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LEGENDS
OF THE KAW

INDIAN
FOLK LORE


DE VOE

[Illustration: SCENE IN THE KANSAS VALLEY.]




LEGENDS OF
THE KAW


THE FOLK-LORE
OF
THE INDIANS OF THE
KANSAS RIVER VALLEY.


BY
CARRIE DE VOE.


FRANKLIN HUDSON PUBLISHING CO.,
KANSAS CITY, MO.
1904.




Copyright, 1904, by
FRANKLIN HUDSON PUBLISHING CO.,
Kansas City, Mo.




CONTENTS.


I.

INDIAN MYTHOLOGY.

     The heroes of Kansas in the early days.--The first
     inhabitants.--Pathos of Indian traditions and their tragic
     interest.--Interpretation of myths.--Tradition of the Mississippi
     Valley.--Theory of a dual soul.--Ancient religion of the North
     American Indians.--Ideas of Divinity.--Spirits.--Communication with
     the unseen world.--Description of heaven, found in the diary of
     Rev. S. M. Irvin.--Algonquin prayer to Father Allouez.--The
     _totem_.--The folk-lore of the Indian his literature.--Myth of a
     prehistoric world.--The transformation.--The burning
     earth.--Formation of the stars.--The Water-Maiden.--The
     Earth-Maiden.--Michabou.--Worship of the heavenly
     bodies.--Sacrifices.--Relation of dogs to the moon.--The Horned
     Serpent.--The Prince of Rattlesnakes.--Hiawatha, the Indian
     Messiah.--The Red Swan.--The Pipe of Peace.--Thunder and
     lightning.--The Storm Giant.--Rainmakers.--The Wild Parsnip.--The
     Spirit of Fire.--Fire legend of the Navajos.--The Shawnee and
     Delaware type of life.--The imagery of the red man.--Knowledge of
     the fundamental truths of nature.--Earliest record of the Middle
     West.--Dominant tribes.--The Paducas.--The emigrant nations. 15


II.

THE PAWNEES.

     Wanderings in Kansas and Nebraska.--Origin.--The word
     "Pani."--Imitation of wolves.--Bands.--Tuhk-pah-huks-taht.--
     Skidi-rah-ru.--Tuh-wa-hok-a-sha.--Tu-hi-'ts-pi-yet.--Hunting
     in ancient times.--Weapons.--Utensils.--Government.--Dress.--
     Lodges.--Music.--Courtship and marriage.--Religious ceremonies.--
     The Buffalo Dance.--Departure for semi-annual buffalo hunt.--The
     surround.--Ti-ra-wa, the Pawnee Deity.--The Na-hu-rac.--Sacrifices.
     --The wonderful horse.--Homes of the Nu-hu-rac.--The Nu-hu-rac
     doctors.--Medicine men and priests.--Belief in a prehistoric race.
     --Destruction of the giants.--Human sacrifices.--A Legend of
     Kansas.--Pit-a-le-shar'-u.--Hostilities against other
     nations.--Villages of the Iowas and Sacs.--War with the Iowas,
     1839.--Battle amid the sunflowers.--Sale of Pawnee lands.--Removal
     to the Indian Territory.--Success in agriculture. 34


III.

THE SIOUX.

     Early home.--Wanderings in the Mississippi Basin.--Present
     location.--Origin of name.--Meaning of word
     "Dakota."--Pantomime.--Divisions of nation.--Relation of chief to
     people.--Disposition of bodies of the dead.--Eagle Eye and Scarlet
     Dove.--Slavery of women.--Vanity of men.--Language of the
     feather.--Decoration of the person.--Plural marriage.--Story of
     Anepetusa.--Belief in four souls.--A typical
     prayer.--Omens.--Worship.--Animals in Dakota
     theology.--O-an-tay-hee.--The
     creation.--Hay-o-kah.--Taku-shkan-shkan.--Wa-keen-yan.--Unk-tay-he.
     --Chah-o-ter-dah.--Whitte-kah-gah.--Wa-hun-de-dan.--Fairies.--
     Giants.--Giant's party.--Feasts.--The Wa-keen.--Initiation of the
     medicine men.--War parties.--War Dance.--Sun Dance.--Moral code.--
     Degree of manhood.--Incidents in the Life of Ta-ton-ka-I-o-ton-ka.
     --Spotted Tail and Red Cloud.--Betrothal and death of daughter of
     Spotted Tail.--Water Carrier, the wife of Lone Elk.--Present
     condition of the Sioux. 67


IV.

THE KAWS AND OSAGES.

     Origin.--Manners and customs.--Savage proclivities.--Village of
     American Chief.--Village of Fool Chief.--Removal to Council
     Grove.--The Victory that made Wa-hon-ga-shee a famous Chief.--The
     War Dance.--Paying off old scores.--Osages and Kaws on police
     duty.--Superstitions.--Funeral ceremonies.--Creation story of the
     Osages.--Territory.--Cessions.--Feasts.--Present condition. 89


V.

THE DELAWARES.

     Lineage.--Language.--The term "Lenape."--Subjugation by the
     Iroquois.--Peace treaty with William Penn.--Migrations.--Legends
     preserved by missionaries.--The virgin who fell from
     heaven.--Kikeron.--The tortoise in Algonquin pictography.--Symbol
     of the earth.--The pristine age.--The earth submerged.--The
     ancient turtle.--Rescue of the survivors.--Land supported by a
     turtle.--First home of the Lenape.--Travels and conquests.--Land of
     giants.--Fortifications of the enemy.--Mounds.--Divisions of the
     nation.--Legend of the Hairless Bear.--Pictograph
     system.--Rafinesque.--Walam Olum.--Wanderings of the
     Delawares.--Tamenend.--The Lover's Leap.--Onoko.--Lenape in
     Kansas.--The Battle of the Plains.--Removal to the Indian
     Territory. 103


VI.

THE WYANDOTS.

     Origin.--Location at the time of the discovery of
     America.--Alliance with the Senecas.--Termination of peace.--Hatred
     of the Iroquois.--Settlement at Detroit.--Settlement in Ohio and
     Michigan.--Clans.--Government.--Religion.--Gods.--Prayer of the
     Huron.--Legend of Sayadio.--The White Panther.--Hurons leaders in
     the councils of nations.--Keepers of the Council Fire.--Wampum
     belts.--Corn Dance.--Clan names.--Visions of the Wyandot
     maiden.--Wyandots in the War of
     1812.--Roundhead.--Warrow.--Walk-in-the-Water.--Big Tree.--War with
     Cherokees--Chief Splitlog.--Last religious feast and dance of the
     Wyandots.--William Walker.--Silas Armstrong.--Matthew
     Walker.--Governor Walker.--Matthias Splitlog.--Emigration to
     Kansas.--Intelligence and education.--Accomplishments.--Belle of
     the nation.--Sense of humor.--Elder Dennison and John
     Grayeyes.--The Triumph of Chudaquana over the Power of
     Witchcraft.--Romance of a Wyandot girl.--Present location of the
     people.--Tribal relations.--Absorption by the white race. 127


VII.

THE POTTAWATOMIES.

     Descent.--Alliances.--Branches.--Location.--Part in War of
     1812.--Suna-we-wone.--Treaty of peace.--Cessions.--Emigration to
     Kansas.--Present location.--Belief in Kitchenonedo and
     Matchemondo.--First inhabitants of the earth.--Submersion.--New
     World.--Legend of the five young men.--Menweshma.--Encounter with
     the Pawnees.--Wa-baun-see.--Story of the Flat-Boat.--Defeat by the
     Osages.--Revenge upon the Osage chief.--Wa-baun-see's journey to
     Washington.--Death. 155


VIII.

THE SHAWNEES.

     First emigrant tribe in Kansas.--Ancient home of the
     nation.--Defeat by the Iroquois.--Flight
     southward.--Return.--Settlement near Cape Girardeau.--Removal to
     Kansas.--Removal to the Indian Territory.--Shawnees of Algonquin
     stock.--Gypsies of the wilderness.--Creation theory.--Doctrine of
     pre-natal existence.--An incident of war with the Pawnees.--Belief
     in descent from one of the lost tribes of Israel.--Holy of
     Holies.--Language.--Adventures of a trader.--Maune, the Chippewa
     Girl.--A Fragment of History from the War of the Races.--Chinwa,
     the White Warrior.--The Tragic Death of the Son of Chief
     Lay-law-she-kaw. 167




  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.


  Scene in the Kansas Valley           Frontispiece

  A Pawnee Buffalo Hunt                          40

  Pit-a-le-shar'-u                               64

  Ta-ton-ka-I-yo-ton-ka (Sitting Bull)           80

  Sioux Infant                                   88

  Wa-hon-ga-shee (No Fool)                       96

  Ni-co-man                                     114

  Tecumseh                                      190

  The Shawnee Prophet                           202

  Che-la-tha                                    210




  "Ye whose hearts are fresh and simple,
  Who have faith in God and Nature,
  Who believe, that in all ages,
  Every human heart is human,
  That in even savage bosoms,
  There are longings, yearnings, strivings,
  For the good they comprehend not,
  That the feeble hands and helpless,
  Groping blindly in the darkness,
  Touch God's right hand in that darkness,
  And are lifted up and strengthened;--
  Listen to this simple story."

  --_Longfellow._




INTRODUCTION.


A legend, according to Webster, is any story, be it truth or fiction,
which dates back to early days. In this connection, it may be of
interest to the reader to know that the stories of adventure in this
volume are founded upon real events; but, wherever it has seemed best,
names have been changed. In committing to paper the histories of Maune',
the Chippewa girl, and Henry Rogers, there has been practically no
deviation from the facts as related by their descendants.

The incidents described in the last story were narrated by the daughter
of an Indian agent, who lived many years with the Shawnees. The writer
has spent a portion of her life in the West, and having been located for
a number of years in an old mission town, has witnessed the bean dance,
the corn dance and the war dance. Her small strength has been exerted,
more than once, to assist in beating back the edges of a great fire,
which threatened to creep over the narrow strip of plowed ground
outside the fences enclosing a prairie home. Reliable information has
been obtained through conversation with old settlers and their families.
An army officer, whose long life in the Indian country renders his
statements of great value, detailed many facts concerning the Sioux.
Interviews with the natives and their descendants have brought out
strange traditions and superstitions. The works of Henry R.
Schoolcraft--regarding the habits, customs and languages of the
aborigines,--the writings of George Bird Grinnell and Daniel G. Brinton
have proved exceedingly helpful.

Although statistics show, within the last few years, an apparent
increase of the Indian population of the United States, comparatively
few included therein, are of purely Indian extraction. The red race, as
a separate people, is fading from the earth; and there will come a time
when the mythology of America will be almost as eagerly studied as that
of Greece and Rome.

The general public has an erroneous idea of the Indian of the present
time. He has passed through the first period--that of wildness and
barbaric splendor,--and, emerging from the second epoch--the state of
drunken semi-civilization,--has entered upon a career of greater mental
activity. With the exception of a few strong inherited tendencies, he
now differs but little from his paler-faced brother. The prevailing
notion concerning the natives has been formed from the worst class--the
idle, uncleanly beggars. It is unjust to judge a whole people by the
most degraded specimens. Through intermarriage, the remnants of the
aborigines are rapidly becoming a part of the white race and engrafting
upon it, not only their peculiarities of temperament but also their
strength and determination.

It is a source of regret to those who are awake to the knowledge that
there is a valuable field of literature in Indian folklore, that so
little has been recorded. Even the best libraries contain few works upon
the subject.

Inspired with a desire to contribute an atom to this slowly accumulating
literature; to preserve the stories which herein appear in print for the
first time; and to awaken a deeper interest in the old, oft-recounted
traditions--the author, trusting to the indulgence of the public,
ventures to submit the following.




LEGENDS OF THE KAW.




I.

INDIAN MYTHOLOGY.


The history of Kansas has been of peculiar interest to the world at
large, by reason of the struggles of ante-bellum days. The adventures of
John Brown of Osawatomie and the achievements of General Lane, Governor
Robinson, and other heroes of that period have formed the nucleus of
many a story and song. All honor to the men who labored so successfully
in the cause of freedom! There is another, equally brave, though less
fortunate, race that wandered over the rolling prairies of the Sunflower
State and camped along its rivers; a race stern, taciturn, and ever
ready to do battle for home and liberty. Like the buffalo, former
monarch of the plains, it has gradually diminished in numbers.
Extinction or amalgamation is now a question of only a few brief years.
This nation furnishes a romantic background, full of rich though somber
color, to the later record of the great West.

Who can say that the traditions of the red man lack pathos, or that his
character is devoid of the elements of nobleness, self-sacrifice and
even martyrdom? Rude, wild and imperfect though it be, his folklore
tells the story of a people, barbarous, it is true, but strong in their
attachments and devoted to their faith. Many Indian myths, adventures
and scraps of history are full of deep--often tragic--interest to one
who delves in legendary lore. Like the tales of ancient Greece, as
explained by Ruskin in _Queen of the Air_, each weird story admits of
more than one interpretation. Sometimes a great spiritual truth lies
hidden in its quaint phrases--sometimes a scientific fact.

There was an idea, current among the Indians who roamed over the central
portion of the United States, that at one time in the long past, the
rivers of the Mississippi basin filled the entire valley, and only great
elevations were visible. Geology substantiates this teaching. The
theory of a dual soul approached very close to the teachings of modern
psychologists. While one soul was supposed to remain in the body, its
companion was free to depart on excursions during sleep. After the death
of the material man, it went to the Indian elysium and might, if
desirous, return, in time, to earth, to be born again.

Like that of all uncivilized races, the ancient religion of the North
American Indian was incoherent. Association with Europeans produced
changes. Doctrines before unknown to the red man were engrafted upon his
faith. Some writers maintain that it is doubtful if the idea of a single
divinity had been developed previous to intercourse with missionaries.
Brinton asserts that the word used by the natives to indicate God, is
analogous to none in any European tongue, conveying no sense of personal
unity. It has been rendered Spirit, Demon, God, Devil, Mystery and
Magic. The Dakota word is _Wakan_ (above), the Iroquois, _Oki_; the
Algonquin, _Manito_. God and heaven were probably linked together
before there was sufficient advancement to question whether heaven were
material and God spiritual; whether the Deity were one or many. Good
Spirit and Great Spirit are evidently of more recent origin and were,
perhaps, first suggested by missionaries, the terms being applied to the
white man's God, and adopted by the Indian and applied to his own. The
number of spirits was practically unlimited, communication being usually
in the hands of the medicine men, although the unseen world was often
heard from directly in dreams.

A description of heaven--by Wampasha, an Iowa Indian--was found in the
diary of Reverend S. M. Irvin, a devoted missionary among the Iowas and
Sacs. It reads:

"The Big Village (heaven) is situated near the great water, toward the
sunrise, and not far from the heads of the Mississippi River. None go
there until after they die. A smart person can make the journey in three
or four days; if, however, his heart be not right at death, the journey
will be prolonged and attended with difficulties and stormy weather
till he reaches the land of rest. Infants, dying, are carried by
messengers sent for them; the old or infirm are borne upon horses; they
have horses, plenty, and fine grass, and infirmities will all be healed
in that village. The blind will receive new eyes; they have plenty of
good eyes and ears there. Good people will never die again, but the bad
may die three or four times and then turn into some bird."

Father Allouez, one of the first missionaries among the Algonquins,
entered a village never before visited by a white man. He was invited to
a council, and the old men, gathering around him, said:

"It is well, Blackrobe, that thou dost visit us; thou are a Manito; we
give thee to smoke. The Iroquois