Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Excerpt from Petalesharoo and the Star Brave
The incident upon which the following drama is founded is an historical fact recorded in "James's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, 1819-20." The Pawnee Loups, who claim descent from the early Mexican tribes, were probably the only group of American Indians guilty of the human sacrifice. Each year in the Spring, just before the planting of the seeds, they sacrificed a prisoner captured in war to the Great Star, the goddess of harvests, believing that by this means they would be favored with large crops and plentiful herds of buffalo. The Grand Chief Latelesha, or Knife Chief, a humane and able man, determined to abolish the hateful practice. All persuasive measures failing to move the people, his eldest son, Petalesharoo, the greatest brave of the tribe, unaided and alone rescued an Ietan woman who was about to fall beneath the arrows of the assembled multitude.
After the death of Petalesharoo the Pawnee Loups reverted to the ancient custom inherited from their southern ancestors, and at a much later date - about 1845 - Father De Smet in his "Oregon Missions" gives a detailed account of the human sacrifice, and to him I am indebted for many valuable descriptions of dress, forms, etc., etc.
According to Father De Smet the Morning Star was the goddess of harvests. On the other hand, George Bird Grinnell in his "Indians of Today" states that it was the Evening Star to whom the sacrifice was made. I do not pretend to settle the point in question, but I have chosen to follow Father De Smet, as the idea of the Morning Star conforms best to the dramatic setting and action.
The love story is purely fiction and Sassitka is not an historical personage.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.