A Minneconjou camp which had settled down for the winter was raided by Crow Indians. The Crow stole many horses and took a Lakota woman back to their camp.
The Lakota woman was unhappy staying in the Crow camp. She missed her people. Some of the Crow women saw this and took pity on her. They gave her food and a blanket and told her to hide by a creek near the camp.
She hid herself in the bushes along the banks of the creek. A short time later some of the Crow men came looking for her. While the Lakota woman was hiding, two wolves came upon her. The wolves growled at her and circled around her. The woman thought the wolves were going to kill her. But the wolves treated her kindly and guided her along a path to the east. The wolves and the woman traveled together while the Crow were chasing them. A raging blizzard caught the woman and her wolf friends in the open prairie. Two more wolves joined them as they walked through the blowing snow. The small wolf pack and the woman struggled through the snowdrifts and the cold winds.
There is power in this story. The woman was able to get safely away from the Crow because of the blizzard. If one is traveling in a blizzard and remembers this story- one need not be afraid.
After many days of traveling, the small band reached Squaw Buttes near present day Opal, South Dakota. They came to a cave in the rocks and the wolves forced her inside. The cave had an awful smell. As her eyes adjusted
to the darkness, she saw many wolves in the large den. She thought that the wolves would tear her apart. Instead the wolves dragged her in a deer, tore it apart and shared it with the woman.
The wolves were one big family. Many generations of wolves lived together in the cave. Each wolf had its own place in the family. The hunter wolves brought in the meat. The other wolves kept watch over the den. In this way- they all looked after each other.
The woman made herself a home in the den. She learned to speak and understand the wolves' language. The woman would dry and store the meat for the winter. She got along well with the wolves and they got along well with her. Soon she smelled just like the other wolves.
The wolves knew their country well. They always knew whenever the two-legged ones passed through. The wolves usually stayed away from the two-leggeds. The wolves did not like the way they smelled.
At turnip digging time of the year- the woman's mother was still mourning. She thought that her daughter had been killed. One day the hunter wolves saw the mother near the den. The wolves went back and told the woman. The woman wanted to go back to her people. She was worried that they would not accept her back. The wolves told her to wave her blanket two times if she wanted to stay with her mother. If she waved once- the wolves would come and take her back to the den.
When the mother saw her daughter coming- she was so happy to see her that she cried. The woman waved her blanket twice to the wolves who were watching her from the hills. The wolves saw this and went back to their cave. The woman's name became Iguga Oti Win - "Woman who lived in the rock". The rock is now considered a sacred area to the Lakota.
Be Careful of this tale because if it is told on a winter night it might cause a blizzard!
Aho
~u-ne-ga-wa-ya~
(Whitewolfe)
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