“Yes,” Carries said. “But she has left that lodge. The Peacemaker visited her and told her that a new day was coming. No longer, he told her, would she advise men about war. Instead she would help them remain firm to the practice of peace. It is said that she was the first to say she would follow this new path and help him bring the Great Peace. And because of that, it would be she and the women of the clans who would choose all our leaders in the future. So, from that time when she joined forces with the Peacemaker, she also began to carry the name of Mother of Nations. When the Peacemaker arrives at Onondaga, she will be with him.”

Okwaho took a deep breath. Tsakonsaseh would be coming to Onondaga, by the Peacemaker’s side? It was almost too much to believe. It was as if he had stepped from everyday life into the middle of a great story. But Carries had said that there would be two by the Peacemaker’s side.

“Who is the second one who will be with him?”

“Ah,” Carries said, the smile on his face growing broader. “It is one whose name you’ve already heard. Hiawatha. Do you remember?”

Okwaho remembered. Hiawatha was in the story Carries had told about the Peacemaker’s arrival. Hiawatha was the second assistant war chief of the people of the Flint Stone Village near Cohoes Falls, the first to believe the Peacemaker’s message. The new name of Hiawatha, He Who Is Awake, had been given him by the Peacemaker. He was to be the first among those new peace chiefs. What were they to be called? Royaners?

Okwaho nodded.

Carries smiled. “There is more to tell about him,” he said, “what happened to him after the Peacemaker left their village. This is the story of Hiawatha’s great loss.”

•   •   •

Of all the people of the Flint Stone, no one was a better speaker than Hiawatha. Everyone listened to his deep sonorous voice when he stood up in council to offer his opinion. He always seemed to think first of others and try to help them. Hiawatha was liked by everyone. He was a good father and had three daughters he loved dearly. Their mother had walked on from this life when the girls were young, but Hiawatha had taken good care of them. And now that the promise of peace had been brought to the people, he thought their futures would be bright and untroubled by war.