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.