Red Tail

Photo taken 3/1/2009 6:07 pM

Sinte Luta~ Basking in the evening sun on the front deck.

F5.6 ISO 400~1/125~

A lone warrior crouches behind the cover of a scrub cedar tree. His elk skin clothing blends with the earth as he crouches even lower to the ground. oOnly twenty feet away, six mounted soldiers scan the soil for sign of his passing.

Shining Hawk is his name. He is a Lakota warrior with many war honors to his name, he is not a young man any more, but his strength and stamina are still legendary among his people. The cavalry mounts sense his presence but the wind is not in their favor so they have no way of locating him.

Suddenly one of the horses picks up his scent on a rogue breeze from the west. The horses head comes up, and he turns to face the hidden warrior. At that exact moment a red tailed hawk blows out of the tree that he is hiding behind and races right toward the mounted soldiers. At the last moment the hawk shoots skyward directly in front of the now spooked horses and riders. The soldiers regain control of their steeds and retreat back into the direction from which they came.

As soon as the thunder of hooves is distant, Shining Hawk raises his arms to the sky offering up a prayer to the creator. He thanks the one above for his good fortune and thanks his brother the red tail for saving his life. As he turns toward home he hears the cry of a hawk from somewhere in the vast sky, he smiles and waves to his winged brother. We are all related... he prays... thank you …

~Mike Hawk Huston