It seemed as if there must have been many
travellers there, though I saw no one.
"This great road was made by the spirits of those who were killed in
battle. No warrior, however brave he may have been, has ever assisted in
making this road, except those who sang their death songs under the
tomahawk of their enemies. Neither did any woman ever assist. She is not
considered worthy to touch the war implements of a Dahcotah warrior, and
she was not permitted to do anything towards completing the path in
which the braves of the Dahcotahs would walk, when they joined their
forefathers in the land of spirits.
"As I pursued my journey, I saw near the banks of the river a teepee; I
entered it, and saw paint and all that a warrior needed to dress himself
in order to be fit to enter the city of spirits. I sat down and plaited
my hair, I put vermilion on my cheeks, and arranged the war-eagle
feathers in my head. Here, I said to myself, did my father rest when he
was on the same journey. I was tired, but I could not wait--I longed to
see my friends who had travelled this path before me--I longed to tell
them that the Dahcotahs were true to the customs of their forefathers--I
longed to tell them that we had drunk deep of the blood of the
Chippeways, that we had eaten the hearts of our enemies, that we had
torn their infants from their mothers' breasts, and dashed them to
the earth.
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