Be Still My Reading (Notes) Heart: The Indian Who Wrestled with a Ghost

Camp fire by Eric Dufresne. Found on wikimedia.

This week, my favorite story was The Indian Who Wrestles with a Ghost by Katharine Berry Judson. This Teton Lakota ghost story features a warrior moving through the woods at night. He is on a quest, presumable to win honor and favor through the defeat of his enemies. The ghosts that confront him when he is camping take on different roles, testing him in different ways. Their trials tell him that he will defeat his enemies and steal many horses.

The first night a woman comes from the wood crying for her son. When she came on his campsite, he pretended to be asleep in order to gain the element of surprise and to evaluate the situation further. She finally shows her intentions of stealing his foot off of his apparent dead body. He then springs up to confront her and scare her away. The first trial is of intelligence and cunning.

The second night, a ghost comes and demands food. When given it, he offers the warrior a chance to wrestle with him in order to achieve greatness and the desired outcome- the defeat of his enemies and many stolen horses. Their battle lasts the whole night, a true testament of perseverance and strength. But he also discovers a weakness to the ghost- the high fire weakens him and he gains strength as it dies down. The warrior uses they observation to direct the ghost towards the fire and then use new kindling as an element of strategy- proving his intelligence again.

But what if the truth that the ghosts tell are not good things? What if instead of winning a wrestling match and getting the desired outcome it came with a price? The horses that he stole would die shortly, being claimed back by the ghosts that helped the warrior achieve victory.

Or what if it was told from the ghosts perspective? The are a tribunal, a gatekeeping force who consult with each other and decide who is worthy. Based on the outcome of the first night, they alter the trial to be more of a challenge. Test the intelligence, the strength, the perseverance, whatever they think is the warrior's weak point, and only upon the passing of that test do they place there favor on him. SaveSave