Scouts passing under cover of the Night
The most graphic Indian story of the Custer fight is told by Runs-the-Enemy in the chapter on “The Indians' Story of the Custer Fight.” Chief Runs-the-Enemy continued:
“A great event in changing my life was marked when I returned to the reservation and the Government took from us our horses and guns and told us that we were to live in that [pg 68] place at peace with everybody. The Government took the best warriors from among the tribe, made them lift their hands to God and swear that they would be true to the Government; and they made out of these men policemen who were to guard the Government and keep the Indians good. When the Government made a policeman of me they bound my hands with chains and I had to obey them. They gave me implements with which to till the soil, and raise stock and build a home, and it seemed to me I must obey every word they said. They told me that the wild game, now roaming the hills, would soon die off, and that if I tilled the soil and raised stock and grain, I could get money for it, and money is what makes everything move along. As I told you, whatever they told me, I did. They told me to send my children to school, which I did. I sent all of my children to school, and they came home and all of them died. They told me if I sent the children to school and educated them, they would be all right. Instead of that I sent them to school and they all came home with consumption and died, seven in number. If I had kept them home, some of them might have been living to-day. Now as to myself: I am getting old every day; I cannot take care of my stock. My limbs are weak, and my knees are getting weak; it will not be long until I will go under the ground. As you look at me now I am old. As [pg 69] I said, I will die in a little while, but I am not afraid of dying. I have two children living and I look ahead for them. Although I have done all I could for my people, I have also helped the Government and done whatever they told me to do.”
Map of the Custer Battlefield
We have been listening to the minor in the carol, that is always the major strain in Indian life, but we mistake much if we do not hear more jubilant notes in the scale. When Runs-the-Enemy was asked to tell the story of his boyhood days all the fierce combativeness expressed in gesture, voice, and piercing eye gave way to a tender and gentle calm. The warrior became a child, living again the life of a child with all the spontaneous gleefulness of a child. We may now have one of his folklore tales.
FOLKLORE TALE
There goes a spider. As he was journeying along he came upon a man—in our legends these men do anything; they take a whole community of men right down—and he met him face to face. The man-eater stood in the path, the spider in front of him. The big man kept letting out his breath and taking it in in great gusts, and when he drew in his breath he drew the spider toward him, and when he blew out his breath he blew him away from him. And the spider [pg 70] was so scared he did not know what to do. But he finally said: “Now, my young brother, you take in your breath, and let out your breath, and you pull me around; and if I did the same thing you would soon be gone, for I am older than you are.” The big man said to the spider: “Now, my older brother, you hold on.” The spider said to the big man: “I am going over here where there is a great big camp of people, and I am going to swallow all of these people. However, as you are hungry, I will give you half of them. Now you stay right here. I am going over to look at the big camp. I am going to find out whether I will give you any of them or not, and then I will tell you.” With these words the spider went ahead of the man a little, and then came right back to the big man again and said: “My young brother, I am afraid of some certain things, and I am going to tell you about it. Are you the same way?” The big man said: “Yes, my little brother, I am very much afraid of some things.” The spider then asked him: “What are the things you are afraid of?” The big man then told the spider that he was afraid of drums beating, that he was afraid of old tambourines that the Indians used to have, and he was also afraid of shouting and yelling. The spider then said to him: “You are my brother for sure; these are just the things that I am afraid of.” Just as he said these things to the big man, the [pg 71] spider was very much afraid of him, fearing that he could not hold himself steady as he stood in front of the big man. The spider said to the big man: “You just sit right still here. I am going over to see this big camp, and will be right back.” The spider went over the hill as fast as he could, looking back every once in a while to the big man. He went right ahead into the big camp. He told everybody around there to get all their drums and their tambourines, that he had a great big man over there, and these were the things that he was afraid of. “I am going back to him and I want you to take all your drums and tambourines, and yell and scream, for he is afraid of these things.” The spider then went back to the big man and told him the camp was big enough for them both. Then he marked a place which divided them half and half, and said: “You are to have the one half and I am to have the other half; but if you go ahead and eat your half and eat half of my half, I will swallow you too.” As they went along to the camp the spider said to the big man: “I am the older, and will go ahead of you a little.” In the meantime he had told those in camp that they must all gather in one place where he would lead this big man. As the big man walked along, he grew tired, and would let out his breath and take in a great big breath, and every time the spider would be drawn up against him. The spider told him if he did it [pg 72] again he would draw in his breath and the big man would soon be inside his stomach. As the spider went on into the place where all the people were gathered, they began to beat their drums and yell and scream and howl. The spider fell down as though he were dead, and kicked and squirmed. The big man was really scared, and he fell down dead. When they got up to the big man and found him dead, the spider told them how he had worked the big man, and saved their lives. And thus the story ends.
