The People of Twelve Thousand Winters (3 page)

Little Talk must have been thinking much too because he began to speak in a voice that almost sounded like White Antler.

“Walking Turtle,” he says, “you have given me your strong back, your straight legs, your kind heart. You have given me the life of a boy I may never have known. Little Talk is grateful to Walking Turtle. In return, I give you my thoughts.”

Little Talk pauses, then speaks softly. “Walking Turtle, you are strong. You must go to warrior school. So, I am giving you back your straight legs, your strong back, and your kind heart to take with you. Our people need you to be a brave warrior, a strong leader, and kind caretaker in harmony with
Kishelemukong
. As you have carried me, someday I think you will carry our people into that vast land beyond our Sky Blue Mountains.”

A silent time passes between us. Then Little Talk yawns and so do I. It is very late and we are sleepy. As I start down the path, the thickening gray clouds close in and a light snow begins to fall. In no time, Little Talk is sound asleep on my back. But, at that moment, I think Little Talk is the stronger one. It feels like Little Talk is carrying me.

Below, the first snowfall of winter lightly covers our bark lodges. My people are still gathered around fires, telling the stories of old, the drums beating softly now. Someday I too will tell the tale of this night, but for now I am thankful for one more snowfall to add to the snows of twelve thousand winters. One more winter has come to the Lenni Lenape.

We the people will keep our fires burning.

Author's Note

I live on a hill above the Passaic River in northern New Jersey. As I hike the woodland trails behind my studio, I've always felt a respectful and close kinship to the original people who lived here so long ago, the Munsee Lenape. At a bend in the river is a place called Flat Rock where the water flows into many shallow rock pools. It is believed that the Lenape women washed their clothes and utensils here while their children played; it is the same place where we bring our neighborhood children to explore and play in the shallow water.

The timelessness of these ancient New Jersey hills, the endless flow of the river, the gentle wind rising up from the valley floor to shake the dried beech leaves like a Lenape turtle shell rattle has inspired me to dream of a boy named Walking Turtle and his life as an original American. So I set this story here, in this ancient land of the Lenape, where Brother Sun rises up from the Great Salt Sea each morning to greet this land we call America, this place where I live…this place where the spirit of the first Americans endures.

—
Trinka Hakes Noble

 

Glossary

The Great White Path
: The Milky Way

Heart Berry
: The Lenape called wild strawberries “heart berries” because they were red and shaped like a heart.

Kishelemukong (Kish-e-le-mu-kong)
: Lenape name for God, or the Great Creator Kokolesh (Ko-ko-lesh): Cup and Pin, a game of skill

Lenni Lenape (Len-ni Le-na-pe)
: The original people who inhabited New Jersey, southeastern New York, western Connecticut, eastern Pennsylvania, and Delaware. This vast area was called Lenapehoking or Land of the Lenape.

Mesingw (Me-sing)
: A Good Spirit Being who rode through the forest on the back of a huge deer, looking after the animals and protecting hunters and lost children.

Sakima (Sak-i-ma)
: A tribal leader or chief in peacetime

Shackamaxon (Shack-a-max-on)
: Located in the center of Lenapehoking where the Schuylkill River enters the Delaware, this large and prominent Lenape community was where tribal leaders met and important ceremonies took place for all Lenape.

Shamokin (Sha-mo-kin)
: Located where the two branches of the Susquehanna River converge, Shamokin was an important place of trade and cultural exchange for many Northeast Native American tribes, including the Lenape.

Wayhuhweehuhlahs (Way-huh-wee-huhlah)
: The giver of names. A Lenape child was given a name around the age of five.