Divine Feminine Part 2
Pretty Wolverine Woman
Continued
But Char Coal realized that the sacred elders of the Horn and Buffalo Societies would discern what had occurred and come after him for justice. Each day that passed caused him to panic more. He threatened to cut Pretty Wolverine Woman’s nose off, which was sometimes done to wives who were unfaithful.
After several days of stewing over the situation, Char Coal instructed Pretty Wolverine Woman and Sleeping Woman to pack up all their belongings and the tipi and load them onto his wagon. He made sure that the two boys, his teenage daughter, and Pretty Wolverine’s mother were all forced aboard. Traditionally, a son-in-law was never to face his mother-in-law and speak to her directly. But this was not an ordinary scenario; this was a kidnapping.
Some tribal members considered Char Coal a dark spirit since he was born ‘Itest Sik Koy’ (the year we were slipping). The snows between the Bow River and Old Man River were deep; then a Chinook came and melted them, causing flooding, and then refroze everything. There was no way to hunt, and many ponies and men broke their bones trying to do so, slipping on the ice. Many of the tribal members starved that winter. Following those miseries came the white man’s ‘Pox’ and the coughing sickness (T.B.), making the misery profound in the tribe.
Char Coal forced his kidnapped victims into the depths of the forest near Chief Mountain, where they would remain undetected. He would ride his pony down to the lowlands where Caucasian ranchers grazed their cattle, kill a calf, and return with meat for his captives. He was far from sane and knew that his time was short on the earth plane.
Remember that in the ancient times of the Weasel People, if a warrior perceived that his earth time was limited, he would concentrate on completing that time in a way so that he would be fully welcomed into the spirit world, the Big Sands, also known as the Sand Hills. He was to count coup upon or kill as many notable individuals as humanly possible before his demise. It was called the equivalent in English of discarding one’s life. He believed that any acts of seeking vengeance would result in supernatural powers coming upon him. Coupled with his Bear Knife Medicine, the man did indeed have some dark powers, and they were those of the rabid coyote.
He would tie up his captives so they could not escape when he went to the lowlands for food. He had already shot a white man in the village at his store. The man did not die, but now there was an Indian on the loose who was threatening the villagers. So the Northwest Mounted Police began a search for Char Coal, as he was easily identified in town. Tribal members had indicated that he most likely killed Medicine Pipe Stem and kidnapped six family members as well. He would be in the mode of discarding his life through acts of what he considered to be valor but were crimes.
Officers from Fort Macleod, Fort Kipp, and Fort Whoop-Up were uniting to search for Char Coal and his captives. Superintendent Sam Steel at the Cardston NWMP office directed Sergeant William Brock Wilde to take men and tribal volunteers as scouts and follow the map along the Beaver River to look for Char Coal and his victims. Inspector Jarvis would take a group of men and tribal volunteers to search in another direction. Sergeant Wilde would do the same in another direction.
In his insane quest to kill some important person to herald his eventual entrance into the Big Sand Hills (the heavenly realms), he attempted to kill Red Crow (the current designated Chief of the Bloods, although the Kainai, White Weasel People, considered themselves the tribe of Many Chiefs, as they all shared decision-making), but missed and wounded a friend of Red Crow’s. Then he shot Edward McNeil through the side, and a bullet grazed Sergeant Armer on the forehead as he bent over the watering trough.
There were indications from a few tribal members who encountered the crazed man that he intended to kill Farm Agent Wilson, as he was deemed to be a notably powerful man in town. With one murder (as they did discover the bullet went through Medicine Pipe Stem’s eye), three attempted murders, and six kidnapped victims, the need to find Char Coal and incarcerate him was of the essence.
Char Coal realized that he was being hunted and that his encampment would be discovered. So he left his daughter, mother-in-law, and the two boys in the tipi and told them not to move, that the officers would find them.
He tied Pretty Wolverine Woman and Sleeping Woman to a rope and pulled them along through the ice and snow, they trying to walk while he rode his pony. Throughout the ordeal, Char Coal screamed that Pretty Wolverine Woman was an adulteress and had been the cause of all this upheaval. He swore he would kill her when the time was right. In the meantime, he would keep those two wives with him deeper in the forest.
The captives were discovered by Inspector Jarvis and his men and were taken to safety. They obtained more information about Char Coal’s state of mind and the threats he was making toward Pretty Wolverine Woman. They all warned the Mounties that Bear Knife Medicine and the discarding one’s life mode created a supernatural power for Char Coal and that only other powerful tribal members would be able to locate him. Pretty Wolverine Woman’s son, Bear Head, revealed to the officers that he heard Char Coal raving that he would take his wives to the Porcupine Hills and camp in a grove of tamarack trees. The Mounties chose to incarcerate all of the rescued individuals and all the other family members of Char Coal for their own protection.
On the trail, Sergeant Wilde and his men, with the tribal scouts, saw a lone rider approaching them slowly. The closer the rider got to the posse, the faster he galloped. When the rider came to a halt within shouting distance, the sergeant saw the looks on the tribal scouts’ faces and realized that they had encountered Char Coal. The sergeant shouted to Char Coal that he was under arrest. Char Coal had his rifle under the blanket wrapped around him and raised it and shot Wilde through the lung. Wilde fell dead on the ground, and Char Coal escaped.
Now began the largest manhunt in the history of Alberta, Canada. He had killed a police officer in addition to his other heinous crimes. Officers from all over the province joined in the manhunt with no luck. It was true; only another tribal member with great medicine could find the deranged coyote. Nobody, not Caucasian or tribal, wanted that maniac on the loose when he was on a killing spree to ensure his welcome into the Big Sand Hills.
(Part 3 Next)
