IV.
The Kaokwa
haka Join the Great Peace
The onkwe
honwe then chose their quickest runners to head for the Kaokwa haka
country. They had to be careful and keep out of sight, because they
would be passing through the territory of the Onontaka haka, the People
of the Mountains, where resided the shaman, Tatotaho. Alone, the
Kenienke haka and Oneota haka would not be powerful
enough to face the
great shaman war chief at Onontaka
and convince him that it would be
better to live in peace.
When they arrived at the lower part of the lake, they searched for the
great war leader of the Kaokwa haka.
They made camp, lit a fire and
waited for the Kaokwa haka to
send some runners to them. The runners
arrived and welcomed the visitors from Oneota to their village.
Once they had arrived at the Kaokwa
haka village and had been
accepted by the warriors, they found the great war leader sitting down
smoking a large pipe he had received from some distant cousins of the
onkwe honwe who lived far to
the west. They called themselves Tutalo,
Great Big Men. Some of them had moved east with the Shirt People.
However, most of them lived out west.
The Tutalo were said to be
distant cousins of the onkwe honwe
who had
moved from the long river that traveled from the middle of the head to
almost the tail of the turtle’s back, to the place where Teharonhia:
wako had scratched out some lakes with his fingers; they may
have been
some of the ones who crossed the long river on a vine many years
before. When the onkwe honwe
left the long river, others stayed behind
and moved further west.
The great war leader sat the two runners down beside him and passed
them his pipe to smoke. Looking at the way they wore their
feathers, he knew that one of the runners was a Kanienke haka and the
other an Oneota haka onkwe honwe.
He said to them, “Already I know why you have come here. You have come
to bring me a message that there is a cool breeze that is coming
through during these hot times. This breeze will cool down the
warriors, and we will live in comfort together. My people have already
been prepared for this, for it has already reached our ears what has
happened. We are tired of war. Next to us, living to the east, the
great Shaman war chief of the Onontaka
haka lives, and situated to the
west is the most powerful nation of all - the Sonontowa haka Great
Mountain People, who can put together twice the warriors as any of us.
We are tired of the killing and being in the middle of it. Look to the
south of the great lake until you reach the upper regions, and you will
see the fires lit by our people who have already accepted the Great
Peace.” The runners looked down the lake; there was a small river
that lead from the Kaokwa haka
camp to the lake’s opening, and the
shore was visible on each side. They could see the camp fires of the
Kaokwa haka who had already
accepted the Great Peace lit in the
distance.
After the runners had heard what the great Kaokwa haka war chief had to
say, they ran back to inform the Peacemaker and the others who were
waiting for them in the Oneota haka
village that it was safe to move on.
All of a sudden, they heard a shout pass them like a great wind,
“Asokanee,” is it time. The Peacemaker said to the Oneota haka
and the Kenienke haka,
“It is Tatotaho calling, and
he is getting
impatient with us. We will bypass him and his village for now. It is
important that we get the Kaokwa haka
and the Sonontowa haka on
side
with us before we visit him.”
With the Peacemaker and Ayenwatha
in the lead, the Oneota haka
and the
Kenienke haka began to walk
toward the west through the rest of the
Oneota haka country. As they
came to the Oneota haka
village of Tsu te
nang, Rodatshe: te
said, “Maybe we should wait a while longer. The
weather is getting cooler, and we should wait until the autumn has
begun before we leave. In this way, there will be plenty to eat along
the way.” At the time, there was much arguing as to what they
should do.
Finally, the Peacemaker said, “Maybe Rodatshe:
te is right; if we are
going to succeed we must be in a good mind and have unanimous
consent. We will remain here in Oneota
territory until the three
hunters in the sky shoot the great bear, and the leaves turn the colour
of blood.” From that time on they said that Rodatshe: te had
placed a log on their path.
They then went back to their villages and harvested the crops to
prepare for winter. Finally, they looked up and saw the Great
Bear at its highest point in the sky being hunted by the three
hunters. They then met once again at Tsu
te nang and proceeded toward
the country of the Kaokwa haka,
bypassing the three Onontaka haka
villages.
In order to avoid detection they traveled south, passing Tully Lake and
then they moved toward the settlement of the Kaokwa haka on the north
side of the Kaokwa Lake. As
they got to the main trail, they could see
the marshes on the north side of the path that lead into the lake on
the south side. They then approached the village of Ka ia ka an
ha singing the Hai, hai,
adding a role call of the royaner who
were chosen by the Peacemaker to the chant. Once they had entered
the village, the great war chief was waiting for them. He brought out
his pipe, and they each smoked from it.
Then the war chief began to speak, “We the Kaokwa haka of the lower
lake had heard you were coming. We believe in the thing that you are
trying to accomplish, although we don’t quite understand the full
meaning of it as yet. As you can see, our nation is already united in
belief and in council. We think that this can be extended with other
nations.”
The Peacemaker answered, “From now on, you, who are of great faith,
will be called Takaenionk, He
Looks Both Ways. That is because
you anticipated that we would be coming and were watching to see when
we would arrive.
The Peacemaker then said, “Now, there are three nations that have
accepted the Great Peace. The Sun is rising even higher, and the world
is getting brighter. We will now send runners to the other Kaokwa
villages so that they may join us when we travel to the Sonontowa haka
nation.”
Runners were then sent out to the other Kaokwa haka villages until they
came to the south side of the lake and the village of Ka no keh. There,
the runners saw all the canoes lined up along the shore of the lake.
The onkwe honwe in this
village were called the Big Canoe People. They
were known as the Kaokwa haka
of the upper lake because of the
elevation of the village. Upon entering the village they were presented
to the great war chief of the upper lake.
The runners said to the great war chief, “We have come on behalf of the
message of peace. The one who has brought us the message is
waiting near the marshes on the other end of the lake. He wishes that
you would join him and the rest before they cross into the territory of
the Sonontowa haka nation.”
The great war chief replied, “Go back and tell them that I will arrive
shortly.”
Three days later, the great war chief of the upper Kaokwa haka showed
up with his people at the village of Ka
ia ka an ha by the marshes of
lower Kaokwa lake. There,
they were greeted by the Peacemaker and the
others.
The Peacemaker said to the gathering of onkwe honwe, “Now there are
three nations that have accepted the Great Peace. The Sun is getting
brighter each day.” He turned to the great war leader of the
upper village of the Kaokwa haka,
and said, “ You will be known as
Katsinontawehon, On His Knees,
because you sat here on these heights
waiting for me to arrive and had already accepted my message of peace
before I got here. There will be two prominent Kaokwa haka
nations that will sit together. Those of the upper house and those of
the lower house. This is the way it will be for all time.”
The Peacemaker then said, “We will wait for the shaman war chief of the
Ononta haka to yell twice and
then it will be time to visit the
Sonontowa haka.” It was
not long after that he had told them this
when, in the air above, they heard the yell, “Asokanee, Asokanee,” is
it time, is it time.
