Grey Eyes (25 page)

38
nistomitanaw ayinānīwosāp

A
s the sundancers broke their fast and recovered their strength, they began to leave
Nisichawayasihk
and return to their home villages, though throughout the villages what happened at the sundance ceremony was being talked about.

Little Grey Bear Boy's healing was difficult, but after a few days he was able to walk around the village. Everyone was hard at work trying to replenish their stores of food for the winter. Hosting the sacred sundance ceremony had taxed their resources—none of the clans had any dried meat, wild rice, or berries. The village had given all it could to be good hosts to the pilgrims. That is the way of the
Nehiyawak
; they welcome visitors as though they are family and would have them want for nothing while under their care.

The Marten, Wolf, and especially the Eagle clans sent their many hunters out often and recovered quickly. The Bears and Turtles were not faring so well and getting discouraged. But not Flying Rabbit Boy—he would awake early to complete his chores, collecting wood and cleaning out the ashes from the centre fire, then go off hunting with his bow. Although he was not able to travel far from the village, he could go as far as the lakeshore in search of ducks and geese, hoping to take some before they migrated south. Time was running out—the leaves of the forest were already changing.

Painted Turtle Man decided it would be good for Little Grey Bear Boy to walk the forest with his cousin. The two boys scoured the marshlands in search of waterfowl. Coming upon a pair of ducks, Flying Rabbit Boy drew back an arrow and released it.

“Not again,” he whined as the arrow flew off wildly and the startled ducks flew away.

“You are getting closer.”

“
Motch
, it's my arm. I'll never be able to aim the bow properly.” He pushed the heel of his palm into the deep scars where the Red-Eye warrior had cut him. It had been three years since the attack.

“I can pull the bow back,” he explained, “but my bow arm shakes when I aim it. Before you turned me into a turtle, he cut me deep into the meat. It does not work as well as it did before.”

“At least Painted Turtle Man was able to save your arm,” joked Little Grey Bear Boy. “You would have a hard time aiming the bow with your teeth!”

The two boys laughed at the thought.

“You are just trying to make me feel better,” said Flying Rabbit Boy. “All the other boys my age are bringing home ducks and geese. How will I prove myself a warrior if I can't do the tasks everyone else my age can do? Can't you use the Grey-Eye magic to make me a better hunter?”

“
Motch
, I can't even use the Grey-Eye magic to make myself a better hunter. We will keep trying. There are more ducks around here somewhere.”

“
Tapwe
,” sighed Flying Rabbit Boy, “I am bound to get lucky eventually.”

“
Tansi?
Young warriors.” The startled boys looked up to see Red Sky Man of the Eagle clan approaching through the bush. Little Grey Bear Boy's heart started pounding. He felt a lump in the back of his throat as he looked upon the man who had wounded him.

“I couldn't help overhearing your conversation as I was picking medicines.”

“We did not mean to disturb you, Uncle,” said Flying Rabbit Boy respectfully.

“I explained to your family,” Red Sky Man continued, ignoring Flying Rabbit Boy, “that I had worked with a young Grey-Eyed boy years ago. When I met him, he was in the same situation you are in. He had no idea how to use the magic. I might be able to help you…”

“How could you teach him, Uncle, when you do not have grey eyes yourself?”

Red Sky Man scowled at Flying Rabbit Boy. The boy lowered his eyes to apologize for his impudence.

“Maybe I could show you,” suggested Red Sky Man. “We can find some more ducks.”

“
Motch
, we would not want to keep you from your work, Uncle,” said Little Grey Bear Boy. “Besides, it's starting to look like it might rain…”

“Nonsense!” boomed Red Sky Man. “It won't take too long. What could be more important than a boy learning to provide for his family? How else will you two become warriors?”

Little Grey Bear Boy brightened at this idea. He, too, wanted to provide.

“Come with me,” smiled Red Sky Man.

They began walking around the edge of the marsh. Little Grey Bear Boy still had a sinking feeling in his chest and a lump in his throat, but he had been taught to respect his elders, so follow he must.

Soon, the three found another pair of ducks swimming and diving for food.

“Okay,” whispered Red Sky Man squatting down low. “This is what you must do…You there, Rabbit Boy, will aim your bow. Little Grey Bear Boy, you stand behind him and place your hands on his shoulders. I will stand by you and teach you the hunting chant, which will give him the true aim.”

Little Grey Bear Boy did not like the idea of using the Grey-Eye magic for hunting, as it would not be fair to the ducks. Flying Rabbit Boy, on the other hand, was excited at the prospect of success, earned or otherwise. He notched an arrow to his bowstring and pulled back. His bow arm shook like it always did.

“All right,” whispered Red Sky Man standing behind Little Grey Bear Boy. “Put your hands on his shoulders.”

Little Grey Bear Boy did as instructed and Red Sky Man began to chant the ancient hunting chant. As he was chanting, Little Grey Bear Boy began to sense the vibration of the Grey-Eye magic. It felt a little different this time—there was a strange feeling of warmth behind his eyes as it took hold.

Flying Rabbit Boy's bow arm stopped shaking and straightened directly at the ducks. He loosed his arrow and it fired straight and true, guided by the Grey-Eye magic. The arrow stuck the hen first through the side of the neck then deflected directly into the front of the drake's throat. Both ducks killed with a single shot.

“Woo-ooo!” cheered Flying Rabbit Boy having finally succeeded where he had always failed. “Thank-you, Uncle, for your teaching!”

Flying Rabbit Boy dropped his bow and quiver of arrows and proceeded to take off his shirt, leggings, and moccasins. He ran out into the cold water, splashing about and cheering like a fool. He waded out to retrieve the ducks.

“You have done well,” said Red Sky Man. “You know, there is much more I can teach you.”

“Thank you, Uncle,” said Little Grey Bear Boy. “I am grateful for your teaching, but I must heed my
moosum
, Painted Turtle Man, who has been helping me since before I can remember.”

“
Tapwe
, I understand how you must feel about him. Perhaps you have learned all he can teach you. You don't need to decide anything right now, you are still a boy with plenty of time before you can start to walk man's road…All I ask is that you come to me when you are ready to earn a name and start to help your family. I know they could use another hunter…”

Little Grey Bear Boy wanted to agree with this reasonable request. For some reason his heart was pounding as Red Sky Man's eyes looked into him. A half-soaked Flying Rabbit Boy bounded back to them, a fat duck in each hand.

“Thank you, Grandmother Duck,” he shouted up to the sky in front of them. “Cousin, get out your tobacco!”

Red Sky Man smiled. “Well, I will leave you boys to it. Think about what I said.”

“Thank you again, Uncle,” said Little Grey Bear Boy bowing his head respectfully.

Red Sky Man made his way back to the forest.

Flying Rabbit Boy was still smiling from ear to ear. Little Grey Bear Boy rolled his eyes and removed a small pouch from his satchel.

“Brother and sister duck,” he prayed. “We thank you for sacrificing yourselves so that our family can survive. We will honour your courage by ensuring every part of your body is used in a good way. Your meat will be eaten, your sinew will be spun into thread, your feathers will guide our arrows, and your bones will make whistles and charms. If there is even a scrap we are not able to make use of, we will see it returned to Mother Earth, so that the grasses, trees, and plants will nourish your relatives. All my relations,
ekosani
.”

Little Grey Bear Boy put a clump of tobacco down at the edge of the marsh to honour the spirit of Grandmother Duck.

Flying Rabbit Boy was happier and more excited than Little Grey Bear Boy had seen him in a long while. Back at the village, they stopped by the Turtle lodge so he could do something he had been dreaming about.

Flying Rabbit Boy cleared his throat in as manly a manner as he could. “Ahem!”

Green Wing Woman, matriarch of the Turtle clan, came and opened the flaps. “Ohh,
tansi,
young warrior?” she said, observing the two fat ducks in Flying Rabbit Boy's hands. “May the Grandmother Turtle guide you in the ways of learning.”

“May the Grandmother Bear guide you in the ways of healing,” Flying Rabbit Boy answered appropriately. “I have come to seek your assistance. Mother Earth has given us her blessing this day, but I am afraid she has been too generous. Would you please accept one of these ducks? My family cannot make use of both and it would be wrong to let it go to waste.”

With mock reluctance, Green Wing Woman accepted. “If it would help the Bear clan…”

“Thank you,
Nookum
,” said Flying Rabbit Boy graciously. “I am in your debt.”

“One day you will become a fine warrior.” From behind her came the sound of laughing.

Flying Rabbit Boy could barely contain his smile. His cousin grabbed his arm and pulled him away. The boys bowed to the matriarch and went home, Flying Rabbit Boy with a new bounce in his step.

39
nistomitanaw kīkā-mitātahtosāp

T
hough most of the clans had managed to replenish their food stores, the winter that year was long and difficult for the people of
Nisichawayasihk
. Life was especially hard for the Bear clan. Blue Elk Man and Brown Shield Man had again stayed behind when most of the other warriors had gone south for the great buffalo hunt in the fall. This year, the other warriors were not able to be quite as generous as they had been in previous years.

Again, the saving grace of the Bear clan was the assistance of Drifting Butterfly Woman, the young matriarch of the Crane clan, and her husband Many Fish. She continued to recruit White Willow Woman and Singing Doe to assist in the cleaning and smoking of the fish her husband caught.

Painted Turtle Man was having difficulties of his own. His sacred sight had somehow diminished, which many of the
Nehiyawak
attributed to his age. Whenever a warrior passed tobacco to Painted Turtle Man to be guided on the hunt or in some other endeavour, more often than not it would end in failure. One Deer clan warrior met with disaster. He was dragged back into the village on a makeshift travois pulled by Red Sky Man.

A crowd was gathering in the centre of the circle of lodges where Red Sky Man had pulled the travois. Despite the cold wind and blowing snow the villagers were curious to hear the details of what had happened. People gathered, trudging through hard snow and wrapped up in their buffalo robes. “I went to the place Painted Turtle Man's vision had guided me to,” explained the warrior. “I found the bluff to the northeast where he had seen the moose in his vision. I positioned myself at the edge of the cliff as instructed, keeping downwind from the birch tree below, just as I had been told. As I waited, I began to get sleepy and I didn't notice a crow fly onto the tree I was under. The crow cawed loudly and startled me and I fell off the cliff and broke my leg. I called for help for some time before Red Sky Man found me.”

“I do not think anyone should blame Painted Turtle Man,” said Red Sky Man, though no one had thought to. “Although I did not see any moose sign, I am sure there was one on its way. It was an accident no one could have foreseen.”

“What brought you out there?” Painted Turtle Man asked Red Sky Man.

“I was looking for spruce gum for a medicine I am making,” answered Red Sky Man. “Anyway, it's a good thing I was there, or this warrior might have frozen to death.”

The people of
Nisichawayasihk
murmured and offered prayers of thanks to
Kitchi Manitou
for preventing such a tragedy.

“A long way to go for spruce gum,” said Painted Turtle Man, fixing his gaze on Red Sky Man.

“I needed a certain kind not found around here. You have probably never heard of it.”

Painted Turtle Man nodded suspiciously, then noticed the sky was becoming cloudy. He looked back at Red Sky Man, smiled, and walked away.

“It is unfortunately the mind that is usually the first thing to suffer with age,” Red Sky Man whispered to the man next to him.

Warriors who passed their tobacco to Red Sky Man that winter seemed to be blessed with unusual success. One young warrior of only fourteen summers had worn an elk tooth charm around his neck that Red Sky Man had blessed for him. When he went out hunting as directed, he managed to find and kill the largest elk anyone in the village had ever seen. The boy was immediately inducted into the Soaring Eagle Warrior Society for his success.

Eventually, not only warriors but anyone seeking help or healing stopped visiting the Bear medicine lodge. Slowly, even Painted Turtle Man's helpers began to abandon him.

“I am sorry,
Moosum
,” apologized Soaring Spear Man, the last of his helpers. “I am grateful for your teachings. I must now go and learn what others might have to teach me.”

“I understand,” said Painted Turtle Man, mustering what little pride he had left. “Go forward and learn. Of all the teachings that will be presented to you by new teachers, take only what you need and leave the rest behind.”

With that final lesson, Soaring Spear Man nodded and shook hands with Painted Turtle Man for the last time as his student.

One night, during a meagre evening meal at the Bear lodge, Walking Moon Woman spoke up. “My cousin. I have begun to miss the time we used to spend together. In this Bear lodge, I have only the young people to speak to. As I grow older, I wish to spend more time talking with my age mates. Younger people only ever concern themselves with the future. I wish to reminisce about the days that have passed, days which these ones were not around to see. You should come back into the Bear lodge so we can talk in the evening when I have my tea. You could also help to give me your advice on matters of importance to the family and the village.”

“Your grandchildren are growing, my cousin,” replied Painted Turtle Man. “The Bear lodge already seems too small for them. Also, I have many medicines that would take up too much space and cause you much grief. I am afraid I would just be a burden to you.”

The truth was, having seen seventy-two summers, the old medicine carrier's body no longer had the strength to maintain a lodge by himself. Even with Little Grey Bear Boy and his cousin Flying Rabbit Boy trying their best to assist him, Painted Turtle Man did not have the help—or the muscle—he needed to continue.

“Nonsense,” said Walking Moon Woman. “There is plenty of room. I will just have my daughters clean up some of their mess!”

“We would be honoured to have you back in the Bear lodge, Uncle,” said White Willow Woman. “You could help to teach the children. Already they ask many questions and there is just not enough time in the day to finish our work and explain everything to them.”

“
Tapwe
, you would be doing us a service,” added Singing Doe.

“
Tapwe
,” said Brown Shield Man, “and we would all be warmer this winter if we were to add the hides from the Bear medicine lodge to one home.”

“I think we would all be more comfortable,” nodded Blue Elk Man. It was a strange comment coming from the quiet warrior who had endured many hardships.

“It seems the whole clan is in agreement on this,” observed Painted Turtle Man, looking from one adult to the next. “Who am I to argue with the Bear clan?”

Blue Elk Man and Brown Shield Man got to work the next day disassembling the Bear medicine lodge. White Willow Woman, Singing Doe, and the children helped pack up the medicines and possessions and moved them into the Bear lodge. The lodge poles were widened and once again Painted Turtle man was with the clan.

No sooner had the Bear medicine lodge gone down than a new Eagle medicine lodge went up. Red Sky Man, the new Eagle medicine keeper, had elevated himself quickly in the eyes of the people of
Nisichawayasihk.
This was not uncommon—the
Nehiyawak
often held newcomers in higher esteem than those who had grown up in their community.

On seeing this, Painted Turtle Man prayed. “
Kitchi Manitou
, is this your way of giving an old man a rest before calling me back on the long journey to the Spirit World? Show me how I can best be of service to the
Nehiyawak
.”

He tried to focus on his one remaining task, the education of Little Grey Bear Boy and the other Bear clan children. “Your will be done,
Kitchi Manitou
…” he prayed whenever feelings of regret entered his heart.

The Bear clan struggled through the winter. They may have all grown a little thinner through the hard-faced moons of Old Man Winter, but they greeted a renewed Mother Earth in the spring together. Little Grey Bear Boy and his cousin joined Many Fish in learning how to use a net in the river to catch spawning fish. His own children being too young to learn the skills yet, Many Fish welcomed the opportunity to teach young men who were still earning their warrior names.

The river ice had broken and cleared, though the edge of the river bank still had snow and ice in the shaded areas. The water had not yet given up its winter chill and the two boys were careful not to fall in. To do the work they were doing it didn't take very long for their mukluks to get soaking wet with the cold water.

“You need to pull from the top of the net!” Many Fish laughed, as the boy's unpracticed hands struggled with the net. “Pull into the current!”

“But that makes it feel heavier,” whined Flying Rabbit Boy.

“
Tapwe
, but doing things the harder way is usually the right way. When you pull with the current the net is lighter, so the fish can swim away from it. You need to catch them head on.”

“Just pull!” growled Little Grey Bear Boy. The struggling boys managed to pull their net a ways up the river, getting it onto the land. Their cheering mothers and Drifting Butterfly Woman, matriarch of the Crane clan, greeted them and their full net.

“Thank you grandmothers and grandfathers of the water.” Little Grey Bear Boy took out his pouch of tobacco and offered a pinch to the river. “You have blessed us with our fish brothers and sisters. We will no longer be hungry thanks to your generosity. Thank you, Mother Earth for your bounty.”

“All my relations!” said the others when he had concluded.

“It has been a long winter,” said Drifting Butterfly Woman to her friends, “and you two have become very skinny. I am starting to feel sorry for your husbands.”

The women laughed at the playful jest. It was well known that the men of the
Nehiyawak
preferred their wives well-fed.

“
Tapwe
,” laughed Singing Doe, “but these fish will change all that!”

Many Fish taught the boys how to scrape the bark off of a tamarack tree and cure it over a fire to make a carrying pole. Once gutted, they hung the fish through the gills on the firm poles, filling two. They carried the poles, one end on each shoulder, home.

With Flying Rabbit Boy in the front, Little Grey Bear Boy at the rear, and all the fish hanging between them, they looked like a large caterpillar. As usual, they stopped by the Turtle lodge to share their catch. They were greeted by Green Wing Woman, matriarch of the Turtle clan. Her granddaughters were quick to cast aside their sewing and quillwork to see what was happening.

“
Tansi,
Flying Rabbit Boy,” called one of the girls. “What did you bring for me?”

“
Awas
,” said her sister. “He came here to see me, didn't you?”

“Well, I…” blushed Flying Rabbit Boy as the young Turtles laughed.

“
Awas
, you two, don't tease him,” said the matriarch. “Go back inside and do your work.”

“
Motch
, I don't think they…” he was too late. They went back into the lodge as ordered, whispering and giggling to one another.

“My boy,” said Green Wing Woman to Little Grey Bear Boy, “you have certainly grown this winter.”

“Thank you,
Nookum
,” he replied politely.

“You will soon earn a new name, it seems.”

“Perhaps,” answered Little Grey Bear Boy, his heart jumping at the thought. “I will leave such concerns for
Kitchi Manitou
to decide.”

She smiled. “Humility is a fine quality in a young man. May the Grandmother Turtle guide you in the ways of learning.”

“And may the Grandmother Bear guide you in the ways of healing,” replied Little Grey Bear Boy.

When they returned to the Bear lodge, the cousins tied the tamarack pole across the lodge poles. Just as they were about to set up the smoking rack, they heard an announcement.

“People of
Nisichawayasihk
,” boomed the Crane clan warrior's voice, “come and greet the new visitors to our village!”