III. The
Oneota
haka Join the Great Peace
The
Peacemaker then left the Kenienke
haka and began to travel west. The
Kenienke haka began to work
the Great Peace amongst their people,
passing the message that the Peacemaker had given them to their
brothers and sisters. From the great Cohoes Falls to the place where
the little falls runs, the Kenienke
haka began to live in peace. Still
they were afraid of their enemies that lived to the west of them. The
hardest worker in passing the message of peace was Ayenwatha.
Ayenwatha had three daughters.
Years before he had lost his wife in a
raid on his village. His daughters were his pride and joy, and they
were soon to be married. It was not long after the Peacemaker had
left that his oldest daughter became ill. The medicine societies and
herbalists tried to work their medicine, but it was to no avail. They
told Ayenwatha that someone
very powerful must be working bad medicine
to bring this misfortune to her. It was not long after that Ayenwatha’s
daughter passed away. Ayenwatha
was burdened with grief. He had no way
of expressing it, and it soon began to quail in his throat. He
could not even speak about it. The only thing that gave him comfort
were his two remaining daughters.
It was not long after his first daughter passed away, that his second
daughter also became ill. Once again the medicine society was called
in, and they failed to find the cure. She soon expired as well. Now,
Ayenwatha was even burdened
greater with grief. He couldn’t speak to
anyone about it. When others tried to console him, he wouldn’t hear
them. He had become deaf to what anyone had to say. The only thing that
was carrying him through was seeing his youngest remaining daughter.
The people of his Kenienke haka
village became concerned with
Ayenwatha’s health. They
decided that they would call all the men from
the villages and hold a lacrosse game for Ayenwatha, in order to amuse
him and lift up his spirits.
Since the beginning of time, lacrosse had been played by the onkwe
honwe as a form of amusement for the Creator. It involved many men from
the villages and was played in the fields. The fields sometimes
could go on for miles. The people felt that this would surely
lift the spirits of Ayenwatha
and, that the Creator in watching the
game, might be looking over him.
The men commenced playing the game, and all was going well. As usual,
it was full contact and rough. At this time, Ayenwatha’s daughter
had become pregnant. She was crossing the field bringing a vessel of
water to her father who was watching the game. One of the players threw
a pass in her direction. All of a sudden, as the men were running, they
heard a cry in the heavens. It sounded like, “Asokanee” meaning is it
time.
Everyone turned to look up into the sky to see flying above a
strange purple bird that no one had ever seen before. As they were
looking up and running, they didn’t notice that Ayenwatha’s daughter
was in their path. They trampled over Ayenwatha’s
daughter.
Ayenwatha stood and looked on
in a state of shock. He ran to see if
there was any life in his daughter’s body, but he could find none. The
next day, the village began to mourn her passing.
Ayenwatha was so completely
burdened with stress that he would not look
at anyone. He decided that he had to leave his village to sort out his
thoughts. For many days and nights he traveled west, passing all the
Kenienke haka villages and
avoiding anyone in his path. He wondered why
he, who had worked so hard to bring peace to the people, had to suffer
so much. “Where was the Creator to help me?” he asked. Ayenwatha
then went into complete seclusion.
One day he stopped and noticed that there were some elderberry bushes
along the way. He took a sapling from the bush and made a string of it.
He then made a tripod on each side and placed a stick between them.
Sitting in front of it, he spoke for the first time in weeks saying to
himself, “If anyone was burdened with grief like me, I would make sure
that someone was there to console him. I would take the skin of a young
fawn and wipe away the tears from their eyes so they could clearly see
hope in the future.” Then he placed one of the elderberry strings over
the stick.
Next, he said, “I would go talk to the person and clear their ears and
take out the clogs that block them from listening to those who come to
console.” He then placed another string over the stick.
Finally, he said, “I would then clear the obstructions from their
throat, so that they once again could speak freely about their grief.
” He hung up the third string.
Just then, Ayenwatha heard
something in the bushes. He went to look to
see who it was. It was the Peacemaker who had spoken about peace in
Ayenwatha’s village. The
Peacemaker approached Ayenwatha
and stood
before the tripod. He grabbed the first string and said, “If anyone was
burdened with grief like you, Ayenwatha,
I would wipe away the tears
from their eyes with this fawn cloth so that they could see clearly
again.”
The Peacemaker then took the cloth and wiped Ayenwatha’s eyes. He took
another string from the stick and said, “From the ears of that person,
I would take the obstructions that block him from hearing these words.”
He then grabbed and held Ayenwatha
just below the ears and consoled
him. He took a third string and said, “Next, I would clear the throat
of that person so that they may speak words that are once again
understandable.” He rubbed Ayenwatha’s
throat with his hand and
asked him to tell him what had made him so sad. After Ayenwatha’s spoke
about his grief, his spirit began to be lifted.
He grabbed some more of the strings and said to the Peacemaker,
“When someone is grieving like me there is turmoil in the stomach. I
would give the grieving person the medicine onanora, sweet flag. This
will relieve their stomach of grief.” Then he placed another
string over the stick.
He continued to say, “There is blood on the seat of the dead, and only
the stains are left. With the skin of a white fawn, I would wipe away
the stains forever so no one would be reminded of the pain that the
person was in.” He then placed a fifth string over the stick.
He continued, “When someone is burdened with grief like myself, they
are covered with darkness because the one they loved has passed away,
and they are lost as to what to do. I would lift the darkness of the
person with these kind words.” He placed a sixth string over the
stick.
He continued, “Those in grief, like myself, never see the sky, as their
heads are always facing toward the ground. I would clear the sky so
that they could look up and once again see its beauty.” He put a
seventh string on the stick.
He continued, “Those in grief, like myself, no longer see the light of
the Sun. I would raise up the Sun so that when they turned they could
see the shadow following in back of them instead of in the front. They
would then know where they would be going.” He placed an eighth string
over the stick.
He continued to say, “Those in grief, like myself, cannot forget what
might have happened if things turned differently. We keep thinking back
to what might have been if the person we cared about had not died. I
would go to the grave of the dead person and fix it beautifully and
then cover it with elm bark. Neither the Sun or rain would get through,
and I would carry on with my life after that.” He placed a ninth
string over the stick.
Next he said, “In death the bones of our ancestors are scattered; I
would bind the bones of the departed with wampum and relay these twenty
matters of sympathy. I would then make a feast for the dead person ten
days before the spirit parts. It would consist of all the things that
the dead person liked. This I would do before we finally part our ways
until the time we meet in the Sky World.” He placed a tenth
string over the grave.
He continued, “During this time of grief many of the keepers of the
faith are also sad. The council fire has been stomped and the logs for
the fire kicked aside. I would get them to direct their minds to the
Creator to alleviate the grief of all, and I would light the council
fire once again.” He placed an eleventh string over the stick.
He continued, “In the cycle of life each year, there are thirteen moons
that are represented on the back of the snapping turtle. It was the
woman who first came to the earth and they are the ones who bless the
seeds and the earth so that we may continue to live. It was through the
woman’s sacrifice that the earth is plentiful with life, and it is the
woman’s cycle that we follow in life. I would rekindle the ashes of the
departed who is born from a woman. ” He placed a twelfth string on the
stick.
He continued, “The faith keeper is connected to the fire. It is up to
them to make sure that the faith keeps going. If the woman faith keeper
passes away then the women must prepare the ceremony for renewal. The
loss of women is great because with their loss, the generations cannot
be born. Women are responsible in making sure that the royaner are fed.
They must guide the royaner when they come to their councils. In every
clan there are two relations that must perform the duties of the
people. A man and a woman faith keeper - a male representative of the
people with a good mind and a clan mother along with his and her
assistants. The Clan mother’s role is to make sure that the royaner
keeps his good mind and works on behalf of the people. Her job is to
make sure that the royaner
seat is always filled. If it ever goes
cold, it will mean that a great sadness is coming. It is her
responsibility to make sure that the seat is warmed in three days. Both
the royaner and the Clan
mother must have a good record as they must
work together on behalf of the people. The assistant looks after the
royaner as well. When one
becomes a royaner he must
follow this
way. If he doesn’t, his two relations will warn him. The first
will be the Clan mother. If the royaner
does not hear the words, she
will bring the two faith keepers to warn him. If this doesn’t work, the
leading rotiskenren: kete of
the family will give the final warning. If
the royaner doesn’t abide by it, he will tell the royaner that he is
dehorned and his title will go back to his Clan mother. This is how we
must deal with grief.” He then put a thirteenth string of wampum
on the stick.
Next he said, “When someone is so full of grief, they may commit
suicide. During this time, they are to be kept away from certain plants
that live in the swamp. They are instead to be comforted by their
special friend athonsora that
will console them.” He laid a
fourteenth string upon the stick.
Finally he said, “When it is a royaner
that has departed from the
world. It is important that the condolers from the other side of the
fire are notified. When this has happened and they come to condole,
they will return the wampum to the pouch left hanging on the pole.”
When Ayenwatha had finished,
he said to the Peacemaker, “I feel much
better, now that I have gotten this out of me and I have found a way
that we may all be able to deal with grief.”
The Peacemaker told him, “You always need two people to comfort one
another. A young person should choose a medicine friend athonsora to
bring their spirits up whenever they are feeling down. They will work
together and comfort each other with kind words.”
The Peacemaker then said to Ayenwatha,
“We have to leave to go to the
territory of the Oneota haka,
Standing Stone People. The Kenienke
haka are gathering together to prepare for their journey west,
and we
must first make a path for them. Go to the Wolf Clan village of the
Oneota haka, and I will meet
you there,” he told Ayenwatha.
The
Peacemaker and Ayenwatha then
separated.
Ayenwatha came to a cornfield
outside of the Oneota haka
village named
Kanoa lo hale, Place of the
Pole. He sat just outside of the
cornfield watching a man who stood guard against any animals that might
enter to eat the growing corn. On the other side of the cornfield, the
man had built a small lodge so that he could rest when he was tired. He
did not see Ayenwatha enter
the lodge. It was not long before he saw
smoke coming from a fire lit inside the lodge. The guardian of the
cornfield became afraid. He decided that he should go back to the
village and get help. When he entered the village, he told the great
war leader, “There is someone who has lit a fire in my lodge. Do you
know if anyone has left the village and may be playing a trick on me?”
The great war leader replied, “There is no one who has left the
village. I will send two warriors to see who it might be and to bring
the stranger back here.”
The two warriors arrived at the cornfield to see a man sitting by the
fire. They told Ayenwatha,
“We have been sent by our war chief to
bring you back to our village.”
Ayenwatha sat there and did
not respond. Three times they asked him who
he was. Still, Ayenwatha
would not answer them.
An answer of importance such as this would require a person to wait
three times. It had been the custom among the onkwe honwe that a sudden
answer may be the result of witchcraft and the person may not be
speaking the truth. Frustrated, the runners decided to go back to the
village to tell the war leader that the stranger would not answer them.
Upon their return to the village they told the war leader what had
happened. The great war leader thought about it for a few minutes
and then said, “This stranger wants something from us.”
He grabbed an eagle quill and cut it up into three pieces and said to
one of the runners, “Give the stranger this eagle quill and see what he
does with it.”
The runner took the eagle quill and set out with the other runner to
find the stranger. When they approached Ayenwatha, one of the runners
said to him, “Our great war chief has cut up this eagle quill to give
to you. As you know the eagle has great importance, and our words are
binding whenever we use him.”
Ayenwatha
answered, “This is the first time that anyone has asked me to do
something in such a sincere manner. I will go with you to your village
and visit your Great war leader in three days time.” The runners
thanked Ayenwatha and ran back to tell the great war chief about what
had transpired. In the meantime, Ayenwatha beaded the eagle quill
with the mulberries he had found.
Three days later, Ayenwatha
showed up at the village. He waited as the
great war chief and the people assembled in front of him. Taking the
pieces of the eagle quill he passed them back to the great war chief
and taught him the first three important words of the requickening
address that he and the Peacemaker had first spoken when he was in
remorse over the deaths of his daughters.
He said to the great war chief, “Take these three eagle quills.
Whenever someone comes to visit, you will meet them at the edge of the
village. There, you will speak the words that I am about to tell you.
You will take a piece of the skin of a fawn. You will then tell the
visitors that you want to wipe away the tears from their eyes in case
they are in grief over the loss of any of their people on the way. You
will pass to them one of the quill wampums. Next, you will tell them
that you want to clear their throats, in case they are so choked up
with grief and anger that they can’t speak. You will pass the next
quill to them. Finally, you will say that you want to unplug their ears
so that they can hear clearly, once again, the words that have been
spoken.”
Ayenwatha went on, “When this
is done, they will in turn pass the
quills back and say the same words in return. In this way, you will be
assured that there will be good relations between you both when you
meet.”
Upon hearing Ayenwatha’s
words, the great war chief and the assembled
people wanted to hear more as to what he had to say. Ayenwatha told
them about the Peacemaker and what had happened at Kenienke - how he
had waited for the Peacemaker and how the Peacemaker, when he arrived,
was tested by the Kenienke haka.
He told them about how he was given
his title and why he had come to the Oneota
haka. When he had finished,
everyone was very impressed with his message. They were still
apprehensive about the Kenienke haka
and whether this was a trick of
some kind.
The war leader told Ayenwatha,
“You are welcome to stay in my lodge
overnight. I have room in the back.”
The great war leader really wanted to keep an eye on Ayenwatha, to see
what he would do. That night the war leader slept near the opening to
the lodge while Ayenwatha
slept in the back.
It seemed like Ayenwatha was
only asleep for a few minutes when he
could hear someone at the entrance. He climbed over the great war
leader, making as little noise as possible. It was the Peacemaker.
The Peacemaker said to Ayenwatha,
“We will have to leave soon because
the great shaman at Onontaka
is getting impatient. He knows we are
coming, and he is afraid. He would like to destroy us if he can. In the
morning, look in a southerly direction from the hills above. You will
see smoke rising from the fires of those who have already heard our
message and have accepted the Great Peace. They, along with the
Kenienke haka, will be
arriving soon so that we can continue to spread
the message. We will select two runners to gather the onkwe honwe
together here before we leave.
As the Kenienke haka and the
other Oneota haka villagers
began to
arrive at Kanoa lo hale, they
could hear the warriors coming from every
direction, singing the Hai, hai.
This ancient song was sung by the onkwe honwe whenever they moved their
villages; it was based on their traditional life of crop rotation. This
meant, that around every ten years, the onkwe honwe would move their
villages when the land began to become depleted; this way they wouldn’t
return to that very spot for around fifty years. By that time, the
earth would be restored, and they could begin cutting down and burning
the bush and planting once again their three mothers: corn, beans
and squash. They would move the bones of their ancestors with
them and pile them together in a special place outside the village. In
this way they were ensured that their ancestors would remain with them
always.
The men called rotiskenren: kete,
which meant bone carriers, would sing
the Hai, hai as they walked
carrying the bones of the departed that
would be placed with the bones of their ancestors. They were called
this because they had the responsibility of ensuring that their people
made the proper transition to the Sky World.
By the time that they had moved the bones, the flesh of the departed
had helped to replenish the earth with new life, and a person’s duty in
this world was finally completed, so that now they could be fully
reborn into the Sky World. It was up to the rotiskenren: kete to ensure
that the bones were clean and placed together; this way the community
of ancestors would continue in this life as well as in the afterlife.
At the same time it was the rotiskenren:
kete’s responsibility to carry
the knowledge of the ancestors with them, giving a double meaning to
the name.
As the different villagers from the Kenienke
haka and Oneota haka
approached the wood’s edge, the Oneota
haka of the Wolf Clan would
greet them with the three words taught to them by Ayenwatha. The
visitors would in turn reciprocate the words as they learned the
protocol. When everyone had arrived at the Oneota haka village, they
heard in the air, a voice, “Asokanee,”
is it time. They knew it was
getting close to the time that they would have to leave.
When everyone was assembled in the village, the Peacemaker spoke. He
said, “We, the villagers of two nations, have come together to this
land of the Oneota haka. Look
around and see if we are fighting with
one another. Is not this the way that Teharonhia:
wako had wanted us to
live? When we live in peace with one another we are living a righteous
life with a good mind. This makes us stronger than when we are killing
one another. Imagine if all of us could live this way.”
The Peacemaker continued, “I will choose three members of the Wolf Clan
family to be the first Oneota haka
royaner of the Great Peace. Later,
when we are all assembled together with Tsokansase at Onontaka, she and
the Clan matrons of the families will choose the rest of the royaner
from the other clan family villages.
The Peacemaker put forward the man who had stood watch over the corn
fields when Ayenwatha first
arrived. The Peacemaker turned to the man
who had stood guard at the corn fields and said to him, “Come forward.
I will name you Rodatshe teh,
the Quiver Bearer. You will be the
first on the list of royaner for
the Oneota haka, because you
were the
first Ayenwatha met while you
were guarding the cornfield. You will now
stand guard on behalf of your nation.”
The Peacemaker called another member of the Wolf Clan and asked him,
“What do you do besides fight?”
The warrior answered, “Whenever I am not in battle, my job is to
harvest the corn for the women.”
The Peacemaker turned to him and said, “You will be royaner. From now
on you will be called Kanonkwenio:
ton, He Gathers the Corn. Whenever
there is an assembly, you will gather the people in the same way you
gather the corn.”
The Peacemaker then called a third man forward. He said to him, “When I
first arrived, I told you to look for the fires burning in the morning
of those who now believe in the Great Peace that is upon us. You were
the first one to get up in the morning and look. I name you
Teiohakwente, He looks Through
the Opening. You will always be
vigilant toward your people in working to maintain the peace.”
The Peacemaker then said, “I leave you three to begin your work. Never
argue with one another. You must always have one mind, head and body
whenever you make decisions. It will not be like before. You have no
authority over your people. You are there to serve them, and this means
you will always have less possessions than the rest of the people.”
He then spoke to the onkwe honwe
of the two assembled nations, the
Kanienke haka and the Oneota haka. “If we work
together, we will
have more power. This is a new day, and the Sun is beginning to climb
in the sky. Each day it climbs a little higher and gets a little
brighter. The Great Law of Peace is about to arrive, and, when the Sun
reaches its zenith in the sky, all the surrounding nations will be
living in peace. Soon, you will be able to walk without having any
fear. As more people join, it will be like a ball rolling in the snow.
With each spin forward, it gets bigger and bigger.”
The Peacemaker continued, “We now have six royaner - good minds who
will work on behalf of the onkwe
honwe. We will now appoint two runners
to go to the land of the Kaokwa haka,
Mucky Lake People who live around
the long lake, to inform them that we are coming.”
