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Updated: June 24, 2025
Hakadah knew that a man who prepares for death usually paints with red and black. Nature had partially provided Ohitika in this respect, so that only red was required and this Hakadah supplied generously. Then he took off a piece of red cloth and tied it around the dog's neck; to this he fastened two of the squirrels' tails and a wing from the oriole they had killed that morning.
Hakadah thought of his Ohitika as a person who would meet his death without a struggle, so he began to sing a dirge for him, at the same time hugging him tight to himself. "Be brave, my Ohitika! I shall remember you the first time I am upon the war-path in the Ojibway country." At last he heard Uncheedah talking with a man outside the teepee, so he quickly took up his paints.
This request Uncheedah could not refuse, and she left the pair alone for a few minutes, while she went to ask Wacoota to execute Ohitika. Every Indian boy knows that, when a warrior is about to meet death, he must sing a death dirge.
You may select what you think will be most pleasing to him." There were two silent spectators of this little dialogue. One was Wahchewin; the other was Ohitika. The woman had been invited to stay, although only a neighbor. The dog, by force of habit, had taken up his usual position by the side of his master when they entered the teepee.
The boy came rushing into the lodge, followed by his dog Ohitika who was wagging his tail promiscuously, as if to say: "Master and I are really hunters!" Hakadah breathlessly gave a descriptive narrative of the killing of each bird and squirrel as he pulled them off his belt and threw them before his grandmother. "This blunt-headed arrow," said he, "actually had eyes this morning.
"It is the home of the Great Mystery," he thought to himself; and the impressiveness of his surroundings made him forget his sorrow. Very soon Wahchewin came with some difficulty to the steps. She placed the body of Ohitika upon the ground in a life-like position and again left the two alone.
Before the squirrel can dodge around the tree it strikes him in the head, and, as he falls to the ground, my Ohitika is upon him." He knelt upon one knee as he talked, his black eyes shining like evening stars. "Sit down here," said Uncheedah to the boy; "I have something to say to you. You see that you are now almost a man. Observe the game you have brought me!
"Hakadah," she proceeded cautiously, "you are a young brave. I know, though young, your heart is strong and your courage is great. You will be pleased to give up the dearest thing you have for your first offering. You must give up Ohitika. He is brave; and you, too, are brave. He will not fear death; you will bear his loss bravely.
So, scarcely had Uncheedah finished speaking, when he almost shouted: "Grandmother, I will give up any of my possessions for the offering to the Great Mystery! You may select what you think will be most pleasing to him." There were two silent spectators of this little dialogue. One was Wahchewin, the other was Ohitika. The woman had been invited to stay, although only a neighbor.
The boy obeyed, submitted Ohitika to Wacoota with a smile, and walked off with his grandmother and Wahchewin. They followed a well-beaten foot-path leading along the bank of the Assiniboine river, through a beautiful grove of oak, and finally around and under a very high cliff. The murmuring of the river came up from just below.
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