The Sioux Who Wrestled a Ghost

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The Sioux Who Wrestled a Ghost

• By Jenny Twedt and Emily Tesch

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A young Sioux warrior went out alone to live with
the animals and birds for a time. He was seeking
a vision from Wakantanka, the Great Mystery, so
that he would know what direction to take in life.
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After meeting and overcoming many difficulties he
reached a wilderness. One day as he was walking
along through a forest he heard a voice. He
searched all around, but could find nothing but
an owl sitting in a tree.
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When night came on, he made a fire and sat down
to warm himself. Suddenly he heard the voice
again, singing very loudly. The Sioux shouted to
the singer, but no one replied, and after a while
the sound died away.
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The only food the Sioux had was a small pouch of
wasna, or buffalo fat mixed with dried meat and
wild cherries. He was reaching for the pouch when
the sound of singing came again, even louder than
before, and when the Sioux looked up he saw a
ghost standing on the edge of the firelight.
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"I want some of your food," the ghost said. "I
have nothing whatever," the young warrior
replied. "Not so," said the ghost. "I know that
you have some wasna." "All right, I will share
it with you."
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After they had eaten some of the wasna, the Sioux
filled his pipe with tobacco and offered it to
the ghost. When the ghost reached for the stem,
the young man saw that the hand had no flesh,
being nothing by bones. At the same time the
ghost's robe dropped from its shoulders to its
waist so that all its ribs were visible, there
being no flesh on them. Although the ghost did
not open its teeth as it smoked, the smoke was
pouring out through its ribs. must wrestle each
other. If When it had finished smoking, the
ghost said to the Sioux "We you can throw
me, I will make you rich in horses."
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As the young man owned no horses, he agreed to
wrestle the ghost, but before beginning he
gathered a pile of brush for his fire so as to
light up the forest. While he was doing this the
ghost rushed upon him, seizing him with its bony
hands and squeezing him most painfully. He tried
to push the ghost away, but its legs were very
powerful.
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After a time, the Sioux noticed that when the
wrestled near the fire, the ghost became weak,
but the farther they moved away from the fire the
stronger the ghost became. As the fire burned
lower and lower, the strength of the ghost
increased. The young man struggled harder, but
the ghost's bones grew tighter around him. After
a desperate effort he managed to get near enough
to the fire to kick a piece of dry wood into the
coals. As soon as the fire blazed up, the ghost
fell upon the ground as though it were coming to
pieces. "You have won," the ghost said hoarsely.
"Now follow me."
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Just as dawn was breaking, the ghost led the
Sioux out through the woods into a valley filled
with hundreds of horses. The young man roped as
many as he could lead back to his village. He
never saw the ghost again, but after that he
believed in ghosts and whatever they might have
to say to people.
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http//www.artsci.wustl.edu/nespaldi/ghostdance.h
tmlhttp//www.nol.net/jeffh/yiguide/ig_ghost.ht
mTheSiouxWhoWrestledhttp//www.rtcomputer.com/
http//dgl.microsoft.com/
Sources