Big Chief's Conquest

: Thirty Indian Legends

Once in the long ago there lived a great warrior named Milkanops. He

lived in a land of high, rocky mountains, and to the far north there

lived a tribe of fierce, warlike Indians who were the enemies of his

tribe. Many battles were fought between the two tribes, but Milkanops

always won. At last, one autumn day, they fought from sunrise to

sunset, and although Milkanops won the victory once more, he received

his dea
h wound. The poisoned arrow pierced his side just as the

battle was won.



His warriors carried him to his lodge and laid him on his couch of

deerskins.



"Send for my son," he told them. "Send for Aseelkwa." At once they

brought the young warrior to his father's side.



"My boy," said the dying chief, "I have been called to the happy

hunting ground, and soon my spirit will be wandering with the happy

ones there. Before I go, I wish to ask one thing of you. Promise me

that you will not be a warrior as I have been, but will live to be a

great chief, for that is what your name means,--Aseelkwa, Big Chief.

Yonder to the north are enemies, and they will want you to go to war

with them, as I have done many times. Do not listen to their

challenges, but try to keep peace between the tribes and make your

tribe great and good, rather than strong and warlike."



The young boy, weeping, promised his father to obey his commands, and

not long after, the spirit of Milkanops started on its journey to the

happy hunting ground.



As the months went by the enemies of Aseelkwa made many attempts to

engage in war with him and his tribe, but to all of these challenges he

gave no reply. A few years went by, and now the young boy was a

full-grown warrior, but he did not call himself one. To all who spoke

of him as a warrior, he would make answer that he was a chief and would

not engage in battle. His enemies could not entice him, so they said

he was a coward, and taunted him and said he was afraid to fight them.



One day one of the wise men came to Aseelkwa and said, "Oh, Big Chief,

Hahola, the Rattlesnake, is a traitor. He has told our enemies that

you are indeed a coward, as they say you are, and they have planned to

attack our camp when the moon has faded to a narrow band in the sky."



"And Hahola, is he going to help them?" asked the chief, in a stern

voice.



"Yes, O Great Chief. He will let them know when you are fast asleep in

your lodge. Then, in the darkness, they will surround it and take you

prisoner."



"It is well you have told me," said the chief. "Now I must fast and

dream and see what I am to do."



So for nine days he fasted and dreamed. Then, after that time, he

called his medicine men and said, "I have fasted and dreamed, and in my

dreams I saw the spirit of my father Milkanops. He told me that I must

not fight these enemies, but that I and my tribe must journey to the

far south and there find a new hunting ground."



Early the next morning Aseelkwa and the tribe set out on their journey.

For many days and many nights they travelled. They crossed rivers and

climbed steep hills, and at length they reached a land where the hills

were lower and greener than their rocky mountains had been. In front

of them lay a very long, narrow valley with low hills on either side,

and, just behind these, there rose one larger than the others, a tall,

rocky mountain.



"In my dreams," said Aseelkwa, "I saw this long, narrow valley and that

tall hill, and the spirit of my father told me that here we must make

our new camp and hunt in these green hills."



The Indians were glad to know they had reached the end of their

journey, for they were footsore and weary. Quickly they built their

lodges on the hillside and went forth in search of food.



That night Aseelkwa called his medicine men to go with him to the top

of the high hill, and there hold a council. He knew that Hahola, the

Rattlesnake, would have told of their departure, and by this time the

northern Indians would be well on their way in pursuit. Aseelkwa

seated himself at the foot of a tall pine-tree, and the medicine men

placed themselves in a circle around him. The night was dark, for the

moon was only a narrow band in the sky. They had made no fire, for

fear their enemies might see it. Scarcely had Aseelkwa begun to speak

when a slight noise was heard. It sounded like some loosened stones

falling down the mountain side. At once every warrior was on his feet

and peering through the darkness.



"Look," said Aseelkwa. "There at the foot of the hill creeps away

Hahola, the Rattlesnake. Our enemies are in hiding. Let us go down to

them."



Down the hill they came, but before they reached the bottom, from

behind every pine-tree and every stone there leaped a warrior, with

fiendish yells. Out rang the war-whoop of Aseelkwa, and from every

lodge there sprang forth the warriors who had fought for Milkanops, his

father. Then, in the darkness, there followed a terrible battle. Many

warriors fell on both sides, struck down with tomahawks. For some time

it seemed as if the enemy must win. Then, little by little, Aseelkwa's

army began to drive them back. At last they had them at the entrance

to the narrow valley, and there was fought the fiercest part of the

battle. But at last the enemy were forced out of the valley, and once

in the open, they turned and vanished in the darkness. During this

last fight Aseelkwa had been missing, and now his warriors began to

search for him among the wounded. At last they found him, and there at

his side lay Hahola, dead.



"Lift me up," said Aseelkwa, "and carry me to the high hill, and there

lay me under the pine-tree." They did as he commanded, and after they

laid him down he turned to them and spoke in a very weak voice.



"My warriors," he said, "in a few moments my spirit shall have gone to

join that of my fathers in the happy hunting grounds. I dreamed of

this battle, and everything has been just as I dreamed. Our enemies

are defeated, and Hahola, the traitor, is dead. Bury him where he fell

in the valley. By morning you will find that the Great Spirit has

placed a barrier between you and your enemies, over which they can

never cross. And remember, my brave warriors, that although I am not

with you, that always shall the spirit of Aseelkwa watch over his

tribe. You shall fight no more battles, but instead shall cultivate

and make fruitful these hills."



Then he sank back upon the grass, and his spirit passed to the happy

hunting grounds.



The warriors buried him where he lay, and then, as he had commanded

them, buried Hahola in the narrow valley. When the sun rose next

morning, they knew what Aseelkwa had meant, for where the valley had

been the night before, there now was a long, narrow lake, whose still,

blue waters told nothing of its great depth, for in the centre of this

lake, just where Hahola was buried, there is no bottom to be found.

Then the warriors looked up on the high hill, and again they knew what

Aseelkwa had meant. For, from the topmost point of the high rock,

Aseelkwa's face, carved in stone, looked down over the lake and valley.

There, calm and serene and peaceful, it still watches over the hills

that have been made fruitful, over the tribe that is always at peace,

and over the lake whose deep, blue waters are always ready to frown on

the canoes of their enemies.



More

;