Eyes of Wisdom Bookone by Heyoka Merrifield

Author:Heyoka Merrifield
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2006-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

The medicine friends traveled for five Moons before they had given seven of the Sacred Pipes to the tribal peoples who surrounded the Valley of the North Star. The last pipe was to be given to the warring People of the Prairie. The Prairie People moved camp often, following the great herds of buffalo wherever they went. After weeks of wandering on the prairie, the travelers found the tribe’s trail. As they neared the village, a war party ran out and surrounded them. The party was made up mostly of young men painted for war and creating more noise than danger.

Eyes of Wisdom spoke. “We have been traveling all spring and summer to bring a wondrous gift to your people. Go now and tell your chief that four medicine people are bringing a gift from White Buffalo Woman.”

As the travelers neared the village, Owl noticed there was refuse piled up around the unpainted lodges. The camp seemed disorderly and unkempt in general. There was no talk of a welcome feast and no one seemed happy to see the guests.

The villagers crowded around them and one large man stepped up and said he was the chief of the tribe. Grandmother asked the chief to call his council of elders together so she could present them with a gift. The chief, who was called “War Cloud,” said that he had no such council and that he made all the decisions for his tribe. He said he had four lieutenants, six sergeants, and the rest of the men were dog soldiers. The chief sat down and had his lieutenants sit down behind him.

Owl spoke, telling again the story of how he and his brother found White Buffalo Woman and of the Sacred Pipe she had brought. Grandmother told of the Council Wheel and how it had helped to keep order within the village for the past several winters. When Grandmother took out the give-away pipe, the people gasped. There was a buffalo carved behind the bow in the red pipestone. The stem was decorated like the pipe bag, with many colored porcupine quills in the design of the Morning Star. It was obviously the most beautiful thing made by human hands they had ever seen.

Eyes of Wisdom gave the Prairie People the pipe ceremony as White Buffalo Woman had taught her. She then passed the pipe to the chief and his lieutenants to be smoked. The ceremony was ended as she raised the pipe to the sky and said, “In celebration of All the People.” She separated the bowl from the stem, placed them in the fringed bag, and then handed it to War Cloud.

It was obvious that the chief knew he was holding a precious treasure in his hands. He said the pipe would become the center of his ceremonies. War Cloud then said that he did not see the need for a Council Wheel.

Grandmother told him that if it did not work, he could disband it. If it worked as well as it had in their village, it would give the chief time for more important things.

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