第37章 WINONA, THE CHILD-WOMAN(3)
Matosapa has improved every opportunity, until Winona has at last shyly admitted her will- ingness to listen. For a whole year he has been compelled at intervals to repeat the story of his love. Through the autumn hunting of the buffalo and the long, cold winter he often pre- sents her kinsfolk with his game.
At the next midsummer the parents on both sides are made acquainted with the betrothal, and they at once begin preparations for the com- ing wedding. Provisions and delicacies of all kinds are laid aside for a feast. Matosapa's sisters and his girl cousins are told of the ap- proaching event,and they too prepare for it, since it is their duty to dress or adorn the bride with garments made by their own hands.
With the Sioux of the old days, the great natural crises of human life, marriage and birth, were considered sacred and hedged about with great privacy. Therefore the union is publicly celebrated after and not before its consum- mation. Suddenly the young couple disappear. They go out into the wilderness together, and spend some days or weeks away from the camp. This is their honeymoon, away from all curious or prying eyes. In due time they quietly return, he to his home and she to hers, and now at last the marriage is announced and invitations are given to the feast.
The bride is ceremoniously delivered to her husband's people, together with presents of rich clothing collected from all her clan, which she afterward distributes among her new relations. Winona is carried in a travois handsomely dec- orated, and is received with equal ceremony. For several days following she is dressed and painted by the female relatives of the groom, each in her turn, while in both clans the wedding feast is celebrated.
To illustrate womanly nobility of nature, let me tell the story of Dowanhotaninwin, Her- Singing-Heard. The maiden was deprived of both father and mother when scarcely ten years old, by an attack of the Sacs and Foxes while they were on a hunting expedition. Left alone with her grandmother, she was carefully reared and trained by this sage of the wild life.
Nature had given her more than her share of attractiveness, and she was womanly and win- ning as she was handsome. Yet she remained unmarried for nearly thirty years--a most un- usual thing among us; and although she had worthy suitors in every branch of the Sioux na- tion, she quietly refused every offer.
Certain warriors who had distinguished them- selves against the particular tribe who had made her an orphan, persistently sought her hand in marriage, but failed utterly.
One summer the Sioux and the Sacs and Foxes were brought together under a flag of truce by the Commissioners of the Great White Father, for the purpose of making a treaty with them. During the short period offriendly in- tercourse and social dance and feast, a noble warrior of the enemy's tribe courted Dowan- hotaninwin.
Several of her old lovers were vying with one another to win her at the same time, that she might have inter-tribal celebration of her wed- ding.
Behold! the maiden accepted the foe of her childhood--one of those who had cruelly de- prived her of her parents!
By night she fled to the Sac and Fox camp with her lover. It seemed at first an insult to the Sioux, and there was almost an outbreak among the young men of the tribe, who were barely restrained by their respect for the Com- missioners of the Great Father.
But her aged grandfather explained the mat- ter publicly in this fashion:
"Young men, hear ye! Your hearts are strong; let them not be troubled by the act of a young woman of your tribe! This has been her secret wish since she became a woman. She deprecates all tribal warfare. Her young heart never forgot its early sorrow; yet she has never blamed the Sacs and Foxes or held them re- sponsible for the deed. She blames rather the customs of war among us. She believes in the formation of a blood brotherhood strong enough to prevent all this cruel and useless enmity. This was her high purpose, and to this end she re- served her hand.Forgive her, forgive her, I pray!"In the morning there was a great commotion. The herald of the Sacs and Foxes entered the Sioux camp, attired in ceremonial garb and bearing in one hand an American flag and in the other a peace-pipe. He made the rounds singing a peace song, and delivering to all an invitation to attend the wedding feast of Dowanhotaninwin and their chief's son. Thus all was well. The simplicity, high purpose, and bravery of the girl won the hearts of the two tribes, and as long as she lived she was able to keep the peace be- tween them.