After we had been on the fire-boat a long while, we could see many houses
and then many other fire-boats tied close together along the bank.13 We thought
now we could get off very soon, but we could not. There was a little fire-boat
that had come through the gate of waters and it stopped beside us, and the people
on it looked at everything on our fire-boat before we could get off. We went very
slowly nearly all day, I think, and afterwhile we came to where there were many,
many houses close together, and more fire-boats than could be counted. These
houses were different from what we had seen before. The Wasichus kept us on
the fire-boat all night and then they unloaded us, and took us to a place where
the show was going to be. The name of this very big town was London. We were
on land now, but we still felt dizzy as though we were still on water, and at first
it was hard to walk.
We stayed in this place six moons; and many, many people came to see the
show.
One day we were told that Majesty was coming. I did not know what that was
at first, but I learned afterward. It was Grandmother England (Queen Victoria),
who owned Grandmother’s Land where we lived awhile after the Wasichus
murdered Crazy Horse.
She came to the show in a big shining wagon, and there were soldiers on both
sides of her, and many other shining wagons came too. That day other people
could not come to the show—just Grandmother England and some people who
came with her.14
Sometimes we had to shoot in the show, but this time we did not shoot at all.
We danced and sang, and I was one of the dancers chosen to do this for the
Grandmother, because I was young and limber then and could dance many ways.
We stood right in front of Grandmother England. She was little but fat and we
liked her, because she was good to us. After we had danced, she spoke to us. She
said something like this: “I am sixty-seven years old.15 All over the world I have
seen all kinds of people; but to-day I have seen the best-looking people I know.
If you belonged to me, I would not let them take you around in a show like this.”
She said other good things too, and then she said we must come to see her,
because she had come to see us. She shook hands with all of us. Her hand was
very little and soft. We gave a big cheer for her, and then the shining wagons
came in and she got into one of them and they all went away.
In about a half-moon after that we went to see the Grandmother. They put us
in some of those shining wagons and took us to a very beautiful place where
there was a very big house with sharp, pointed towers on it. There were many
seats built high in a circle, and these were just full of Wasichus who were all
pounding their heels and yelling: “Jubilee! Jubilee! Jubilee!” I never heard what
this meant.16
They put us together in a certain place at the bottom of the seats. First there
appeared a beautiful black wagon with two black horses, and it went all around
the show place. I heard that the Grandmother’s grandson, a little boy, was in that
wagon. Next came a beautiful black wagon with four gray horses. On each of the
two right hand horses there was a rider, and a man walked, holding the front left
hand horse. I heard that some of Grandmother’s relatives were in this wagon.
Next came eight buckskin horses, two by two, pulling a shining black wagon.
There was a rider on each right-hand horse and a man walked, holding the front
left hand horse. There were soldiers, with bayonets, facing outward all around
this wagon. Now all the people in the seats were roaring and yelling “Jubilee!”
and “Victoria!” Then we saw Grandmother England again. She was sitting in the
back of the wagon and two women sat in the front, facing her. Her dress was all
shining and her hat was all shining and her wagon was all shining and so were
the horses. She looked like a fire coming.
Afterward I heard that there was yellow and white metal all over the horses
and the wagon.
When she came to where we were, her wagon stopped and she stood up. Then
all those people stood up and roared and bowed to her; but she bowed to us. We
sent up a great cry and our women made the tremolo. The people in the crowd
were so excited that we heard some of them got sick and fell over. Then when it
was quiet, we sang a song to the Grandmother.
That was a very happy time.
We liked Grandmother England, because we could see that she was a fine
woman, and she was good to us. Maybe if she had been our Grandmother, it
would have been better for our people