The Massacre of the Si-Te-Cah Giants

The Massacre of the Si-Te-Cah

The red haired giants of the Si-Te-Cah had troubled the dreams and startled the curiosity of the Paiutes tribes for long enough; soon the fragile vision of the noble savage would be dispelled.  They seemed to have appeared all at once in the great lake of their ancestors, carried by large rafts held together by leathery strips of Tule, a plant which they were also seen eating in great quantity.  The most trusted scouts reported the absurd impossibility of their long limbs and bright red hair, an exotic prize of nature sought after by the Paiute chiefs.  Shamans warned of demon plague, all were cautious of approach.  Arrows had been given flight, keeping the intruders off shore, but under the shroud of the night it was feared the giants stalked Paitue prey.  Their monstrous girth and appearance gave rise to stories of cannibalism.  They called them flesh eaters.

The truth was the Si-Te-Cah giants were famished; driven to a more bestial means of survival by extreme starvation; they feasted on the dead of their own tribe, cracked open bones and suckled on the marrows of their own brethren to etch out a few more days of survival.  Their large frames required more sustenance than their prized Tule would provide.  Their lungs sought a more oxygen than the dust choked planes of the surrounding desert would afford.  These once proud tribes of warrior kings, descendants of ancient Babylonia, were on the brink. 

The attack came swiftly, the Paiutes gathered the best warriors, 2000 strong, and under secret sign launched a volley of fire branded arrows at the Si-Te-Cah’s river community.  Despite being on water their makeshift huts burst into flames immediately, the tinder of their boats kindled for hours like a funeral barge.   Hundreds of giants burned, red hair aflame, screaming as their family’s charred carcasses sunk into the murk of the lake below.  No respite was given to the survivors that managed to swim ashore, many with arrows poking out of their backs like bloody porcupines.  Frantic warriors with blue face paint descended on them from all directions.  Some Si-Te-Cah had large spears which quickly became barbed in the flesh of their attackers; one Paiute would impale himself on the weapon in brutal self-sacrifice brought on by a high of peyote and violence, the others would circle the giant with hatchets, hacking at the legs then scalping flesh for the precious red prize secured to their skulls as they dropped to their knees.     

This hair would be used for mourning dress and trophy, trade and commerce; proof of the Paiute conquering spirit and nobility.  After purging the land of the Si-Te-Cah all that remained was bundles of the crimson stained hair, to be passed from generation to generation for hundreds of years, along with the lie of the red haired cannibal monsters that faced the noble savage and lost.