Proud Wolf's Woman (34 page)

Julia still waited expectantly for someone to tell her what this “kinship appeal” was.

But it never came. The old man began to speak of other things and then, with one last glance at Neeheeowee, Capa Tanka started to rise, but Julia held him back with her carefully chosen words, saying, “I know I should not speak out like this, but I am new to the Lakota camp circle and I do not know what the kinship appeal is. Would you be so kind as to explain it to me?”

The old man looked at Julia, his keen eyes appraising her before he said, “You have blended in so well with us that I forgot for a moment that you are new to us. I would be happy to tell you of the kinship appeal. But first I must tell you that it is a true story. It comes to us from our ancestors many hundreds of years ago. No one knows who first started it, and it is not used often, for it is so difficult to attain.”

All sat quietly while the old man stretched out his legs. “Let me tell you what has happened in the Brule tribe to explain this appeal. It happened only two seasons of the moon ago down there upon the Rosebud River. There was a man, a Lakota man,
Shonka,
The Dog, who killed another from his own tribe, a man by the name of
Mato Waste,
Good Bear. This is always a bad thing when it happens within a band, for one murder leads to another and soon there is one family fighting another of close kin, and sometimes it never stops.

“Now the murderer in this case, Shonka, escaped and was roaming over the hills, avoiding the victim’s relatives, for he knew these people would kill him if they could find him. It so happened that there was a man amongst these particular Brule relatives who was known to be a wise and very just old man. His name was
Ogle Sa,
Red Shirt.

“Now Ogle Sa listened to his relatives. He heard their arguments, their fighting, and when it became Ogle Sa’s turn to talk, here is what he said: ‘My brothers, this is a very bad thing that has happened to us. Our relative, whom we all loved, lies dead while his murderer roams free. Therefore, would it not seem that we should find this murderer, Shonka at once? Is it not our duty to kill this man for the evil he has done?’

“Well, you can well imagine the response of the relatives. It was what they were all wanting to do and they all agreed that they should go out at once and seek revenge upon this murderer. But old Ogle Sa was not done speaking yet, and here is what he said next: ‘My brothers, I, too, want justice. I, too, lost my kindred. But hear me. There is another way to resolve this. It is a harder path to take, but it is a better path. Now, it is true that we have lost a brother. But a murder is not always best met with more murder, especially if it means killing one from our own band. Hear me, my kindred. Would it not be better to handle this matter with no further killing? There is a way. Go and bring from your lodges your very finest. Bring here things that you value above all else. Bring them here for we shall give all these things to Shonka, the killer, as a way of showing him that we are not deceitful in what we propose to do. ‘My brothers,’ old Ogle Sa said, ‘we will take this murderer into our own Brule kindred. He will take the place of our dead relative. And he will serve us and be to us what our relative was. But you must, everyone of you, search within your hearts to see if you can do this, and if you are able, then, bring me here, the finest things you possess that we may show Shonka our single-minded purpose.’

“Well, you can imagine that every single member of that kindred had to struggle within himself to conquer the hate and anger he felt. For no Lakota man would agree to this without feeling it truly within his heart.

“And that’s when the wise old Ogle Sa pointed out that hatred and revenge are but flighty things at best, but that to live with Shonka in benevolence day in and day out required the most supreme qualities of a human being that could ever be put forth. And wasn’t that what all we Lakota men strive to do?

“Well, all of the kinsmen looked into their hearts and saw that what this wise old man said was a good thing, for it is easy to kill, it is easy to hate and seek revenge. It is not always the easy way to love despite all. And perhaps such is a true test of whether one is a great human being or not.”

“And did they all do it?” It was Julia who spoke up. “Did they all decide to live this way? Even Shonka?”

“Yes,” Capa Tanka said. “It is said that they found the murderer in the hills, for it is always easy to track a man, and they brought him back to the village. You can probably guess how Shonka felt to be placed among the family of the slain man, for he knew all wanted to kill him. But Shonka did not hesitate to step back into the camp. He seemed to accept his fate with a great calm.

“He was taken into the lodge of the elders, there to await his fate. And that was when wise old Ogle Sa came up to him. Here is what he said: ‘My friend, my fellow Lakota of our Brule band, I am going to ask you to look into your heart before I tell you what we do. Look around you. What do you see? Over there is the brother of the slain man. Over there, his cousin. In the corner over yonder is his father and another brother yet. To me, the man who is dead, my cousin. Now, my friend, do you see all these gifts here? All of us have looked into our hearts. All of us loved our brother well. We bring these gifts to you now to show you our earnest intentions. These gifts here, they are for you. From this day forward we ask of you that you take the place of our dead relative. I ask you to look into your heart and tell us if you are able to truly take the place of our beloved. For if you are, from this day forward you will be a part of our family.’”

Julia gasped.

“Ah,” Capa Tanka continued, “now Shonka began to shake, so deep was his emotion, and when each member of this kindred began to give to him the gifts they had brought and to speak to him kindly, the murderer began to cry, the tears falling from his eyes to the ground for he could not control them. And it is said that from that time forward Shonka became the best kinsman of all, because, you see, he had to prove himself worthy of that kindred’s trust, and so he strove at all times to be the best of kin.

“Now, this is a good story. It is a true story. I tell it now because it is the love that one feels for another within his heart that can conquer hate. It is never anything else. But, there is more.” The old gentleman held up his hand when Kokomikeeis would have spoken. “You may want to know what happened to the dead relative. That is the best part of all, for this slain man, seeing what terrible hardship his relatives went through to do this, seeing that they conquered their own hate, that they took the most strenuous course of all, felt that he, too, must do the same. And so this slain man departed for the afterworld, free himself from all hatred. And that is the end of the story.”

Julia sat, unable to say anything for a short while, though at last she said, “I thank you very much for telling me this story. Now you say that this is true?”

The old man nodded.

“And you say that this happened just recently?”

“Yes,” the old man said, gazing intently at Neeheeowee. “In the Brule camp to the south of here. It is a remarkable thing and one well to remember. Now,” he said, “I will take my leave from you. There are others here in the circle who have requested that I speak to them this night.”

The old man rose, to the accompaniment of
“Hau, hau, kola,”
and left.

No one spoke for a long time, though it was Neeheeowee who seemed to be the most lost in thought.

At length, it was Kokomikeeis who spoke, saying, “That is a truly incredible story. For people to do that requires the most strength of all. I do not know that I could do it.”

All agreed except one, Neeheeowee, who alone remained quiet for the rest of the evening.

Chapter Nineteen

The drums beat out an intoxicating rhythm. At least eight to ten men, young and old, sat around the two big drums. All beat to the rhythms, all sang. Boys and young men danced in the center of the circle, around a fire that was needed more for the light that it gave than for its warmth, since the heat of the day still hung in the air. The full moon outshone the stars up above, casting shadows over the ground and making the night sky so bright, one had to look past it a long way to find the stars.

Kristina, Julia, and Kokomikeeis sat together, watching their men and others dance around the center circle. Some of the men, Julia noticed, danced wildly as though in a hunt; others enacted scenes from a kill, or perhaps a fight. Some threw their bodies into hideous contortions. But Neeheeowee and his friends did none of the above, and Julia saw that they seemed content to dance a dignified, steady dance.

Some women chose to keep time to the beat of the drums, moving up and down, there on the outer rim of the circle. Their steps were simple, merely picking up the feet in time, and Julia observed that they all managed to maintain a proud, dignified pose.

“Come”—it was Kokomikeeis who spoke—“let us stand on the edge of the circle there with the other women. There we can see our men better and also we can dance.”

Kristina muttered an agreement and nudged her friend. “Come on, Julia. It’s time. I’ve seen you practicing.”

“But Kristina,” Julia said, pulling back, “I’ve never done this before. And I feel like I don’t belong.”

“You
do and it’s easy,” Kristina replied. “Just stand there and move up and down. The movement is nothing compared to what I’ve been watching you do. You’ll be fine.”

Julia rose with a bit less grace than she might have otherwise had at any other time and allowed herself to be moved through the crowd toward the outer ring of the circle. There they joined the other women, creating a line around the circle, all keeping time to the rhythm.

As Kristina had said, the dance was easy. One just moved up and down, the main ingredient being to stay in time to the beat of the drum, and Julia found herself relaxing.

The drums stopped but Julia kept on, Kristina taking hold of her arm. “I forgot to tell you, when the drum stops, the dancers stop. It’s not always easy to tell when they’ll stop, it’s more a feeling that you have to get for it, but you’ll get used to it after a while.”

Julia nodded, asking, “When do the women get to dance, besides just swaying here at the edge of the circle?”

“There will be women’s dances later,” Kristina said as the drums started again. Both Kristina and Kokomikeeis began to move in time with the beat, and Julia joined in, realizing that after a while the drums acted as a sort of balm for her, her troubles forgotten. What was it Kristina had said? To dance with your heart? What did that mean? Julia still didn’t know.

She closed her eyes as she stood there on the sidelines, moving with the beat of the drum. Fresh smells of grass permeated her consciousness, while the scents of fire and smoke, of paint and body heat added to it, all of it mixing with the sound of the deep singing, with the ebb and flow of the drums. Julia swayed to the rhythm, though her movement remained up and down, and all at once she wished she could be out there dancing, putting into motion what she felt.

She looked up at that moment to catch Neeheeowee’s glance at her, his look at her intense, sensual. All at once emotion swept through her, deep, fierce emotion…love. Her gaze met his as they both kept time to the music, her movement up and down, his steady.

Dance with your heart.
She heard Kristina’s voice.
Dance with your heart.
And then it happened. All at once Julia knew what that meant, knew what she felt. And she knew she had to express it, she had to tell him.

She moved forward.

Neeheeowee paused.

Dance with your heart.
She swept into the circle as though she belonged there, her gaze sought out Neeheeowee’s and never left him. She lifted her arms, her shawl and all its fringe falling around her like a second skin, making her look more butterfly than human. She never lost time to the beat as she came up onto her toes.

She began to swirl and sway to the rhythm, to the music of the voices. She twirled, the fringe of her regalia falling out around her as though it were a part of the rhythm itself. And with each swirl, she looked toward Neeheeowee.

I love you,
she said with each sway of her body.
You,
with your kindness and gentle ways. You, who have never left me, despite your vows. Whatever scars I might have had from the past are gone. I am free again to love you, to love these people. You have healed my heart. I am whole again because of you.

She came up on her toes to express what she felt. The swirl of her dress conveyed her pent-up emotions; the flap of the fringe, the swaying motion of her body became a significant incantation; the series of steps she took, the way she danced on her toes pronounced the affection she felt more effectively than words could have. Neeheeowee knew it, he felt it along with her, and he began to dance with her, around her, making his movements connect with hers, become a part of hers.

It looked more choreographed than the finest ballet, the love between these two more evident with each step, each sway and swirl.

For a moment all other dancing, all other dancers stopped, though if the onlookers were entranced or critical remained hard to discern.

And so enraptured was Julia for Neeheeowee, Neeheeowee for Julia, neither of them heard the raised voices, neither of them saw that Kristina watched the faces of those around her, that Kristina, grabbing her husband and leading him out into the circle, began the dance of the shawl.

The drums kept beating, the voices kept singing, and Kokomikeeis came forward, too, her arms spread wide as she, too, danced and twirled. Voices that had been raised were stilled as all around the circle watched the couples in the center. Other young girls began to join in, other boys and men as well, and soon old and young alike, male and female, entered into the circle, dancing.

Old people from the sidelines began to clap at so wonderful a sight, while they, too, moved in time to the rhythm. Other voices began to sing, and still Julia and Neeheeowee danced within the circle, around the fire, unaware of anything, save themselves.