CHAPTER 14
COUNCIL MEETING
Small Bear arrived at the Village Town Hall only minutes before the Tribe council meeting was scheduled to begin. Horses, mules, and donkeys outside the Hall far outnumbered the few dozen old trucks and autos that were present, but most of the Tribe would have come on foot.
Inside the Great Hall, the atmosphere was tense. Over a thousand people stood in small groups talking and often arguing loudly in both English and Indian about whether or not they believed vicious rumors that Chief George Running Buck had sold out to Fenster and attempted to have Two Bears murdered.
Small Bear made his way towards the center of the big room, where a table with a dozen folding chairs around it sat atop a low wooden platform designed to elevate the Council two feet above the bare stone floor. Five of the elevated chairs were empty. The empty seats were for the Chief, Police Chief, Shaman, the Goth, and one of the other Council members: Mary White Dove. Small Bear sat down in his seat.
Summer Buck nodded at Small Bear and briefly raised his right hand, and the remaining Council Members stopped talking with each other and turned their attentions to Summer Buck. "I tried to talk with Chief George," Summer Buck stated. "He refused to see me. Imagine a Chief refusing to see a Council member? It is unthinkable!"
"That would tend to confirm my worst fears," Small Bear remarked.
"I still want to hear what George has to say for himself," said another Council Member. "I've been hearing what Small Bear says that George said, and maybe did say, but I still have not heard what George has to say from his own lips. Let him look into our eyes and say what is true."
"That has not yet happened because he will not talk to any of us," claimed another of the Council, shaking his head sadly. "In all the years I've known our brother Running Buck, he has never before refused our council."
"Small Bear told me that Running Buck is ashamed to look us in the eye," said a third.
Summer Buck, by far the oldest of them, again spoke. Everyone in earshot quieted and strained to hear his every word. "Small Bear says far too much. He spoke behind the back of our brother Chief George Running Buck, and behind ours. These charges against Running Buck should have been first made before Running Buck and before this Council, so that we could judge the truth in the words that both would say. That is our way.
“Instead, all the people talk of it now in fear and ignorance, and point fingers this way and that. That is not the way of the Tribe. Running Bear is wrong to avoid us, but Small Bear was wrong to avoid the ways of our people. Always has he done this, when it suites him."
"You opposed Small Bear becoming Police Chief, over an old petty grievance," said a much younger man. "Yet he has been a good Police Chief." Several nods occurred around the table. "Perhaps not so strong in the old ways as some would want, but strong as a force against trouble-makers. He stands up to Barns and Fenster."
"Bah!" said Summer Buck. "He is too quick to use force instead of wisdom. The young people fear him instead of respecting him, and some say that the drinking and drugs of the Tribe are worse than ever."
Small Bear appeared impassive while his fellow Council members talked about him as if he wasn’t there. It was an unusual thing to occur. He looked to Summer Buck and found that the old man was staring at him with a little grin on his face. He gave a little nod of his head to the old man, acknowledging the subtle lesson: don’t talk about Council members behind their backs.
"Still I say he has been a good Police Chief," repeated the young man. “And we are here to talk to Running Buck, not to discuss Small Bear. Then there are the other happenings to discuss.”
"I don’t think we should decide too much today,” said Summer Buck, as he looked about at the worried faces that gathered in the hall. “With two Goths healing Two Bears, our great shaman should be back with us very soon. The wisdom and strength of Great Two Bears is needed to help address our many problems, and the Goth should also be present. But the issue of Running Buck we should be able to address now. What is keeping Running Buck? It's not like him to be late.”
“I will go fetch him,” Small Bear stood and announced, before leaving the hall. Conversation resumed around the table.
After only a few minutes a grim Small Bear surged in alone by way of a back door and aggressively made his way through the crowd and onto the platform. Chief George was still nowhere to be seen. The Police Chief raised his arms in the air in a gesture to gain attention and bring silence throughout the hall. Most of the crowd quieted and sat on the floor to hear Small Bear speak.
"Before the Tribe and Council it is my sad duty to tell you what has come to pass this day. I have just now been to the lodge of Chief George Running Buck. My people, I am sorry to tell you that when I went to fetch him I found that our great Chief is dead."
Sitting people jumped to their feet with cries of anguish and outrage. Standing people sank to their knees in shock. Women and children cried and wailed. The Council sat in stunned silence, heads shaking and tears welling.
Small Bear raised his hands again and waited patiently for the chaos to subside, and then his deep voice rang out again. "My people, in the absence of a shaman, I have already performed prayers at his side, so that his soul may find what peace it can, but what I have to show you now will make you doubt that any such peace is possible for our departed brother." More women wailed and were then again silent except for crying sobs that could not be constrained.
Small Bear pulled a sheet of paper from a pocket, unfolded it and held it up for all to see. "I found this note by his side. It reads as follows: 'My people; I George Running Buck have failed you. I sought to bring the prosperity of the white man to our people. I could not bear to see our children go without enough food and books and our young people to go without jobs. I looked to the future and saw the slow end of our people, if I were to do nothing.’" People were shaking their heads and crying. "’I decided to break with the past, and to remove he who stood in my way: Great Two Bears.’" Angry shouts and wailing broke out again, and would not be stopped.
"I don't believe it," shouted one man. "Chief George would not betray us or Two Bears." Heated arguments broke out in the crowd. All their lives they had their fellow Tribe members to love and trust and live together with, through good times and bad. Now all of that seemed to be crumbling around them. Their loved and trusted Chief had declared himself to be a murderous traitor and coward.
"I only read what I have found," shouted Small Bear in reply, holding his hands up again, but the crowd would not be silent. Small Bear passed the note to Summer Buck, and he and several other Council Members studied it carefully.
At last Summer Buck rose on shaky old legs and raised his own small wrinkled hands. Silence returned almost instantly, but for a few muffled sobs. "This looks like Chief George's hand writing, though it is shaky. Is there still more, Small Bear?"
"Yes. First, there was an empty bottle of white man sleeping pills and there were no marks to be found on his body. Running Buck took his own life by eating the sleeping pills."
More wails and shouts filled the air. Within the Tribe, suicide was unknown. To commit suicide using white-man drugs was an unthinkable act. Summer Buck had to put up his hands again to regain enough silence for Small Bear to continue. "There is one last thing. Tall Fox and Night Hawk are nowhere to be found. It is my belief that they acted as agents of George Running Buck to try to murder Two Bears, and now with his fall they have fled, perhaps to Fenster. I have already sent men out to find them." Several angry looking braves made quickly for the exits, obviously with the intent of joining in the man-hunt.
Summer Buck turned to face Small Bear. His voice could barely be heard through the chaos. "There are important things that the Council must discuss with you now, Small Bear. There are many questions to ask you as our Chief of Police about the attack on Two Bears and the death of Running Buck, and we must consider your new situation. By our laws you are now both acting Chief and acting Shaman, in addition
to being Police Chief."
At that moment though, an armed brave ran into the Hall. "The Holy Healing Cabin of the Fallen Giant is under attack!" he shouted. "It's on fire!"
"They’re after Two Bears and the Goths again!" roared Small Bear. "It's Running Buck's men!"
As Small Bear joined the crowd of braves scrambling towards the doors, old Summer Buck stood alone at the table, his small wrinkled hands raised again in a totally hopeless attempt to regain order as he sadly shook his head.