Wakanda

“ Ԁaȼin-nan-pajĭ said that there were seven great Wakandas, as follows: “Ugahana [p] aze or Darkness, Maxe or the Upper World, ┴ande or the Ground, Iñgȼan or the Thunder-being, Min or the Sun, Nianba or the Moon, and the Morning Star. The principal Wakanda is in the upper world, above everything.” (This was denied by Joseph La Flèche and Two Crows; see § 93.) The author thought at first that these were the powers worshiped by Ԁaȼin-nanpajĭ and the members of his gens or subgens ”

“ With the flame bursting forth, Miss Miller quoted: “Now know we that Wakanda the Great Spirit hath been pleased to smile upon His children, hath sent down the sacred fire. By this we know He will be present at our Council, that His wisdom will be with us.”
After this Zan read again from the Manual:
“‘Four candles are there on the Shrine of this our symbol fire. And from them reach twelve rays—twelve golden strands of this the Law we hold.
From the Lamp of Fortitude are these:
Be Brave. For fear is the foundation of all ill; unflinchingness is strength. ”

“ The Indians were more scattered than on the plains, and for the most part they were a debased race, leading a hand-to-mouth existence, Occasionally we were attacked, but they always ran at the reports of our guns, and those we captured refused even to show intelligence at the word Wakanda, so that after a while we became discouraged, and decided that our first prisoner had pretended recognition of it simply as a device to be rid of us. ”

“ OTHER KANSA WAKANDAS.
§ 39. The third figure on the Kansa war chart is [37] that of the Wakanda or aged man who gives success to the hunter. He is thus addressed by Alinkawahu and Pahanle-gaqli:
[Transcriber’s note: the hyphen in “man ́yin-aú” was at the end of a line; the word may be “man ́yinaú”.]
[Transcriber’s note: the last hyphen in “ts’éya-bána-hau” was at the end of a line; the word may be “ts’éya-bánahau”.]
i.e., “Venerable man, go hunting! Kill whatever persons or quadrupeds meet you!” They think that this being drives the game towards the hunter. ”

“ After the representatives of all the gentes had assembled at the house, Wakanda (named after the Thunder-being) , the father-in-law of the deceased, removed the lock of hair called the “ghost,” and took it to his own house, weeping as he departed.
When Mr. Say was among the Kansa [80] he obtained the following information about their beliefs concerning death and the future life:
When a man is killed in battle the thunder is supposed to take him up, they do [Pg 422] not know whither. In going to battle each warrior traces an imaginary figure of the thunder on the soil ”

“ When Alinkawahu and Pahanle-gaqli are singing them, they think that this Wakanda walks behind them, holding up his hands toward the Thunder-being, to whom he prays for them.
[Pg 386]
When the war pipe is smoked by any Hañga man, he holds the pipe in his right hand, and blows the smoke into the sacred clam shell, in his left. The smoke ascends from the clam shell to the Thunder-being, to whom it is pleasant.
The Kansa used to “cry to” the Thunder-being before going on the warpath. When the captain (the head of the Large Hañga gens) smoked his pipe, he used to say,
i. ”

“ The Cariban Makonaima (there are many variants, such as Makanaima, Makunaima, and the like) is a creator-god and the hero of a cosmogony. It is possible that his name connects him with the class of Kenaima (or Kanaima) , avengers of murder and bringers of death, who are often regarded as endowed with magical or mysterious powers; and in this case the term may be analogous to the Wakanda and Manito of the [Pg 259] northern continent. ”

“ Compare this with some of the pictographs on the war chart of the Kansa tribe: Fig. 4, Wind songs; the connection between the winds and war is shown in § 33. Fig. 8, Deer songs. Fig. 9, an Elk song. Fig. 10, seven songs of the Wakanda who makes night songs. Fig. 11, five songs of the Big Rock. This is a rough red rock near Topeka, Kans. “This rock has a hard body, like that of a wakanda. May you walk like it.” Fig. 12, Wolf songs. The [Pg 446] wolf howls at night. Fig. 13, Moon songs. Fig. 14, Crow songs. The crow flies around a dead body which it wishes to devour. Fig. ”

“ Wakandagi, as a noun, means a subterranean or water monster, a large horned reptile mentioned in the myths, and still supposed to dwell beneath the bluffs along the Missouri River. With this term compare the Dakota Uñkteqi (Uŋkteḣi, of Riggs) and the Winnebago Waktceqi, the latter having given a name to the Water Monster gens (Waktceqi ikikaratcada) . Wakandagi is sometimes used adverbially, as, si wakandagi, he is wonderfully stingy! E wakandagi, he (a small child) speaks surprisingly well (for one so young) ! ┴anȼin wakandagi, he runs very well (for one so young) ! ”

“ The Swahilis accepted their loads without a murmur; were they not the best fitted to carry the bwana's belongings? But one of the Wakamba, a stout little fellow with one eye, uttered a terrible wail when he lifted his bundle to his back, and, letting it down again, began to expostulate in a torrent of gibberish, of which the bwana, of course, understood not a word. The others instantly followed his example, and all three began to wrangle and gesticulate and abuse one another with a deafening clamour. It was plain that every man wanted the load of somebody else. ”

“ They needed only a leader, and the experience and prowess of Wakatta, together with the presence of their ancient and rightful chief and his son, inspired them with confidence and courage. Gathering a small, but resolute, band of warriors, they awaited the favourable moment to strike a decisive blow; and then, emulating the secrecy and suddenness of Atollo’s recent enterprise, they sallied forth at night, from their rendezvous in the forest and fell upon him and his adherents. ”

“ The day dawned grudgingly, the darkness seemed reluctantly to leave the earth, the sun remained behind the dark clouds, from which the rain continued to fall in torrents. At noon the rain ceased, the sun came out, meadow larks carolled free in the blue above, but the hapless Wakalona lay fettered in a rain-soaked tent. The story of her capture was kept a profound secret, for the Indians knew that the United States army officers would interfere if they learned that the Princess was to be put to death. In the darkness of their ignorance they believed that they were doing their duty. ”

“ The Wakambas are of a roving disposition, and being accustomed to long journeys, they are chiefly employed for keeping up the commercial relations throughout the vast region comprised between the Mombaz coast and Lake Victoria Nyanza. Most of the porters engaged by the Swaheli traders in the transport service across this region are members of the Wakamba nation. These natives have the curious habit of drinking cows' milk mixed with blood drawn from the necks of their bulls. Beyond the volcanic plateau, the watershed of the Victoria Nyanza is again occupied by tribes of Bantu speech. ”

“ But against the wooden chop boxes, the bags of cornmeal potio, the bundles of canvas that made up some of the loads, the long safari sticks went tap, tap, tap, in rhythm. This tapping was a steady undertone to the volume of noise that arose from thirty throats. Every man was singing or shouting at the full strength of his lungs. A little file of Wakamba sung in unison one of the weird wavering minor chants peculiar to savage peoples everywhere ”

“ To their surprise the Masai made peace.
"We have watched the war with the Wakamba," they said, in effect, "and we have seen the Wakamba kill a great many of your men. But more of your men came in always, and there were no more Wakamba to come in and take the places of those who were killed. We are not afraid. If we should war with you, we would undoubtedly kill a great many of you, and you would undoubtedly kill a great many of us. But there can be no use in that. We want the ranges for our cattle; you want a road. ”

“ In fact, the white man is almost completely unable even to pronounce many of the words. V., who is a "Masai-man," who knows them intimately, and who possesses their confidence, does not pretend to talk with them in their own tongue, but employs the universal Swahili.
XL.
THROUGH THE ENCHANTED FOREST.
We delayed at V.'s boma three days, waiting for C. to turn up. He maintained a little force of Wakamba, as the Masai would not take service. The Wakamba are a hunting tribe, using both the spear and the poisoned arrow to kill their game. ”

“ But in my vision I heard a spirit, it came upon the breeze, it entered within me.
“Nanawa is my father, the father to all, he loves us, we are his children; he has brought with him a great warrior of the pale faces, who was a mighty chief in his tribe; he has given us a young chief who is a great hunter; in a few years he will be a great warrior, and lead our young men in the war path on the plains of the Wachinangoes (see note 2) , for Owato Wachina (see note 3) is a Shoshone, though his skin is paler than the flower of the magnolia. ”

“ The Wakamba, who had been watching eagerly, swarmed down, shouting.
We dined just at sunset under a small tree at the very top of the peak. Long bars of light shot through the western clouds; the plain turned from solid earth to a mysterious sea of shifting twilights; the buttes stood up, wrapped in veils of soft desert colours; Kilimanjaro hung suspended like a rose-coloured bubble above the abyss beyond the world.
XXI.
RIDING THE PLAINS.
From the mere point of view of lions, lion A hunting was very slow work indeed. ”

“ But once you have, by a judicious display of firmness, gained their respect, they, with of course some exceptions, prove to be a hardy, cheerful, and intelligent people, capable of enduring great hardships without a too ostentatious display of ill-feeling, and will even go so far as to make bad puns in the vernacular upon their empty stomachs, the latter an occurrence not at all infrequent in safari work away from the main roads.
The Wa’kamba, on the whole, are a very cheerful tribe, and though of small physique, possess wonderful powers of endurance, the women equally with the men. ”

“ And half in the earth, then the dead must die.'
"Now for the first time Wakalona lifted her eyes, and she beheld her lover leaping from the shore. A few long strokes brought him within reach of the little boat and he climbed aboard. The Indian at the oar stood up and faced him. The big brakeman swung his long right arm, caught the Pawnee under the ear, and over he went. Reaching down he lifted the other Indian bodily, turned him half over, and with all his might drove him head first into the sand at the bottom of the river. ”

“ Sid turned for a last look as they reached the point near the cleft from which Big John had fired. Silent, mysterious, inscrutable as eternity, the walls of the cliff dwelling nestled under its great over-arching cave. Old as the centuries, typical of this country and of the spirit that broods over its changeless canyon and desert, it had acquired a new dignity, it locked a new secret in its walls, for it was now the tomb of the Black Panther of the Navaho, and over it hung the sable majesty of Death. ”

“ Choosing ours was a task that gave us much trouble and vexation of spirit. El Hakim said that for all-round usefulness the Wa’kamba were hard to beat, and thought that we had better form the bulk of the safari from them, and stiffen it with a backbone of Swahilis and Wa’Nyamwezi, as, though the Wa’kamba were very good men when well handled, in the unlikely event of hostilities with the natives it would be advisable to strengthen them with an addition from the lustier tribes. ”

“ A thin vapoury cloud arose, and gradually dissolving, displayed to the eyes of the trembling murderer the figure of an aged Indian, whose long, snowy hair and venerable beard, blown aside by a gentle air from his breast, discovered the well-known totem of the great Wan-kan-aga, the father of the Comanche and Shos-shone nation, whom the tradition of the tribe, handed down by skillful hieroglyphics, almost deified for the good actions and deeds of bravery this famous warrior had performed when on earth. ”

“ I might say here that the porters of East Africa, taking them all round, are a happy, careless lot. They will go through the greatest hardships on a journey, and on their return at once forget all their troubles in the pleasure of spending their wages as quickly as possible. They are chiefly Swahili, with a mixture of a few other tribes, such as the Wakamba. The Masai, however, even to this day, will not lower themselves to carry loads. ”

“ All our plans are yet uncertain. Wakatta meditates a secret return to Tewa, confident that by his presence there, now that the formidable Atollo is no more, he can restore his chief to liberty and to his hereditary rights, if he yet survives.
An experiment has been made with the yawl, in order to ascertain whether she can safely convey our entire party, savage and civilised, in case we should conclude to leave the island. ”

“ Nothing is more characteristic of the difference in the races than the way in which they carry their loads. The Swahilis and Wa’Nyamwezi, being used to the open main roads, carry their loads boldly on their heads, or, in some cases, on their shoulders. The Wa’kamba, on the other hand, in the narrow jungle paths of their own district find it impossible, by reason of the overhanging vegetation, to carry a load that way. ”

“ But Wakatta rushed headlong upon him, and holding his club in his right hand, he received upon his left arm, without any attempt to avoid it, a blow which Atollo aimed at his head: at the same instant he closed, and succeeded in seizing his adversary by the wrist. Once in the old man’s grasp, he was a mere child, and in spite of his tremendous efforts, his other hand was soon mastered, and he was thrown to the ground. It was a horrible scene that followed. I wished that the life of the vanquished man could have been spared. ”