Eel Mask
It wasn't many days more that the five suitor party canoes paddled north to find the abalone islet and the braves began gathering bunches of the large shellfish. Hayoqwis carved sets of three pronged hooks strapped to long poles with root twine and fir pitch and the fishermen used the hooks to take up from the ocean floor the richest food of the otter-people along with the treasured shells that glow blue, purple and green and are coveted everywhere as jewelry and fittings for pipes, flutes and head crests.
On the last day when the cache of abalone neared one hundred, Hayoqwis handed a large cedar bark net bag of about twenty shells to Tokwish from the large canoe to a skin boat in order to transfer them to the shore for the women to dress. But, his hand slipped and the net fell into deep water and began to sink toward the ocean floor about twice the depth of the hooks. Instead of forgetting the loss and starting over, Hayoqwis immediately leap into the cold water and began to dive down after it. The ice-cold salt water pressed around him and burned his eyes and he had to surface once for a gasp of breath.
Tokwish and the other braves urged him to give up. "Don't do it, brother. We can fish for more. Forget it and come up here and help us."
But, Hayoqwis did not listen and chose to dive again. With great effort, he reached the bag and felt the bark net in his hands, then turned back looking up to the surface and saw streams of sun light shining down through strands of kelp floating above. A cloud of many tiny fish reflected like sparks from a fire. He forgot how cold and tired he was, seeing the strange sight of the bottom of the skin boat bobbing in the waves and the blurred image of Tokwish leaning over the side looking down.
Suddenly he first felt, then saw something thick as his arm swim up between his legs and onto his chest. With a frantic swing he pushed away a large eel with gaping fangs that seemed to dart towards his neck and he suddenly realized that he was choking on a mouthful of think tasting saltwater. As a fisherman and sealer, he and his brother had prided himself on his prowess in swimming in cold waters. Since childhood he had thrived in such waters and never thought that he would die drowning. He squeezed his eyes hard against the overwhelming surge of salt water that filled his throat until blackness cut off his struggle and he drifting lifeless down to the bottom of the ocean floor.
But, Sea Ghost failed to take him that day.
His next memory was not visions of the sky world as he might have imagined. Instead the world of land and wind came into focus. He was laying in the gravel on the beach, wrapped with a strangly warm blanket and his white haired aunt Gamlakyet cradling his head as he coughed and shivered deeply.
He learned later that Tokwish, looking down in the clear water had seen the bag fall away from his brother when he struggled in some kind of distress, then go limp and sink like the bag farther into black depths. Tokwish dived in after him, swimming down with unusual strength to grab his brother by the hair with one hand -- and as luck would have it, the bag of shellfish with the other -- and pull them both up to the surface. The braves slipped Hayoqwis into the safety of the canoe and quickly brought him to the shore and the help of aunt Gamlakyet, who was known as a healer. She instructed them to lay him head down towards the water on the bank, like bleeding a deer carcass and to slap his back to drive out the water.
By now Hayoqwis' face and skin had turned blue-white like the shell of an urchin and he began to resemble a corpse. Each one of the suitor party feared that his life quest was over. But, Gamlakyet insisted that they continue to follow her remedy and that her niece Howlish not cease to chant the protection song. Soon after the braves slapped him very hard one last time Hayoqwis, confirming his namesake, coughed out water and took sharp breaths. The color of a living man returned to his face and they gave him warm tea to drink by the cook fire.
"The powers of the otter people and Eagle Ghost together are no match for our Sea Champion," said Tokwish, who now could boast that he had repaid his brother by rescuing his life from the water world just as Hayoqwis had saved him from the bear attack.
Next chapter
On the last day when the cache of abalone neared one hundred, Hayoqwis handed a large cedar bark net bag of about twenty shells to Tokwish from the large canoe to a skin boat in order to transfer them to the shore for the women to dress. But, his hand slipped and the net fell into deep water and began to sink toward the ocean floor about twice the depth of the hooks. Instead of forgetting the loss and starting over, Hayoqwis immediately leap into the cold water and began to dive down after it. The ice-cold salt water pressed around him and burned his eyes and he had to surface once for a gasp of breath.
Tokwish and the other braves urged him to give up. "Don't do it, brother. We can fish for more. Forget it and come up here and help us."
But, Hayoqwis did not listen and chose to dive again. With great effort, he reached the bag and felt the bark net in his hands, then turned back looking up to the surface and saw streams of sun light shining down through strands of kelp floating above. A cloud of many tiny fish reflected like sparks from a fire. He forgot how cold and tired he was, seeing the strange sight of the bottom of the skin boat bobbing in the waves and the blurred image of Tokwish leaning over the side looking down.
Suddenly he first felt, then saw something thick as his arm swim up between his legs and onto his chest. With a frantic swing he pushed away a large eel with gaping fangs that seemed to dart towards his neck and he suddenly realized that he was choking on a mouthful of think tasting saltwater. As a fisherman and sealer, he and his brother had prided himself on his prowess in swimming in cold waters. Since childhood he had thrived in such waters and never thought that he would die drowning. He squeezed his eyes hard against the overwhelming surge of salt water that filled his throat until blackness cut off his struggle and he drifting lifeless down to the bottom of the ocean floor.
But, Sea Ghost failed to take him that day.
His next memory was not visions of the sky world as he might have imagined. Instead the world of land and wind came into focus. He was laying in the gravel on the beach, wrapped with a strangly warm blanket and his white haired aunt Gamlakyet cradling his head as he coughed and shivered deeply.
He learned later that Tokwish, looking down in the clear water had seen the bag fall away from his brother when he struggled in some kind of distress, then go limp and sink like the bag farther into black depths. Tokwish dived in after him, swimming down with unusual strength to grab his brother by the hair with one hand -- and as luck would have it, the bag of shellfish with the other -- and pull them both up to the surface. The braves slipped Hayoqwis into the safety of the canoe and quickly brought him to the shore and the help of aunt Gamlakyet, who was known as a healer. She instructed them to lay him head down towards the water on the bank, like bleeding a deer carcass and to slap his back to drive out the water.
By now Hayoqwis' face and skin had turned blue-white like the shell of an urchin and he began to resemble a corpse. Each one of the suitor party feared that his life quest was over. But, Gamlakyet insisted that they continue to follow her remedy and that her niece Howlish not cease to chant the protection song. Soon after the braves slapped him very hard one last time Hayoqwis, confirming his namesake, coughed out water and took sharp breaths. The color of a living man returned to his face and they gave him warm tea to drink by the cook fire.
"The powers of the otter people and Eagle Ghost together are no match for our Sea Champion," said Tokwish, who now could boast that he had repaid his brother by rescuing his life from the water world just as Hayoqwis had saved him from the bear attack.
Next chapter
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