EPISODE SIXTEEN - RUNNING WOLF AND MATOAKA
The hatchet hung in the air as if it had a will of its own. The brave flexed his muscular chest and his arm muscles rippled down from his wrists. Running Wolf braced himself for what appeared to be his fate when out of the corner of his eye he saw movement. By the time he could make out what it was, she was on top of him. A young girl in her teens had thrown herself on top of him and asked the counsel to spare his life, that she would take him as a husband and he would accepted into the tribe as their own. Running Wolf lay there breathless as the decision from the counsel hung in the air like the blade of the hatchet. Both were suspended in time as men talked around the flames of the fire.
Finally, the chief called out to the brave and the blade came down swiftly and sliced through the leather ties that held him so tightly in place. Just a couple inches from the ends of his fingers the blade came allowing the released hands and arms to spring up and over the young girl on top of him. The emotional release of being allowed to live was matched by the tears of joy that fell from her eyes onto his face. For the first time he was able to see his soon to be bride and a beautiful one at that. She quickly cut the ties that bound his feet and then they joined the circle of the counsel. For the first time there were smiles and some laughing around the fire as Matoaka sat so close to him, he could only move his right arm as the left was mashed against his side by her body.
Eventually, men left the fire and the chief handed him a knife with an engraved handle, pictorially recounting the story of their family for the past five generations. There was still space enough for Running Wolf name and several children’s names. He thought it was an unusual gift to give a man the chief didn’t even know before that night. The chief said his daughter would make a good woman to have at his side and reached over and embraced Running Wolf with both arms interlocked. Going from almost dead to being hugged by the chief as a son was more than Running Wolf had ever expected to happen in his life in a single hour and broke down emotionally when he returned the chief’s embrace. It was a spent and emotionally drained brave that Matoaka lead to her teepee that night. They lay awake all night talking of their future together and holding each other.
When morning came, he lay beside her, looking at her young face as she slept. There were no lines of care on her face, as a chief’s daughter she was not expected to fulfill the drudgery work of the other women in the tribe. When she woke she got up and brought him to a place in the forest that had been where her father trained her to take over leadership of the tribe when he dies. As she landed arrows on top of arrows in the target of leather spiked into a tree she told him of her people.
She went on to tell of the Lenni Lenape nation being divided into three main parts – the Unamis or Turtle tribes, the Unalachtgos or Turkeys, and the Monseys or Wolf tribes. The first two were on the coast and known as Delaware. The Monseys or Wolf tribes were the most active and warlike and lived in the mountainous country between the Kittatinny Mountain and the sources of the Susquehanna and the Delaware Rivers. They kindled their counsel-fire at the Minisink flats on the Delaware above the water gap.
The tribes of the Lenape that settled Pennsylvania were Assunpink or Stony Creek Indians, the Rankokas, the Lamikas or Chichequaas, the Andastakas at Christina Creek near Wilmington, the Neshaminies in Bucks county, Shackamaxons around Kensington, the Mantas or Frogs around Burlinton, Tuteloes and the Nanticokes in Maryland and Virginia, the Mandes and Narriticongs near Raritan, the Capitanasses, Gacheos and Pomptobs in New Jersey and her tribe the Monseys or Minisinks in near the forks of the Delaware they called the Wolf tribe. She told him the great sun god had lead him to her to be her chief when her father died, she knew a woman could not lead the war tribe of wolves against the Mengue or Mingoes.
She went on to tell him of a few scattered clans or warlike hordes of Mingoes and lived among the Lenape nation. Originally known as the Five Nations they joined later by Tuscoras and became the Six Nations in 1712. They call themselves Aquanuschioni or United People. The French call them Iroquois, and we call them Mengue or Mingoes. The original Five Nations were the Onondagas, the Cayugas, the Oneidas, the Senecas, and the Mohawks.
Seabreeze sat up at the mention of Mohawk. Mato looked at her as if to ask why after hearing hours of stories was the name Mohawk of significance. Rebecca didn’t say anything just sat there looking off into the distance the image of her sweet daughter clearly in her mind. It was getting dark and most of the food they had brought out with them was gone – certainly the wine was long gone. Seabreeze said they should go in and check that everything is going as it’s supposed to. There were the usual questions of what was to be done with various problems that had arisen while they were out.
After dinner, they down by the fireplace to continue until Mato or Rebecca got too tired to continue. Of these scattered hordes, Mohawk were the first rank of war chief, the Onondagas were the civil chief, and the Senecas in numbers and military strength were the most powerful. The Iroquois were strong and brave, but ferocious and cruel when excited in savage warfare. By an early alliance with the Dutch the Iroquois were able to not only repel encroachments of the French, but also to exterminate or reduce to vassalage, many Indian nations which they exacted an annual tribute. This tribute was already being paid by tribes in the Ohio valley, Vermont, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. When this was told to Running Wolf he asked if Blackfoot were one of the tribes paying tribute to the Iroquois in Ontario region. No one seemed to know, but the Mohawk were the tribe that the Monseys were most likely to meet in battle when attacked. The Delaware were attacked more often along the coast by Senecas and Mohawk tribes in an attempt to gain waterway access. The Minisinks (Monseys) had formed an alliance with the Shawanos, or Shawanees, a restless and ferocious tribe that had been threatened with extermination by a more powerful tribe at their south. They had been allowed protection of the Lenni Lenapes and allowed to settle near the Forks of the Delaware.
Mato had formed a friendship with Koweenasee, a Shawanee princess and the two tribes banded together to fight off the attacks of Seneca attempts to take the territory for their own. Although the Shawnee were of great advantage when fighting the Iroquois they were so fearsome that trouble developed between their two tribes. Koweenasee and Matoaka were able to smooth out the problems for several months before finally the Lenni Lenape nation together moved the Shawnee to the Susquehanna valley.
The wedding was two days after his life was saved. The ceremony was quite formal with songs and dancing. The part where the groom would present the bride’s father horses or other goods of value was when Running Wolf presented the amulet of the Golden Calf of Baal he carried since he was a baby. Matoaka’s father took it in a solemn fashion and dropped the necklace over his head and embraced him as a son. “Runs faster than deer” became his tribal name that day and late into the night the celebration continued. They finally slipped into the night to begin their lives together.
“Runs faster than deer” was a welcome addition to fight with the tribe which was constantly warding off the attacks of Mohawk braves, they were desperate to avoid being called women by the Iroquois. Other tribes of Lenape had succumbed to the Iroquois and were paying tribute. These tribes had convinced the white men that they had given up weapons of war by mutual agreement and had become the negotiators of all the Indian tribes. This function was usually performed by women in the Lenape nation. The Delaware, therefore, alleged that they were figuratively termed women on this account; but the Iroquois evidently called them women in quite another sense. The Iroquois always alleged that Delaware along the coast were conquered by force and were humiliated into this concession to avoid certain destruction. The mountain Minisinks were another matter all together. They fought to keep their region as their own for years after the coastal Lenni Lenape were subjugated to the Iroquois, thanks initially to the ferocious Shawnee alliance.
Matoaka had great pride in her tribe and she was eager for him to join in the defense of their village. Her and one other, an older woman who had always been good at manly activities, were on the line when the Mohawk attacked. She killed seven Mohawk braves and at least wounded several others. It was hard to know if a brave died from and arrow in his chest or back. She even put an arrow into the Phantom of the Mohawk, a giant ten feet tall with a hatchet taller than any man that flew down out of the sky and killed braves that stood to fight. She heard the Phantom long before she saw him in flight. The war cry was that of the hawk only much louder and with a curdle that had a tendency to freeze one in their tracks where they stood. He was called Big Bear and tribes through out the northeast told tales of a ghost or phantom that could not die but was very capable of killing others. By the time she saw it the head of one of the tribe’s best fighters was flying through the air and landed at her feet. She took a big breath, pulled back the string to her bow all the way back which she seldom could do normally, because her father had crafted it before she was born and it was made for a powerful buck with huge arms and iron fists. The arrow ran true and sunk deep into the right side of the “beast-man”. Big Bear looked down at the arrow half buried in his chest, then looked into her eyes and held her gaze for what seemed like a day. His eyes had no light or sparkle, no sign of life whatsoever, and the trance she felt trapped inside made moving impossible. He turned to his left to deal a blow to another brave victim from the village, then he disappeared as fast as he had appeared earlier. With him gone she was able to move again and ran over to the brave on the ground. His chest opened up like a dropped watermelon all exposed and red and watery. She held him close and sang a song of his bravery to actually stand before the “beast” without cowering, while attempting to deliver a blow with his knife. The song seemed to quiet him and give some peace, knowing it would get sung to his children and their children for generations to come.
Back at the tribal fire, that night, the talk was of Matoaka and how she buried an arrow into Big Bear in the heat of battle. No one from the tribe had managed to do anything up to that point except die at Bear’s hands. There was hope and much excitement. Her father “Mountain Buck” was so proud he could hardly sit down around the circle and kept standing up and singing praise to the gods for their small victory. She was given a permanent place at the fire that night and the hope of her leading the tribe almost seemed possible. Word spread of the Minisink princess and her courage against the most feared warrior that ever lived. In the next two weeks dozens of braves and their families began moving in the area from the Unamis and Unalachtgos coastal Delaware seeking to regain their manhood. They also wanted to die and have songs sung to their descendants about how they stood against the mighty Mohawk and killed many before finally being overrun by dozens of raging Mohawks with the Phantom at their lead. These dreams of glory stirred a weary tribe from years of defeats into a robust, bustling community of proud warriors. “Runs faster than deer” felt proud of his new wife and other braves accorded him honor for having gained her favor.
Several months went by with no attacks from either Senecas or Mohawks. There was a sense that everything will be good for the huge thriving village. “Mountain Buck” reigned over the community with the wisdom of the Elders in true Lenape fashion and all followed his lead. The only exception was “Two Hands Climbing” a brave that had by far the most scalps on his teepee and was stronger than any brave, including the newest ones from the other tribes. He thought it was time for a new chief to be selected that could lead in the battles in ensure the success of the tribe for many years to come. He didn’t bring it up while sitting in the fire circle, because tradition forbade such a thing. But in small groups out of ear shot with the wilder braves or on hunting parties he would say these things. When Matoaka’s name came up, he would curse and say he would be willing to fight to the death to decide the matter.
Springtime came, and with the promise of new life in the world, also came the Mohawk. The Iroquois had started to run out of tribes to conquer throughout their territory of thousands of square miles and finally felt it was time to bury the Minisinks, who by that time were considered equals to the Mohawks. The Iroquois counsel decided that Minisinks would be exterminated to prove they were not equals to the mighty Iroquois nation and that their women and children were to be taken and made to be part of the Mohawk tribe in particular since they had lost the most braves to the Monseys.
In 1916, after only a year of marriage, Running Wolf stood with his new found brothers and fought a war party of 6000 braves, the largest war party in history made up of all six nations, including the Tuscoras. Runners from various tribes of other nations came to “Mountain Buck” and told of a force so large it took half a day for them to run by a point in the forest. With only 600 braves the Minisinks would die for sure. Over two thousand old men, women, and children were lead off into the Kittatinny range to hide in the caves that only a few knew of, where water and food was quickly stored. Already songs were being sung of the last 600 men of honor that faced 10 times their number in the last stand of the last brave men. Women cried and children clung to their fathers, desperately holding on to the men till the last possible moment before being drug to the caves by the old men that couldn’t survive even the slightest knife attack.
The long file of women and children wound up into the hills from the village. But there were women that broke away from the column and the old men couldn’t hold them back. Boys as young as 10, were pulling out of the line. And some girls as young as 12, were also going back to the village. Braves from the other tribes of the Lenape as well as some women started showing up in the village, as the word about the execution of an entire tribe spread. There was a sense that it would be better to be dead than be turned into breeding mares and child slaves of the Mohawk. The men were emboldened by the bravery of their families and each knew he would fight harder to extend the lives of his loved ones even an hour longer. The emotion in the village was overwhelming as all gathered for the final preparations for the coming battle were given.
The trees in the center of a giant grove of sycamore trees were used as the center of the defense. Young boys and girls were given high perches and numerous spears and pistols for the very end if it came to that. Lower in the trees were the women with bows and arrows by the dozens and fully loaded rifles with several rounds of ammunition. All these positions were reinforced with hewn boards and woven into dense mats for protection. Extra water and food were stored out of rifle shot if a stand off became a siege. At the foot of the trees were rock walls to hide behind for the braves and women combatants with them. Again, plenty of rifles and bows and arrows to go around were stashed in among the rocks. Out from the outer perimeter, just beyond rifle range were pockets of fighters that would attempt to stop the Iroquois from getting anywhere near the grove of trees. Then a quarter of a mile out were the warriors whose job it was to kill as many of the enemy as possible before death catches up to them, they knew they needed to take at least 20-40 warriors down since there were only 500 of them. A total of 1200 men, 600 women, and 300 boys and girls readied themselves for battle.
The outer warriors were 50 groups of ten so they could move swiftly if cornered and could come to the aid of other groups if needed to maximize the effect of their attacks. Matoaka’s group included her husband, her father, her brother, his wife, two Shawnee, a turtle, “Two Hands Climbing, and a boy that has never missed a shot with his bow in years. She was happy with the group and thought they would inflict as much death as any when the Iroquois arrived.
A runner flew by and said they’re here up on the top of the ridge. She strained to see the ridge top but couldn’t see a single warrior. Then the cries of thousands of warriors filled the air. She kept going over in her mind –as many as possible – as many as possible. Every dead warrior meant one less for the children in the trees to have to contend with. She never felt so alive or so vulnerable. Running Wolf leaned over and gave her a kiss to last a lifetime of battles. Birds flew into the air deer and rabbits ran past the group, even porcupines and badgers waddled past in attempt to escape the war cries now almost deafening, even the insects seemed to moving away from the ridge as they streamed over the ground. She ran over to hug her father and stand next to him and her brother when the first wave hits. Running Wolf stood right behind her next to his sister-in-law.
Suddenly, they were there, a wall of big, barrel-chested braves running at them at full speed with hatchets raised in the air. She watched as the boy let fly with arrow after arrow so quickly it seemed as if a whole band of archers were behind her. As the arrows sunk into the foreheads of the charging braves, they would stumble and fall on their faces and trip the ones right behind causing a disruption of the charge. In the center of the charge several braves were sprawled flat on the ground, this was the point where “Mountain Buck” led the initial charge of the group. Because close combat is when it is easy to wound or kill your own in battle. Firearms were seldom used in close combat. Next to charge the gap was “Two Hands Climbing”, followed by the Turtle. All three were crouching so as to allow the boy to continue to drop men in their wake. The Shawnee dropped back to help the boy hold the ten quivers of arrows that had three dozen arrows each when this started. They were flying back and forth stopping any attempt to kill the boy and at the same time making sure when one quiver was empty the next one was right there for him. Matoaka formed the second line with her husband, her brother and his wife. Second liners job was to finish off the wounded so the boy could keep up the pace with dropping the point of attack. The ferocity of the attackers became so overwhelming at one point the group was forced to pull back several feet and tighten into a smaller wedge. It was difficult to stand on the bloody slope from the pools of blood that had collected during the battle and stepping on dead men caused them to trip repeatedly. The Unimus went down with an arrow in his throat and Mato rushed to his side and sang a song of legend where he had killed a hundred braves before an arrow stopped his war cry. The Turtle smiled and choked from the blood in his throat and died, the smile still on his lips. Running Wolf stepped up and took his place. She was so proud of her choice of husbands. The front was a place of chaos and screams from both sides. There was pushing from behind as Seneca in front were forced forward by others behind them. A pile of men had formed when the group’s progress had halted. “Two Hands Climbing” jumped on top of the pile and leaped into the line of pushers. They were Mohawks the most vicious warriors in the Americas. “Mountain Buck” followed over the pile and as he stood on top of the pile steadying himself for the Mohawk line, an arrow sunk into his thigh, which he broke off and pulled out the shaft from the backside. Running Wolf jumped up beside him and fought three or four Mohawk at once while her father removed the arrow. Just then she slipped and fell and lost sight of both of them.
When she opened her eyes, she was face to face with a Seneca brave, his eyes staring straight ahead. While she struggled to get to her feet, she heard a terrible sound of an eagle or hawk so loud it caused ringing in her ears. When she looked up she saw the Phantom of the Mohawk in the air above her father with that giant hatchet coming down with terrible force. The other Mohawk braves pulled back several feet so as not to get injured by the raging giant obviously out of his mind in full battle. Running Wolf and Mountain Buck together tried to block the giant hatchet’s fall with a spear and hatchet crossed and braced. When the hatchet made contact both men fell backwards with the blow that was diverted some but not enough to avoid her father losing his forearm at the elbow. He looked down and saw his arm missing and went into a rage countering with a hatchet blow to the Phantom that landed in the fleshy part of the shoulder. The sight of her father’s hatchet in the shoulder of Phantom gave her the energy to leap up beside him and sink her knife into Big Bear’s chest. This felt exhilarating as she war cried out in victory. The backswing of Bear’s hatchet caught her behind the head and everything went black.
When she woke up she was laying among a pile of dead men. No sounds except the distant screams and cries of men in battle, so distant she could barely hear them. Her body was covered in blood that was sticky by this point, much of it dried altogether. She got up on her knees and looked around her father, brother, husband, sister-in-law, all of the group were dead. She checked each person to make sure. By the time she checked the boy she couldn’t see from the tears in her eyes. She couldn’t find anything to wipe her eyes with that wasn’t soaked in blood. Her head throbbed from the blow she received but it must have been what saved her from death. All the men in her group were scalped but her sister-in-law and her were left alone. The Mohawk would not consider a woman’s scalp worth carrying on their belts. She crawled around to get account of the enemy her group had killed. This would be important in songs that would be sung around fires for many years to come. In the twenty by eighty foot swath the group had cut in the enemy before dying she counted after finishing off several wounded braves two of which almost killed her while she was mopping up the moaning survivors. She used a bow and arrow to finish off the wounded so she wouldn’t have to get close to them and risk a brave sitting up and plunging a knife in her. She waited a hour for another to moan or move, her eyes straining to see the slightest move a finger might make or the eyelash of another. When she was satisfied they were all dead she counted 12 Onondagas, 23 Oneidas, 144 Seneca, and 33 Mohawk. But no Phantom in the piles, those wounds had not stopped the giant at least she and her father had both sunk a weapon in him on his way through the area. She was proud of the count, half or more had arrows in their faces or throats making “Little Waterfall” one of the most famous Minisinks in history with over 110 dead before being killed in battle at the age of 10.
She felt the back of her head. A large flap if tissue flopped back and forth. She unwound a belt she found on a Mohawk that wasn’t too dirty and wrapped it around her head tightly. 100 feet away was another group dead with their enemy lying all around them. She stopped for a few minutes to see if any of the group moved or called out. When none did, she estimated how many of the enemy were dead, somewhere between 80-90. She kept going towards the battle cries in the distance. She decided that she was not going to risk death to finish off any more wounded when battle was still being waged in the distance. The sounds seemed to keep moving further away with each step. The ringing in her ears got louder and louder and darkness came as she fell and everything went black.
Mato quit talking and just sat with tears in her eyes. Seabreeze moved closer to her and put her arm around her. The two women stayed that way for some time before quietly getting up and going to bed without a word spoken between them.
TO BE CONTINUED