Lakota Surrender Read Online Free

go.”
    Tahiska threw a quick glance to his friend and grinned. “Will she be there to watch?” he inquired.
    “I hope so.” Wahtapah hung his head. “She is so beautiful that I feel sick thinking about her all the time. If I can’t find a way to have her soon, I think I will fall over and die.”
    Tahiska laughed heartily, knowing his friend hadn’t yet cornered the beautiful Kokomikeeis to tell her of his feelings. She was well protected by her parents and guarded tightly day and night. The maiden was indeed beautiful, and Tahiska knew his friend would have to make his intentions known soon, or risk the chance of losing her to another.
    “Brother,” Tahiska began. “I have a plan. I, too, will be attending the dance tonight. Tomorrow I will tell you what to do. I am sure you can get her if you are man enough.”
    Wahtapah took heart. “I will do whatever you say if I can win her hand.”
    Tahiska nodded to his friend and turned toward his father’s lodge while Wahtapah walked on.
     
    The dance was held on the other side of the village, almost three miles away from his own tepee. All the different tribes of the Lakota had come together in a great encampment, as was their custom each summer. It was a time for socializing, a time to reorganize the warrior society, a chance to discuss mutual problems. It would last two weeks or longer, ending in the excitement of the buffalo hunt.
    The drums beat out the rhythm. Many of the old men sang the song, with an occasional female voice echoing the words one octave higher. Tonight’s dance was a social event. It was not to beg favors for the poor, to ask for guidance from Wakan Tanka in the buffalo hunt, or to send men off in a raid. Tonight the young men danced because they were excited, because they were happy, or, as in Wahtapah’s case, because they hoped to gain admiration from a maiden.
    Tahiska danced for none of these reasons. His senses alerted him that there was danger, though he could find none; his heart was heavy, but from what source, he could not imagine. Tahiska danced to ease the turbulence of his thoughts. It was his intention to continue dancing through the night. Then, when his body reeled from exhaustion, he would seek a vision to explain this intuition and to guide him through what was to come.
    The fire burned high, lending its warmth to the near naked performers. With the smell of smoke filling his nostrils, the steady beat of the drums, and the high-pitched whooping of the men, Tahiska lost himself to the dance, his own voice joining the others in song.
    On the sidelines, young couples talked in whispers under blankets, proud parents boasted of their sons, young girls watched in fascination, and children imitated the stimulating dance. There was much talk and lots of laughter as those who hadn’t seen one another throughout the year became reacquainted.
    It was, therefore, a shock to all when the criers burst into the dance, shouting out the news. A hunting party was returning. They had been attacked. Two were dead.
    Voices were silenced; drumbeats stopped; dancers stood frozen. The fire, its embers shooting out live sparks, made the only sound.
    Tahiska felt his body stiffen. His father had been amongst those in the hunting party. Tahiska’s eyes met those of his friend, Wahtapah, above the crowd, reading there the emotions mirrored in his own gaze: disbelief, confusion, amazement. It was with a sickening realization that Tahiska determined the cause for his anxiety.
    Spinning, he fled in the direction of the returning party, Wahtapah, by his side.
    “Take heart, my friend,” Wahtapah implored. “Your father is not among the dead, most likely.”
    Tahiska dared not say anything. There was a constriction in his throat preventing speech anyway. He glanced at his friend and then straight ahead.
    “Take heed, brother,” Wahtapah repeated. “He will be alive.”
     
    But he was not. Tahiska heard the wails of his mother long before he glimpsed