Letter XVI
TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRECIS HISTORIQUES, BRUSSELS
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Kistalwa and Maria, parents of Matomika.
NAMUR, January 30, 1857.
REV.,AND DEAR FATHER:
I narrated to you, in one of my letters, the conversion of Watomika (Light-foot) and his vocation to the religious state. A short notice concerning his parents will interest you.
Watomika was born in the village of Muskagola, in Indian Territory. His father, called Kistalwa, the Runner of the Mountain-path, was grandson of Hobokou, or the Tobaccopipe, a distinguished chief and warrior of the tribe of Delawares, or Lenni-Lenapi, which figure worthily in the Indian history of the United States. Ketchum, his cousin, is the actual chief of the Delawares, and the successor of Kistalwa. During the last fifteen years of his life, Kistalwa exercised the functions of great chief. On many an occasion, be proved by his boldness, while hunting the bear, tiger, and buffalo, and especially by his bravery in war, that he was worthy at once of the high position which he occupied in his nation, and of the title of .descendant of a long succession of chiefs and illustrious warriors. Educated in the superstitions of paganism, Kistalwa was ignorant of the Christian religion. He saw in the whites who visited his tribe, naught but usurpers of the lands of his ancestors, who continually pushed them into unexplored wilds; but government agents, who, little by little, and in proportion as it extended its vast empire, would succeed in exterminating the whole Indian ice. He saw them introducing themselves among them- men, who, under the appearance of friendship, extended the and, addressed them kind and flattering words, encouraged the Indian to drink fire-water (as the latter call liquors), inebriated them, in order the better to deceive them in their infamous traffic, and fomented the most abject vices. He was witness of the fatal influences that these perverse and hypocritical men exerted in the tribe. Is it then surprising that he hated not only those individuals, but even the religion to which they pretended to belong, even the very name of Christian, which they presumed to bear? Like the aged Hamilcar, father of Hannibal, Kistalwa never ceased to inspire the young Watomika with an eternal hatred towards the treacherous white race.
The mother of Watomika was of French origin. According to the accounts of this woman, her parents came from the province of Auvergne, and, after crossing the ocean, they settled in a rich and lovely valley, on the shores of the Rio-Frio, a tributary of the Nueces, in Texas, which then formed a part of Mexico. Green plains, with which the valley abounded, served as pasturage to countless troops of wild cattle and thousands of wild horses. The Comanches, not less savage and wandering, came there from time to time to make their great hunt, and provide themselves with those impetuous coursers, which render them the terror of their enemies in war. Here Maria, mother of Watomika, was born. She had a brother, called Louis, three years older, and born in France.
Days, months, even years, rolled on, without the peace of the solitary cottage of the intrepid Frenchman, as he was denominated, ever being disturbed. He had no other neighbors thin the wandering savages, who, at certain seasons of the year, visited him, testified much friendship and attachment for him, and bringing him their peltry and provisions, received in exchange those articles which were suited to their wants or would afford them pleasure. This little family, so tranquil, so happy in the lonely wild, sheltered from those political commotions, from those furious tempests which arise and scatter fear, disorder, and ruin into the most charming provinces of fair France, their native country-the Bucheur family, remote from those tragical and bloody spectacles, believed they had found repose in the solitude, far from the confusions and vicisitudes of which they had been witness in the last century. But, alas ! the dreams of life are very deceitful, and often very short ! The visions of man's imagination here below are illusory and uncertain. Passing for the greater part with the speed of lightning, they dazzle but an instant. The intrepid Frenchman counted upon a long continuance of happy years. Eight years had already elapsed, and peace and happiness ever reigned in his little household. The savages appeared to be sincerely attached to him ; he was their friend, their benefactor; he thought himself securely sheltered from all danger on their part.
Suddenly, an unforeseen event annihilated his fondest hopes. A little party of Comanche hunters were massacred by some Spaniards on the Rio Grande. Instantly the cry of war and of vengeance resounded in all the camps of the tribe. The Indian warriors already scour the plains and the forests, in search of the scalps of the white man, and eager to drench their hands in his- blood. They had sought in vain for weeks, when the remembrance of the solitary of the Rio Frio presented .itself to the thought of one soldier of the band. He proposed the blow; it was accepted. In their frenzied rage they forgot the benevolence and friendship of which they had continually received proofs in the cabin of the honest Frenchman, and of his faithful companion. They even forgot the innocent caresses of the two little children.
Favored by the darkness of night, they approached this peaceful dwelling. While the whole family were buried in a profound slumber, the war-whoop of the barbarians aroused them. Armed with clubs, the aggressors burst in the doors, and ere the family had time to recover from their panic, they seized the father, mother, and the children. They led them to a little distance from the house, so that they might themselves be the melancholy witnesses of the destruction by fire of all that the savages could not transport.
This was only the commencement of their misfortunes. The wrath and revenge of the Indians, inflamed by all the injuries received from some whites, was, in the absence of the really culpable, to fall upon these innocent victims They loaded them with opprobrium and overwhelmed them with cruelties. After a precipitate and painful march, continued during several days, almost without being able to take the least repose, and with very little food, they arrived at the village of the great Comanche chief, a near relation of the hunters massacred by the Spaniards.
The camp was warned beforehand of the approach of the warriors. They were received with all the honors of a real triumph, consisting in scalp-dances, songs, and festivals, as if these miserable wretches had actually distinguished themselves by a heroic action and in battle array. While the council was sitting in the lodge of the chief, in order to deliberate on the lot of the prisoners, these last were conducted all around the village, amid the most atrocious. injuries which each barbarian had the aright to inflict on them. The chief at last proclaimed the sentence, which was heard and accepted with loud acclamations. The post was immediately erected in the camp and surrounded with fagots.' The Frenchman and his wife were fastened to it together, in order that they might perish in the flames. The savage dances, the frenzied gestures, the cries, vociferations, and howlings of these infuriated barbarians, augmented the deep anguish and horrible agony of their unfortunate victims. The father and mother never; ceased, until their latest breath, conjuring their cruel executioners, to take pity on their poor, innocent children. Little Louis and Maria were spared, on account of their infant years. The former was ten years of age; the girl was only seven. They were, however, forced to witness the sacrifice of their beloved parents, whom they could neither deliver nor comfort. They trembled in every limb, shed torrents of tears, called their father and mother by their sweetest' names, and supplicated, but in vain, those cruel and merciless hearts to spare their lives. The moaning of the father, amid his cruel tortures, and the agonizing shrieks of the dying mother, rent the hearts of these tender children. In' their despair, they would have thrown themselves at their feet, heedless of the flames, if the monsters that surrounded them had not opposed them.
Immediately after this tragical and shocking scene, the two unhappy orphans were subjected to a new trial, -not less hard and afflicting in the melancholy circumstances in which they found themselves. Hitherto they had passed together the innocent and joyous days of their childhood; they shared each other's sports, and made little excursions together: now that their tender hearts wished to sympathize is this bitter trial, they were pitilessly separated, never to see each other again on earth. The only son of a chief who was present had lately fallen in war. This chief claimed Louis, to take the place of his son, put him on a beautiful horse, and conducted him to his country. From that time they have never heard of him. If he still lives, he probably now replaces his adopted father as Comanche chief, and wanders with his red brothers in the boundless prairies of Texas, New Mexico, and the Great Desert. Maria was adopted in the family of a great Comanche warrior, who treated her as his own child, and who resumed, soon after, the trail leading to his own country, situated to the north of Texas. She passed seven years in this family, when she accompanied her Indian parents to a trading-post, established in the upper part of Red River. They there met a great party of Delawares, led forth by the young and brave Kistalwa, soil of Buckongohela. The two companies at once paid the customary compliments, and smoked the calumet of peace and of fraternity.
Maria attracted the attention of the Delaware party, especially of Kistalwa, who conversed with her. She consented to accompany him to the lodge of Buckongohela, provided her adopted parents gave their approbation. Kistalwa hastened to propose the matter to the old Comanche. The latter, surprised, rejected the proposition with severity, and refused, positively, to hear it mentioned. He even took steps to prevent any interview between the young Delaware and his adopted daughter. Kistalwa was firm ; he did not suffer himself to be easily intimidated, and this first refusal only served to encourage him to persist in his request, at every hazard. The 'history of the young white girl had deeply touched his heart. He determined absolutely to take her, to tear her, if necessary, from one of the tormentors of her unfortunate father and mother. He, therefore, returned to the charge with such determination, and with such positive arguments, that the Comanche began to reflect on the consequences of a second refusal, and to tremble for the security of his whole family. The, affair assumed a new aspect; the old Indian lent a more attentive ear to the discourse of the youthful warrior. Kistalwa perceived it, and immediately put his calumet and tobacco at his feet. According to Indian usages, if the adverse party pays no attention to the calumet, it is a sign that be refuses all arrangement. But the Comanche, to the perfect delight of his guest, hastened to light the calumet, and offered it to the Great Spirit and to all the manitous in his calendar, as a token of his sincerity. The calumet then passed from mouth to mouth, as in conclusion of the treaty. The one promised his daughter; the other, in testimony of his gratitude, made a present to the father of two splendid horses and an ample supply of tobacco and of munitions.
Kistalwa soon made his preparations for departure, and Caused the white girl to be informed of his intentions. She found it difficult to quit her Comanche parents, to whom she was sincerely attached. Maria, by her mildness, her intelligence, and her other good qualities, which distinguished her from her companions, had won every heart in the Comanche family. They, on their side, had manifested towards Maria, during her long sojourn in their lodge, all the respect and affection of real brothers and sisters. The separation was therefore painful ; and their mutual grief was evidenced by an abundance of tears in exchanging the last farewell .Hence, in bidding adieu to Maria, the old Comanche implored his manitous to protect the path through which she would pass: having placed her under their safeguard, he committed her into the hands of Kistalwa and his band of warriors.
Proud of the treasure which they took with them, they returned, as if in triumph, the way to their own country. The sun shone, the plains abounded with animals, the chase was successful, no enemy disputed their passage, all was propitious and happy during their long journey.
Maria, at her arrival among the Lenni-Lenapi, henceforward her own nation, was received there with every mark of tenderness and affection by the great chief Buckongohela, He gave her the name of Monotawan, or the White Antelope, on account of her delicate form and her exceedingly fair complexion.
Two years after, Monotawan was married to Kistalwa, with the ceremonies and rites used in that tribe. The following are the details of this kind of solemnity: when a young man desires to marry, he declares his intention to the father and mother of the young person of his choice,, if they are living, if not, to the nearest relations and friends. These decide on the suitableness of the marriage. The young man then takes his gun, his shot-pouch, and his powder-horn, and passes three consecutive days in pursuit of game in the neighboring forests and plains. If he obtains success and returns with his horses laden with the products of the chase, it is a certain presage of happiness and peace in the new state which he is about to enter; if, on the contrary, he returns to the lodge with empty hands or with poor game, the augury is unfavorable, and the friends often defer the marriage to a more propitious time. The hunter, on his return, chooses the most delicate specimens of his game, places them at the entrance of the wigwam of his intended, and then retires without saying a word to any one whomsoever. When the present is accepted, it is a sign that no objection exists on the part of the family or friends to the projected union. Without delay the betrothed make all the preparations which prelude the marriage. The young man and young woman carefully paint their faces with different colors and devices, and adorn themselves with their finest ornaments. These last consist in bracelets, neck. laces of glass and porcelain beads, handsome birds'-feathers, habits of antelope and buck skins, richly embroidered and worked with porcupine-quills of various tints. The bridegroom ties fox and wolf tails around his heels and knees in the fashion of garters, and inserts feathers of the eagle's tail in his hair-the last are marks of great distinction. The principal jugglers make an offering of tobacco to Waka-Tanka, or the Great Spirit, in order to obtain his favors for the young couple, and present him a beaver-skin in sacrifice, as a mark of their gratitude for the future blessings which they implore for them. The friends and near relations prepare the grand marriage-feast together. There the young man is presented to the family by the great master of ceremonies. He places a beaver-skin in the hand of each of the betrothed. They exchange these between them, and -thus ratify their consent to the marriage. The repast commences, the guests do honor to the viands, they dance and sing to the drum and the flute, and amid these amusements and the recitation of interesting tales, terminates the nuptial ceremony among the Lenni-Lenapi.
Monotawan became the mother of two sons; the elder was called Chiwendota or the Black Wolf, the junior received the name of Watomika or the Light-foot.
Please accept my best respects, and believe me, Your devoted brother in Christ,
P. J. DE SMET, S. J.