Akecheta

Long before the white man came to the Black Hills of South Dokota, in a teepee made of buffalo skin lived a young Sioux warrior called Akecheta; he hunted with a hawk that spotted the slowest horse, his friends admired him for his courage. He rode through prairies for hours, never taking taking a nap and rest under the shade of a Prickly Pear Cactus! He watched rainbows stretching over a horizon dazzling with sun and invoked the Great Spirit before heading home through prairies; he lived in the shadow of mountains where Howthorne trees showed their small red berries in the beezy and pleasant days of early autumn! He found a hawk who had injuried wings and showed him his kindness; hunter and predator became friends, their boldness could scare a bear. On his hunting days Akecheta carried a red-tailed hawk on his shoulder for guidance, hoping to find a fawn to take home to feed his family! Ackecheta hunted for rabbits and deer, their meats were so tasty and tender; there's was no scarcity of food: either be buffalos, nuts or berries. America was already blessed by God before Europeans came to conquer; was the God of the Sioux kinder than that of the adventurous pioneers? Ackecheta never saw a beautiful ocean with shrieking seagulls flying overhead... only mountains that he called canyons. He loved the majestic Roughlock Falls, but he cried when he saw the newcomers cut down all the tallest Quaker aspens: had he tried to stop them with angry screams, he would have been killed! Written on 6/12/2017