Lakota by G. Clifton Wisler Read Free Book Online

waits to be done. Much. You are ready?"
    "I am ready," the young man replied solemnly.
    "Then it is well we should begin."
    Mastincala followed He Hopa inside the lodge. The young man then sat beside the elder and listened to admonitions concerning the responsibilities of a Lakota. There was lore to be passed along, stories of boldness and daring. Finally, when He Hopa was satisfied all was in order, he escorted Mastincala out of the tipi.
    "It's time for him to seek his vision," He Hopa announced.
    Hinhan Hota then appeared. The Owl led his son to the edge of the camp before halting. Wicatankala arrived carrying a fine cloth breech-clout and a pair of beaded moccasins.
    "These are for my brother," she said, never looking directly at Mastincala. "They will bring him a brave heart in his search for a dream."
    Mastincala accepted the fine moccasins and the breechclout with a silent nod. Wicatankala then left. Her role was over, for the rite that followed, the seeking of a vision, was also a boy's introduction into Lakota manhood. It was as ancient as the Lakota people, and in all that time fathers had introduced their sons to the wakan, the mystery, of the rite.
    Hinhan Hota took great care to strip Mastincala of his boyhood clothes. Though the air was cold and the wind sharp, he was given only the new breechclout and the moccasins to wear.
    "Today is the beginning of manhood," the Owl explained. "I peel away all that is false and send you naked before Wakan Tanka. Open your heart to the great mystery that is life, my son."
    Hinhan Hota then conducted Mastincala to a rocky cliff some distance from the camp. There he was instructed to remain until he received a vision.
    "You may pray and sing, Mastincala," his father explained. "But no food or drink may pass your lips. The starving shows you are worthy of the dream. When it comes, pay great heed to it. All that follows in your time as a man will flow from this dream."
    Hinhan Hota then left the Rabbit alone in the rocks. For a time Mastincala stood in the sharp breeze, confused, wondering how one might bring on a vision. The silence haunted him. He felt cut off from his family, from his band, from all he knew. And as he stood in that lonely place, the hunger began to gnaw at his belly.
    "Hear me, Wakan Tanka," Mastincala finally prayed. "Bring to my heart the knowledge I seek. Show me the sacred road I must walk."
    He then sang a brave heart song. Afterward he prayed again.
    Never did the sun cross the heavens so slowly. Day lasted a lifetime, it seemed. And when darkness arrived, Mastincala faced it with the same chant and the same prayer. His throat was parched, and his belly ached with want. Still he refused to cry out. He shivered with cold that night, then blinked his eyes as a bright sun tormented him the next morning. Hau! Manhood was not as easily faced as he imagined. And as he suffered, he wondered what became of a boy denied a vision. There was but a single answer. He died of hunger or exhaustion.
    Toward dusk his voice grew weak. His tongue swelled, and sweat left his body weak with fatigue. Finally he could stand no longer. His knees buckled, and he fell.
    Then the dream came.
    It was unlike anything he had seen or felt before. His soul seemed to be floating on a cloud. He was swept along on the wind over a broad plain, past familiar hills and mountains, above rivers and streams where he had swum and fished. He saw bands of Crows and Snakes, war parties of Pawnees, buckskinned wasicuns with their hairy faces and flint-lock rifles. Finally he descended to the plain.
    Now he was Tatanka, Bull Buffalo, rumbling over the yellow grass prairie, leading the humped multitude on the run. Thunder exploded behind him, and great yellow blades of lightning split the gray heavens.
    "I am Tatanka," a deep, sorrowful voice seemed to boom across the world. "See how my power shakes all the earth! Who will sing the brave heart song and follow me?"
    Mastincala wanted to boast that he,