1840 Indian Rebirth

Chapter 22 [Rewards for Battle Merits]

Like all Indian ceremonies, religious activities such as dancing to the gods are indispensable in the celebration ceremony.

Led by several warchiefs and shamans, the people happily cursed the enemy and prayed for the next victory.

In addition, the most important process is to reward military exploits. Every time a soldier kills an Arapaho, he can exchange for an eagle feather and a bag of spirits as rewards.

The horse whistle naturally got nine eagle feathers and nine bags of spirits.

"This is your glory." The chief of the plains took nine eagle feathers from the high priest, and tied them on the hair of the horse whistle with his own hands.

The nine feathers are not suitable for braiding into a battle crown, and the production of the battle crown is time-consuming, and it will not be able to weave it in a while, so like most people, it is tied directly to the hair.

"Thank you, respected chief, and high priest..." Ma Whistle said politely. He thought the feather headdress was quite beautiful, at least much better than the paint on his face at this time—the winner must It is traditional to paint the face with red paint.

"And this." The chief smiled and waved again, and a soldier next to him carried nine large leather bags with some difficulty.

"The hottest liquor - no one doesn't like it!"

Spirits are one of the main commodities that Indians trade with whites, and more and more Indians are obsessed with the strong anesthesia brought about by high-concentration alcohol.

Ma Shao had heard in his previous life that the Indians had a serious alcohol problem, but because the Sleeping Bear clan rarely had strong alcohol, he didn't know until recently that the Indians' alcohol problem actually existed at this time.

It has to be said that spending a lot of property to buy spirits from white people is definitely the worst business Indians do, and it may not even be one of them. It is comparable to the Qing people who bought opium from Britain in large quantities.

The Indians who are addicted to alcohol are degrading day by day, and the hope of making progress is even slimmer. This problem has not been solved until the 21st century, and no one helps them-drinking is voluntary. Why do noble liberal white people interfere with Indians? What about people's voluntary choice?
In addition to eagle feathers and strong wine, as the most outstanding military exploits, Horse Whistle also received rewards from three other tribes.

"Warrior of the Plains tribe, I salute you on behalf of the Mescalero tribe," said the warchief of the Mescalero tribe, and brought out a skinned wooden shield with intricate patterns painted on it.

The great chief handed over the shield and said solemnly: "This is a gift from us. The shield blessed by the great spirit can help you resist all injuries."

"..." Ma Whistle was sweating for a while, and he didn't know what to say, so he could only accept the shield politely, and thanked him at the same time, "Thanks to my brother tribe."

"Warrior, this is a gift from the Jicarilla tribe." The great chief of the Jicarilla tribe pulled out a brown horse.

Although this horse is not as good as Hei Feng, it still looks majestic. Of course, the horse whistle is even more grateful.

The most impressive thing for Horse Whistle was the gift from the Chiricahua tribe. When this thing appeared in front of his eyes, his eyes lit up immediately.

"Accept it, the sword is for the hero." The chief of the Chiricahua tribe was a middle-aged man with prominent cheekbones. He smiled and handed over a short knife that shone brightly.

A knife of pure gold!

When the horse whistle thanked him, he took it and weighed it in his hand. It was estimated that it weighed about one catty.

So much gold, even if the purity is not high, is definitely a generous gift. According to the price of later generations, it is almost equivalent to 20 soft sister coins, or more than 3 US dollars.

The horse whistle immediately remembered the name of Chief Chiricahua—Oak, and his prominent cheekbones.

It's just that I think this person is suitable to be a friend, um, that's it.

The part of rewarding military exploits ended, but the atmosphere became more and more enthusiastic.

"Let's drink to our heart's content!" The Great Chief of the Plains held up his wine bag and looked at the Apaches around him.

"Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo-"

Accompanied by a burst of yelling, almost everyone raised their wine bags, then poured down their spirits, and drank heavily, and the air was filled with the smell of alcohol in a blink of an eye.

"For the tribe!"

"This victory is just the beginning. The Arapaho people will be completely defeated by us soon, and they are no longer qualified to appear on our grassland!" Also mixed in it.

"Hahaha, that's right, hiccup..."

The atmosphere was so strong that Ma Shao wanted to take a sip with the crowd at first, but he didn't drink it after all.

His expression flickered, but he hesitated whether to persuade other clansmen not to drink too... at least not to drink too much like this.

A little drink is pleasant, but a big drink hurts the body.The Indians' drinking method is neither a small drink nor a big drink, but a competition of who can drink better.

The Indians are already in a bad situation, and if this trend continues, it will be worse.

It's just that, right now, everyone is drinking happily and the atmosphere of celebration is hot, so persuasion seems out of date.Therefore, the horse whistle sat there for a long time without speaking.

But his hesitation was soon over.

"Why did you drink it?" Ma Shao suddenly ran to a tall and thin young man, and grabbed the wine bag with his hands.

This thin and tall young man is a long stick, he was stunned for a moment: "Everyone is drinking, I will also drink a little..."

"But you are still wounded!" Ma Whistle pointed to his shoulder.

"Didn't you say that spirits can heal wounds?" Long Stick asked.

"..." Ma Whistle took a deep breath, "It was sprinkled on the wound, not by drinking. Drinking alcohol will only make your wound worse. Bandages can also heal wounds. Can bandages be eaten?"

Immediately afterwards, he saw several wounded people drinking, and immediately said unceremoniously: "Don't drink any more!"

Horse Whistle proved his majesty on the battlefield, and these wounded were all treated by him, so he didn't dare to say anything at the moment, and they all stopped drinking.

But not so for others.

Especially the great plain chief who was sitting in the middle of the camp, guarding the tent, frowned directly: "Mashao, what are you doing, today is a good day for drinking!"

Then he waved his hand: "Keep playing the music, keep drinking! Soon, the white wine merchants will come again, and there will be plenty of spirits!"

The chief gave an order, and the wounded began to drink again.

Seeing this, Ma Shao immediately became angry: "Don't drink!"

His voice was full of air, and the noise of the audience could not be covered up. Hundreds of people from near and far could hear it clearly.

Hundreds of eyes casted on him one after another.

"What is not allowed to drink, wine?"

"Oops, the tent guard chief is about to get angry..."

"What does the horse whistle do?"

People talked a lot, but stopped drinking.

Then, as some people had guessed, the great chief who kept the tent showed obvious displeasure.

There are now 800 people gathered together, most of them are from other tribes, Ma Shao is his subordinate, this move made him feel ashamed.

------------

Ps:

In fact, many Indian tribes are very loose, and there is no leader at the tribal level, that is, a chief.For example, the oak (that is, Cochise) of the Chiricahua tribe is actually just a highly prestigious local cadre, not the boss of the entire tribe.This is written in the book for convenience.

As for the plain tribe where the protagonist is, there is indeed the position of tribal chief.

(End of this chapter)