rode toward the pipe. He got off his horse and sat in front of the pipe and His War took the main pipe and held it toward the medicine man, who was using this boy in this ceremony.
The boy said: “Brother-in-law you may go on and tell the warriors, what you have seen,” and then gave him the pipe. They took a pinch of buffalo chip and put the dust on top of the pipe to catch a spark from the flint.
The Medicine Man pointed with his thumbs and thrust one hand after the other in the direction in which he declared the Crow village to be exclaiming “sheh, sheh” showing his heart was much against the Crows and he then said he saw about 100 horses coming toward them which indicated victory. The medicine man said they would kill three Crows and there was one good man in it, dressed fine.
Then they started to charge.
As they approached the village, they got away with all the horses about 800.
The battle then began. The two first one killed were boys who came out for the horses, but there was a dispute as to who first struck the enemy and the dispute is going on yet.
In settling a dispute among the Sioux they fill up a pipe, hold it to the Great Spirit and pray to him. In front of the pipe lays an arrow, knife and bullet. The disputers are brought in and are told that if they tell a lie they will die with one of these weapons. When they come up who are going to tell the truth they raise their open hands up to the Great Spirit and then touch with open hands the pipe and weapons on the ground. If one of these should lie he will die in battle by weapons like these. If one dies by accident or in war before the other it proves him the liar. They are afraid of this ceremony and it does not happen often.
In the above battle they killed five, three men besides the two boys. One of the men wore a coat covered with weasel skins and he was therefore supposed to be a chief.
After the battle the Crows turned back, took away half of the horses and 20 Sioux were killed in the running fight. The Crows gave them a hard fight until sundown. The Sioux had some men run on ahead with the stolen horses and thus send half of them.
When they returned they did not have a scalp dance. There was mourning for the dead Sioux. There was a big chief among the slain. It was Fire Thunder, and there was mourning for him and the others.
His War got second honor on the Crow chief of the weasel skins, whose name was Big Otter, a chief of the Crows.
Northeast from here on a creek called Red Water between the Mussel Shell and the Missouri.
His War went up on a hill near White Clay starting on foot. He did not do it in war times but he did it lately. His boy was sick and so he promised he would fast for three days. The principal offering was a red blanket. He got a vision while awake and saw a buffalo on the third day at night. The moon came up from the west instead of the east. The buffalo tried three times and the fourth time he came clear out and stood looking at him, but did not speak.
He saw a great wind coming with horses, wagons, trees and people all turning over and over in the wind. They did not tell me it meant bad events. He thinks the whirlwind that afterward struck Standing Rock was what the vision meant.
The fasting was because the boy recovered and the boy is now well and has four children.
His War says in the Black Hills is a gap in which is a water of which the Indians are afraid. The water comes out boiling and all at once it is still .White Man’s Fire the medicine man painted himself white and tied his hair in a lump in front, took as offerings red blankets that had never been used, and rods prepared for the purpose and eagle bone whistle in his mouth. He started for that water and went into the water deeper and deeper until he got out of sight. When he got out of sight the offerings floated. He remained out of sight a long time and while there the others, including His War and others, were siging the Medicine Man’s holy songs and all at once he came up and he had two white looking things in his mouth and in his hands he had other white looking things. He made a noise like a horse as he came out toward the others. When he came to them his eyes were turned up so only the white part showed and a girl painted her face red and pressing her hands on the ground she passed her palms on his eyes until they were restored to normal conditions. When he had come to and in his hands they saw five roots in each hand and two in his mouth. They were as large as a finger and were all white and pretty.
White Man’s Fire told them that something would come up out of the water if they would stay and see it. There was a dispute but it was decided to wait and see what would come up. He then told them not to be afraid of whatever came up. Then the waters began to boil and some disobeyed the medicine man and ran away and vomited as they left. The thing that came up was about three feet across, it was round, had horns, eyes were ten inches across, looked like an owl’s eyes, and it had a mouth. While it stood there the warriors stretched their hands toward it and said: “May we live long and may we get enemies’ scalps,” and this they did until it disappeared.
He was about forty years old. It was just before the big battle.
The Medicine Man gave each warriors a white root which was wrapped in buckskin. He told them whenever they went into battle to paint their faces and bodies with white clay to tie their hair in a knot in front and to carry an eagle-wing whistle hanging on a string and to blow it every once in a while in the fight.
[drawing]
His War’s shield drawn by John Monroe at His War’s dictation.
His War’s Shield
Body painted red. Snake with head, hors and face and spines along back, painted black.
Suspended from the shield are four groups of four eagle feathers each. Suspended from the snake’s mouth is suspended a white eagle plume.
Between the point of the snake’s tail and chin of its head was placed the medicine he had obtained in the Black Hills.
The Medicine Man told him that wherever he hung his shield he would find a snake but not to kill it. This he did often and he said we would have a snake in the tipi because we had drawn a picture of his shield.
He went on a hill and cried and left it there so the medicine owner would see it there. This he did because he heard the maker of it had died. White Man’s Fire died about twelve or thirteen years ago.
His War was in the Custer Battle under Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, but was at Crow Creek during the Wounded Knee fight.
He got the name His War from his full brother. His father and his cousins wanted to give him a name but he chose his brave brother’s name.
His War has a letter from J. M. Humphrey Government Beef Contractor expressing gratitude for the protection afforded by His War when Red Elk’s band were lurking in night 2 Feb. 1893. It is dated 14 Feb. 1893 and is countersigned by Mary T. Wells teacher of No. 5 Day School and by W. J. Cleveland preacher at Standing Rock Agency. The original is yellow and in four parts with handling but some friend has provided a type written copy.