|
On the other side of the river the first rays of the August sun stretched across the horizon as Wicahpewastewin (Good Star Woman) and her mother left their Dakota village to gather wood.
Leaves fluttered in the breeze as robins sang their morning song. Laying out a carrying strap in readiness, they began to pick up sticks for their cooking fire. Still holding the first branches, the women looked at each other as gunfire broke the silence of morning. Fearing danger from their long time enemy the Anishinabeg (Ojibwe), they hurried back to alert the others. As they arrived, a young boy ran into the village, so frightened he could barely speak. Breathlessly, he told of Dakota warriors attacking workers and fur traders at the Lower Agency (a government outpost). Tension filled the air and the children began to cry with fright. Some of the men decided to request protection from their friends at the fort, while others loaded guns and painted their bodies in the colors of war. The women hurried to the riverbank to offer prayer for the safety of sons, husbands and brothers. Everyone in the village knew war would spill the blood of many. What would happen to the Dakota in such a poorly matched war?
|
