THE GREAT COUNCIL.
Natah Otann set to work immediately, with that feverish ardour that
distinguished him. He sent emissaries in every direction to the
principal chiefs of the western prairies, and convoked them to a
great plain in the valley of the Missouri, at a spot called "The Tree
of the Master of Life," on the fourth day of the moon of the hardened
snow. This spot was held in great veneration by the Missouri Indians,
who went there constantly to hang up presents. It was an immense sandy
plain, completely denuded of vegetation; in the centre of the desert
rose a gigantic tree, an oak, twenty feet in circumference at least,
the trunk being hollow, and the tufted branches covering an enormous
superficies. This tree, which was a hundred and twenty feet in height,
and which grew there by accident, necessarily was regarded by the
Indians as something miraculous; hence the name they gave it.
On the appointed day, the Indians arrived from all sides, marching in
good order, and camping at a short distance from the spot selected for
the council. An immense fire had been kindled at the foot of the tree,
and at a signal given by the drummers, or _Chichikouès_, the chiefs
collected around it, a few paces behind the sachems. The Blackfeet, Nez
Percés, Assiniboins, Mandans, and other horsemen, formed a tremendous
cordon round the council fire; while scouts traversed the desert in
every direction, to keep off intruders, and insure the secrecy of the
deliberations.
In the east the sun was pouring forth its beams; the desert, parched
and naked, was mingled with the boundless horizon; to the south, the
Rocky Mountains displayed the eternal snow of the summits; while in the
north-west, a silvery ribbon indicated the course of the old Missouri.
Such was the landscape, if we may call it so, where the barbarous
warriors, clothed in their strange costumes, were assembled near the
symbolic tree. This majestic sight involuntarily reminded the observer
of other times and climes, when, by the light of the incendiary fires
they kindled, the ferocious comrades of Attila rushed to conquer and
rejuvenate the Roman Empire.
Generally the natives of America have a Divinity, or more correctly, a
Genius, at times beneficent, but more frequently hostile. The worship
of the savage is less veneration than fear. The Master of Life is an
evil genius, rather than kind; hence the Indians give his name to the
tree to which they attribute the same powers. Indian religions, being
all primitive, make no account of the moral being, and only dwell on
the accidents of nature, which they make into gods. These different
tribes strive to secure the favour of the deserts, where fatigue and
thirst entail death, and of the rivers, which may swallow them up.
The chiefs, as we have said, were crouching round the fire, in a
state of contemplative immobility, from which it might be inferred
that they were preparing for an important ceremony of their worship.
Presently Natah Otann raised to his lips the long war pipe, made of a
human thighbone, which he wore hanging round his neck, and produced
a piercing and prolonged sound. At this signal, for it was one, the
chiefs rose, and forming in Indian file, marched twice round the tree,
singing, in a low voice, a hymn, to implore its assistance for the
success of their plans. At the third time of marching round, Natah
Otann took off a magnificent collar of grizzly bears' claws from his
neck, and hung it to the branches of the tree, saying,--
"Master of Life, look on us with a favourable eye. I offer thee this
present."
The other chiefs imitated his example each in turn; then they resumed
their scats round the council fire. The pipe bearer then entered the
circle, and after the customary ceremonies, offered the calumet to the
chiefs, and when each had smoked, the oldest sachem invited Natah Otann
to take the word.
The Indian chief's plan was probably the most daring ever formed
against the whites, and, as the White Buffalo said, mockingly,
must offer chances of success through its improbability, because
it flattered the superstitious ideas of the Indians, who, like all
primitive nations, place great faith in the marvellous. It is besides,
the quality of oppressed nations, to whom reality never offers aught
but disillusions and suffering, to take refuge in the supernatural,
which alone offers them consolation. Natah Otann had drawn the first
idea of his plan from one of the oldest and most inveterate traditions
of the Comanches, his ancestors. This tradition, by reciting which
his father often lulled him to sleep in his childhood, pleased his
adventurous mind; and when the hour arrived to put in execution the
projects which he had so long revolved, he invoked it, and resolved to
employ it, in order to collect the other Indian nations around him in
one common whole.
When Motecuhzoma (whom Spanish writers improperly call Montezuma, a
name which has no meaning, while the first signifies the _stern lord_)
found himself imprisoned in his palace by that talented adventurer,
Cortez, who, a few days later, tore his kingdom from him, the Emperor,
who preferred to confide in greedy strangers than take refuge in the
midst of his people, had a presentiment of the fate reserved for him. A
few days prior to his death, he assembled the principal Mexican chiefs
who shared his prison, and addressed them thus:--
"Listen! My father, the Sun, has warned me that I shall soon return to
him. I know not how or when I am destined to die, but I am certain that
my last hour is close at hand."
As the chiefs burst into tears at these words, for they held him in
great veneration, he consoled them by saying--
"My last hour is near on this earth, but I shall not die, as I am
returning to my father, the Sun, where I shall enjoy a felicity unknown
in this world; weep not, therefore, my faithful friends, but, on the
contrary, rejoice at the happiness which awaits me. The bearded white
men have treacherously seized the greater portion of my empire, and
they will soon be masters of the remainder. Who can stop them? Their
weapons render them invulnerable, and they dispose at their will of the
fire from heaven; but their power will end one day; they, too, will be
the victims of treachery; the penalty of retaliation will be inflicted
on them in all its rigour. Listen, then, attentively, to what I am
about to ask of you; the safety of our country depends on the fidelity
with which you execute my last orders. Each of you take a title of
the sacred fire which was formerly kindled by the Sun himself, and on
which the white men have not yet dared to lay a sacrilegious hand to
extinguish it. This fire burns before you in this golden censer; take
it unto you, not letting your enemies know what has become of it. You
will divide the fire among you, so that each may have a sufficiency;
preserve it religiously, ant never let it go out. Each morning, alter
adoring it mount on the roof of your house, at sunrise, and look
toward the east; one day you will see me appear, giving my right hand
to my father, the Sun; then you will rejoice, for the moment of your
deliverance will be at hand. My father and I will come to restore you
to liberty, and deliver you for ever from these enemies, who have come
from a perverse world, that rejected them from its bosom."
The Mexican chiefs obeyed the orders of their well-beloved Emperor on
the spot, for time pressed. A few days later, Motecuhzoma mounted on
the roof of his palace, and prepared to address his mutinous people,
when he was struck by an arrow, it was never known by whom, and fell
into the arms of the Spanish soldiery who accompanied him. Before
breathing his last sigh, the Emperor sat up, and raising his hands to
heaven, said, with a supreme effort, to his friends assembled round
him--"The fire! the fire! think of the fire."
These were his last words: ten minutes later he had ceased to breathe.
In vain did the Spaniards, whose curiosity was strongly aroused by
this mysterious recommendation, try by all the means in their power
to penetrate its meaning; but they did not succeed in making one of
the Mexicans they interrogated speak. All religiously preserved their
secret, and several, indeed, died of torture, rather than reveal it.
The Comanches, and nearly all the nations of the Far West, have
kept this belief intact. In all the Indian villages, the fire of
Motecuhzoma, which burns eternally is guarded by two warriors, who
remain by it for twenty-four hours without eating or drinking, when
they are relieved by two others. Formerly the guardians remained
forty-eight hours instead of twenty-four. It frequently happened
that they were found dead when the reliefs came, either through the
mephitic gases of the fire, which had great effect on them, owing to
their long fast, or for some other reason. The bodies were taken away,
and placed in a cavern, where, as the Comanches say, a serpent devoured
them.
This belief is so general, that it is not only found among the Red
Indians, but also among the Manzos. Many men, considered to be well
educated, keep up, in hidden corners, the fire of Motecuhzoma, visit
it every day, and do not fail at sunrise to mount on the roof of
their houses and look towards the east, in the hope of seeing their
well-beloved emperor coming to restore them that liberty for which they
have sighed during so many ages, and which the Mexican Republic is far
from having granted them.
Natah Otann's idea was this:--To tell the Indians, after narrating
the legend to them, that the time had arrived when Motecuhzoma would
appear and act as their chief; to form a powerful band of warriors,
whom he would spread along the whole American frontier, so as to
attack his enemies at every point simultaneously, and not give them
the time to look about them. This project, mad as it was, especially
in having to be executed by Indians, or men the least capable of
forming alliances, which have ever caused them defeats; this project,
we say, was deficient neither in boldness nor in nobility, and Natah
Otann was really the only man capable of carrying it out, could he but
find, among the persons he wished to arouse, two or three docile and
intelligent instruments, that would understand his idea, and heartily
cooperate with him.
The Comanches, Pawnees, and Sioux were of great utility to the chief,
as well as the majority of the Indians of the Far West, for they
shared in the belief on which Natah Otann based his plans, and not only
did not need to be persuaded, but would help him in persuading the
Missouri Indians by their assent to his assertions. But in so large
an assembly of nations, divided by a multitude of interests, speaking
different languages, generally hostile to each other, how would it
be possible to establish a tie sufficiently strong to attach them in
an indissoluble manner? How convince them to march together without
jealousy? Lastly, was it reasonable to suppose that there would not be
a traitor to sell his brothers, and reveal their plans to the Yankees,
whoever have an eye on the movements of the Indians, for they are so
anxious to be rid of them?
Still, Natah Otann did not recoil; he did not conceal from himself the
difficulties which he should have to overcome; but his courage grew
with obstacles. His resolution was strengthened, if we may use the
term, in proportion to the responsibilities which must every moment
rise before him. When the sachems made him the signal to rise; Natah
Otann saw that the moment had arrived to begin the difficult game he
wished to play. He took the word resolutely, certain that, with the men
he had before him, all depended on the manner in which he handled the
question, and that, the first impression once made, success was almost
certain.
"Chiefs of the Comanches, Osages, Sioux, Pawnees, Mandans, Assiniboins,
Missouris, and all you that listen to me. Redskin brothers," he said,
in a firm and deeply accentuated voice, "for many moons my spirit has
been sad. I see, with sorrow, our hunting grounds, invaded by the white
men, grow smaller every day. We, whose innumerable peoples covered,
scarce four centuries back, the immense extent of territory compassed
between the two seas, are now reduced to a small party of warriors who,
timid as antelopes, fly before our despoilers. Our sacred cities, the
last refuge of the civilization of our fathers, the Incas, will become
the prey of those monsters with human faces who have no other god but
gold. Our dispersed race will possibly soon disappear from that world
which it has so long possessed and governed alone. Tracked like wild
animals; brutalized by firewater, that corrosive poison invented by the
white men for our ruin; decimated by the sword and white diseases, our
wandering tribes are now but the shadow of a people. Our conquerors
despise our religion, and wish to bow us beneath the laws of the
crucified One. They outrage our wives; kill our children; burn our
villages; and will reduce us, if they can, to the state of wild beasts,
under the pretext of civilizing us. Indians, all you who hear me, is
our blood so impoverished in our veins, and have you all renounced your
independence! Reply, will you die as slaves, or live free?"
At these words, pronounced in aloud tone, and heightened by an
energetic gesture, a tremor ran through the assembly; brows were bent
firmly, all eyes sparkled.
"Speak, speak again, sachem of the Blackfeet," all the chiefs shouted
unanimously.
Natah Otann smiled proudly, his power over the masses was revealed to
him. He continued:--
"The hour has at length arrived, after so many hesitations, to shake
off the shameful yoke that presses on us. Within a few days, if you
please, we will drive the whites far from our frontiers, and repay them
all the evil they have done us. For a long time I have watched the
Americans and Spaniards. I know their tactics, their resources: to
utterly destroy them, what do we need, my well-beloved brothers? two
things alone--skill and courage!"
The Indians interrupted him with shouts of joy.
"You shall be free," Natah Otann continued. "I will restore to you the
valleys of your ancestors, the fields where their bones are buried,
and which the sacrilegious plough disperses in every direction. This
project, ever since I became a man, has fermented in my heart, and
become my life. Far from me and from you the thought that I intend
to force myself on you as chief, especially since the prodigy of
which I have been witness, in the appearance of the great emperor!
No; after that supreme chief, who must guide you to liberty, you are
free to choose the man who will execute his orders, and communicate
them to you. When you have chosen him, you will obey him; follow him
everywhere; and pass with him through the most insurmountable dangers,
for he will be the elect of the Sun; the lieutenant of Motecuhzoma! Do
not deceive yourselves, warriors; our enemy is powerful, numerous, well
disciplined, warlike, and has, before all, the habit of conquering us,
which is a great advantage to him. Name, then, this lieutenant; let his
election be free; take the most worthy, and I will joyfully march under
his orders!"
And, after saluting the sachems, Natah Otann disappeared in a crowd of
warriors, with calm brow, but with a heart devoured by restlessness.
His eloquence, so novel to the Indians, had seduced them, and thrown
them into a species of frenzy. They considered the daring Blackfoot
chief a genius superior to themselves, and almost bowed the knee to
him in adoration, so cleverly had he struck the chord which must
touch their hearts. For a long time the council gave way to a sort
of madness, and all spoke at once; when this emotion was calmed, the
wisest of the sachems discussed the opportunity for taking up arms, and
the chances of success. It was now that the tribes of the Far West, who
believed in the legend of the sacred fire, became so useful; at length,
after a protracted discussion, opinions were unanimous for a general
uprising. The ranks, momentarily broken, were reformed, and the White
Buffalo, invited by the chiefs to express the opinions of the council,
spoke as follows:--
"Chiefs of the allied Indian tribes, listen! This day it has been
resolved by the following chiefs:--Little Panther, Spotted Dog, White
Buffalo, Grizzly Bear, Red Wolf, White Fox, Tawny Vulture, Glistening
Snake, and others, each representing a nation and a tribe, that war has
been declared against the white men, our plunderers; and as this war
is holy, and has liberty for its object, all men, women, and children
must take part in it, each according to their strength. This very day
the _wampums_ will be sent by the chiefs to all the Indian tribes that,
owing to the distance of these hunting grounds, were unable to be
present at this great council, in spite of their great desire to be so.
I have spoken."
A long cry of enthusiasm interrupted the White Buffalo, who continued,
soon after:--
"The chiefs, after ripe deliberation, assenting to the request made
to the council by Natah Otann, the first sachem of the Blackfeet,
that they should appoint a lieutenant to the Emperor Motecuhzoma,
sovereign-chief of the Indian warriors, have chosen, as supreme
leader under the sole orders of the said Emperor, the wisest, most
prudent, and most worthy to command us. That warrior is the sachem of
the Blackfoot Indians, of the tribe of the Kenhas, whose race is so
ancient, Natah Otann, the cousin of the Sun, that dazzling planet which
illumines us."
A thunder of applause greeted the last words. Natah Otann saluted the
sachems, walked into the circle, and said, in a haughty voice,--
"I accept, sachems, my brothers; we agree, I shall be dead, or you will
be free."
"May the Grizzly Bear live for ever!" the crowd shouted.
"War to the white men!" Natah Otann continued, "a war without truce
or mercy. A slaughter of wild beasts, as they are accustomed to treat
us. Remember the law of the prairies:--eye for eye, tooth for tooth.
Let each chief send the wampum of war to his nation, for at the end of
this moon we will arouse our enemies by a thunderbolt. At the seventh
hour of this night we will meet again, to select the subaltern chiefs,
number our warriors, and choose the day and hour of attack."
The chiefs bowed without replying, rejoined their escorts, and soon
disappeared in a cloud of dust. Natah Otann and the White Buffalo
remained alone, a detachment of Blackfeet warriors watching over them
at a distance. Natah Otann, with his arms crossed and head bowed,
seemed plunged in profound reflection.
"Well," the old Indian said, with an almost imperceptible shade of
irony in his voice, "you have succeeded, my son; you are happy. Your
plans will, at length, be accomplished."
"Yes," he replied, without noticing the sarcastic tone of voice; "war
is declared; my plans have succeeded; but now, friend, I tremble at
such a heavy task. Will these peculiar men thoroughly comprehend me?
Will they be able to read, in my heart, all the love and adoration
I feel for them? Are they ripe for liberty? perhaps they have not
suffered enough yet? Father, father, whose heart is so powerful and
soul so great: whose life was used up in numerous contests, counsel
me! help me! I am young and weak, and I only have a strong will and a
boundless devotion to support me."
The old man smiled mournfully, and muttered, answering his own thoughts
more than his friend:--
"Yes; my life was used up in supreme struggles: the work I helped to
raise has been overthrown, but not destroyed; for a new society, full
of vitality, has risen from the ruins of a decrepit society; by our
efforts the furrow was ploughed too deeply for it ever to be filled up
again: progress marching onward, nothing can check or stop it! Do not
halt on the road you have chosen; it is the greatest and most noble a
great heart can follow."
In uttering these words, the old man had allowed his enthusiasm to
carry him away; his head was raised; his brow glistened; the expiring
sun played on his face, and imparted to it an expression which Natah
Otann had never seen before, and which filled him with respect. But the
old man shook his head sorrowfully, and continued:--
"Child, how will you keep your promise? where will you find
Motecuhzoma?"
Natah Otann smiled.
"You will soon see, my father," he said.
At the same moment, an Indian, whose panting horse seemed to breathe
fire through its nostrils, came up to the chiefs, where he stopped
suddenly, as if converted into marble; without dismounting, he bent
down to Natah Otann's ear.
"Already!" the latter exclaimed, "Oh! heaven must be on my side! There
is not a moment to lose. My horse! quick."
"What is the matter?" the White Buffalo asked.
"Nothing that relates to you at present, my father; but you shall soon
know all."
"You are going alone, then?"
"I must for a short period. Farewell!"
Natah Otann's horse uttered a snort of pain, and started at full
gallop. Ten minutes later all the Indians had disappeared, and solitude
and silence prevailed round the tree of the Master of Life.