“By order of the military commission, composed of Colonel Crooks, Lt. Colonel Marshall, Captain Grant, Captain Bailey, and Lieutenant Olin, you cause to be executed on Friday the nineteenth day of December, instant, the following names, to wit…”

Sibley slurred through the list of thirty-eight names. Some were his friends, some not. Chaska Dan, he had known for eighteen years. He cried like a blubbering grandmother on the scaffold, shivering from the cold. Nape Shuha stayed true to his name. His eyes shifted left and right, as if he were Coyote going to trick the four thousand who had come to watch.

As a man placed a white sack over his head, Tipi-hdo-niche began singing an old chant. One that prayed for the great spirit to bless the land and bring final resolution. The man next to him picked up the song. Then everyone in line, quietly chanted in unison.

Before the white muslin was placed on his head, , May Hoo Way Wa glanced at Captain William Duley, who readied the axe to cut the rope.