🧚 In the Measure of Hiawatha, part 2 · page 2

Dead she tossed upon the billows; For the Nébe-nâw-baigs knew her, Knew the crafty, wicked woman, And they cast her from the waters, Spurned her from their shining wigwams; Far away upon the shingle With the roaring waves they cast her.60 There upon her bloated body Fed the cawing crows and ravens, Fed the hungry wolves and foxes.61

On the shore of Gitchee Gumee, Ever young and ever handsome, Long and happy lived the Sea-Gull, Long and happy with the Panther.62 Evermore the happy hunter Loved the mother of his children.63 Like a red star many winters Blazed their lodge-fire on the sea-shore.64 O'er the Bridge of Souls together [1026] Walked the Sea-Gull and the Panther.65 To the far-off Sunny Islands-- To the Summer-Land of Spirits, Where no more the happy hunter Feels the fangs of frost or famine, Or the keen blasts of Kewâydin.66 Where no pain or sorrow enters, And no crafty, wicked woman, Sea-Gull journeyed with her husband.67 There she rules his lodge forever, And the twain are very happy, On the far-off Sunny Islands, In the Summer-Land of Spirits.68

On the rocks of Gitchee Gumee-- On the Pictured Rocks--the Legend Long ago was traced and written, Pictured by the Water Spirits; But the storms of many winters Have bedimmed the pictured story, So that none can read the legend But the Jossakeeds, the prophets.69 [1027]70

MINNETONKA71

Note: The Dakota name for this beautiful lake is _Me-ne-a-tan-ka_--Broad Water.72 By dropping the a before tánka, we have changed the name to _Big Water_.73

I sit once more on breezy shore, at sunset in this glorious June.74 I hear the dip of gleaming oar.75 I list the singer's merry tune.76 Beneath my feet the waters beat and ripple on the polished stones.77 The squirrel chatters from his seat: the bag-pipe beetle hums and drones.78 The pink and gold in blooming wold,--the green hills mirrored in the lake!79 The deep, blue waters, zephyr-rolled, along the murmuring pebbles break.80 The maples screen the ferns, and lean the leafy lindens o'er the deep; The sapphire, set in emerald green, lies like an Orient gem asleep.81 The crimsoned west glows like the breast of _Rhuddin_ [a] when he pipes in May, As downward droops the sun to rest, and shadows gather on the bay.82

[a] The Welsh name for the robin.83

In amber sky the swallows fly, and sail and circle o'er the deep; The light-winged night-hawks whir and cry; the silver pike and salmon leap.84 The rising moon, the woods aboon, looks laughing down on lake and lea; Weird o'er the waters shrills the loon; the high stars twinkle in the sea.85 From bank and hill the whippowil sends piping forth his flute-like notes, And clear and shrill the answers trill from leafy isles and silver throats.86 The twinkling light on cape and height; the hum of voices on the shores; The merry laughter on the night; the dip and plash of frolic oars,-- These tell the tale.87 On hill and dale the cities pour their gay and fair; Along the sapphire lake they sail, and quaff like wine the balmy air.88

'Tis well.89 Of yore from isle and shore the smoke of Indian teepees [a] rose; The hunter plied the silent oar; the forest lay in still repose.90 The moon-faced maid, in leafy glade, her warrior waited from the chase; The nut-brown, naked children played, and chased the gopher on the grass.91 The dappled fawn, on wooded lawn, peeped out upon the birch canoe, Swift-gliding in the gray of dawn along the silent waters blue.92 In yonder tree the great _Wanm-dee_ [b] securely built her spacious nest; The blast that swept the land-locked sea [c] but rocked her clamorous babes to rest.93 By grassy mere the elk and deer gazed on the hunter as he came; Nor fled with fear from bow or spear;--"so wild were they that they were tame."94

[a] Lodges.95

[b] Wanm-dee--the war-eagle of the Dakotas.96

[c] Lake Superior.97

Ah, birch canoe, and hunter, too, have long forsaken lake and shore: He bade his father's bones adieu and turned away forevermore.98 But still, methinks, on dusky brinks the spirit of the warrior moves; At crystal springs the hunter drinks, and nightly haunts the spot he loves.99 For oft at night I see the light of lodge-fires on the shadowy shores, And hear the wail some maiden's sprite above her slaughtered warrior pours.100 I hear the sob on Spirit Knob [a] of Indian mother o'er her child; And on the midnight waters throb her low _yun-he-he's_ [b] weird and wild.101 And sometimes, too, the light canoe glides like a shadow o'er the deep At midnight, when the moon is low, and all the shores are hushed in sleep.102

[a] Spirit Knob is a small hill up on a point in the lake in full view from Wayzata.103 The spirit of a Dakota mother whose only child was drowned in the lake during a storm, many, many years ago often wails at midnight (so the Dakotas say), on this hill.104 So they called it _Wa-na-gee Pa-ze-dan_--Spirit Knob.105 (Literally--little hill of the spirit.)106

[b] Pronounced _Yoon-hay-hay_--the exclamation used by Dakota women in their lament for the dead, and equivalent to "woe is me."107

Alas--Alas!--for all things pass; and we shall vanish, too, as they; We build our monuments of brass, and granite, but they waste away.108

FOOTNOTES:109

[Footnote 1: Called in the Dakota tongue "Hok-sée-win-nâ-pee Wo-hàn-pee"--Virgins Dance (or Feast).]110

[Footnote 2: One of the favorite and most exciting games of the Dakotas is ball-playing.111 A smooth place on the prairie, or in winter, on a frozen lake or river, is chosen.112 Each player has a sort of bat, called "Tâ-kée-cha-psé-cha," about thirty two inches long with a hoop at the lower end four or five inches in diameter, interlaced with thongs of deer-skin, forming a sort of pocket.113 With these bats they catch and throw the ball.114 Stakes are set as bounds at a considerable distance from the centre on either side.115 Two parties are then formed, and each chooses a leader or chief.116 The ball (Tâ-pa) is then thrown up half way between the bounds, and the game begins, the contestants contending with their bats for the ball as it falls.117 When one succeeds in getting it fairly in the pocket of his bat he swings it aloft and throws it as far as he can towards the bound to which his party is working, taking care to send it, if possible, where some of his own side will take it up.118 Thus the ball is thrown and contended for till one party succeeds in casting it beyond the bound of the opposite party.119 A hundred players on a side are sometimes engaged in this exciting game.120 Betting on the result often runs high.121 Moccasins, pipes, knives, hatchets, blankets, robes and guns are hung on the prize-pole.122 Not unfrequently horses are staked on the issue, and sometimes even women.123 Old men and mothers are among the spectators praising their swift-footed sons, and young wives and maidens are there to stimulate their husbands and lovers.124 This game is not confined to the warriors, but is also a favorite amusement of the Dakota maidens who generally play for prizes offered by the chief or warriors.125 See Neill's Hist.126 Minn. pp 74-5; Riggs' "Tâkoo Wakân," pp 44-5, and Mrs Eastman's Dacotah, p 55.]127