For here, in the blast and the breeze,
          flew the flag of the chief of Isantees, [86]
Up-raised on the stem of a lance—­
          the feathery flag of the eagle. 
And here to the feast and the dance,
          from the prairies remote and the forests,
Oft gathered the out-lying bands,
          and honored the gods of the nation. 
On the islands and murmuring strands
          they danced to the god of the waters,
Unktehee, [69] who dwelt in the caves,
          deep under the flood of the Ha-Ha; [76]
And high o’er the eddies and waves
          hung their offerings of furs and tobacco,[G]
And here to the Master of life—­
          Anpe-tu-wee, [70] god of the heavens,
Chief, warrior, and maiden, and wife,
          burned the sacred green sprigs of the cedar. [50]
And here to the Searcher-of-hearts—­
          fierce Ta-ku Skan-skan, [51] the avenger,
Who dwells in the uppermost parts of the earth,
          and the blue, starry ether,
Ever watching, with all-seeing eyes,
          the deeds of the wives and the warriors,
As an osprey afar in the skies,
          sees the fish as they swim in the waters,
Oft spread they the bison-tongue feast,
          and singing preferred their petitions,
Till the Day-Spirit[70] rose in the East—­
          in the red, rosy robes of the morning,
To sail o’er the sea of the skies,
          to his lodge in the land of the shadows,
Where the black-winged tornadoes[H] arise,
          rushing loud from the mouths of their caverns. 
And here with a shudder they heard,
          flying far from his tee in the mountains,
Wa-kin-yan,[32] the huge Thunder-Bird,
          with the arrows of fire in his talons.

[F] Tee—­teepee, the Dakota name for tent or wigwam

[G] See Hennepin’s Description of Louisiana, by Shea, pp. 243 and 256. Parkman’s Discovery, p. 246—­and Carver’s Travels, p. 67.

[Illustration:  FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY.  FACSIMILE OF THE CUT IN CARVER’S TRAVELS, PUBLISHED AT LONDON, IN 1778, FROM A SURVEY AND SKETCH MADE BY CAPT.  J. CARVER, NOV. 17, 1766.  PERPENDICULAR FALL, 30 FEET; BREADTH NEAR 600 FEET.]

[H] The Dakotas, like the ancient Romans and Greeks, think the home of the winds is in the caverns of the mountains, and their great Thunder-bird resembles in many respects the Jupiter of the Romans and the Zeus of the Greeks.  The resemblance of the Dakota mythology to that of the older Greeks and Romans is striking.

Two hundred white Winters and more
          have fled from the face of the Summer
Since here by the cataract’s roar,
          in the moon of the red-blooming lilies,[71]
In the tee of Ta-te-psin[I] was born
          Winona—­wild-rose of the prairies. 
Like the summer sun peeping, at morn,