Then
there were tall brothers, braving hardships and danger, as if a Dahcotah
was only born to be scalped, or to scalp; uncles, cousins, too, there
were, in abundance, so that Sacred Wind did belong to a powerful family.
Now, among the Dahcotahs, a cousin is looked upon as a brother; a girl
would as soon think of marrying her grandfather, as a cousin. I mean an
ordinary girl, but Sacred Wind was not of that stamp; she was destined
to be a heroine. She had many lovers, who wore themselves out playing
the flute, to as little purpose as they braided their hair, and painted
their faces. Sacred Wind did not love one of them.
Her mother, was always trying to induce her to accept some one of her
lovers, urging the advantages of each match; but it would not do. The
girl was eighteen years old, and not yet a wife; though most of the
Dahcotah women are mothers long before that.
Her friends could not imagine why she did not marry. They were wearied
with arguing with her; but not one of them ever suspected the cause of
her seeming coldness of heart.
Her grandmother was particularly officious.
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