our faces and chests, talked of past battles, bravery, and family while beating on our drums to summon courage from Kitchi Manitou. There would be death in the near future, and we would have to be prepared to confront it with bravery. The wind at the present resembled a small child’s breathing and the rain was now a mist. We set out guards and everyone rested for the night.
Just as the dawn of the day was starting, I could hear the guards shout a greeting. Mònz, Asiniwàbidì, and Miskwì rushed into camp.
“Mahingan,” said Mònz, “they have started to break camp and will be here before the sun clears the treetops.”
With the news of the impending attack, I gathered everyone and told them to go to their spots. My group would go south of the village clearing. The dogs would have to be tied to stakes, or else they would follow us. The village had to have a habitual look, because if the enemy noticed there weren’t any dogs it would arouse suspicion. With the rain coming down in a mist, the Hochelagans wouldn’t expect anyone to be out. We made sure all the lodge fires were burning.
Everyone went to their places. The group led by Minowez-I and Ajowà Okiwan would be the most crucial part of the attack. They had to hold the force at the river, because if that faction broke through, we would be caught between the two Hochelagan forces with disastrous consequences.
While waiting in the forest, our bodies became wet from the rainy mist and our nervous sweat, and even with all this dampness I still could not keep moisture on my lips and in my mouth. The thought of an impending battle always brought out the weakness in a warrior. Death was not something that was looked forward to in this life, but it is an inevitable conclusion to living. We had to always go into battle knowing that we were defending our way of life and our families. Anything less in our thoughts would always bring out self-doubt, and with that came weakness. We painted ourselves for courage and to scare the enemy. Yelling and screaming as we entered battle relieved the tension and brought our senses to a state of euphoric intensity. I double-checked my weapons. Bow and quiver with fourteen arrows, one knife in my belt, another strapped to my right leg. My war club was in my belt with the rawhide wrist strap on the handle. This strap was important, because it insured I would not drop my club if I was hit, or if it was hit with another club. If it flew out of my hand it would stay attached to my wrist.
It was not long before we saw the first of the advance scout of the Hochelagan. Their bodies glistened in the early morning mist. There were three of them, but we would leave them alone. We wanted the main attacking force. If we killed this group of advance scouts it would warn the others of the ambush. The scouts stayed inside the tree line, avoiding the dogs’ sight line and staying downwind from the animals. They vanished as quickly as they had come. The attack would soon occur, now that they had seen that the village was unaware and supposedly sleeping.
With the disappearance of the scouts back to the main body of Hochelagans, I was now able to tell our warriors the plans in more detail. We would wait until all of our enemies were in the village. As soon as they checked a couple of our lodges and saw that there was no one in them, they would know that something was wrong. I told the warriors to pick a target and wait until my bow sent its arrow. Then they were all to strike. With Mònz on my left and Kàg on my right, I felt a sense of calm over my body and I knew I wouldn’t be harmed.
Within a few minutes, the enemy floated out of the forest like ghosts. They made no noise and threw pieces of meat to the dogs to keep them quiet. There were over twenty of them, and they walked furtively to our lodges. As the first ones looked into our homes, they realized something was amiss. At that moment, I let loose with my arrow and saw it enter the back of a warrior’s neck. Almost instantly, twenty-six projectiles hurtled through the air and the screams of the Hochelagans could be heard in unison.
Pangì Shìshìb and I led our men out of the woods, screaming at the top of our lungs. I looked to my right and saw Agwanìwon Ikwe and Kìnà Odenan hammering down a warrior with their war clubs and Kìnà Odenan scalping him with her knife. Kàg’s spear had only impaled his target in the leg, and now he was finishing the man off with another spear.
I soon returned my focus to what was happening in front of me. A brave with an arrow in his arm rushed at me with a stone axe. I was able to sidestep him and hit him on his wounded arm with my club. The force of the blow broke the man’s limb. I now found myself behind my enemy and grabbed his hair, pulling his head up baring his neck, and in one motion I grabbed my knife from my leg strap and slit the man’s throat.
In the forest from where the Hochelagans had entered, Mitigomij and Wàgosh were waiting for the battle to start before they made their move. Makadewà Wàban was close by and ready to pounce.
In a small clearing, there were seven women and as many young children held captive plus three Otaguttaouernin warriors who had already suffered torture at the hands of their captors. All of them had their hands bound, nooses around their necks, and were attached to the person in front of them. There were four men guarding the group and their attention was diverted toward the village.
At the first sound of screams coming from the battle area the men flinched. Then they started to laugh. With that Mitigomij’s slingshot snapped and one of the men dropped to his knees with a huge hole in the side of his head. Wàgosh let loose an arrow and another man dropped. Before the other two knew what had happened, they were struck with a fury. One warrior had his neck broken by Makadewà Wàban’s leap from a tree. The last Hochelagan turned to see Wàgosh descend on him only to meet with a crushing blow to his head by Wàgosh’s war club. In a matter of minutes, it was all over and the element of surprise had brought the quick death of the four captors.
Wàgosh ran straight for Kwìngwìshì and embraced her. Mitigomij cut the warriors loose first. Even though their hands were missing a few fingers and their bodies had been burnt with coals and burning sticks, they did not linger. The three of them collected the weapons of the dead men and started to scalp and mutilate them in retribution for what had been done to them. While this was going on the captives were crying in relief at being rescued.
Quickly, Wàgosh and Mitigomij gathered everyone and brought all of them further back into the woods. If any of the Hochelagans tried to escape in this direction they did not want to be caught in this small clearing with all these defenseless women, children, and three very battered warriors.
At the sìbì Minowez-I, Ajowà Okiwan, and their nineteen warriors were laying in wait. They had decided that they would commence their attack as soon as the Hochelagans started to pull their boats on shore. The river was ten minutes away and hopefully the sounds of their battle wouldn’t reach the village before they were able to attack.
The enemy came down the river in six canoes with eighteen warriors. As they neared shore, one man from each boat jumped out to drag it to land. The moment the boat hit land and the warriors started to pull the vessels up, Minowez-I and Ajowà Okiwan’s men let loose a volley of arrows. Twelve of the Hochelagans were fatally struck, the other six in a matter of moments were overwhelmed and struck down. The battle was over in mere minutes.
All components of the Algonquin force came together after the battle. In total six canoes were captured, along with seven of the enemy and all their weapons. Many scalps had been taken. This was one of the most lopsided battles the Omàmiwinini had ever participated in. The enemy had been totally destroyed, and we had only suffered a few minor scrapes and scratches. Our akandò (ambush) had worked to perfection.
It was decided that Minowez-I, Pangì Shìshìb, and Ajowà Okiwan could each take two prisoners of the seven that were captured, to do with what they wanted.
The captured women, children, and three warriors were all that was left of their village. They were given one of the captured men who had been the enemy chief. He would die a painful death of fire after running
