Keokuk

“ The Indians are rough and rude, but they too love the graves of their fathers, and it makes them sad to think that the plow of the white man will disturb the loved remains.”
“It is very sad, but I have heard that Keokuk sold this land to our people.”
“Keokuk has done wickedly,” cried the girl, excitedly. “It is a false Indian who treads upon his father’s grave, or allows the white man to do it. ”

“ Keokuk told the agent not to be discouraged, for he would adjust the difficulty with them, before they separated, in despite of their prejudices and their positive refusal to treat: He only asked an opportunity of meeting them face to face in the council-lodge. The tribes were brought together, but the Menominies persevered in their determination to hold no conference with the Sacs. The negociation proceeded, and a friendly feeling was re-established between the Winnebagoes and the Sacs. Keokuk then rose and with much deliberation, began his address to the Menominies. ”

“ Much of the city is built on bluffs along the Mississippi. Keokuk is at the foot of the Des Moines Rapids, round which the Federal Government has constructed a navigable canal (opened 1877) about 9 m. long, with a draft at extreme low water of 5 ft.; at the foot a great dam, 11⁄2 m. long and 38 ft. high, has been constructed. Keokuk has various manufactures; its factory product in 1905 was valued at $4,225,915, 38.6% more than in 1900. The city was named after Keokuk, a chief of the Sauk and Foxes (1780-1848) , whose name meant “the watchful” or “he who moves alertly.” ”

“ A little contact with civilization and a little support from the Government had made them the idle, aimless wanderers that nearly all savages become when under such influence. Keokuk, the successor of Black Hawk, and Wapello, became chiefs of the united tribes of the Sacs and Foxes, and along with Appanoose, a Fox chief, received reservations along these streams. ”

“ Up to this time none of the land had been put on the market by the United States. But the Indian agent was trying to persuade the Sacs to move across the Mississippi, into Iowa. That was for their own good. The white settlers were using whiskey and every other means, to get the upper hand.
Chief Keokuk agreed with the agent. He was not of the rank of Black-hawk and the Thunder clan, but he had fought the Sioux, and was of great courage and keen mind and silver tongue. He was an orator; Black-hawk was a warrior. ”

“ This stretch of "39" m. needs to be warily discussed. The whole distance from Hannibal to Keokuk by the river channel is only 61 m. Pike makes it from his camp of the 16th to that of the 19th 39 + 23 + 4 = 76 m.; he also started from a little above Hannibal on the 17th, and did not quite make Keokuk on the 19th; for he only got to the foot of the Des Moines rapids after breakfast on the 20th. ”

“ We received our brothers in friendship our hearts are good toward them. They once listened to bad counsel; now their ears are closed. I give my hand to them; when they shake it they shake the hand of all. I will shake hands with them and then I am done."
Major Garland now delivered the most humiliating insult and the unkindest cut Black Hawk had ever received. He said he wished all present clearly to understand that the President considered Keokuk the principal chief of the tribe, and in the future he should be acknowledged as the only one entitled to that distinction. ”

“ He was accompanied by Kiskukosh, Appenoose and about one hundred chiefs and braves of the Sac and Fox tribes, together with their families. They were brought over from the Iowa side on the ferry and two large flat boats. The band and a detachment of the Legion met them at the landing, but as soon as Keokuk failed to recognize Joseph among those who had come to bid him welcome, he refused to land or allow any of his party to go ashore until Joseph made his appearance. ”

“ Lester, “how did he show his magnanimity when the people were wearied with his goodness, as the Athenians of old were at hearing Aristides called the Just?”
“O yes, that was at Prairie du Chien 76too. They chose a young man for chief instead of the noble chief who so long had led them. He quietly took the lower place, and introduced his youthful successor to the United States agent, asking him to treat him as kindly as he had treated Keokuk. This noble conduct showed the tribe their folly, and Keokuk was soon restored to his place as their chief.”
“Poor Red Bird,” said Mrs. ”

“ An old residence of the tribe was the Sac village, situated upon a point of land at the confluence of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers, which had been occupied by them for over a century and a half. As this spot was in the limits of the ceded territory, the Americans demanded the evacuation of the village, but Black Hawk convinced Keokuk that his cession of land was illegal and made him promise to open a negotiation with the Americans, and to have the village restored. ”

“ Kee-o-kuk (the running fox, plate 280) , is the present chief of the tribe, a dignified and proud man, with a good share of talent, and vanity enough to force into action all the wit and judgment he possesses, in order to command the attention and respect of the world. At the close of the “Black Hawk War” in 1833, which had been waged with disastrous effects along the frontier, by a Sac chief of that name; Kee-o-kuk was acknowledged chief of the Sacs and Foxes by General Scott, who held a Treaty with them at Rock Island. ”

“ There is Keekut, for instance, a being who lives on the land, in appearance is like a dog without hair, and who works in a more or less maleficent manner. There is Segook, a spirit with a head like a crow, a body like that of a human being, and who is black. It has wings. It is a benefactor to the tribesfolk, and brings them meat in its beak. It is fabled to exist upon the eyes of deer and seals. ”

“ Early the next day Kokua was about her preparations. She took Keawe’s chest that he went with sailoring; and first she put the bottle in a corner; and then packed it with the richest of their clothes and the bravest of the knick-knacks in the house. “For,” said she, “we must seem to be rich folks, or who will believe in the bottle?” All the time of her preparation she was as gay as a bird; only when she looked upon Keawe, the tears would spring in her eye, and she must run and kiss him. As for Keawe, a weight was off his soul ”

“ Keawe was thinking. "Very lightly could I leave my house, the high-placed, the many-windowed, here upon the mountains. Very bravely could I go to Molokai, to Kalaupapa by the cliffs, to live with the smitten and to sleep there, far from my fathers. But what wrong have I done, what sin lies upon my soul, that I should have encountered Kokua coming cool from the seawater in the evening? Kokua, the soul ensnarer! Kokua, the light of my life! Her may I never wed, her may I look upon no longer, her may I no more handle with my loving hand; and it is for this, it is for you, O Kokua! ”

“ Kotick's fur was almost pure white now, and though he felt very proud of it, he only said: "Swim quickly! My bones are aching for the land." And so they all came to the beaches where they had been born and heard the old seals, their fathers, fighting in the rolling mist.
That night Kotick danced the Fire-dance with the yearling seals. The sea is full of fire on summer nights all the way down from Novastoshnah to Lukannon, and each seal leaves a wake like burning oil behind him, and a flaming flash when he jumps, and the waves break in great phosphorescent streaks and swirls. ”

“ Paup-Puk-Keewiss then took three arrows, and, after having performed a ceremony to the Great Spirit, he shot one into the air, crying, with a loud voice,
"You who are lying down, rise up, or you will be hit!" The bones all moved to one place. He shot the second arrow, repeating the same words, when each bone drew towards its fellow-bone; the third arrow brought forth to life the whole multitude of people who had been killed by the manitoes. Paup-Puk-Keewiss then led them to the chief of the village who had proved his friend, and gave them up to him. ”

“ It was judged the most wise to hire a house, which they did accordingly, opposite the British Consul’s, to make a great parade of money, and themselves conspicuous with carriages and horses. This it was very easy to do, so long as they had the bottle in their possession; for Kokua was more bold than Keawe, and, whenever she had a mind, called on the imp for twenty or a hundred dollars. At this rate they soon grew to be remarked in the town; and the strangers from Hawaii, their riding and their driving, the fine holokus and the rich lace of Kokua, became the matter of much talk. ”

“ The Kiokos are great hunters, but rely chiefly on industrial pursuits for their support, being specially noted as skilled forgers and manufac- turers of arms and wicker work articles. The chief market in the region lying between the Kioko and Lunda territories is Kimbundu, which stands at an altitude of 4,100 feet above the sea on the left bank of the Lu-Vo, which flows through the Lua-Nge to the Kassai. ”

“ The Kickapoos have long lived in alliance with the Sacs and Foxes, and speak a language so similar that they seem almost to be of one family. The present chief of this tribe, whose name is Kee-an-ne-kuk (the foremost man, plate 185) , usually called the Shawnee Prophet, is a very shrewd and talented man. When he sat for his portrait, he took his attitude as seen in the picture, which was that of prayer. ”

“ Chief Kekong replied, “If you love this young man, whom you have never before seen, and go away with him as his wife, you may be sold as a slave, as you are such a fine girl, or you might possibly be killed; and although I am Chief of Okuni, I have no power in Chief Kaku’s town, and should not be able to help you. As you are my only child, I do not want you to marry this stranger, but I want you to remain at Okuni with me.” ”

“ The great valley, dark with an untrodden wilderness of birch and spruce and alder, lay on this side, sombre and changeless, like a great, dark-green mat too large for its resting-place, its edges turned up towards the line of unmelting snow. Beyond were other ranges thrust skyward in a magnificent confusion, while still to the farther side lay the purple valley of the Koyukuk, a valley that called insistently to restless men, welcoming them in the spring, and sending them back in the late summer tired and haggard with the hunger of the North. ”

“ He is said to have a heart of ice, and to afflict the Indians in many ways. It is he who tears the bark from the wigwam, and who frightens men and women. Kewok is the being in whom a Norse divinity has been recognized by one or two well-known scholars. ”

“ But at fourteen an Inuit feels himself a man, and Kotuko was tired of making snares for wild-fowl and kit-foxes, and most tired of all of helping the women to chew seal- and deer-skins (that supples them as nothing else can) the long day through, while the men were out hunting. He wanted to go into the quaggi, the Singing-House, when the hunters gathered there for their mysteries, and the angekok, the sorcerer, frightened them into the most delightful fits after the lamps were put out, and you could hear the Spirit of the Reindeer stamping on the roof ”

“ The chief Keoua then realized that he would be killed, so he reached for a cord and tied around his person. The men whom Kamehameha sent to him said: “It is high time for you to be girding up your loins; you will be killed for being cruel to others, for rebelling, for disobeying the laws of the chief.” Then Keoua and his retinue wailed with loud voices. Kamanawa and Kameeiamoku seized Keoua and held his head under the water until he died, whence he was taken and baked in the imu. After Keoua died, one of his attendants, Kaoleioku,289 begged Kamehameha, “O ye chief! ”

“ That was enough for Kotick. He turned and galloped (a seal can gallop very swiftly for a short time) back to the sea, his little new mustache bristling with horror. At Sea-Lion's Neck, where the great sea-lions sit on the edge of the surf, he flung himself flipper over-head into the cool water, and rocked there, gasping miserably. "What's here?" said a sea-lion, gruffly; for as a rule the sea-lions keep themselves to themselves.
"Scoochnie! Ochen scoochnie!" ("I'm lonesome, very lonesome!") , said Kotick. "They're killing all the holluschickie on all the beaches!" ”

“ He can not only hound an individual to his destruction but he can lay a whole tribe down with fever, shatter them in their skin boats or destroy them by starvation.
The people did not doubt for an instant but that Kerallkuk told them true. It was wholly reasonable that Kusiunek; should take the form of a white bear. And now their childish hearts were choked with fear of what might come next.
"My people, when I heard this I seized Tweegock by the arm and told him what had just been told me," Kerallkuk went on solemnly. "Woe upon him, he did not heed me. 'It is only Nenook,' he told me. ”

“ An hour later the lamps blazed in Kadlu’s house; snow-water was heating; the pots were beginning to simmer, and the snow was dripping from the roof, as Amoraq made ready a meal for all the village, and the boy-baby in the hood chewed at a strip of rich nutty blubber, and the hunters slowly and methodically filled themselves to the very brim with seal-meat. Kotuko and the girl told their tale. The two dogs sat between them, and whenever their names came in, they cocked an ear apiece and looked most thoroughly ashamed of themselves. ”

“ The distance to the killing-grounds was only half a mile, but it took an hour to cover, because if the seals went too fast Kerick knew that they would get heated and then their fur would come off in patches when they were skinned. So they went on very slowly, past Sea-Lion's Neck, past Webster House, till they came to the Salt House just beyond the sight of the seals on the beach. Kotick followed, panting and wondering. He thought that he was at the world's end, but the roar of the seal nurseries behind him sounded as loud as the roar of a train in a tunnel. ”