20 - Indian Boyhood by Charles Alexander Eastman

Get enthralled by the vivid and engaging account of a Sioux childs life during the last era of the tribes untamed existence in the 19th century, before the encroachment of civilization. Charles Eastman, born in 1858 in Minnesota, takes you through his exhilarating journey from the lush forests of the land of lakes to the boundless prairies of the Dakota territory. Experience his extensive training in woodcraft, horsemanship, and hunting, and delve into the captivating stories passed down from his elders that formed the core of his tribes oral traditions. Eastman paints an honest picture of the dangers that were part and parcel of such a lifestyle, but also conveys the sheer joy and thrill of the adventures. As you listen, you may find yourself yearning for the freedom to ride across the wild prairie just like young Ohiyesa.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Part ten, Chapter two of Indian Boyhood by Charles Eastman.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. A winter camp.
When I was about twelve years old, we wintered upon
the Mouse River, west of Turtle Mountain. It was one
of the coldest winters I ever knew, and was so
regarded by the old man of the tribe. The summer before,

(00:24):
there had been plenty of buffalo upon that side of
the Missouri, and our people had made many packs of
dried buffalo meat and cached them in different places so
that they could get them in case of need. There
were many black tailed deer and elk along the river,
and grizzlies were to be found in the open country.
Apparently there was no danger of starvation, so our people

(00:45):
thought to winter there. But it proved to be a
hard winter. There was a great snowfall and the cold
was intense. The snow was too deep for hunting, and
the main body of the buffalo had crossed the Missouri,
where it was too far to go after them. But
there were some smaller herds of the animals scattered about

(01:06):
in our vicinity. Therefore there was still fresh meat to
be had, but it was not secured without a great
deal of difficulty. No ponies could be used. The men
hunted on snow shoes until after the Moon of Sore
Eyes March, when after a heavy thaw, a crust was
formed on the snow which would scarcely hold a man.

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It was then that our people hunted buffalo with dogs,
an unusual expedient. Sleds were made of buffalo ribs and
hickory saplings. The runners bound with raw hide with the
hair side down. These slipped smoothly over the icy crust.
Only small men rode on the sleds. When buffalo were

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reported by the hunting scouts, everybody had his dog team ready.
All went under orders from the police and approached the
herd under cover until they came within charging distance. The
men had their bows and arrows, and a few had guns.
The huge animals could not run fast in the deep snow.
They all followed a leader, trampling out in a narrow path.

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The dogs with their drivers soon caught up with them
on each side, and the hunters brought many of them down.
I remember when the party returned late in the night.
The men came in single file, well loaded, and each
dog following his master with an equally heavy load. Both
men and animals were white with frost. We boys had

(02:33):
waited impatiently for their arrival. As soon as we spied
them coming, a buffalo hunting whistle was started, and every
urchin in the village added his voice to the weird sound,
while the dogs, who had been left at home joined
with us in the chorus. The men, wearing their buffalo
moccasins with the hair inside and robes of the same

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came home hungry and exhausted. It is often supposed that
the dog ug in the Indian camp is a useless
member of society, but it is not so in the
wild life. We found him one of the most useful
of domestic animals, especially in an emergency. While at this camp,
a ludicrous incident occurred that is still told about the

(03:17):
camp fires of the Sioux. One day, the men were
hunting on snow shoes and contrived to get within a
short distance of the buffalo before they made the attack.
It was impossible to run fast, but the huge animals
were equally unable to get away. Many were killed. Just
as the herd reached an open plain, one of the
buffaloes stopped and finally lay down. Three of the men

(03:41):
who were pursuing him shortly came up. The animal was
severely wounded, but not dead. I shall crawl up to
him from behind and stab him, said Wamadi. We cannot
wait here for him to die. The others agreed. Wamma
Dee was not considered especially brave, but he took out

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his knife and held it between his teeth. He then
approached the buffalo from behind and suddenly jumped astride his back.
The animal was dreadfully frightened and struggled to his feet.
Wamede's knife fell to the ground, but he held on
by the long, shaggy hair. He had a bad seat,
for he was upon the buffalo's hump. There was no

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chance to jump off. He had to stay on as
well as he could. Hurry, hurry, shoot, shoot, he screamed,
as the creature plunged and kicked madly in the deep snow.
Wammaedi's face looked deathly, they said, but his two friends
could not help laughing. He was still calling upon them

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to shoot, but when the others took aim, he would cry,
don't shoot, don't shoot, you will kill me. At last,
the animal fell down with him, but Wamaedi's two friends
also fell down exhausted with la After he was ridiculed
as a coward. Thereafter, it was on this very hunt

(05:06):
that the chief Mato, was killed by a buffalo. It
happened in this way. He had wounded the animal, but
not fatally, so he shot two more arrows at him
from a distance. Then the buffalo became desperate and charged
upon him. In his flight, Mato was tripped by sticking
one of his snow shoes into a snow drift from

(05:28):
which he could not extricate himself in time. The bull
gored him to death. The creek upon which this happened
is now called Mato Creek. A little way from our
camp there was a log village of French Canadian half breeds,
but the two villages did not intermingle. About the Moon
of Difficulty January, we were initiated into some of the

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peculiar customs of our neighbors. In the middle of the night,
there was a firing of guns throughout their village. Some
of the people thought they had been attacked and went
over to assist them, but to their surprise they were
told that this was the celebration of the birth of
the new year. Our men were treated to minnie wakan,

(06:14):
or spirit water, and they came home crazy and foolish.
They talked loud and sang all the rest of the night. Finally,
our head chief ordered his young men to tie these
men up and put them in a lodge by themselves.
He gave orders to untie them when the evil spirit
had gone away. During the next day, all our people

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were invited to attend the half Breed's dance. I never
knew before that a new year begins in midwinter. We
had always counted that the year ends when the winter ends,
and a new year begins with the new life in
the springtime. I was now taken for the first time
to a white man's dance in a log house. I

(07:00):
thought it was the dizziest thing I ever saw. One
man sat in a corner sawing away at a stringed board,
and all the while he was stamping the floor with
his foot and giving an occasional shout When he called out.
The dancers seemed to move faster. The men danced with women,
something that we Indians never do, and when the man

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in the corner shouted, they would swing the women around
it looked very rude to me as I stood outside
with the other boys and peeped through the chinks in
the logs. At one time, a young man and woman,
facing each other, danced in the middle of the floor.
I thought they would surely wear their moccasins out against
the rough boards, but after a few minutes they were

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relieved by another couple. Then an old man with long
curly hair and a fox skin cap danced alone in
the middle of the room, slapping the floor with his
moccasined foot in a lightning fashion that I have never
seen equal. He seemed to be a leader among them.
When he had finished, the old man invited our principal

(08:06):
chief into the middle of the floor, and after the
Indian had given a great whoop, the two drank in company.
After this, there was so much drinking and loud talking
among the men that it was thought best to send
us children back to the camp. It was at this
place that we found many sand boulders, like a big
white man's house. There were holes in them like rooms,

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and we played in these cave like holes. One day,
in the midst of our game, we found the skeleton
of a great bear. Evidently he had been wounded and
came there to die. For there were several arrows on
the floor of the cave. The most exciting event of
this year was the attack that the Grosvunt made upon
us just as we moved our camp upon the table

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land back of the river. In the spring. We had
plenty of meat then, and everybody was happy. The grass
was beginning to appear, and the ponies to grow fat.
One night there was a war dance. A few of
our young men had planned to invade the Grovant country,
but it seemed that they too had been thinking of us.

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Everybody was interested in the proposed war party. Uncle, are
you going to I eagerly asked him. No, he replied
with a long sigh. It is the worst time of
year to go on the war path. We shall have
plenty of fighting this summer, as we are going to
trench upon their territory in our hunts, he added. The

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night was clear and pleasant. The war drum was answered
by the howls of coyotes on the opposite side of
the Mouse River. I was in the throng watching the
braves who were about to go out in search of glory.
I wish I were old enough I would surely go
with this party. I thought my friend Tetanka was to go.

(10:00):
He was several years older than I and a hero
in my eyes. I watched him as he danced with
the rest until nearly midnight. Then I came back to
our teepee and rolled myself in my buffalo robe, and
was soon lost in sleep. Suddenly I was aroused by
loud war cries. Ooo ooo hiy hi aye ooh o

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do oohie do. I jumped upon my feet, snatched my
bow and arrows, and rushed out of the teepee, frantically
yelling as I went stop stop, screamed uncheedah, and caught
me by my long hair. By this time, the grove
Haunt had encircled our camp, sending vulleys of arrows and

(10:43):
bullets into our midst. The women were digging ditches in
which to put their children. My uncle was foremost in
the battle. The Sioux bravely withstood the assault, although several
of our men had already fallen. Many of the enemy
were killed in the field around our teepees. The Sioux

(11:03):
at last got their ponies and made a counter charge,
led by Oe Makasan. My uncle they cut the Grosvant
party in two and drove them off. My friend to
Tanka was killed. I took one of his eagle feathers,
thinking I would wear it the first time that I
ever went upon the war path. I thought I would

(11:26):
give anything for the opportunity to go against the Grovant
Because they killed my friend. The war songs, the wailing
for the dead, the howling of the dogs was intolerable
to me. Soon after this, we broke up our camp
and departed for new scenes and of Part ten, Chapter

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two