A Cycle of the West · Chapter
II: Red Cloud explained
In June 1866, a great council convenes at Fort Laramie as U.S.
What happens
In June 1866, a great council convenes at Fort Laramie as U.S. peace commissioners seek permission for a road through Sioux hunting grounds. Man Afraid of His People and Red Cloud lead the Ogalalas in defiant opposition, while Spotted Tail and other Brulé chiefs weigh the futility of resistance. The chapter captures the tension between those who see the inevitability of white expansion and those who vow to fight for their homeland.
Themes in this chapter
Conflict and Cultural Collision
The council epitomizes the clash between Sioux sovereignty and U.S. expansionist demands, with both sides using rhetoric of rights and necessity.
Loss and Nostalgia
Spotted Tail's speech and the lament of the Brulé women reflect a deep sense of inevitable loss and the passing of the old ways.
Greed and Materialism
The white commissioners offer presents and promises, while Man Afraid accuses them of being driven by greed for gold ('the yellow lead').
Fate and Inevitability
Spotted Tail's seer-like perspective and the imagery of the creeping doom suggest the inexorable advance of white settlement.
Characters to notice
- Red Cloud
Emerges as a commanding presence, serene and defiant, rejecting the white man's offers with a speech that likens the prairie to his mother.
- Spotted Tail
A Brulé warrior and seer, remembered for his past heroism and his willingness to sacrifice himself for his people; speaks with droll wisdom and a sense of futility.
- Man Afraid of His People
Ogalala chief who angrily denounces the white man's broken promises, recalling Harney's earlier treaty and refusing the proposed road.
- Colonel Maynadier
The white commissioner who responds to Man Afraid's speech, insisting the council does not intend to steal hunting grounds.
- Swift Bear
Brulé chief who speaks tentatively, caught between fear of the whites and favor from them.
- Black Horse
Cheyenne who harangues the crowd, echoing the white man's plea for the road.
Key passages
“I saw how some great spirit makes them wise. I saw a white Missouri flowing men, and knew old times could never be again this side of where the spirit sheds its load.”
Spotted Tail realized that the white people were guided by a powerful force, and he understood that the old way of life was gone forever.
Spotted Tail's reflection on the inevitability of white dominance.
“Your talk is sweet today. So ever speak the white men when they know their hands are weak that itch to steal. But once your soldiers pitch their teepees yonder, will the same hands itch the less for being stronger?”
Man Afraid accuses the whites of making promises only when they are weak, and warns that once they build forts, their greed will only grow.
Man Afraid's distrust of the white commissioners' intentions.
“Far sweeter than your words are, home is sweet to us, as you; and yonder land is home. In sheltered valleys elk and bison roam all winter there, and in the spring are fat.”
Man Afraid insists that the land they are being asked to give up is their home, rich with game and essential for their survival.
Man Afraid's defense of the Powder River country as a homeland.