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.16
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.17 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.
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.