A Cycle of the West · Chapter
III: The Council on the Powder explained
The chapter describes the gathering of Sioux and Cheyenne tribes on the Powder River for a council led by Red Cloud and Sitting Bull.
What happens
The chapter describes the gathering of Sioux and Cheyenne tribes on the Powder River for a council led by Red Cloud and Sitting Bull. Sitting Bull delivers a powerful speech denouncing white encroachment, broken promises, and the greed of settlers, urging resistance. The council erupts in war fervor, with the village preparing for conflict.
Themes in this chapter
Conflict and Cultural Collision
The chapter centers on the clash between Native American sovereignty and white expansion, epitomized by Sitting Bull's denunciation of broken promises and land theft.
Greed and Materialism
Sitting Bull criticizes white settlers as 'greedy people' who 'love for endless getting marks them fools,' highlighting the theme of materialism driving conflict.
Fate and Inevitability
The 'shadow of a thing that was to be' and the silent, fateful mood of Red Cloud's journey suggest an impending, unavoidable struggle.
Characters to notice
- Sitting Bull
Delivers a stirring speech against white settlers, advocating for resistance and war.
- Red Cloud
Leads the Ogalalas and Brulés to the council, silent and burdened with tribal sorrow.
- Crazy Horse
Mentioned among the great warriors present, though his thunder is yet to come.
- Spotted Tail
Listed as a wise leader among the gathered chiefs.
- Gall
Named as one of the prominent warriors at the council.
- Crow King
Included in the list of big names present at the village.
Key passages
“We face a greedy people, weak and small When first our fathers met them, now grown tall And overbearing. Tireless in toil, These madmen think it good to till the soil, And love for endless getting marks them fools.”
Sitting Bull describes white settlers as a once-insignificant people who have become powerful and arrogant, obsessed with land ownership and material gain.
This passage encapsulates the theme of greed and cultural collision.
“They cut the land in pieces, fencing out Their neighbors from the mother of all men! When she is sick, they make her bear again With medicines they give her with the seed! All this is sacrilegious!”
Sitting Bull condemns the white practice of dividing and fencing land, viewing it as a violation of the sacred earth.
Highlights the spiritual and ecological clash between Native and settler worldviews.
“He paused; then stooping to the mother-land, He scraped a bit of dust and tossed it high. Against the hollow everlasting sky All watched it drifting, sifting back again In utter silence. 'So it is with men,'”
Sitting Bull uses a dramatic gesture of tossing dust to symbolize the fleeting and fragile nature of human life and promises.
A powerful rhetorical moment emphasizing fate and the transience of human affairs.