The Owasippe Legend Continues

As told by Apensui Majawatt

An old man came up to me at campfire with a blanket wrapped around his head and body and told me this story....

"Remember the great Chief Owasippe who sent his sons out to learn the ways of life and other peoples lives. They traveled off to the land of swamps, birds, wild onions, and rivers in a land far along the shore of the big water.

While they visited this land they learned many things fast and well from the people that lived and worked around a fort near the mouth of the river, the people called Fort Dearborn.

They learned English from the priests and families that were open to these travelers and made them feel welcome in their homes. One family who became closer to these travelers also met the father of these young men on a previous journey years ago.

What they learned from the father of these two brothers on that earlier trip was that the spirit inside your heart was the greatest of all strengths one can have.

They explained to these young travelers that the spirit of their father, and their father's father ran very deep in them. The spirit was there to learn and to teach the future young voyagers that would travel these lands.

They taught them that working with people of other tribes, races and travels would teach them things from around the world and make them better prepared to deal with the future and lead their people.

So when the brothers felt they had learned much, they left the land of the wild onion. But not before telling the people that took care of them about their land far away to the north on the other side of the big water.

They told their friends they must return and lead their people with their father and teach them the things they had learned.

The brothers then told the men about hunting, clean waters, tall trees and a land of abundance that they could live on and call their home.

They told the women about how the females on this land were not second to others but equal to men of all ages. They told them about seeing women working side by side with the men to make a society better, not for today, but for the future.

They also instilled upon their friends from the land of the wild onion and swamps that they would always be welcomed to the land that they too would learn to call home.

Their friends saw the spirit, not in the words, but in the eyes of the now young men going back to their home, the land of the tall pines, clear streams, stars and council fires whose smoke always rose to the heavens filled with stars.

The boys left this land to go home, and traveled past the Miami, Fox and other tribes. In each village they visited they taught some of the people what they had learned from their new friends, and about the land far to the north, that they too could call home when they came.

As we know in the story of Chief Owasippe he waited a long time for his sons and died in a chair looking over the creek that lead to his village always waiting for his sons to come home.

After many years, the tribe dispersed the railroad and wagon paths began to open the north woods. People began to follow the stories of the early settlers who lived in a town called Chicago, home of the wild onion.

The older men and women spoke of the land of their friends, that was clean, pure, and as majestic as all the heavens. They spoke of the spirit that the young men instilled in them. They spoke of the look in the eyes of these young men that they too have accepted about the land far to the north that they will call home

We have found the land of our friends. We have followed the footsteps, the trails, and the rivers to the place were the chief sits and waits for his sons and daughters to come home. We have stood side by side teaching the young, the old and ourselves to be better not for us, but for those that follow.

The sons were to come back and teach the other young boys and girls about the river, about nature, and about other people.

They were also to teach the others that standing together as one nation, one tribe around a campfire while watching the smoke lift into the heavens was to hear the voices of the past spirits that walked the land.

They also were to teach the men and women that the spirit, the spirit that is in the heart and which is seen in the eyes, can only be seen by those with the same wants and the same loves.

The spirit of the Chief, his sons and their friends still can be felt on the land. You only need to look into the eyes of each person who comes to this land to see if the spirit burns brightly in them. For remember, it is only those who can see the spirit in the eyes of another, that can call themselves a true son or daughter of Owasippe.

So my friend the next time you see your staff friends, scouts, family and leaders around a campfire look into their eyes. See if you can see the spirit. If you can, they will be the ones that are willing to accept that they are a son and daughter of Chief Owasippe."

As the old man told me this, he leaned toward me and looked into my eyes. I saw the flames of the spirit that night, burning in his eyes brighter then any fire I have ever seen. He said to me, "You my friend have the spirit, the love, and the want. Your friends too have the spirit, I have seen it in them, I have looked into their eyes and I have seen the true sons and daughters come home to our land.

My time is almost done and I hope you will once again meet me around the campfire, near the waterfront or on the trail. Work hard, sing with a strong heart and stand up for the good of the camp and the land. For you and those with the spirit will be here long after I am gone."

With that the old man walked into the darkness outside of the fire and was not seen until the next council fire where his shadows can be seen where the light of the fire meets the black of the night.

The Owasippe Legend Continues