Running Wolf and Red Shield

[Robert Spiritwalker Murchison]

In years past the Sioux and the Crows were enemies, and only through heroic
action could a young person of one tribe become the friend or lover of a
young person of the other tribe. Such was the story of Red Shield, the
daughter of a Sioux chief, and Running Wolf, the son of a Crow warrior.


Red Shield first heard of Running Wolf from a Sioux woman who had been
captured by the Crows and then later was permitted to return to her people.
This woman had lived as a servant with Running Wolf's family during the time
when the boy was growing up.


"He was a lazy boy," the Sioux woman told Red Shield. "His father had to
drive him out of bed every morning by rapping his shins with a stick. One
morning he scolded the boy very hard and told him that he should be out
hunting deer for the family. That morning, as soon as the father left the
tepee, Running Wolf came to me and asked if I would make a buckskin mask for
him. And so I made him a mask, and he spent the day painting it with white
clay and fastening deer horns to it. Before sunrise the next morning he was
the first one out of bed. He took his father's gun and knife and rode away on
a horse, with two led horses behind him. He went out to a little lake near
their village, fastened his horses in the woods, and then went down to a
place where animals come to drink. When the sun rose some deer came there,
but they did not run away because they thought the boy was a deer. He killed
two, loaded them on the led horses, and brought them home just as his father
was waking up."


"Was Running Wolf's father pleased by this?" Red Shield asked.


"Oh, yes. He told his son that he had done well, and should divide the
venison with their neighbors. But that was not the end of it. The next
morning the boy went back to the watering place and returned with two more
deer, and the morning after that he did the same." The Sioux woman smiled.
"That time his father told him to stop or he would begin to smell like a
deer."


"And what did young Running Wolf say to this?"


"He said nothing, but he began sleeping late again, until one morning his
father rapped him on the shins and scolded him for being lazy. His father
told Running Wolf that he could no longer use the family's horses, that if he
wanted a horse to ride he would have to go out and take one from the Nez
Perces. That morning, as soon as his father went hunting, Running Wolf came
to me and asked if I would make him a new pair of moccasins. I did this for
him, and he spent the day decorating them with paint and beads in some
special way. At sundown he left the tepee with his gun, not saying a word to
anyone. Next morning he returned with twenty horses that he had taken from
the Nez Perces."


"His father must have been much pleased by this," said Red Shield.


"Oh, yes, after the boy gave him ten of the horses, the father sang praise
songs for him all day. But that was not the end of it. That night Running
Wolf went out again, and next morning he brought back forty horses and gave
them all to his father. And the next night he captured fifty horses, all of
which he gave to his father. And still a fourth night he went and this time
he brought back eighty head of horses, giving them all to his father! Oh, I
can tell you, Running Wolf's father had a hard time herding all those horses.
'Stop! Stop!' he shouted at his son. 'You have listened too well to what I
told you.' "


Red Shield laughed. "I think I like this young Running Wolf, even if he is a
Crow," she said.


"Oh, but he soon grew up after that," the Sioux woman said. "After his father
died, his mother and I made a new tepee for him, and then I was told that I
could return to my people. Running Wolf painted his tepee black, tied
feathers to the door, and laid war bonnets and other finery around the inside
to signify that he intended to become a mighty warrior."


Not long after Red Shield heard these stories about Running Wolf, her father
announced that the Sioux would be going out for their summer buffalo hunt.
The tribe camped in a narrow valley down which some of their hunters would
drive the buffalo while others waited in concealment on either side to kill
them as they passed. It was a busy time for Red Shield and the other women,
young and old, for they helped in the skinning of the buffalo and then
stretched the hides out to dry in the sun.


One afternoon while half the Sioux hunters were out searching for a buffalo
herd, an alarm suddenly spread through the camp. "Crow horse thieves are
coming! Look to the horses!" As soon as the men drove the horses in, it was
the duty of the women and children to guard them while the warriors went out
to protect the camp from the Crow raid. Red Shield mounted her spotted pony
and joined the other women. Far up the level valley she could see the dust of
the oncoming Crows as they raced toward the line of defending Sioux. A moment
later she heard the sharp war cries of the contending warriors.


She saw one of the Crow warriors on a black horse break through the Sioux
line and come charging toward the horse herd she was helping to guard. Not
far behind him, two Sioux warriors galloped in pursuit. As the Crow came
nearer she could see that he wore four eagle feathers in his hair. Fastened
behind his belt was a streamer of black leather long enough to trail on the
ground. His horse's mane and tail were whitened with clay. He carried a
black-handled spear decorated with bunches of crow feathers, and this weapon
was pointed straight at Red Shield. She held her spotted horse steady,
defying the onrushing Crow, and at the last moment he reined in the black
horse so that the point of the spear was only an arm's length from her body.


The young Crow's face was painted with streaks of black and white. For a
moment he glared at Red Shield, his eyes very bright, and then he threw back
his head and laughed. By this time his pursuers had caught up with him. One
of the Sioux put an arrow to his bow but missed; then both of them closed in
upon the Crow with their war clubs raised, ready to strike.


Dancing his black horse in a circle, the Crow used his spear to knock first
one and then the other Sioux off their mounts. His horse pawed the earth,
then sprang like a cat into the Sioux horse herd. Before Red Shield or her
companions could move, the Crow had cut six horses out of their herd and was
chasing them off down the valley.


Angry and frustrated because she could do nothing to stop the daring Crow,
Red Shield watched him go. Then the young man turned and waved a farewell to
her. Above the pounding hooves she could hear his laughter, and her
indignation turned to grudging admiration.


A group of Sioux warriors swept by intent upon pursuit, but Red Shield's
father called them back. "Too many of our hunters are away," he said. "We are
too few to risk leaving our women and children and the horse herd open to
another raid."


"Did you see that Crow!" cried an old Sioux medicine man. "He and his horse
are under some powerful magic."


The Sioux woman who had once been a captive among the Crows spoke up from the
front of her tepee. "I know that one," she said.


"What name does he go by?" the medicine man asked.


"Yes, who is he?" demanded Red Shield's father.


"Running Wolf, he is called."


Red Shield, who still sat on her spotted horse, whispered to herself:
"Running Wolf! I knew he must be Running Wolf"


Not long after that the Sioux returned to their village on the Missouri
River. It seemed to all the young men in the tribe that the chief's daughter,
Red Shield, had suddenly become a great beauty, and one by one they came by
the chief's tepee to ask if she would marry them. Red Shield's father
encouraged her to choose one of the suitors for a husband, but she wanted
none of them. One evening after she had rejected a handsome young warrior,
her father demanded to know why she was so obstinate.


"Because I do not love him!" she cried, and in a fit of anger she threw her
supper into the fire.


"If you love someone else," her father said patiently, "then tell me his
name."


"I love only Running Wolf," she replied. "I want to marry him."


"You cannot marry Running Wolf He is a Crow, and the Crows are our enemies."


Her father thought that would put an end to it, but days passed without Red
Shield saying a word, and she ate so little that she began to grow thin. At
last he realized that his daughter was determined to marry Running Wolf or
else will herself to die.


"Very well," the chief said, "at least you are a woman of courage. You do not
know if Running Wolf wants you for a wife, but you are determined to test
him."


The next morning the chief brought around two fine horses, a mule, and some
packs filled with moccasins and other presents. He summoned the Sioux woman
who had once been a captive of the Crows and told her to go with Red Shield
until they found the Crow camp where Running Wolf lived. They started out and
at the end of three days they sighted the Crow tepees along a little stream.
They rode into a thick wood where they fastened their horses and the pack
mule. Red Shield painted herself carefully and dressed in her best clothing.
By this time night had fallen, but a full moon was rising above the trees.


"It's time for me to go into the Crow camp," Red Shield said.


"Remember to look for a black tepee," the Sioux woman reminded her. "You will
see a bunch of eagle feathers fastened to the end of one of the poles."


"If I don't return," Red Shield whispered, "you will know that Running Wolf
does not want me for a wife and that I am a prisoner of the Crows as you once
were."


"I will wait for you," the Sioux woman said.


Red Shield walked out of the woods and entered the bright moonlight which
flooded the Crow camp. In the middle of the camp she found a black tepee with
eagle feathers fastened to the top of one of the poles. No one noticed her as
she walked to the open entrance.


Inside some young men were talking and smoking around a campfire. Red Shield
was certain that one of them was Running Wolf. She sat down outside the
entrance. After a while the young men began to leave, one or two at a time,
paying no particular attention to her presence.


Then Running Wolf came out to stretch himself and yawn.


The moonlight was full on his face, and Red Shield felt her heart beat
strongly. He saw her then, and said in Crow, "Come in," but Red Shield
understood not one word of Crow and she neither answered him nor moved.
Running Wolf shrugged and went back inside, and Red Shield heard him say
something else. The voice of an old woman responded.


Red Shield arose then and went into the tepee. The fire had died to a few
coals and she could see only the shadowy forms of Running Wolf and his
mother. She went close to the fire and sat down as though to warm herself.


This time the old woman spoke to her in Crow. "Take off your moccasins and
rest." But of course Red Shield did not understand. "Build up the fire so
that we can see this young woman," said Running Wolf. His mother placed some
dry wood on the coals, and a blaze sprang up to light the inside of the
tepee.


"This is not a Crow woman!" cried Running Wolf's mother.


"No," he said. "But I know who she is. Only one time have I seen her but her
face has been in my dreams many times since. She is Sioux."


Red Shield raised her head, and made signs to tell them she could not
understand what they were saying, but that she had a friend nearby who could
speak for her. At last Running Wolf understood, and he followed her across
the camp clearing into the thick woods where the Sioux woman was waiting with
the horses and mule. Running Wolf remembered the former captive of his
boyhood, and when they returned to his tepee the Sioux woman and his mother
had a happy reunion.


"Why do you and this daughter of a Sioux chief come into our camp?" the
mother asked.


"She is Red Shield," replied the Sioux woman. "She has brought many presents.
She has come to marry your son, Running Wolf"


"And what does my son, Running Wolf, have to say to this? To marry one of the
enemy?"


Running Wolf looked at Red Shield. "I knew she was beautiful, and she showed
courage that day I took horses from the Sioux. Now she has shown more bravery
than I would have dared, by coming into the camp of her enemies alone. I want
her for my wife. "


While the Sioux woman was bringing in the packs of presents, Running Wolf's
mother went through the camp. "Come and look at my son's wife!" she cried.
"One of the enemy's children has come to marry him!" All the Crows in camp
came to see Red Shield, and all said she was very good-looking and a young
woman of great bravery.


Early the next morning the Sioux woman started back on the long journey to
the Missouri River to tell the girl's people that she was safe and was now
the wife of the Crow warrior, Running Wolf. A few days later Red Shield's
father, the Sioux chief, sent two messengers to the Crow chief, telling him
that he and many of his relatives were coming to pay the Crows a friendly
visit.


For this event the Crows moved their tepees to a larger plain beside a lake,
camping in a tight circle so as to leave room for the visitors. The Crow
chief told Running Wolf to put his black tepee in the place of honor in the
center. When the Sioux arrived, the Crows surrounded them and watched them
put up their tepees. After this was done, Red Shield took Running Wolf to
welcome her parents, and they all exchanged many presents. Running Wolf
brought several guns and the horses he had taken from the Sioux and gave them
to Red Shield's father.


For four days and nights the Sioux camped with the Crows and the tribes
danced together every evening. After the Sioux returned to the Missouri
River, Running Wolf and Red Shield and several of their friends visited them
from time to time, and in the moons of pleasant weather, her Sioux father and
mother came to visit their daughter, and later on to see their grandchildren.
In both tribes, the young Crow warrior and his Sioux wife were regarded as
hero and heroine, and their people lived in peace for a time.