Charging Thunder's Dream of the Wolves

Charging Thunder of Standing Rock was a singer and dreamer whose songs were written down around 1913. This is the story of his dream of the wolves, in his own words: "When I was about 22 years of age I dreamed that I came to a wolf den and found the little wolves unprotected by either father or mother. They seemed to say, 'We are left here helpless, but our parents will soon return.' I learned their song, which was as follows:" Father comes home howling from somewhere, mother comes home howling from somewhere — father is bringing a young calf, and mother comes home howling from somewhere. Now she is returning, in a sacred manner she is coming home. "Soon I saw the old wolf returning, and behind him came a buffalo calf. This old wolf told me how to make a pipe, telling me to smoke it when I was on the warpath, and saying that the smell of the pipe would be so strong that the enemy would not detect my approach, and thus I would be able to steal their horses. The old wolf said that by the aid of this pipe I would be able to outwit the wisest and craftiest of my enemies. "I made the pipe as he directed and carried it on the warpath, and had good success. It did not look any different from an ordinary pipe, but it had been made sacred by a medicine-man. The following song was taught me by the old wolf." The old wolf's song began: "In a sacred manner he made it for me… " In the old days the wolf was the scout's teacher — the one who knew how to travel unseen, how to endure, and how to come home. A man who dreamed of wolves carried that knowledge for his people. ——— CREDITS & SOURCE Told by: Charging Thunder, Standing Rock Lakota — recorded c. 1913, interpreted by Robert P. Higheagle (Lakota). Published in: Frances Densmore, "Teton Sioux Music," Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 61 (Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1918), pp. 179–183. Public domain (U.S. government publication, pre-1930). Photo: Charging Thunder, Plate 24 of the same volume. Shared here in honor of the teller. If this story belongs to your family or community and you would like it presented differently, please reach out.