Candle Fish, continued
Back at the village the quartered carcass, the head, heart and liver were decorated with flowers and herbs and hung on poles at a shrine on the cool north side of the feast house in thanks to the Great Spirit for his provision. The youngest hunter was made official caretaker and permitted to wear the family elk hat -- giving him the authority to decorate the meat and tell the story of the hunt to onlookers who came to admire the kill.
After the meat hung for four days -- in honor of the four directions that guided the hunters -- the people wrapped the largest cuts in layers of skunk cabbage leaves to be roasted beneath a covering of hot coals. Some steaks were pinned to cedar planks and cooked directly over a fire burning sweet alder wood. Smaller parts were steamed in cooking boxes as usual with savory herbs. Certain portions were best eaten raw. The fresh meat was a welcomed change after the moons of clams, dry winter provisions and smoked fish. While the men hunted, the women collected a large amount of fern-head sprouts and steamed them in boxes along with pure white camas bulbs. The smell of the delicious venison and vegetables cooking over the fragrant fire filled the long house and the whole village and made everyone’s mouth water in anticipation of the girl’s Crane-people feast that afternoon.
Uma-kwee was too excited to eat that morning, as her mother dressed her for the ceremony and she packed her clothing for the four day stay above the Sky Ladder Falls. Five of her friends were also chosen to join in the passage into womanhood. Neighbors and relatives presented each girl with gifts in the morning of the feast -- such as mother of pearl pendants, whale fin combs, polished bone or abalone shell earrings and, the greatest honor, a new pestle ornately carved just for the occasion.
She thanked each donor with a traditional embrace, carefully putting the gift into her open jewelry box, where she displayed her prized possessions, normally hidden from the hands of her younger brothers. In the small box carved out of a single piece of cedar with a tightly fit lid was her jade nose ring given to her by her grandfather, a mother-of-pearl and bear claw studded head dress band, carved bone broaches and shell earrings and beads. She also kept sweet smelling cedar tips and dried alpine flowers collected during the previous fall’s berry picking to remind her of the mountain slopes.
She knew from other young women that after capture by the bird-people, she and her friends would return for a long period of seclusion behind a curtain of decorated blankets in their family lodge and remain there until the new moon. That could be a long time.
Her friends had heard about how boring the seclusion rite is and encouraged each other to be prepared with games and activities in addition to the traditional songs that they would sing to keep themselves entertained. One friend was given permission to play with the family’s bone toss game pieces, usually reserved for the men. Her friend Nahi had three puppies to accompany her and offered to give one to Uma-Kwee, but her father forbid dogs in the house.
But, Uma-kwee was determined to have a pet to play with, even if it would be a wood beetle -- like her brothers sometimes captured for races. That morning while collecting firewood in the forest, she turned over a fallen cedar log that was hollow inside and filled with decaying mulch looking for a beetle. In the red dust of the sweet smelling log, she saw something white about the size of her little finger move. She bent down close for a better look and blew away the red dust to reveal a fat, sleepy grub awakened by the new light. The tiny creature fascinated Uma-kwee and reminded her of a newborn puppy.
“You look hungry, little puppy. I will feed you something tasty. You will be my companion to play with during the seclusion,” she said to the slow-moving worm in the palm of her hand. It was best to keep her new pet secret, because her brothers would laugh and her stepmother would not be pleased. She hummed the puppy song as she wrapped the grub in a maple tree leaf and tied it up like a purse with a thread of cedar bark collected nearby and carefully secured it with her bundle of fire-start.
When she returned home, she put her pet worm into the jewelry box upon a bed of leaves and moss, giving him some cooked camas root mixed with sage for food. The fat worm wiggled his head in the food and seemed to like it.
“Eat well, my little one,” she said.
After singing a lullaby quietly enough not to call the attention of her curious brothers, she secured the lid and returned the box to its hidden place among the family’s other baskets and storage boxes. She finished dressing in the special coming-of-age costume and joined her family walking to the feast house.
As she walked, neighbors cheered and pointed, “There is a fledgling about to fly from the nest!” Or, “Don’t fall to the ground, little bird.”
Next Chapter
After the meat hung for four days -- in honor of the four directions that guided the hunters -- the people wrapped the largest cuts in layers of skunk cabbage leaves to be roasted beneath a covering of hot coals. Some steaks were pinned to cedar planks and cooked directly over a fire burning sweet alder wood. Smaller parts were steamed in cooking boxes as usual with savory herbs. Certain portions were best eaten raw. The fresh meat was a welcomed change after the moons of clams, dry winter provisions and smoked fish. While the men hunted, the women collected a large amount of fern-head sprouts and steamed them in boxes along with pure white camas bulbs. The smell of the delicious venison and vegetables cooking over the fragrant fire filled the long house and the whole village and made everyone’s mouth water in anticipation of the girl’s Crane-people feast that afternoon.
Uma-kwee was too excited to eat that morning, as her mother dressed her for the ceremony and she packed her clothing for the four day stay above the Sky Ladder Falls. Five of her friends were also chosen to join in the passage into womanhood. Neighbors and relatives presented each girl with gifts in the morning of the feast -- such as mother of pearl pendants, whale fin combs, polished bone or abalone shell earrings and, the greatest honor, a new pestle ornately carved just for the occasion.
She thanked each donor with a traditional embrace, carefully putting the gift into her open jewelry box, where she displayed her prized possessions, normally hidden from the hands of her younger brothers. In the small box carved out of a single piece of cedar with a tightly fit lid was her jade nose ring given to her by her grandfather, a mother-of-pearl and bear claw studded head dress band, carved bone broaches and shell earrings and beads. She also kept sweet smelling cedar tips and dried alpine flowers collected during the previous fall’s berry picking to remind her of the mountain slopes.
She knew from other young women that after capture by the bird-people, she and her friends would return for a long period of seclusion behind a curtain of decorated blankets in their family lodge and remain there until the new moon. That could be a long time.
Her friends had heard about how boring the seclusion rite is and encouraged each other to be prepared with games and activities in addition to the traditional songs that they would sing to keep themselves entertained. One friend was given permission to play with the family’s bone toss game pieces, usually reserved for the men. Her friend Nahi had three puppies to accompany her and offered to give one to Uma-Kwee, but her father forbid dogs in the house.
But, Uma-kwee was determined to have a pet to play with, even if it would be a wood beetle -- like her brothers sometimes captured for races. That morning while collecting firewood in the forest, she turned over a fallen cedar log that was hollow inside and filled with decaying mulch looking for a beetle. In the red dust of the sweet smelling log, she saw something white about the size of her little finger move. She bent down close for a better look and blew away the red dust to reveal a fat, sleepy grub awakened by the new light. The tiny creature fascinated Uma-kwee and reminded her of a newborn puppy.
“You look hungry, little puppy. I will feed you something tasty. You will be my companion to play with during the seclusion,” she said to the slow-moving worm in the palm of her hand. It was best to keep her new pet secret, because her brothers would laugh and her stepmother would not be pleased. She hummed the puppy song as she wrapped the grub in a maple tree leaf and tied it up like a purse with a thread of cedar bark collected nearby and carefully secured it with her bundle of fire-start.
When she returned home, she put her pet worm into the jewelry box upon a bed of leaves and moss, giving him some cooked camas root mixed with sage for food. The fat worm wiggled his head in the food and seemed to like it.
“Eat well, my little one,” she said.
After singing a lullaby quietly enough not to call the attention of her curious brothers, she secured the lid and returned the box to its hidden place among the family’s other baskets and storage boxes. She finished dressing in the special coming-of-age costume and joined her family walking to the feast house.
As she walked, neighbors cheered and pointed, “There is a fledgling about to fly from the nest!” Or, “Don’t fall to the ground, little bird.”
Next Chapter
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