Art by John Buscema
After a two-year absence, Wyatt Wingfoot pays a visit on the Fantastic Four in issue 138 of their self-named comic book. Johnny Storm may have discontinued his education at Metro University, but Wingfoot is about to graduate and invites the team of superheroes to not only attend the ceremony but travel with him afterwards to his Keewazi Tribe’s reservation in Oklahoma.
“Nothing I can pinpoint,” Wingfoot replies when asked by Reed Richards if something is wrong. “It’s just a feeling I have that my people are in trouble. Will you come?”
While Johnny Storm, Benjamin Grimm, and the Inhuman known as Medusa readily accept the invitation, Reed Richards is reluctant to make the trip – his wife Sue recently left him, and he wants to remain at home in case she returns. He does lend the group use of his pogo plane, however, which quickly flies the group to Metro University and the awaiting graduation ceremony.
Back in Oklahoma, meanwhile, a Native American races across the terrain in fear for his life, and his screams inevitably attracts the attention of the Keewazi. Tribesmen immediately head towards the Dark Hills to investigate when a nearby mountain starts to shake and then comes to life in the form of a giant rock creature. The tribal chieftain Silent Fox sends word to his grandson Wyatt Wingfoot at Metro University of the strange occurrence, and it isn’t long before the pogo plane is once again in the air and on its way to Oklahoma.
When Isaac Stevens become the first governor of the newly established territory of Washington in 1853, his first priority was to “purchase” as much land as possible from Native Americans and bequeath it to white settlers instead. Since Stevens was aware of the importance of fishing to Native Americans – not only for food but as part of their cultural heritage – he made sure that every treaty included a clause guarantying each tribe’s fishing rights, considering it a “fair trade” for the millions of acres of land he secured in return.
As more-and-more white fisherman moved into the region over the ensuing decades and the rivers themselves became polluted from industrial factories, the salmon and other fish populations began to dwindle. To combat the decline, government restrictions were enacted by the state, including the prohibition of out-of-season fishing in certain areas. Ignoring previous treaties, Washington likewise began enforcing pre-existing state fishing laws on Native Americans – including the need for fishing permits – with violations often resulting in the confiscation of fishing gear for months at a time.
On January 1, 1964, Native Americans attempting to fish at Frank’s Landing on the Nisqually River were informed that the Pierce County Superior Court had issued an injunction closing the entire river. When that didn’t stop the Native Americans from casting their nets and getting arrested as a result, the court issued a restraining order against them. Again the Native American ignored the ruling, and were again arrested.
A few months later, actor Marlon Brando helped organize a National Indian Youth Council press conference in New York City that addressed the fishing rights violations in the Pacific Northwest. Afterwards, the Muckleshoot, Puyallup, and Nisqually tribes of Washington formally asked the NIYC for its support. The organization agreed to offer their assistance, and immediately began organizing the first “fish-in.”
“A demon has risen from the hills to add to our misery,” Silent Fox explains to Wyatt Wingfoot and his Fantastic Four colleagues. “And ours is not the only tribe so afflicted. These others, from the villages beyond the Dark Hills, they come to us seeking shelter, for their own homes have been destroyed.”
While Silent Fox worries that it is “the gods themselves” attacking, in actuality it is the Miracle Man who is responsible for the mayhem. The Fantastic Four previously fought the supervillain, a former stage magician who learned how to create realistic illusions and went on a crime spree before being stopped by the team of superheroes. Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm are therefore not worried about Miracle Man’s sudden appearance – until they discover that it he is no longer using mere illusions but is now capable of conjuring actual creatures made out of rocks.
While in prison, the Miracle Man discovered a legend about a lost tribe of Native Americans called the Cheemuzwa, who moved into the caves of the Dark Hills long before Europeans ever arrived in North America. Once his jail sentence was served, the Miracle Man went in search of the Cheemuzwa – who supposedly had the mental ability to control solid objects – and eventually stumbled upon their leader Light Horse and six other members of the tribe. At first the Miracle Man thought he had gone mad as the Native Americans appeared to be transparent, as well as floating above the ground.
“You mock yourself, white man,” Light Horse tells him. “Surely this is what you came to learn – the mystic reason for our abilities, which are so natural to us yet so uncommon to you. Our tribe has never dealt with the white man. It would be interesting to learn what you have to tell us, and only fair to reveal our secrets in turn to you.”
The Miracle Man readily accepted the offer. “Light Horse and his tribe were ignorant of the dealings Indians had had with the white man,” he explains to Wyatt Wingfoot, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, and Medusa. “They were suckers for every lie I told them, and in return they taught me. Little things at first – lifting small pebbles – and eventually larger things, such as boulders, trees, and even men.”
The Miracle Man quickly became master of the physical world and soon surpassed the abilities of the Native Americans. Light Horse and his followers eventually realized that the Miracle Man was not being truthful, but by then the villain had learned all their secrets and brought the cave crashing down upon them, killing each and every Cheemuzwa in the process.
On the morning of March 2, 1964, members of the National Indian Youth Council, fishers from local tribes, news reporters, and game wardens all converged on the banks of the Puyallup River for the inaugural fish-in. At first, nothing happened but then Marlon Brando and Episcopalian minister John Yaryan stepped forward and cast their fishing nets into the Puyallup. They were immediately arrested for violating the restraining order that was still in effect.
Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney John McCutcheon immediately dropped the charges against Brando, realizing the actor’s presence was merely a publicity stunt. By the time he was released, however, Brando’s arrest was already front page news throughout the state of Washington and across the rest of the country as well.
The initial media success of the first fish-in continued the next day with a march to the state capital in Olympia, with an estimated fifteen hundred intertribal protesters making the journey. As Native American dances were performed in front of the capitol building, representatives of the National Indian Youth Council met with the governor for over four hours. Although Governor Albert Rossellini did concede to many of the groups demands, he stood firm when it came to Native American fishing rights in the state.
The fish-ins continued throughout the rest of the decade. When Washington State Troopers and State Game Commission officials attacked fishing rights activists with clubs and tear gas in September 1970, U.S. Attorney Stanley Pitkin was among those watching. Afterwards, he filed suit against the state of Washington on behalf of the Native Americans. In the subsequent United States. vs. Washington, U.S. District Court Judge George Boldt sided with the Native Americans and upheld the treaties signed over a century earlier, bringing an end to the conflict.
Back in Oklahoma, the Miracle Man is ready to embark on his path towards world domination, and it is up to Wyatt Wingfoot, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, and Medusa to stop him. The supervillain releases his newfound powers against them but the band of superheroes find a way to survive each onslaught. Yet for all their efforts, it is not until the Miracle Man suddenly vanishes that the battle finally ends.
“We are the Cheemuzwa, the Silent Ones,” the spirit of Light Horse, who has appeared alongside other members of his tribe, tells them. “We are responsible for the madness of the one you call ‘Miracle Man’ and we will take him away that we may someday cure him. Perhaps we may teach him to strive not so strongly against his mortality, for therein lies his anguish and his need for absolute power. He must accept the fact of his eventual death as we have, and see it not as an ending but as a doorway to a different life and a new beginning.”
Once Light Horse has finished speaking, he and his followers simply fade away.
Anthony Letizia