“Just at midnight I was surprised to hear one speak, saying: ‘I have come to aid you; I tell you that to-morrow just before midday you and your men must go to the valley, and there overlooking it you must lie down prone and rest on your elbows.’ And he said, too: ‘You must watch carefully the opposite side of the valley, and when you shall see a bear running along the opposite cliff you must shout Pa—ʼa p-hu-e, and thereupon you must all arise and flee from the place a short distance and must stop and look back toward the valley, and then you shall see what shall happen, what shall happen to the persons of your adversaries when they will enter the farther entrance to the valley—these Genonsgwa.’ The noise made by these Genonsgwa as they came forward was very great; the sound that they made was dū—ūm. As they came on, the voice of their chief was heard singing; he chanted the war song of the Genonsgwa, saying: ‘No one has the power to overcome me;’ this is what he said in his singing.
“Just then the cliffs on each side of the valley with the forests growing on them were upheaved with a deafening roar and crash and fell into the valley upon the advancing Genonsgwa; this was followed by the sounds of breaking trees and their limbs as they were crushed under the weight of the overturned cliffs, and then all was silent. Thus did this event come to pass.
“Now I shall speak to this assembly as it is here listening to what I have related. He who aided us was the Master of Life. He told us to return home, and He bade us never to undertake an enterprise such as that which took us from our homes. He bade us to make peace with all tribes of men, of whatsoever land or language they might be; for if we should not follow His advice we ourselves might one day shed one another’s blood; and He bade us to bury deep in the ground the scalping-knife, the war bow and arrow, and the battle-ax and the war-club. He bade us to put all these things out of this world, telling us that if we do this we shall be contented and happy in the future, if we consent to this and to inform all our people of this advice and the chiefs, too. But as we do not know what the chiefs will do in this matter we have called this council to ascertain this important opinion of our chiefs. Now we have told you these tidings which we have brought with us, and now you must take great pains in considering this matter in all its bearings; I mean you, our chiefs. There, I am through with my address.” [[687]]
During the entire day they discussed this matter in all its bearings. Some said that it would not be good for them to adopt this kind advice, as many of their relations had been killed by the enemy, and they had always intended to have revenge for their deaths.
Others spoke for and against the proposition which had been presented to them by the returned warriors. The discussions took a wide range and consumed the entire day. Finally one of the leading chiefs of the place arose and said: “It is better that we take a recess until early to-morrow morning, at which time we will again assemble here. I will then speak, telling you my views on this question after having thought on them during the night. For this reason all should be present again; so you must come and hear what I have to say to you. So there.”
Then they dispersed and went to their homes. In all the lodges there was much speculation as to what the chief would tell them in the morning. All had different views as to what he would say, and they made up their minds that they would go to the Long lodge at early forenoon.
So in the morning of the next day they again assembled in the Long lodge, and there was present a very large body of people.
Then the chief arose to his full height and began to speak, saying: “The time has now come. I said that to-day I should speak to you. My mind is now made up; I have decided what to say to you, and now I will tell you what I have thought best for us to do. I agree to the proposal to make peace with our enemies; that to that end we must certainly bury deep in the ground the scalping-knife and the war bow and arrow and the battle-ax; and that we must leave these things there out of sight and reach. You must put these things out of the world. So let this come to pass. Let everyone who has come here carry out this resolution as I have indicated it to you in what I have said. So there. Come, then, let us now make preparations. I suppose that we must send an embassy of two persons to that neighboring tribe, although we may not be certain whether they will be at all willing to make peace with us and thereby settle our difficulties. So we must commission our ambassadors to pray them to cease waging war against us; and we, too, must stop fighting on our part, and must cast away deep in the ground the scalping-knife, the war bow and arrow, and the battle-ax. These we must throw away, and thus you will put them outside of this world. When the two (ambassadors) arrive in the country of our enemies they shall say: ‘We have been sent by the chiefs of our people to know whether you are willing to agree to settle our difficulties and to make peace with us.’ This is what you two shall say. This is all.”
After some deliberation the chief arose again and said, “Come, now. Who will volunteer to go far away to the foreign land where [[688]]our enemies dwell?” Then a certain man said, “I am willing to go.” “So be it,” replied the chief; “who else is willing to go? There is one lacking.” Then another man said, “I am willing to go.” The chief accepted him by saying, “So let it be.” Then the last volunteer asked the chief: “I ask you, who art the chief, what must be done, should they perhaps kill us, and you would not hear anything about it? Should we become angry should they attack us there, even though by doing so we should probably lose our lives? So there (is what I have to say).”
Then the chief arose, and addressing the two ambassadors, said: “You have asked me a question. I shall tell both what you must do when you discover that the people whom you are going to visit dwell not far ahead of you. When you make this discovery you must leave there in safety your scalping-knife and your bows and arrows and your battle-axes; and you two must also carefully wash your faces so that there shall be no more paint on your faces. Then you must go to the village of the people; and according to custom they will not kill you because you have not your scalping-knives, your bows and arrows, or your battle-axes, and because you will not have your faces painted.”[459]