Translation
Now set up the tipi,
Now set up the tipi.
Around the bottom,
Around the bottom,
Drive in the pegs,
Drive in the pegs.
In the meantime I shall cook,
In the meantime I shall cook.
The form of the verb oka′tañna shows that it is a woman speaking, even if we did not learn this from the context. To those who know the Indian life it brings up a vivid picture of a prairie band on the march, halting at noon or in the evening. As soon as the halt is called by some convenient stream, the women jump down and release the horses from the wagons (or the travois in the old times, and hobble them to prevent them wandering away. Then, while some of the women set up the tipi poles, draw the canvas over them, and drive in the pegs around the bottom and the wooden pins up the side, other women take axes and buckets and go down to the creek for wood and water. When they return, they find the tipis set up and the blankets spread out upon the grass, and in a few minutes fires are built and the meal is in preparation. The woman who composed the song evidently in her vision accompanied her former friends on such a march.