A Story of a Warrior

Kawacatoose was the keeper of a very sacred and powerful spear, which also came with a cape and a banner.  The spirits came one night in a dream and told Kawacatoose to go to a certain location out on the land and dig and he would find something very valuable.  So, he went to the spot shown in his dream and found a point made out of metal.  It was a very large spear point.  It was told that this metal was not made by Europeans, for no manufacturing of that particularly large, sharp type of steel point was in existence at that time.  In fact, it was not man-made at all, but fashioned by spirit beings who wished him to receive it.

He was instructed to find a special kind of wood, from which he was to make a spear and to which he was to attach the steel point.  From this spear he was to take the red tree cloth and bead four blue and white thunderbird symbols on it.  He was also told to take the hair from warriors who had passed on and to place the locks of hair onto a vest made of red tree cloth.  Onto the vest there were also beaded, blue and white symbols.

He was told how to add certain hawk feathers to this spear and vest to ornament it and also make it sacred.  This was to be his sacred object when he went off to war and would help protect him when he would be in the midst of the enemy.   The vest was so sacred that he could ride into enemy camps and be shot at but never harmed.  The bullets would be of little impact and slide off him because of this sacred vest.

He used the spear in battle attacking the enemy and was told that the most powerful war medicine was this spear.  The only time he could ever be harmed was if the bullet or arrow would hit the very point of the spear.  Then the supernatural power of the object would be rendered powerless.  This never did happen to Kawacatoose and he was highly regarded amongst the people as a great warrior because of this special protection.  This particular spear and vest and banner are now sitting in the archives in storage at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Note: (At the time that the museum purchased it, the museum was instructed that they would bring in elders to smudge with sweet-grass this sacred object.  This has never occurred and the Indian people of the Coacotus First Nations – the chief and council, have made a claim on this particular sacred object.  They hope to create an environment so that it will be transferred back and returned to the Plains Cree people.)