Free Lakota by G. Clifton Wisler Page A

found comfort trusting Hinhan Hota to choose the direction.
    Often a man finds his direction chosen by others, though. So it was with Hinhan Hota's Sicangus. Waawanyanka, Watcher, arrived as the ripening moon of late summer began to wane.
    "I bring word from Wapaha Luta," the young warrior explained gravely. "He makes war on the wasicuns soon."
    "Han?" Hinhan Hota asked. Yes?
    "Two times the sun has crossed the heavens since his daughter, Unkcekiha, was stolen from our camp. We rode to get her back, but there were many wasicun wagons. The Lance was wounded, and the warriors despaired. Come and help us make the good fight. We will rub out all of them!"
    "All of them?" Tacante asked.
    "There are forty, maybe more. Many are small and won't fight much," Watcher explained.
    Hinhan Hota frowned. Tacante knew it wasn't in the Owl's heart to kill the helpless ones. There could be no refusing, though. Unkcekiha was He Hopa's granddaughter and a cousin to many of the young men. Hokala spoke of courting her if the bands reassembled to make their winter camp.
    Word of Red Lance's trouble spread swiftly through the lodges of Gray Owl's camp, and the warriors made ready to ride. The Owl insisted some remain to guard the women and the horse herd. He chose Tacante, Hokala, and three others to go with him on the raid.
    He Hopa would have gone if the Owl hadn't forbidden it.
    "She's my blood," the medicine man argued.
    "Ah, but your heart will be with us, just as your medicine charms will be," Hinhan Hota replied. "This is a young man's hunt, Leksi. See how I take only the swiftest riders?"
    He Hopa grumbled some, but he accepted the decision. He did make prayers and assemble charms for the young warriors.
    "Carry your shield high," the old man warned Hokala. "The wasicun rifles will seek your heart."
    "Leave that pale horse behind," He Hopa told Tacante. "You must always wear dark paint and ride a black horse to battle, Tonska. Ah, four feathers are now in your hair."
    He Hopa then did a strange thing. He drew a knife and cut Tacante's shoulder.
    "Old man, leave my death to the wasicuns," Tacante barked.
    "Ah, I have seen your blood in my dream," the medicine man explained. "Only one wound will you receive in this fight, and I have given it to you. No bullet will find you, Heart of the People. Ride with a brave heart, Tonska."
    "I will do as you say, Leksi," Tacante said, referring to Four Horns as Uncle in the way Hinhan Hota and the elder Tacante before him had done.
    He Hopa built a fire and made medicine. The warriors smoked the pipe and pledged their courage. Then they tied up the tails of their horses and set out after the wasicuns.
    Two days Hinhan Hota kept them riding. They paused hardly long enough to eat, and certainly not long enough to sleep much. Often Tacante and the other young men dozed while their horses trotted onward. Each of the riders brought along a spare pony, and they shifted from one to the other so as to give the animals a rest. Gray Owl and Watcher had none.
    The wasicun wagons had passed up the trail northward, but Wapaha Luta, wounded hip and all, kept up his pursuit. One wasicun had been captured while guarding the horse herd. Tacante saw what remained of him resting in a fire pit a half day's ride from the wagons.
    "It was a boy," Tacante remarked as he stared at the blackened flesh.
    "So, now there can be no talking," Hinhan Hota added. "Only fighting.
    Often Tacante had imagined his first big fight. All boys do, he supposed. But he never envisioned charging wagons and battling wasicuns. The Crows, perhaps, or the Pawnees. He had little chance to consider it, though, for Hinhan Hota wasted no time in picking up the wasicun trail. Soon after midday they spotted the wagons. Red Lance arrived then, and a brief plan was made.
    Warfare for the Lakotas was simple. Whenever a warrior felt the brave heart, he started a charge. If his medicine was strong, or he was respected, others would follow. The battle continued so