Tiopa Ki Lakota Read Free Page A

to see over the small hollow and tall grass they were lying in. "There's a rider! The hunt must be finished!" He looked down to the pack, excitement in his dark eyes. "Let's go see if I am right!"
    The eight of them stood and trotted towards the camp that was now humming with industriousness.
     
    Once word of the hunt being finished reached the camp, the women and older girls gathered their knives and other accoutrements. All members of the camp proceeded to the killing fields with an excited buzz. They soon began picking over the corpses of the huge animals that had been slain by their warrior husbands and sons and brothers, identifying each by markings on the arrows and spears that were used to kill them.
    The boys all gathered with their older male family members, as the excited tales of the hunt began to be discussed. Soon, as the women and girls worked in the field skinning the great beasts, the men were sitting at the council fire, smoking pipes and filling the boys' ears with stories.
    Cinksi hung on her father's every word as he described waiting on the ridge above the tiny valley. She could almost feel the dry wind as her father received the signal to attack and swooped down on his pony to harry the herd.
    The buffalo had been startled, initially milling around in surprise at the sudden danger before finally settling on a course. They had stampeded and the sounds of their hooves on the hard packed earth were like the thunder in a stormy sky. Her father had pulled his horse near a well grown bull and had let his arrow fly. The buffalo had stumbled and fell to its death as he continued on to his next likely target. The second was a pregnant cow that hadn't die immediately. Her father had stopped his chase and put the cow out of her misery, a dangerous task as the wounded animal thrashed in terror and pain. By the time that was finished, the hunt had been completed, the remainder of the herd stampeding off.
    As the stories trickled through, some of the older girls began arriving with the raw livers of their kills. Cinksi's eldest sister trotted up with a breathless smile and handed three of the livers wrapped in a skin to her father with an exuberant smile.
    Wanbli Zi took his delicacy, thanking his daughter. He settled the bundle on the robe he was seated on and pulled a knife of obsidian form the sheath hanging around his neck. With great care, he sliced the two larger livers into chunks and passed them to others around the fire even as they did the same with their own prizes. The liver of the animals were strong in spirit and endowed the Lakota hunters with strength and courage. In this way, all the men of the camp could partake of the spirit, even the elder council members who did not participate in the hunt.
    The smallest liver, that from the fetus held within the cow Wanbli Zi had slain, was held up in front of Cinksi. The warrior looked down upon his youngest daughter with grave intent. "This is the liver of the unborn tatanka
    whose mother was killed by my hand. Tonight, we will all feast on it after it has been boiled."
    Cinksi's eyes were full of love and adoration as she listened avidly.
    "Today, however, I give this liver to you, my cinksi
    of the heart, so that you may grow strong and brave." And the warrior handed the small organ to his daughter.
    The girl's dark eyes widened in surprise. " Thank you, Ate
    ," she murmured with delight in her voice. She received the meat and bit into it, savoring the saltiness of the fresh blood, the tenderness of the organ's texture. Cinksi could almost feel the surge of energy from the unborn buffalo's spirit fill her as she finished her treat. And then another warrior was speaking, telling his tale of the hunt and all eyes were on him.
    And so the late morning went. After the women had finished their duties of skinning the animals and slicing up the meat, everyone in the camp returned to where the carcasses were laid out and helped transport them back to the camp. By the