Colors of The Wind
You think I'm an ignorant savage You think the only people who are people
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned? Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
The Alliances Between White Traders, Trappers and Indian Women
Greetings from the valley of the lower Musselshell.
When a mountain man, whether he had been a trader or trapper, took a young Indian girl for his help mate, he found himself dealing with a woman much unlike women he had known in his homeland or eastern ports.
His wife which he bought or traded for, was, in most cases, not unaccustomed to being used as a beast of burden, beat, treated less than human, sold or lent out by their husbands or fathers to camp visitors for the night.
The act of joining in marriage held no great religious meaning to most Indian tribes. Going to bed with a man usually implied that she had become his wife. (As was the case in most all societies until someone realized money could be made by the selling of a license and the symbol of togetherness, the ring.) Ceremonies in Indian life were usually reserved for the birth of a child, naming of a child and matters to do with war and death. The expectations of an Indian were much different than those of a white woman.
The kind of life a trader or trapper had with this Indian woman, depended on what he and she were like. Nothing new under the sun. The lifestyle the couple led depended largely upon the type of work the husband did. Was he an Englishman, or Frenchman or American? Was he a bourgeois of a lowly engage. Did he have an education or was he illiterate, a gentleman or not.
Early on in the fur trade, an English or French hunter settled in with his wife and her people in the Indian village or at the trading post. It is reported that the French easily lived with the tribes, eventually speaking their language and going to war with them.
The British, while having a reputation for ineptness when relating to the Indian, were reported to not have been loved as the French were, but because of the better quality of trade goods and liquor they could seduce large numbers of Indians away from the French. It is reported that in 1792, a fourth of the heads of Indian families of the Chickasaw nation were white men, mainly English. And by 1825 nearly one hundred and fifty white men had married into the Cherokee nation of the east.
The first group of men to have contact with Indian women of the wilds were the forerunner to the American Mountain Man of latter day, the coureurs de bois, whose wide ranging operations put them in contact with women of different tribes. By 1779 , French traders had settled with women in the Missouri Villages.
It was Alexander Henry the Younger who encountered Rene Jesseaume at one of the villages and remarked in a unflattering way of the life of a white man who lived with his Indian woman and her people: "We found in this village a Canadian named Jussaume (sic) who accompanied Captains Clark and Lewis the ensuing autumn to Washington on their return from their voyage to the Pacific Ocean, as interpreter for the Mandane chief, Gros Blanc. This man has resided among the Indians for upwards of fourteen years, speaks their language tolerably well , and has a wife and family who dress and live like the natives. He retains the outward appearance of a Christian, but his principles, as far as I could observe, are much worse than those of the Mandane: he is possessed of every superstition natural to those people, nor is he different in every mean, dirty trick they have acquired from intercourse with the set of scoundrels who visit these parts..."
Other of the earliest known French men to settle with Indian tribes were Joseph Garreau who settled with the Aricara in 1793 and Toussaint Charbonneau (Sac’s man) who began to live with the Hidatsa in 1795. Many others followed.
The French-Canadian free trappers differed from the voyageurs who later traveled the West. The free trappers may have at one time been bound by contract to a large fur trading company, but broke free to roam, work and settle on their own.
Men such as Jesseaume were almost unheard of among the British fur hunters. The Scots, Orkneymen and English who served with the Hudson’s Bay and North West companies were all "organized men" who, while often marrying Indian women, hardly ever lived with them in their villages. There was an occasional unique case in which the opposite was true. Jemmy Jock, who was a Hudson’s Bay man was sent by the company into the Blackfoot lands to learn their ways and language. He fell in love with a chief’s daughter, married her and spent thirty years with her in her village. He was made chief, something rather casually done by the Blackfoot, and gained great influence with the tribe. At that time, early on it was a unique case and we did not very often, if at all, find white men going-native until the American Mountain Man enters the Rockies.
We are told of the ease of which a white man enters the life of an Indian when we read the journals of a fugitive Taylor¹s apprentice from ‘St. Louis named John Smith. "Blackfoot" John Smith journeyed up the Missouri with a trading party. He reportedly wintered with the Blackfoot and hunted with the Sioux and Cheyenne. He eventually married a Cheyenne girl and lived among her people.
Of course we must include James P. Beckworh in our list of mountain men turned native. First appearing with William Henry Ashley’s fur brigade in 1823, adopted into the Crow tribe, married Indian women, one, a chief’s daughter and settling in the Absaroka. He fought with the Crow against the Blackfoot and Sioux.
Edward Rose, described as a Missouri river pirate, but spoke of as a "brave and enterprising man" by Colonel Leavenworth, also became a Crow chief. While collecting Indian wives for himself he supplied Indian women for men along the Missouri.
In the case of the women married to these men, they had the luxury of not only staying among their loved ones, but obtaining the status of being married to a white who was of prominent standing in the tribe.
At times however, life among the wife’s people was so intolerable that he was willing to leave wife and children behind. Such was a situation described by North West Co. trader, John Thompson, while wintering at Riviere Rogue in 1798: "In the evening Vivier with all his family arrived; gave him a dram. I asked him what he meant by leaving the Indians. he says he cannot live with them any longer, and that all the devils in Hell cannot make him return... He has made an offer of his wife and child to Demarrais who will take his place, but cannot get Madam to consent."
Many of the men who took Indian women for wives left them with her people while he traveled and trapped. Often a trapper would leave his wife and if the case, children, unattended in a small desolate cabin while he was gone. Charles Larpenteur tells us of his concerns, which turned to reality during one of his absences. "In September (1852) the news came that all of my children had died. I did not think this possible—some might have died, but not all."
The alternative to leaving the family behind was to take them along into the wilderness. It does not seem feasible, but was often the case. The large French trading parties were commonly accompanied by wives. In 1792, when Jean-Baptiste and Michel Cadotte led an expedition into dangerous country they took precautions and left their women behind. The widow of Michael Cadotte, many years later, recalls and states that "she and many other women of the party were left to winter at Fond du Lac, as their husbands were going into a dangerous region, and did not wish to be encumbered with women."
The expeditions often took a year or two to complete. Ogden’s Snake-country expedition in 1824-25 which began at Fort Vancouver, consisted of ten company engages, an unspecified number of Indian trappers, thirty women and fifty-three freemen. Ogden notes that the women played, " a full and active part" in skinning and dressing beaver, cooking food, striking camp and packing loads as well as causing a good deal of trouble."
In the winter of 1824, another Hudson’s Bay company expedition traveled into snake-country led by Alexander Ross. They started from Flathead House and reportedly consisted of Indians from many tribes, seventeen Canadians, two Americans, five half-breeds, twenty-five women and sixty-four children.
Finan McDonald drew the line on women accompanying their men (Gee, he must have been from Montana! Just kidding!) when on his expedition in 1825 the participants were reported to be two freemen, twenty-two engages, four Indians and "not one women was allowed to accompany the party."
In 1825 it is recorded that Ashley¹s supplies began to include such feminine items as earrings, sewing silk and combs. The women of the mountain men were there to stay and needed to be provided for. While hardships were sometimes an everyday occurrence, most Indian women’s lives were usually much easier and happier when with a white man as opposed to with a man from their own people.
An Indian woman, driven to despair by her husband's desertion of
her for another wife, entered a canoe with her children, and rowed it down
the Mississippi towards a cataract. Her voice was heard from the shore
singing a mournful death-song, until overpowered by the sound of the waters
in which she perished. The tale is related in Long's Expedition to the
source of St. Peter's River.1
Non! je ne puis vivre avec un coeur brisé. Il faut que je retrouve
la joie, et que je m'unisse aux esprits libres de l'air.
Let not my child be a girl, for very sad is the life of a woman.
Roll swiftly to the spirit's land, thou mighty stream and free!
Roll on! My warrior's eye hath looked upon another's face, The voice that spoke of other days is hushed within his breast,
Will he not miss the bounding step that met him from the chase?
Some blessed fount amidst the woods of that bright land must flow,
And thou, my babe! though born, like me, for woman's weary lot,
She bears thee to the glorious bowers where none are heard to weep, 1 William Hypolitus Keating, Narrative
of an Expedition to the source of St Peter's River, a play performed
in 1823 (published 1824). Back
"A people is not defeated until the hearts of its women are on the ground" (Cheyenne saying).
Pity the poor squaw (Anonymous)
"Peace and happiness are available in every moment. White Buffalo Calf Woman (Ptecincala Ska Wakan) The Gift of the Sacred Pipe Before the appearance of the Buffalo Calf Woman, the Indian honoured the Great Spirit. But for the Sioux, the coming of Buffalo Calf Woman brought a most important instrument, the pipe, which is now used in all ceremonies. The sacred pipe came into being many, many years ago. Two men of the Sioux tribe were hunting when they saw something approaching in the distance. As the figure grew close, they observed a maiden, attired in white buckskin, carrying a bundle wrapped in buffalo hide. As she walked slowly toward them she sang out and repeated; Behold me. One of the men had evil thoughts about this maiden and moved towards her. The other Sioux tried forcibly to restrain him, but the evil warrior pushed the good warrior away. A cloud descended and engulfed the evil one, and when it lifted, his body was a skeleton being devoured by worms. This symbolised that one who lives in ignorance and has evil in their hearts may be destroyed by their own actions. The good warrior knelt in fear, trembling as the buckskin-clad maiden approached. She spoke to him, telling him to fear not and to return to his people and prepare them for her coming. The warrior did so, and the maiden appeared, walking among them in a sunwise, (clockwise) direction. She held forth her bundle and said: This is a sacred gift To this day, A Sioux family, the "Keepers of the Sacred Bundle," still guards the bundle and its contents on one of the Sioux reservations. Today, other ceremonies have supplanted some of the original seven ceremonies taught by the Buffalo Calf Woman. The Sun Dance, Sweat Lodge and Vision Quest are still major ceremonies that are widely practiced. The Pipe Ceremony itself is now used to open gatherings, meetings, and sweat lodges. The Pipe Ceremony is used in naming ceremonies, in which one is given an Earth or Indian name. It is also used in Indian marriage ceremonies. In times of religious persecution, the visible ceremonies had to go underground. Sweat lodges, which were common around most lodges and tipis in the early reservation days, started to disappear when Christian missionaries began to entrench their power with governmental authorities. The pipe was much easier to hide. Sioux spirituality thus came to depend for its secret expression upon the pipe. Now that Native Americans have won back their religious freedom, the Pipe Ceremony remains established. The Buffalo Calf Woman told the Sioux where to find the sacred red stone to make the peace pipe. In the pipestone quarries in south western Minnesota, near the town of Pipestone, the Sioux and all other Indian nations dug for their red stone in peace. They also traveled to and from the quarries in peace. No warfare was allowed. Peace councils were often held in this place. Mother Earth is now in grave danger. She is speaking to us quite strongly already. Let Her speak also in ceremony. We can gain a special resolve by communicating within the ceremonies. By listening to nature through nature-based ceremonies, we can be like the Sioux. Deforestation, the thinning ozone layer, global warming, overpopulation and the pollution of our streams, rivers and oceans present great odds. But we can adapt. We can live, and our planet can survive. The Seven Sacred Rites Seven traditional rituals use the sacred pipe in accordance with the Buffalo Calf Womans teachings. The Seven Sacred Rites The Keeping of the Soul Inipi: The Sweat Lodge Ceremony or Rite of Purification Hanblecheyapi: Vision Quest Wiwanyag Wachipi: The Sun Dance Ceremony Hunkapi: Making Relatives Ishnata Awicalowan: Preparing a Girl for Womanhood Tapa Wanka Yap: Throwing the Ball
"The women join us in the Crane Dance, dressed in their most gaudy attire and decor-
ated with feathers. The Crane Dance often lasts two or three days. At this feast the young
men select the women they wish to have for wives. Each then informs his mother, who calls
on the mother of the girl, when the necessary arrangements are made and the time appointed
for him to come.
"He goes to the lodge when all are asleep, or pretend to be, and with his flint and steel
strikes a light and soon finds where his intended sleeps. He then awakens her, holds the light
close to his face that she may know him, after which he places the light close to her.
"If she blows it out the ceremony is ended and he appears in the lodge next morning
as one of the family.
"If she does not blow out the light, but leaves it burning he retires from the lodge.
The next day he places himself in plain view and plays his flute. The young women go out
one by one to see who he is playing for. The tune changes to let them know that he is not
playing for them.
"When his intended makes her appearance at the door, he continues his courting tune
until she returns to the lodge. He then quits playing and makes another trial at night, which
usually turns out favorably.
"When the Crane dance is over, we feast again and have our NATIONAL DANCE.
The large square in the village is swept and prepared for the purpose. The chiefs and old
warriors take seats on mats which have been spread on the upper end of the square. Next
come the drummers and singers.
"The braves and women form the sides, leaving a large space in the middle.
"The drums beat and the singing commences. A warrior enters the square, keeping
time with the music. He shows the manner he started on a war party; how he approached the
enemy; he strikes, and shows how he killed him. All join in the applause, and he then leaves
the square and another takes his place.
"Such of our young men as have not been out in war parties and killed an enemy stand
back ashamed, not being allowed to enter the square. I remember that I was ashamed to look
where our young men stood, before I could take my stand in the ring as a warrior.
"This national dance makes our warriors. When I was traveling last summer on a
steamboat on the river going from New York to Albany, I was shown the place where the
Americans dance the war dance (West Point); where the old warriors recount to their young
men what they have done, to stimulate them to go and do likewise. This surprised me, as I
did not think the whites understood our way of making braves." (Autobiography, pp. 64-66.) Return to Table of Contents
Email "Earth Woman"
And you've been so many places
I guess it must be so
But still I cannot see
If the savage one is me
How can there be so much that you don't know?
You don't know...
You think you own whatever land you land on
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You'll learn things you never knew, you never knew
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Come taste the sunsweet berries of the Earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they're worth
The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends
How high will the sycamore grow?
If you cut it down, then you'll never know
For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind
You can own the Earth and still
All you'll own is Earth until
You can paint with all the colors of the wind.
Indian Woman's Death Song
by Felicia Hemans
--Bride of Messina, Translated by Madame de Staël2
--The Prairie3
Down a broad river of the western wilds,
Piercing thick forest glooms, a light canoe
Swept with the current: fearful was the speed
Of the frail bark, as by a tempest's wing
Borne leaf-like on to where the mist of spray 5
Rose with the cataract's thunder. Yet within,
Proudly, and dauntlessly, and all alone,
Save that a babe lay sleeping at her breast,
A woman stood. Upon her Indian brow
Sat a strange gladness, and her dark hair waved 10
As if triumphantly. She pressed her child,
In its bright slumber, to her beating heart,
And lifted her sweet voice that rose awhile
Above the sound of waters, high and clear,
Wafting a wild proud strain, her song of death. 15
Father of ancient waters, roll, and bear our lives with thee!
The weary bird that storms have tossed would seek the sunshine's calm,
And the deer that hath the arrow's hurt flies to the woods of balm.
20
And mine hath faded from his soul, as fades a moonbeam's trace;
My shadow comes not o'er his path, my whisper to his dream,
He flings away the broken reed -- roll swifter yet, thou stream!
But mine its lonely music haunts, and will not let me rest; 25
It sings a low and mournful song of gladness that is gone;
I cannot live without that light -- Father of waves, roll on!
The heart of love that made his home an ever-sunny place?
The hand that spread the hunter's board, and decked his couch of yore? 30
He will not! -- roll, dark foaming stream, on to the better shore!
Whose waters from my soul may lave the memory of this woe;
Some gentle wind must whisper there, whose breath may waft away
The burden of the heavy night, the sadness of the day. 35
Smile! -- to that wasting of the heart, my own! I leave thee not;
Too bright a thing art thou to pine in aching love away,
Thy mother bears thee far, young fawn, from sorrow and decay.
40
And where th' unkind one hath no power again to trouble sleep;
And where the soul shall find its youth, as wakening from a dream --
One moment, and that realm is ours: on, on, dark rolling stream!
2 Translation: "No, I cannot live
with a broken heart. I must recover joy and unite myself with the
free sprits of the air." From German dramatist Friedrich Schiller's
tragedy Braut von Messina, Die, oder, Die Feindlichen Bruder, performed
in 1803 (published 1803). Germaine de Staël was a French writer
whose works, including Corinne (1807) immensely influenced the writing
of English women. Back
3 Based on a passage in American novelist
James Fenimore Cooper's The Prairie (1827). Back
Beast of burden, slave,
Chained under female law
From puberty to grave.
Peace is every step.
We shall walk hand in hand.
There are no political solutions to spiritual problems.
Remember: If the Creator put it there,
it is in the right place.
The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears."
Behold me,
For in a sacred manner
I am walking.
And must always be treated in a holy way.
In this bundle is a sacred pipe
With this sacred pipe
You will send your voices to Wakan Tanka.
The Great Spirit, Creator of all.
Your Father and Grandfather.
With this sacred pipe
You will walk upon the Earth
Which is your Grandmother and Mother.
All your steps should be holy.
The bowl of the pipe is red stone
Which represents the earth.
A buffalo calf is carved in the stone facing the center
And symbolises the four-legged creatures
Who live as brothers among you.
The stem is wood and represents all growing things.
Twelve feathers hang from where the stem fits the bowl
And are from the Spotted Eagle.
These represent all the winged brothers
Who live among you.
All these things are joined to you
Who will smoke the pipe and send voices to Wakan Tanka.
When you use this pipe to pray,
You will pray for and with every thing.
The sacred pipe binds you to all your relatives;
Your Grandfather and Father,
Your Grandmother and Mother.
The red stone represents the Mother Earth
On which you will live.
The Earth is red
And the two-leggeds who live upon it are also red.
Wakan Tanka has given you a red road-
A good and straight road to travel,
And you must remember that all people
Who stand on this earth are sacred.
From this day,
The sacred pipe will stand on the red earth,
And you will send your voices to Wakan Tanka.
There are seven circles on the stone
Which represent the seven rites
In which you will use the pipe.
The Buffalo Calf Woman then instructed the people to send messengers to the different bands of the Sioux nation, to bring in the leaders, the medicine people, and the holy ones.
When the people gathered, she instructed them in the sacred ceremonies. She told them of the first rite, the Keeping of the Soul. She told them that the remaining six rites would be revealed to them through visions. As she prepared to leave she said:
Remember how sacred the pipe is
And treat it in a sacred manner,
For it will be with you always.
Remember also that in me are four ages.
I shall leave you now,
But shall look upon you in every age
And will return in the end.
The Sioux begged the woman to stay among them. They promised to build a fine lodge and let her select a warrior to provide for her, but she declined their offer.
No, the Creator above,
The Great Spirit,
Is happy with you
You the grandchildren.
You have listened well to my teachings.
Now I must return to the spirit world.
She walked some distance away from them and sat down. When she arose, she had become a white buffalo calf. She walked farther, bowed to the four quarters of the universe, then disappeared into the distance. Her sacred bundle was left with the people.
Native American: Courtship and Marriage
Courtship and Marriage