Seal, continued
They arrived late that afternoon to find the camp as they had left it the year before, the house frames ready for the broad cedar planks to be assembled to form the roof. With all the men working together hauling the beams from the canoes up the hill to the village site, it wasn’t long until the houses were complete and the storage boxes could be moved in. The chief had declared that to host the pre-engagement ceremony for his niece and the representatives of the Kaw-Seth people, he would build the best wedding house in anyone’s memory with a wooden floor inside and a meeting platform outside. It would be a way of showing his generosity and the abundance of wealth that Wonderful Doer had lavished upon the clans and families of the Duwam'ha.
Construction started almost immediately on the house, which would be larger than the chief’s Salmon Lodge in the winter village. The plan was to finish the floor this summer and the house the next when the wedding would take place – assuming that the suitor proved worthy and passed the tests.
This meant that many of the strongest braves were set to the task of cutting cedar trees down for lumber. Se'akwal and chief Katee'qwa and three elders took a smaller canoe to the far side of the island in search of a suitable tree that would also give them permission. The first grove of trees seemed right, but when the lumber scouts sang the permission song, shaking the chief’s rattle, then waited for a reply they heard a raven call from the high branches, telling them that the tree did not wish to give up its body. The next group of trees assented and the chief sang a song of thanks and blew eagle down around the trunk of the selected tree, praying that the men harvesting it would be safe.
Later that day the trunk was wrapped with bands of wet deer hide in two strips, then a fire started to burn the exposed wood in the middle. Soon the men heard the high pitched groan and the huge ancient one fell down with a loud, ground moving crash like the beat of a mighty drum upon the whole earth, followed by cheers of the workers, who immediately began to cut off and clean the branches with axes, striping away the bark. The branches would become firewood and the bark made into household items such as mats, baskets or clothing. Soon wedges would split planks of sweet smelling cedar for the new dance platform.
Next chapter
Construction started almost immediately on the house, which would be larger than the chief’s Salmon Lodge in the winter village. The plan was to finish the floor this summer and the house the next when the wedding would take place – assuming that the suitor proved worthy and passed the tests.
This meant that many of the strongest braves were set to the task of cutting cedar trees down for lumber. Se'akwal and chief Katee'qwa and three elders took a smaller canoe to the far side of the island in search of a suitable tree that would also give them permission. The first grove of trees seemed right, but when the lumber scouts sang the permission song, shaking the chief’s rattle, then waited for a reply they heard a raven call from the high branches, telling them that the tree did not wish to give up its body. The next group of trees assented and the chief sang a song of thanks and blew eagle down around the trunk of the selected tree, praying that the men harvesting it would be safe.
Later that day the trunk was wrapped with bands of wet deer hide in two strips, then a fire started to burn the exposed wood in the middle. Soon the men heard the high pitched groan and the huge ancient one fell down with a loud, ground moving crash like the beat of a mighty drum upon the whole earth, followed by cheers of the workers, who immediately began to cut off and clean the branches with axes, striping away the bark. The branches would become firewood and the bark made into household items such as mats, baskets or clothing. Soon wedges would split planks of sweet smelling cedar for the new dance platform.
Next chapter
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