Dangerous man
There are many tales of warriors and chiefs and conjurers whose “distant footsteps echo through the corridors of time” in the words of one great poet.
Most of these stories are very old, for while there are a few chiefs in modern times who have achieved legendary status; Wilma Mankiller comes to mind, they are few and far between. Most of the legendary chiefs and warriors were from long ago. One such man was a Chief they called Dangerous Man.
Dangerous Man was truly a legend, even in his own time. He was reputed to be the last of the great Uktena hunters. They say he killed a great Uktena with his own hands and took the fabled third eye from the forehead of the fearsome beast, thereby becoming one of the greatest conjurers of his time.
In battle he was said to be possessed of a reckless courage that made lesser men quake in his presence, but he was also said to be among the most generous of men and the most loyal of friends.
As a War Chief, he commanded a force of men who feared neither death nor pain nor hunger but feared only the disappointment of their leader.
Although he was from Keowee, a Cherokee “Mother Town” near what is today the border between Georgia and South Carolina, it is rumored that warriors traveled from as far away as the Iroquois country seeking the honor of service with this great leader. Such was the reputation of Dangerous Man even in his own lifetime. His reputation was not limited war of course. Indeed, his skill at peacemaking far outweighed his skill on the battlefield and it was this skill that earned him a reputation as a great leader.
There is another element to Dangerous Man’s character that was somewhat more problematic. They say that he was as effective at fighting evil spirits as he was at fighting evil men. They say he was both a rainmaker and a prophet, they say that he could see the future. They say other things too. They say he was a shape shifter.
Looking into the future, with the help of his Uktena eye, they say that Dangerous Man saw the coming of a great plague, which would kill many people and disfigure many more. They say he saw this plague coming from over the great water and that its cause would never go away.
There would be no cure, but maybe the people could adapt. He sought to find a solution to this coming tribulation, perhaps by taking his people to a more secure place. He shared this solution with his people, and some agreed to go with him to another place, but many did not. Although he knew that moving to another place was the immediate solution, many of his people did not wish to go. Dangerous Man was worried for those who would be left behind. He called a council of his most trusted warriors.
The men who fought with Dangerous Man were all close friends as well as comrades in arms. Many were also master conjurers as well. They say that Dangerous Man asked frankly which of them were going and which were going to stay. The the ones who stayed behind, and who were willing, he organized into a new society.
To these he also gave new medicine and a new mission. Over the next few years, he taught these few what they would need to know to care for the people. Chief among these was the ability to shape shift and the ability to move among the people unobserved. After a time, Dangerous Man left the care of the people to this new society and departed to another place.
This brotherhood exists to this day, that is what they say. They say that each generation of this brotherhood recruits and trains the next. That they do their work in silence, looking after the interests of the people for neither pay nor glory. They serve in silence, seeking only the approval of their own kind.
That, Dear Reader, is the story of Dangerous Man and his legendary warrior society. Is it real? Is it factual? I cannot say.
There are many stories in many cultures of secret societies and the virtues and vices thereof. Perhaps what truly matters is that we are inspired by a great leader who cared for his people. That some would tell of this legend and of the virtue of service and of servant leadership, perhaps that is truth enough.
The inspiration to unselfish service, perhaps that is the true legacy of Dangerous Man.