Lakota by G. Clifton Wisler Read Free Book Online Page A

the Rabbit, would follow, but only that booming voice emerged from his lips. It was no longer for him to follow as a boy might. Now he must lead!
    The dream took him many places, for Tatanka seemed able to follow the Lakota star map painted upon the sky. He marched across the plains to Pe Sla, the sacred hoop, then rumbled on to Mato Tipila, the Bear's Lodge mountain to the west. When Bull Buffalo had finally completed his journey, he stopped. Where before a thundering herd had followed, now there were but a few.
    "Hau, my way is sacred," Tatanka said. "The road is hard, and few feet can stay upon it. Hau, have the brave heart! Come, follow me."
    Again Mastincala wanted to answer, but the words were his own. He swelled with pride, for the call to lead would bring honor. Then he felt himself floating again, drifting upon a cloud. Overwhelming darkness swallowed him, and there was only the numbing cold of the night to torment his bare flesh.
    Hinhan Hota brought him down from his solitude the next morning. Mastincala was weak and could hardly stand. The first droplets of water that touched his lips brought forth a fierce thirst, and he hungered for the taste of wasna. He got neither. Instead, he was conducted to a water hole.
    "Ate, my dream," Mastincala muttered.
    "Hold it close to your heart, my son," Hinhan Hota urged. "Soon you must tell He Hopa. The old one will help you to see its meaning."
    Mastincala nodded, then surrendered his will to the Owl.
    Sunka Sapa, the Black Dog, and Waawanyanka, the Watcher, now arrived to help restore Mastincala to the living. The two young men were but a summer older than the Rabbit, and both were eager to provide assistance to a young man with no older brothers or cousins. Hinhan Hota oversaw a careful washing, for Mastincala must cleanse himself of all that had come before. Then he was fed enough to restore his senses. Finally Hinhan Hota escorted his son to the medicine lodge. He Hopa was waiting.
    "We must bring back the dreaming," the medicine man explained as he helped the Rabbit inside the nearby tipi. "You remember?"
    "Yes," Mastincala said, forcing his eyes to focus on the wrinkled old man.
    "Tell it all," He Hopa urged, and Mastincala then related the strange dream.
    He Hopa had sat quietly as Mastincala recounted the dream. Even when the young man finished, He Hopa remained stone-faced, silent.
    "What does it mean?" the Rabbit asked. "Am I to be a leader among our people?"
    "Perhaps," Four Horns said, gazing at Mastincala's forehead. "That is not for you and I to say. If a man sets out upon a path, others may follow."
    "What path?"
    "Tatanka calls to your heart. Bull Buffalo is sacred among all the creatures that walk the earth. It is he who gives us the warm coats and coverings for our lodges. He fills our bellies in the cold moons of winter. He is beloved to Wakan Tanka. A man who follows Tatanka would give himself to the people, seeking only their good, even as Tacante, the man who was your father, did."
    "I am to sacrifice myself then," Mastincala said, digesting the news somberly.
    "It's a hard road, little friend. It will take a brave heart. This you have."
    "Yes," Mastincala said, stiffening his shoulders.
    "Tatanka promises great power to the man who walks his path. He will need it, for there is great peril."
    "Tacante told me you promised him a short life if he put on the people's shirt, agreeing to tend their needs. Is my walk also to be a short one?"
    "Nothing in the dream speaks of this," He Hopa explained.
    "But you have great power to see what will come."
    "Not so great as to say how long a man should live," He Hopa explained. "I have told you it is a hard path Tatanka calls you to walk. But Wakan Tanka watches the brave hearts. So you will be watched, nephew."
    He Hopa stood and walked to the far side of the lodge. He rummaged among his belongings until he located a pouch made from a bull buffalo's bladder. The bag was decorated with elk teeth and hair, and a sacred