Winter Remembrances of Snowy Owl

Home

2011-06-19T14:51:00.001-07:00

“All people must be reborn from the dust of the ancestor's bones. And so we learn to sing the death song without fear -- like a hero coming home.”

-- Chief Klass-hilaa'm of the Tispiox

Prologue
PART ONE
Island Home
1: Stone Face Mask
2: Cannibal Bird Mask
3: Killer Whale Mask
4: Watching Moon Mask
5: Welcome Man Mask
6: Wild Woman Mask
7: Thunderbolt Mask
8: Babakawquit Mask
9: Shaman Mask
10: Green Frog Mask
11: Mosquito Mask

PART TWO
Meet in the Middle Island
12: Mountain Lion Mask
13: Salmon Mask
14: Wolf Mask
15: Candle Fish Mask
16: Crane Mask
17: Full Moon Woman Mask
18: Dove Spirit Mask
19: Moon Eclipse Mask
20: Seal Mask
21: Eaten Moon Mask

PART THREE
Great Island
22: Feasting Bear Mask
23: Sleeping Bear Mask
24: Eel Mask
25: Giant Raven Mask
26: Badger Mask
27: Porcupine Mask
28: Sea Lion Mask
29: Shark Mask
30: Eagle Mask
31. Ghost Mask
32. Rattlesnake Mask
33. Kingfisher Mask
34. White Bear Mask

More to come

About GJ Gillespie

PART FOUR
Return

PART FIVE

White Bear Mask continued

2011-06-19T14:29:00.000-07:00

Silently the shaman and Hayoqwis arose at the first tentative touch of dawn to push off from the shore into the flowing currents taking them deeper between the mountains. The morning was unusually warm and the fog dissipated quickly like slipping off a blanket from a door. Dipping again and again into the black surface of the seawater reminded Hayoqwis of drumming all day during the summer feasts on Island Home. The constant rhythm returned his thoughts to the image of uncle Spe-eth wearing the clan's cannibal hat -- reserved for winter stories telling. .

The canyon walls grew narrow and giant fir trees lining the rocky banks of the inlet swept the sky. Here ghosts of men lost on hunting trips or sacrificed to the Raven hovered among tree limbs or sat on ledges of cliffs, watching the canoe slide pass below. Also the Sesquick -- a race of tall, hairy wild people who lived in the forested high places peered from the brush unseen, wondering if these hunters would be successful in the kill.

Late in the afternoon, ahead in the distance, Mowakek spied three white bears jumping from the beach into the forest. He signaled for Hayoqwis to keep his head down.

"We are near the White Bear village," said the shaman.

"Lookouts waiting for our arrival. Let us hope that they did not see your round head. Soon we will come to the Chattering Waterfall. Then we climb the path to Raven's chair and ask his blessing."

When they reached the sandbar below the bank where the bears had disappeared into the brush, suddenly Hayoqwis saw a shot of movement. One after the other two large creatures leaped into the water, quickly swimming into the wake of the canoe.

Hayoqwis hit the snout of the first bear with his paddle, slowing it's advance.

Soon their frantic pace outran the pursuers. He had never seen bears attack a canoe. It was as if he was the hunted.

Just when he returned to normal rhythm of paddling, from the forest beyond the shore line came a high pitched scream like none other he had heard. His first thought was that it was a moutain lion or perhaps an elk.

"It is the Sesquick people. The giants. They know we are here," said Mowa'kek.

"If they capture you, do not eat their food. Those who eat the food offered by a Sesquick are transformed into loathsome insects. I have met the Sesquick and made a pack with them. They have power here to protect the sacred roots and small creatures of the land. They watch out for all the gentle animals. The giants keep away from white bear paths. White bear are enemies of the giants. Now listen. Do you hear the chatter up ahead? The mountain is speaking. I know its language well. It is saying come, come up to the top."

They paused paddling to perceive a distant roar of the waterfall that marked the end of the inlet. Soon Hayoqwis could see a bar of white among the deep green fir trees on the left bank.

When they arrived at the falls, the sound prevented speech without yelling, so the hunters kept silent.

It was a large waterfall, as big as two long houses, white and powerful cascading over boulders that looked like rungs of a ladder reaching to the sky. The falls lead up into clouds that obscured the precipice above.

Once they were sure the area was free of lurking bears, the men pulled Swift in Battle into brush above the rocky bank to secure it before the hike to the top. Raven's Nest trail had many switch backs that rig-zigged through the steep forest. Hayoqwis was surprised that such a remote trail was fitted with rock steps and seemed groomed and well worn.

After eating some berry-fish cakes and drinking water cupped from the falls, the hunters ascended the steep trail and continued up. At dusk fog engulfed the forest, but he guessed that they were near what must be the top of the canyon.

"I have a boulder camp prepared at the top. Wood cached. Dry and safe from giants, lions or shadow spirits. Too high for wolves. I feel the presence of Raven breathing gently his breath upon us," said the shaman.

HOME

2009-11-26T18:16:00.001-08:00

“All people must be reborn from the dust of the ancestor's bones. From their stilled voices we learn to sing the death song without fear -- like a hero coming home.”

-- Chief Klass-hilaa'm of the Tispiox

More to come

About GJ Gillespie

PART FOUR
Return

PART FIVE

White Bear Mask

2009-11-26T17:25:00.000-08:00

The slaves were astonished to spy three strangers sitting with their masters in the canoe returning across the surf from Refuge Rock. They immediately took up spears and ran to the sandy bank of the inlet, unsure if the chiefs needed help.

Tsysecum grunted out a command. The slaves splashed into the water to pull the vessel ashore. Seeing that the companions were Owl Men made them hesitate. None of the others tricked to transverse the outer perimeter of the Rock had lived. Ghosts. Dead men come to extract vengeance?

Tsysecum climbed out first, shouting at the slaves to assist the elder chief.

"Raven has spared these round heads. Treat them as chiefs," he scolded, jabbing his hand with a swipe.

Dog flesh smoldered over the camp fire. Tsysecum walked over to tear off a piece of meat and dropped onto the reed mats, resigning himself to the will of elder Whirlwind. Chewing a mouthful with a sigh, he turned his face away from the others.

Mowa'kek, in contrast, seemed to swell once ashore, standing tall with a smile he looked up at the sky and toward the eastern mountains that loomed above the vanishing point of the watery path before him.

"Suitor Round Head and I will hunt now. The tide is about to flow inward. Bring the provisions," he barked to the slaves.

"We will hunt. Three days to visit Raven's perch at the top of the Chattering Falls. We will kill a white bear without knife or club. Beautiful white fur to make a wedding coat. He earned it at the bone games. We know that he and his brothers were spared death by our spirits to become one with the Selawik. His offspring will be ours once he drinks white bear blood. One with us. It is the answer. It is the will of the spirits, of whom I am a servant like you are servants of our people."

Two of the slaves, whose names were unknown to the Kaw-Seth, pulled out one of the bentwood boxes already stocked with food and blankets and ran to fill another with water from one of the streams that cascaded down the hills behind the camp. They found green frogs in the stream water. A sign that the water possessed powers of protection. But, they didn't tell Mowa'kek, knowing he would scold them for daring to give an interpretation in his presence.

Another slave called Dené Tha arranged mats and blankets for the Suitor Party to sit on near the fire. Two surprisingly large tree bark and driftwood huts, apparently built the day before, stood on each side of the fire-pit, providing shelter from the rain for the chiefs and slaves and their provisions.

Hayoqwis could see that the weather looked good for the voyage to the upper reaches of the inlet, now shrouded in mist and framed by glistening streaks of water falls segmenting both sides of the cliffs. He felt as if he were about to cross the door posts into a dream house, another world.

When Swift in War was prepared, the Selawik and Kaw-Seth men stood side by side to watch Hayoqwis and Mowa'kek settle into position to begin the voyage to the end of the gleaming inlet.

Soowali Whirlwind's missing front tooth showed in a broad smile. Then he shouted out a blessing that convinced Hayoqwis of the chief's contrition.

"May Black Raven swallow your fear and impart strength more powerful than any bear. May Our Bird fly before you to whisper into the white ear of exactly the right bear to lull him for for the kill. May his white fur add warmth to this round head's wedding bed and grant him sons," his aged voice cracked in a high pitch as he continued.

"Become one with us, Kaw-Seth Owl man. Let the power of Sea-lion Spirit give you many flat-faced sons."

In spite of the blessing from the white haired chief, Wounti worried of trickery. Foreign spirits seemed to dwell thick in this place -- the water, wind, trees and even the grass felt dangerous. How could he rest knowing the threats of deception and death?

To keep away from their hosts, for the next few days he and Kalis devoted themselves to fishing with a Selawick net in the shoals and eddies where the waters rushed into the inlet. The cold water reminded them of home, but they longed to escape the gaze of the spirits hovering in this place.

When the smoke from the camp was out of sight, Mowa'kek tipped his flat profile to the side and shouted out a warning to Hayoqwis paddling behind him, "Now we enter the narrows where the incoming tide pours through a passage and hidden boulder. We must pass between two whirl pools. Be steady. Hold onto the paddles firmly."

White ripples emerged to grasp at Strong in Battle's hull, tugging it up and down between the worlds of sky and water. The men sped ahead into the rapids that looked less violent from the surface, but pulled at the paddles like a powerful unseen monster. They navigated between the rocks. Swift in Battle tipped from side to side until it launched into a calm patch of river that reflected bright clouds moving east as if leading the way.

That afternoon they passed waterfall upon waterfall, each tossing mist from the rocky ridges down into the brush where deer appeared to stare from the shore and great blue herons stood guard.

The sun moved behind them when Mowa'kek spoke again, after remaining silent for most of the day.

"Let me play my hunting flute over the raised bolder. The music draws the right bear near." He pursed his lips to whistle a droning melody.

"The bears will come near. Then, aick! The bolder suspended in the trap will fall to crush his skull. It will be quick. But, know this round headed one. He will revive to rip off our limbs for a warm meal if we lack favor of Raven. These are true Selawik White Bears. They are unlike any beast that you hunted before. These vicious beasts are guided by powerful demons which must be charmed. Do as I say.

"Do exactly as I say dead man," he said again looking directly into Hayoqwis' eyes as shaman do when they read a man's thoughts.

"We must replace the emptiness in your chest with White Bear flesh. It is the only way to redeem your lowly heritage."

When the canyon grew dark, they beached the canoe to gather rocks for a fire ring and found plenty of drift wood. The men ate jerky and cakes in silence, staring into the fire that flashed blue and green and seemed to compose images of white bears looking back in wonder. They slept in the canoe. Hayoqwis wished he had some bloodroot paste to keep the mosquitoes off his skin.

At midnight they heard wolves howling above the cliffs. The howling echoed between the cliffs above the moving water, making it easy to imagine the huge dimensions surrounding the camp. Hayoqwis wondered how wolves could climb so high without visible trails on such a steep embankment. Mowa'kek proclaimed that the wolf songs were messages from Raven's world, urging them to be careful to honor the great bird or die without the cover of the spirit's wings. He recited a chant to the wolves and to Raven and seemed content in communion with the spirits in this sacred place.

"Raised ears and snouts. Out there. The white ones smell our scent mixed with campfire smoke and long to draw near. Curious each time the humans enter their land. I adore the white bear people. They are my cousins. They make a powerful sacrifice and grand meal to renew the soul and remind us of our true nature. Every year I lead a hunt, in the fall, to take one of these ones for a feast. All the young men desire a white bear-skin wedding robe. It increases fertility. Don't worry. We will get your warm white robe or die. Soon."

The wolf cries grew faint and ceased. The fire turned to dull embers. Mowakek fell asleep, staring up at the sky.

Hayoqwis dreamed of white bears dancing with wolves and meeting Spe-eth covered in a robe made of living chickadees. His uncle glowed white and mouthed a message he could not understand. Between dreams he awoke to wonder if his betrothed Umakqee was safe or if his Selawick rival had reached Meet-in-the Middle camp to take her. He knew that Somkin would presume that the suitor party had been killed by the sea lion and that he could now claim her.

White Bear Mask continued

Index of all chapters

Kingfisher Mask, continued

2009-04-04T22:45:00.000-07:00

Brooding with malice, the wizard Mowa'kek assumed silence that morning. He continued to feel the effects of the mushrooms in his finger tips and toes, but his mind was clear enough to begin conjuring new plots. His rage the night before turned inward like digesting a good meal, making him stronger for the next opportunity to exert his authority.

He hungered to avenge the sacrilege of the Sea Lion sanctuary. This trespass was unlike any committed against the sacred places. There was nothing he could do now. The old chief had granted the Owl Men refuge. But, all night in his half sleep he heard Black Raven speak in his inner mind. Wait. Watch for the right moment.

That is what he would do. Wait. He continued to observe the suitor stuffing his bloated face with morsels from a Seawik bowl. He could hardly contain his disgust.

Across the room, Hayoqwis was undisturbed by the presence of Mowa'kek sulking in the opposite corner of the dim lodge. He and his cousins had every right. Soolwali was honorable, even if his people worshiped monsters. After chewing an ample supply of sweet salmon jerky for breakfast, the Suitor took hold of the bear claw on his necklace and remembered Spe-eth's prediction that he would crush the nightmare rattlesnake. It was all coming true.

Obtaining absolution from the Selawik Chief meant that Hayoqwis had the chance to persuade him to lend them the canoe for the voyage to white bear grounds at the far end of the inlet. If Sky Ghost favored a quick kill, then on the trip back to Island Home for the lost-at-sea funeral he might present the skin to Chief Katee'qwa for a bear greeting ceremony to purify the wedding.

In only one year he would enjoy the honor of a married man with three Duwam'ah inheritance titles. It all depended on the old chief-- known for his generous nature. Without the Selawik war canoe, the Quester would need to spend fall and winter building a new canoe. Others might claim Butterfly Woman.

His cousins knew what Hayoqwis was thinking. Even though either of them would club their murderer hosts like a speared cod, for the sake of the Kaw-Seth Owl Clan the marriage must go forward, even if it meant tolerating the Flatheads for a few more days. They watched from dark corners of the lodge to see how Sea Champion might get them safely off the rock.

For Hayoqwis the loss of his uncle-mentor mingled with a growing confidence. While grandmother matrons teach that spirits of fishermen drowned at sea are trapped in mist that swirls across deserted beaches forever, hearing the eagle scream gave him hope. He knew that eagle call after a death signals that the departed one is safely on the last path. It meant that Wonderful Doer remembered Spe-eth and his son and was guiding them home.

Just as Hayoqwis concluded in his inner body that Spe-eth must now be an immortal being, he heard another bird's call. All heads in the room looked upward at the repeating sound of a kingfisher cackling past the lodge roof. Pleasant music to begin the day. Another sign. Sky Ghost had granted him victory over the Selawik. What could stop him now?

"Elder chief, we know that Somkin is on his way to steal my betrothed. We heard Mowa'kek discuss it with you. Will he succeed? It would be another cause for enmity between you and my people."

"I would never bless a marriage of a quester who acted with out honor -- even if he is my grandson. But, Somkin has as much right to assume a test as you do Youthful Owl Man -- if my friend Chief Katee'qwa offers him one."

Mowa'kek stood up to drink from a finely carved bowl and then warmed his hands above the fire. He stretched and yawned, then assumed the rank of a slave by carrying the urine box outside to empty. The room seemed brighter the few moments that he was absent. When light from the door was again blocked, Mowa'kek stepped inside. He paused to speak to everyone in the house in a calm, ringing voice that contrasted with how Hayoqwis had come to know him.

Unafraid of the shaman's magic, Hayoqwis laughed to himself. The Selawichian language had always reminded him of squawking birds.

"My chief has spoken. His word is final. This is Refuge."

Mowa'kek stretched out his bare, heavily tattooed arms from his tunic in a wide gesture across the floor.

"Here on this Rock, offenses are forgiven. Washed clean. Forgotten. Listen all. I will guide this twisting round-head on a bountiful hunt for one of our white bears. I know where the pale masters of the waterfalls dwell. We will invite one back as a guest to our house," he called out as if speaking to someone on the roof.

The shaman stepped to the center of the lodge to squat near the fire. Looking down, he tipped his head towards the Kaw-Seth men revealing the flat silhouette of his bone pierced face.

"Without my charms our ghost bears would vanish from your sight," he predicted quietly, looking into the flames. He shook his left hand slightly -- as if holding an invisible rattle.

Mowa'kek was silent for a few moments, then moved over to peer directly into the young man's eyes like he did the first day when they had met on the shores of Klauk. The shaman was a strange figure. His body had the odor of feces and his breath smelled of rancid candle fish. His reddened eyes, matted hair and uncut beard and withered body covered by a shaggy bark tunic held up by a plain rope belt reminded Hayoqwis of a side of venison hung too long in a warm house.

Mowa'kek smiled for the first time in their presence. Two teeth were stained a dark yellow.

"But my spirits say that to catch a white bear, we must go alone. Just two. Your relations and my slaves must stay at the river. It won't take long. Three days. Yes, alone is best in the canoe. To keep quiet. To make room for the head and pelt. Alone, dead man. With me."

"Let us go immediately," said Hayoqwis, astonishing his brothers who raised their brows with suspicion at the offer of help from the murderous Seer.

"Do not do it, brother," shouted Wounti standing up. "He killed our father and brother."

Chief Soolwali knew his shaman well. "My Spirit Man will only go this way. This is how he hunts. I bar him from weaponry. You Young Owl will carry the knives, axe and spear," he reassured.

"Listen to me Spirit Man," the white haired chief said slowly, sticking his flat face parallel to the shaman's to speak in the slow, formal tone of an adjudicator, "his life is your life. If he does not return, I will order you executed. You have already caused offense before the ancestors. Be careful then to uphold honor and grant this tribe restitution. You are obligated."

"Do not worry, Whirlwind Chief. I will obey as always," protested the shaman. He lifted his fingers to his mouth, then jabbed them at Hayoqwis, "Put courage into your round head."

"We are going into white bear territory. We will take a white bear. We will climb to the top of the waterfall and walk in the place where Black Raven breathes. You will be changed. You will be made alive. You will be Selawik then," he said smiling, almost laughing but looking deeply into Hayqwis's eyes as if examining his most inner thoughts.

Next Chapter

Index of all chapters

HOME

2008-11-11T10:57:00.000-08:00

“All people must be reborn from the dust of the ancestor's bones. That is how we come to belong. Then on the last day we might sing the death song without fear -- like a hero coming home.”

-- Chief Klass-hilaa'm of the Tispiox

More to come

About GJ Gillespie

PART FOUR
Return

PART FIVE

Rattlesnake Mask Continued

2008-11-11T10:49:00.000-08:00

He glanced to the opposite side of the lodge to see pale light shining from the circular, moon shaped south facing door open to the gray rain outside.

To reach the door, anyone visiting Puffin House had to follow the path stretching beneath a tiny waterfall that fell down the side of the cliff. A mist of pure water moistened each one. On a hot day, the spray was delightful. Breathing in the sacred water cleared his mind. He liked that feature of the house design as he intended when he ordered it constructed. The falling pure water drove away spirits not under his control.

He made sure that one wall of the house facing the cliff was exposed rock so those inside could always come into contact with its earth power -- making visiting supplicants as strong as the Rock. The other three finely hued cedar plank walls were decorated by images of sea lions, salmon and octopus -- the door was encircled by raven figures eating berries -- all of which he had commissioned to be freshly painted the summer before in bright red, green and charcoal black.

Mowa'kek always took inspiration from the main house post now lit by the fire -- a design that copied the older sea lion totem that stood baring its teeth above the mortuary house at the top of the Rock. The totem seemed to grin approval.

The effect of the art was stunning to all who set eyes on it, especially in the shifting firelight at night. So pleasing. Beautiful and fitting to honor Great Raven, greatest of all Spirit Guides and his servant Nestuka, Gaurdian of the Shining Heavens.

When darkness fully came Mowa'kek chanted and Tseycum drummed, Soolwali Whirlwind prepared to roast an aged elk steak over the fire on a spit and to cook a bowl of roots, berries and candle-fish fat with white hot stones heated in the fire. The savory food was then laid out on a wood alter below the central house pole as an offering to the departed ancestors. The fragrance of burned fat filled the room.

Soolwali abstained from tasting the mushrooms, as was expected of the presiding chief, but Tseycum and Mowa'kek ate from a large basket of underworld fruit, chewing quickly and waiting for a sign for when the ghosts might arrive. The strongly unpleasant taste would normally repel anyone who did not know the powers of the fruit. Between bites of the bitterly putrid fungi -- which produced a gagging, black mucus in the back of the throat, the chief and his Seer tore into strips of elk meat and drank more sips of tea.

When he heard Soolwali high pitched blasts his snake shaped bone flute calling for the spirits, Mowa'kek noticed that the rock floor of the lodge, visible in the flickering fire light, began to move like the surface of a calm ocean. The crest of each wave spread before him was fringed with greenish white -- like the surface of an island bay sometimes glows on a summer's night. That was a good sign.

He reached for another mouthful of mushrooms and swallowed more quickly with anticipation.

He had communed here with ghosts and a host of sacred animals over the years in this house. Once a giant blue-green Dragon Fly appeared before his face and warned him that an apprentice had turned against him. He suspected the boy of treachery from the first.

Thankfully the next morning he broke some dead spruce branches from a near by tree trunk and ordered that his slaves gouge out the traitor's eyes before tossing him from the cliff. His bones are still down there, along with other blasphemers punished during Mowa'kek's reign.

Many conspired to bring down Mowa'kek's position as Spokesman for Raven. Even now he wondered about Old Man Soowali sitting down cross legged before the fire playing his flute. Why did he defend the Owl Men more than necessary? Was the walking-corpse and his haughty son turning against him now?

But, no. His companions had both committed themselves to Raven in the blood rites. Still, he had been sensing a plot against him in last few days more than usual.

Last year he began to feel the same way concerning one of his new wives. He knew that she was secretly chanting against him. His suspicion became more than he could endure. He decided that that she must be bound to a drift log and sacrificed to the rising tide. He was obliged to keep the way of Raven pure for the sake of all the people. That was his duty.

Whenever he visited Refuge Rock, he reflected on the meaning of his greatest vision as a young man. It occurred at the old mortuary house when offering healing herbs to the sea lions. The sky suddenly darkened and Black Raven himself descended to stand before him. Fifteen other chiefs and shaman and the slaves also saw the spirit take a solid shape, each swearing that what they had seen was true.

The pupils of Raven's eyes engulfed his soul from the inside out. The spirit screamed a call like a storm blast with such force that the witnesses all fell back on the ground. He felt tiny bits of ice blast his face, hands and torso. That day Raven chose him to be his spokesman and instructed him to build the Puffin House on a narrow, eastern ledge of Refuge Rock.

That is how it began.

The name of Mowa'kek would always be remembered in Selawik lore for building this magnificent house, the location known only to the ruling noblemen of the clans. It filled him with joy to lay down here and breathe burning sage and cedar smoke, eat rich food and partake in underworld fruit ceremonies. No one could hurt him here, protected by the Spirit of Raven always watching, ready to strike down his enemies.

At that moment Mowa'kek and the chiefs heard singing in a foreign language outside the house. The singing was accompanied by a tapping drum. He stopped chewing. His heavily tattooed face became quizzical as he turned to listen. Is it a song of mourning? He wasn't sure if the voices sounded from this or another world.

Then feet appeared, moving back and forth in front of the door as if dancing to the rattle. He had never been greeted by ghosts like this before. The house as invisible in the cliff. Mortal men would never find the house -- unless he and his men had been secretly followed.

"Soolwali, Mowa'kek, Tseycum," the voices called their names -- as if visitors asking for permission to come inside.

"Soolwali, Mowa'kek, Tseycum."

Unsure if the mushrooms played tricks on their minds, Mowa'kek and Tseycum looked to the old man for guidance.

"It appears that foreign visitors have found our secret Rock," said Soolwali.

"But, how do they know our names?"

"What spirits are calling us?", Soolwali shouted, then more quietly spoke to his fellows.

"If these are mere men, they trespass on our place of honor for our dead. That is wrong. No one has found this house before. Perhaps they are supplicants who come for refuge? Curious. I will go to see why they come," the white haired chief said, setting his flute on a fire-stone and getting up as fast as his old joints could move to the doorway to squat down and peer out.

"Welcome travelers," he called in the trade language used at potlatches when all the tribes came together for games.

"Welcome travelers to our house. What are you doing here? Are you hungry or do you wish us ill?"

The voices outside were silent, but the rush of the rattle continued.

Soowali Whirlwind glanced back at wide eyed Mowa'kek, then turned to repeat the greeting, "Welcome travelers to our house. Are you hungry or do you wish us ill? You can't hurt us. This rock is our place of refuge and protected by powerful guides. Are you in mourning?"

"Food, food for the dead," chanted the outsiders in unison who began to sing again.

"We have elk meat prepared for a feast in honor of our heroes. Raven permitted you to find this house. That is a sign that he welcomes you all to dine with us since you are hungry. That is right. It is not the Selawik way to turn away guests. We have plenty of meat. Are you ghosts or men?" said the old man to the three figures standing in the doorway. He had never spoken to a ghost, although had felt the cold of their presence.

Soowali stood beside the door like guards do, even though he was weaponless, to defend the house in case the visitors came to attack.

They come to visit. Had he not been chanting to invite supernatural guests all evening?

Mowa'kek saw the figures bend down to pass through the door and emerge up-right in the vast space of the smokey house. Each figure had an aura of a rainbow around their large bodies. Were these giants? He noticed that they also seemed to hold something behind their backs.

Even in his vision state, Mowa'kek sensed danger. Did the rainbow giants bring weapons? He reached for his quartz knife and stood up as best he could on the still undulating floor.

Once inside, the rainbow hued visitors-- round common headed, without any beards-- stood before the elderly chief and his son Tseycum.

"Know this chiefs. We are dead men to this world and alive to him who created the living and the dead," the largest of the figures said in a formal tone of a potlatch speech.

"His name is Great Sky Ghost Doer of Wonders. We come in his name to accuse the Selawik of a crime against us. We are Kaw-Seth. Come to your isle on a marriage quest, obeying all of the ways of your land. Do you remember?"

His head lifted. His voice grew louder.

"We are the ones who won the right to hunt white bear and to take home a skin. You were our guides. But, you guided us to our doom and now my uncle, one initiated in your Raven's blood rites, is dead along with his son. Both killed by a bull sea lion down there below the cliffs. You guided us into the jaws of the monster. You are stained with Kaw-Seth blood and my cousin here, Son of Spe-eth, has the right to take revenge by killing two of you immediately. Unless you take heed of our demands for restitution."

Mowa'kek pulled out his quartz knife, saying, "No ghost makes barters. Your flesh will bleed."

He yelled with all his might, "Round-head commoners defile my house!"

The shaman jumped down in front of the figures, tossed his head back in a snap that caused his hair braid to fly up and down like a whip.

The tall, muscular figures presented a spear and clubs in defiance.

Another held a club in one hand and shook a rattle in the other.

Mowa'kek had heard that rattle before. Suddenly he was shocked to see that the spear and clubs were the same ceremonial weapons distinctly carved for Nestuka's mortuary house.

"Sacred weapons stolen from Nestuk," he screamed rushing towards the rainbow figures from across the room baring his knife.

"Blasphemers!"

Even with a stomach full of mushrooms, the shaman showed great strength as he clashed with the figure that spoke, slashing upward into the groin. He felt the cedar cloth tunic rip by the blade, but wasn't sure if he cut living flesh. He pulled back for another strike and circled the figures which raised clubs to threaten him.

"Raven has damned you unworthy to live. His servant sea lion carried out the judgment. We didn't kill you. You are dead because you don't deserve to live!" he shouted moving back and forth avoiding being struck.

Meanwhile Tseycum was trying to set his bow. But, he had eaten too many mushrooms and moved slowly, as if trying to walk across a swift stream, trying to reach the arrow cache. When he pulled off the bent cedar lid, the box was full of rattlesnakes. The glowing snakes writhed and buzzed. He took his eyes off the round headed visitors and stared into the box.

Overcome with dread, Tseycum tried to yell, "Look. Snakes!" -- but he was unable to produce any sound. He looked up to see that the grinning expression on the sea lion house post changed to terror.

The old chief Soowali continued to stand with his hands out in a welcome gesture.

"They can't hurt us, Spirit Man. Put down your knife. This is a place of refuge, a place of forgiveness, protected by powerful guides," he ordered.

"These ghosts are our guests. Don't threaten them. Listen to their words. Would they dare to hurt a Selawik high chief? Raven will protect us. Peace. We are on the Rock of Refuge."

Next Chapter

HOME

2008-11-07T19:05:00.001-08:00

More to come

About GJ Gillespie

PART FOUR
Return

PART FIVE

Kingfisher Mask

2008-11-07T18:29:00.000-08:00

The next morning the Owl Men awoke to pale sunlight filling the house from the smoke hole and door. In spite of their constant grief, the three braves had slept comfortably on soft reed mats. Throughout the night, they took turns watching the shaman who after the rebuke by Chief Soowali had retreated to a dark corner to sit holding his knees in silence -- almost becoming invisible except for his staring eyes.

Hayoqwis was pleased that the plan had turned out without blood shed. To defeat an enemy peacefully is the height of cunning. He had quieted the shaman and charmed the chief. It was better than winning a great battle. If only he might complete his quest, get the white bear skin back to Meet in the Middle Island before his rival and win marriage to Butterfly Woman, his reputation among the tribes would give the Kaw-Seth prosperity and honor long after his death.

He wiped soot from his forehead and remembered the clear water of the pool at the crest of the rock. If only he could bathe as is the Kaw-Seth custom early in the morning.

Hayoqwis watched the elder chief known as the Whirlwind rise from his bed to ignite the embers of the fire, feeding it with arm sized sticks taken from a neatly stacked pile that reached the ceiling along the north wall. It would be impolite to speak first.

Hayoqwis and his cousins had retreated to sleep on one side of the fire. The Flatheads on the other. The huge room felt empty.

"If the Kaw-Seth tribe last for another one hundred and fifty three generations," he mused silently, "my name will be remembered for this feat. Spe'eth must be watching out for me from the sky world."

From the coming of age ceremonies, he had a spiritual connection with his uncle who had trained him in the Kaw-Seth ways. The two men often had shared dreams. Even in death, he felt his presence.

The thought of winning over the Selawik filled his mind as the newly lit fire warmed his ashed covered face. A smile of satisfaction grew as he recounted his fortune, like assessing the winnings of a bone game.

It had gone well beyond expectation. After the confrontation with the shaman was quieted the night before, the three men sat down with the chief to share the aged elk roast and made their case. Hayoqwis had forgotten how delicious such fine, soft meat could taste. There was much more than they could finish.

Soolwali's generous spirit extended across tribal lines. He was truly sorry for the loss of Spe-eth and Tiska and offered his help in any way to make up for the wrong. The chief agreed to carry out the restitution for the deaths. Because the visitors stood on the Rock of Refuge their offenses against the tribe for trespassing the burial grounds were canceled.

Soowali's wrinkled brow contracted in worry, looking up at the smoke hole to check the onset of morning light, then down into the orange flames before him. He always enjoyed impressing visitors from other tribes with Selawik hospitality. But, these are the first foreigners ever to dine in the secret house. The Owl Men are in the Selawik circle now. Suddenly the happy thought occurred to him. One of the Owl Men must marry into his tribe. He would choose one of his full brested grand daughters.

The elder chief was mindful that the Owl Men's plea for help were just since the Selawik had violated sacred obligations. As High Chief and Adjudicator he had given the suitor party permission to hunt and promised to guide them safely. He had failed to live up to his word. Here the ancestors watched. He realized soon that if he failed to craft some kind of restitution for the crime, misfortune would come to his people and he would be remembered as a bad chief.

All tribes believed a suitor's test is sacred and are obliged to permit passage and assistance. The chief's decision to grant the Kaw-Seth their demands was right regardless of how much mad Mowa'kek shrieked.

Soowali instructed the men to exchange the heirloom weapons taken from the mortuary house for a box of various weapons in the house, including knives, clubs and a long spear with a black obsidian point. These weapons were finely crafted and in better condition than what they had taken to make their appeal.

Continued

Index of all chapters

2008-07-06T20:36:00.000-07:00

“All people must be reborn from the dust of the ancestor's bones. Born anew to sing the death song without fear like a hero going home.”

-- Chief Klass-hilaa'm of the Tispiox

More to come

PART FOUR
Return

PART FIVE

About GJ Gillespie

Rattlesnake Mask

2008-07-06T19:05:00.000-07:00

Inside the lodge, Mowa'kek examined the contents of the stored food boxes packed full of dried meats, seaweed and berry cakes. He laid the bunches of mushrooms on a plank to dry, pleased by the quantity of underworld fruit collected that afternoon.

Once the fire was lit, the house warmed and the shaman sat down on soft reed mats spread lavishly around the central fire place. He sipped bear-scat tea that tasted nourishing from a badger skull bowl. He had a feeling that the spirit guides would grant him a powerful vision. The sun sat quickly. The eastern side of Refuge Rock was now shaded in evening light and rain began again. It would be a perfect night to greet the immortal ones, especially after his victory over the round faced Owl Men.

Memories of this place filled his mind. He had made the voyage from Klauk Village up the wild coast more than seventy times. He knew each deformed rock pillar, hidden shoal and current like the veins of his own body. Most summers he made the trip alone for private quests, but had also led funeral parties of more than one hundred braves and clan leaders who scrambled up the side of Refuge Rock like a line of ants.

Here in the Ghost House the spirit Nestuka visited his dreams. The spirit appeared in the form of a man, not a sea lion, just as Mowa'kek remembered him a generation ago. Nestuka brought messages from Raven who dwelt atop a waterfall at the end of the Inlet that reached to the center of Great Island. The messages received here gave him knowledge that astonished everyone and built his reputation as the region's most powerful Seer.

Visions of animals such as seals or bears floated near his face to breathe into his nostrils powers from the unseen world. These encounters gave him the ability to look into the souls of men and women to discover secrets.

Back in Klauk Village, even his small daughters and sons were feared. He was proud of his powers to protect the people from blasphemers. His enemies suffered punishment whenever they dared to challenge him. He always knew the thoughts of those conspiring against him. Killing those who opposed him was easy.

More than fifty men could sleep in Ghost House, shielded from wind and hidden like a Puffin's nest on the cliff. Slaves had stocked it with plenty of fire wood in the early days of the summer to make ready for the ceremonies honoring the departed great men and women buried on the rock or lost at sea.

The home fire now produced a solid plume of smoke that drew up through the ceiling into the evening. Mowa'kek reached back to tie his long, bushy hair together with twine to keep it from catching fire during the visions. He laughed at how easy it was to fool the Owl Men. How right for them to die at the bites of Guardian Nestuka.

He put the thought that the round heads had survived out of his mind. That was unlikely since none of the others lured here for judgment lived to challenge the Sea Lion's rage. Even some of his own men had been attacked when they forgot to appease him with a dog sacrifice. The storm the day before was the final blow. Yes, they are gone with the others now. He could turn his mind to the mushrooms.

Continued

Ghost Mask, continued

2008-03-22T20:06:00.000-07:00

Back at the top of the rock, the three Kaw-Seth men had hid until they could no longer hear Selawik singing. Withdrawing from the grove, they tried to retrace the steps of their enemy that seemed to lead below the oval shaped pool where they first found water. Exploring more they saw cedar bark rope ladders tied to tree trunks and found their way down steps cut into the rock that dropped into the brush and trees obscuring any sign of a house below.

Careful not to dislodge a pebble or make a sound, Hayoqwis, Wountie and Kalis climbed down until they spotted the roof of a house fitted into a narrow ledge. From a central smoke hole, a white cloud rose into the newly falling rain. Like the two previous evenings a heavy rain storm broke, making every surface of Refuge Rock black and slippery.

In the gathering darkness, the men planned their incursion while perched on steps in the cliff's side. They could smell the burning fat of the elk meat cooking mixed with familiar pungent odor of cedar smoke. When they heard Selawik songs again, they dropped down to level ground to causally approach the lodge.

Hayoqwis held the ceremonial spear and Wounti and Kalis carried ornately carved clubs and double edged daggers. Soaked from the heavy rain, they were reminded that one day had passed since the shark had eaten Tiska and Spe-eth had disappeared beneath the seawater.

The fire lit disk of the door glowed before them a canoe length away. The light illuminated mist drifting across the path from the waterfall, making rain drops shine like falling arrows. The sound of a flute now accompanied the singing. The music sought to attract wandering ghosts of the region to come and dine upon the offered food in the comfort of the warm lodge.

It seemed the right moment for the dead men to let their presence be made known.

Next Chapter

Ghost Mask

2007-06-18T14:41:00.000-07:00

The Kaw-Seth braves watched and considered ambushing the deceivers. The ancient law of spilled blood urged Wountie to avenge the taking of his brother and father -- even if it meant clubbing to death the white haired elder. The dead bodies could be tossed off the cliffs to sink to the seabed like all the those betrayed by Selawik trickery at this place.

Skilled hunters of all animals, the cousins had never killed men before. Although Hayqwis and his brother had killed men one night during an ambush while on a trading voyage to top of the world the summer before.

Wountie hated the Selawik. It would easy to kill them now. He wished that he had never agreed to bring his father to this demon Isle.

As Mowa'kek walked nearer, Wountie gripped his club more tightly and envisioned an attack -- at the right movement, leap out to hit the deformed monsters from behind.

They certainly deserved to die.

How simple for Hayoqwis to thrust the spear tip into the crazed shaman's chest, then push it all the way to squeeze out the madman's last foul breath.

Narrowing his eyes, Wountie communicated to his cousins with a nod and squinted eye that using the ceremonial spear -- taken from the hands of the shaman's own spirit guide -- would be perfect justice. With two quick blows, they could club down the chiefs like beached seals.

But, what Wountie in his anger failed to realize, Hayoqwis knew.

"That kind of revenge will fade away before it takes hold. The three elders would be missed. A search party will come. Don't forget Tokwish," whispered the Suitor displaying his typically cunning insight.

Eventually the Selawik would tie the disappearance of the missing chiefs to the Kaw-Seth braves. That would stir the powerful tribe to war against Kaw-Seth allies in the region, if not a way party all the way to Island Home. Hayoqwis also feared for the life of his brother Tokwish -- already enslaved by the tribe's matron who was also the mother and wife of two of the men he longed to kill.

Spe-eth had spoken of the Selawik punishment of staking the hands and feet of a condemned man spread eagle on the ground, cutting open the stomach and inserting white hot rocks to bake him alive.

Putting the image out of his mind, Hayoqwis remembered his better plan and quieted the fury of his emotions. He gestured to the cousins to remain invisible and watch as the flat faced Selawik walked past the hiding place and passed into the shade of the burial grove beyond.

"They speak of a lodge and ghost feast tonight," whispered Hayoqwis slowly moving back to become one with the shadows of the brush.

"That means that there must be a house mounted on the cliff wall facing east. Tonight they will offer food for the ghosts as is the Selawik way. We will find that house and make a unexpected visit," he said as softly as a chickadee's whistle.

"Then appearing as drowned men come back from the waters -- we will convince them to help us gain restitution for the crime against our family."

The men waited in silence knowing that while Mowa'kek chanted the chiefs with him would fill their leather pouches with fresh underworld fruit that grew among ferns under the decaying bodies hanging in the trees.

It was not long until they again heard the chanting and the three Selawik re-appeared walking faster and seemingly pleased with such a large harvest of mushrooms. They continued to the mortuary house and Mowa'kek placed the basket of herbs on the ground where he and the others had knelt. Singing about the power of the sea lion, he backed away and joined the others as they proceeded toward the beach.

Instead of returning to their camp on the shores of the inlet, Hayoqwis realized that the Selawik men were headed for the secret Ghost Feast Lodge mounted somewhere on eastern ledge half way up the cliff facing inland. Except for smoke from the fire, such a house would be obscured by trees and remain unseen from the beach. And judging by how steep the cliff looked, the house could probably only be reached by ladders and steep trails.

"This must be the feast house that father visited when he was cut to receive Raven's blood," whispered Kalis who began to remember details of Spe-eth's initiation story.

"Father said that a chief shaman had spent many hours alone in a lodge mounted on a cliff chanting for the spirits to fill his neck and shoulders with powers to see the future and kill his enemies with thoughts."

Kalis went on to explain that according to Selawik lore, the founder of the Raven Society discovered a secret cliff on a sea rock where he built a large house to commemorate the end of the coastal wars among the tribes. Later Great Raven appeared to him and commanded that the rock should be dedicated as a place of refuge for offenders to escape punishment for insulting noblemen or spirits.

"Father said that he saw both men and women guilty of great offenses were absolved just by touching foot on the place of refuge. In mid summer, shaman brought their apprentice initiates from each of the spirit societies to worship their animals and commune with departed heroes. It must be the same house where father had his fearful vision."

"We won the right to be guided on a bear hunt," Wountie cried, lifting his thick eyebrows emphatically.

"Tokwish paid a year of his life for that right!"

Hayoqwis gestured for Wountie to speak more quietly since voices might travel far in the ocean wind. Wountie moved close to the faces of his brother and cousin standing in a tight huddle under the shelter of the forest.

"Listen to me," he said in a strained whisper. "How can we continue to live in a world with out Tiska or Spe-eth as long as those deformed bullfish-that-look-like-men still walk in pride? You heard what they said about capturing the Butterfly Woman as a wife for Somkin. What kind of copulating dogs are these crazed Selawik? The bone game blessing of the chief has turned into a curse for our family. Let us go to the house and obtain our revenge -- even if it means that we die."

Continued

Eagle Mask, continued

2007-05-28T20:48:00.000-07:00

Eagle Mask, continued

"If we miss the Flatheads before they return to Klauck, that is all we maybe eating for a while," said Hayoqwis.

They withdrew from the mortuary grove back down the salal lined path to the sun lit grassy field facing the east. Because Refuge Rock was a burial ground, it was clear that a path to the beach should be found and the three men proceeded to search for a ladder or steps that might lead them safely down the steep cliffs to the beach.

Refuge Rock was not quite an island and was connected to the mainland by a tongue jetting out between strips of sandy beach. Hayoqwis could see that a rocky arch formed in the middle of the wall and realized that it must be a passage when the tide is low.

"Cousins, do you see that arch in the bar down there? That is an opening of a tunnel to the other side. Strange that our Selawick guides failed to tell us about the passage," he said pointing toward the beach below.

"Why didn't they tell us?" asked Wountie looked to Hayoqwis trying to to discern his meaning.

Kalis immediately understood what happened, "Those deceivers tricked us and killed father and brother by forcing us around the perimeter to suffer attack by their sea lion guardian."

Just as the three men realized that blood justice among the tribes required Wountie, now the eldest son of Spe-eth, to execute revenge they looked up the inlet to caught sight of Swift in Battle pulling out of the Selawick camp. Smoke from the fire on shore continued to rise indicating that some of the party intended to stay behind. The braves watched as the guide canoe sped toward the hole of the arch, but instead of passing into it, the canoe beached near by and three men emerged dragging the vessel to dry sand. The three figures proceeded up the beach towards the rock where the Kaw-Seth looked from above, and disappeared from sight behind the trees growing on the ledge below.

"Look. It is Mowa'kek, Tseycum and Soowali coming to honor their dead. They do not know that we are up here. This is my chance to kill each of them so that the souls of brother and father might escape the depths of the sea and be carried to heaven," said Wountie his hands clinched in fists at his chest as if trying to rip a cloth. He knew the blood crime could not go unpunished. It was his duty even if it meant his life.

Kalis protested. "But, we don't have any knives. Without weapons we are at their mercy. Mowa'kek is a powerful shaman. If the Flatheads discover us violating their sacred ground he will torture us to death and then charm demons to hurt our families," said Kalis sounding more frightened than either of the others could remember.

"Let us hide and watch them come up. Then we will find the way down while they are distracted and steal the canoe. Revenge can wait for another day when we mount a war party," said Kalis.

"What if they catch us hiding?" replied Wounti instantly.

"Mowa'kek may have powers to detect us. Brothers, should we break into the house and take the spears and axes? Once armed we can ambush them from behind. The old chief can hardly walk and the shaman looks as if he is constantly under the influence of the mushrooms. We can club them like sunning seals," Wountie said with an urgency in his voice that betrayed his heightened emotion.

"We haven't eaten in more than a day. The weapons in the house are ceremonial and may have never been used. Let us take the canoe and escape. Think of their surprise when they return to find Swift in Battle gone," argued Kalis.

"Wait. I am sure that is a better way," said Hayoqwis taking hold of his grizzly bear necklace, polishing the claws together and focusing his eyes on an inner vision becoming clearer as he thought.

"Mowa'kek meant for us to die. He will consider us dead. We are dead men to him now. Dead men with authority from beyond the grave. He will do what ever we ask. We may be able to get our revenge and a white bear skin as a trophy for father and brother."

Hayoqwis led as the braves turned to run back to the mortuary house. Soon they stood again looking at the cedar log structure, its roof covered with moss. The carving of the sea lion grinned down upon them as if amused by their plan.

Disregarding the customary respect for such a haunted place, he took hold of one of the wall boards and moved it away enough for him to crawl in. He was surprised that there was no smell of death. He thought that the salt in the wind from the ocean must have cured the body like a piece of salmon dried in the sun.

Hayoqwis crawled into the dank open space and crept across the narrow interior on his knees, moving close enough to lift the ceremonial spear from the stiff lap of the corpse sitting cross legged undisturbed for untold years until that moment. He noticed the blue glow of the abalone disks set in each eye socket. In death the shaman seemed to stare up as a man might wonder at the night sky.

The spear stood as tall as a boy and had a broad, glistening black blade that almost looked like a canoe paddle and Hayoqwis noticed that the tip appeared stained with a line of dried blood. As he pulled the weapon from the hands of its rightful owner, a string of beads draped around the neck of the corpses broke away and dozens of bone white shell beads fell down the tunic and onto the cedar plank floor. He quickly passed the spear to his cousins, then grabbed two war clubs and backed out of the grave, pushing the boards back in place almost flawlessly.

Not knowing how soon the approaching Flatheads might arrive, the men dashed deeper into the woods to find cover in the salal shrubs, being careful to choose a place permitting them to watch what the enemy was doing. Silently they each asked Wonderful Doer to divert the magic eyes of Mowa'kek from spying them.

In the shade of the hiding place, their fear gave way to anger -- an emotion that grew to match the intensity of their grief for the loss of Spe-eth and Tiska. They hardly noticed how hungry they were and now considered the full extent of the ruthless betrayal that their family had suffered.

"We were warned that the Flatheads are an untrustworthy people. The slave girls were right about the guide party's plot to harm us," said Hayowquis to his cousins now burning with rage and sorrow.

Kalis could not help but think of how the news of his father and brother's death would hurt his mother Gamlakyet. If only she were here to chat.

The men sat in silence, until Kalis asked in a low, questioning voice, "How did this happen to us?"

Slowly at first, then building to a rage, Kalis recited the fantastic events of the last few days.

"We came to Great Island on a festive suitor quest and fairly won rights to hunt white bear on their land. Their highest chief promised safe passage before everyone. Then we lost our way in the storm at the base of this rock. The monster attack caused Half Moon to wreck and we should have died with father and brother on the slippery ledge down there.

"We were crazy to try to climb the cliff -- if it weren't for the figured gesturing, we would never have tried. Who were those figures? Could it have been father and brother? You saw what I did. Where they demons calling us up here for sport?"

He considered calling out the name of Spe-eth again to see if he would answer, then realized silence was in order.

"If it was father gesturing us up, I would like to ask him how he could have ever joined the Flathead Raven Society in the first place? Was his mind dulled by the poison they shoved down his throat? He knew how bad these people are. Why would he lead us here to our doom?"

"Deformed faced dogs!" swore Wounti thrusting his double bladed knife up before him as if plunging into an invisible torso.

Hayoqwis motioned for Kalis and Wounti to quiet since he began to hear the singing men approach.

"They are coming to pray to their stinking guardian," said Kalis.

"What would they think if they knew that yesterday we watched the mighty Nestuka crushed in the jaws of the sea monster?" whispered Wounti.

"The shark came to our rescue. No one could have survived what we did last night except the power of Wonderful Doer is with him. The Creator's power is still with us. What can they do to dead men?" Hayoqwis asked in a hushed voice because the singing grew closer to the mortuary grove and where they hid.

Just then the three Flatheads came into view singing in revered tones and walking at a ceremonial pace as they did when the Kaw-Seth party first met them at Klauck. They spoke in the Selawik dialect, but Hayoquis could understand most of what they said.

"Nestuka, Nestuka, greatest of sea lions, protector, keeper and most honored spirit being of our fathers, guide us now as we come to visit your house in reverence," they chanted until coming to a stop directly in front of the small mortuary house. The grinning totem stared down.

Mowa'kek knelt and sat a small yellow basket filled with some kind of herbs in front of the house while the old chief and his son looked at the ground behind him. Their long hair hid their flat faces like dancers at a feast.

Suddenly the shaman arose, turned to his companions and blasted out a curse.

"Roundheaded children of whores. Those sickly owls, those overgrown beasts of the north. They deserved death. Death is their right reward. That is what the forest spirits told me at every waking moment since I first saw the hairless face of their damned suitor," said Mowa'kek with a viciousness that contrasted his reverent tone a moment before.

"Oh spirit man," said Chief Whirlwind.

"I was bound by honor of the Raven Society to guard him the moment he was initiated with my blood and the blood of my sons. For me to permit you to lead the Owl Men to their death below the cliffs brings shame upon my family and our clan. You know that I promised to protect him and that is why I came on this voyage. Now you say that you lied in not telling Red Spe-eth about the safe passage under the rocks," the old chief cried as if scolding a child caught stealing food.

"Chief, Great Raven knows that I did not kill them. We left them to our guardian Nestuka himself to judge if they should live or die. He chose that those blasphemers who openly turned their backs to Great Raven should remain forever slaves in his servant's lodge below the surf. My hand and my family is innocent of blood guilt. I did not kill them. You did not kill them," said Mowa'kek in a pleading voice that almost sounded sincere.

"If the roundheads were truly worthy, Neskuka or Raven or even their damned Owl Spirit would have spared them. Now that these filthy men are wiped away I feel that the spirits are appeased. Yes, I can breath easier," he said drawing in the clear ocean wind into his puffed out chest.

"Our realm is better now that the unworthy are gone. All is well and we can go home in peace tomorrow. The spirits are appeased. I am stronger. Now we must perform the rites and harvest some of the fruit of the graves. Tonight we eat venison with the ghosts and chant before the fire in the Rock Lodge until sunrise."

Mowa'kek parted his matted hair from his face and turned to peer between cracks in the mortuary house wall before him, apparently not noticing that it was recently violated or that at that moment the Kaw-Seth braves watched from the grove near by.

"Nestuka's command is complete. Look, my Chief. Here his old earthly body sits in majesty surrounded by all the sacred charms. Founder Nestuka and our people are victorious over our enemies. The Kaw-Seth and all the lesser people are powerless before the will of our protector."

"We should not speak ill of any tribe's ways, spirit man," said the elderly chief.

"Especially here in this place of refuge for bones of our fathers. My friend Spe-eth is dead because of your lies and who knows what forces may yet turn against us in payment for that cunning. Spe-eth was a good man, like one of my own grandsons. And his rich nephew was on a sacred quest for a wife, like Somkin will soon take up," he said looking up at the totem and the blue sky beyond.

"I wonder what power will snare us for betraying those who won the right to hunt our land? Raven will demand a payment for this dishonor and I will not let this killing go unnoticed like the deaths of non-initiated others. We both saw a raven fly away from this rock and head up the inlet as if taking a message to his chief on the mountain top? There will be an accounting that is for sure," he said turning to look east but unable to see the mountain ridge.

"Aged Chief, we stand on the place of refuge created by Great Raven exactly for this cause. If Teysecum or I violated your honor or broke the rules of the bone games or law of the potlash among the tribes, I claim the rights bestowed here on this rock to absolves us. Tonight it is completed. We will perform the rites, dine with the fathers and heroes and eat the fruit of the graves. This way we are cleansed of wrong doing. You yourself found forgiveness at this place.

"Dear Whirlwind. Our protector chose to make the roundheads slaves in his undersea lodge to serve him there forever as punishment," said Mowa'kek.

"Nestuka judged them unworthy to pass this Rock and enter the sacred water ways. That is his right as commissioned by the Black Raven. Don't you see that Raven's will overrides the rights that the round-heads won at the bone games? They are better off dead then to continue to spread lies about the spirit world and offend our Great Black Raven. Those owl men serve him now under the sea. And they don't need a white bear -- or a wife -- where they are now," he said with a sharp laugh.

Tseycum added, "Please listen, wise father. These men are not worthy of a moment's sorrow. We felt that Nestuka should be their judge and if they could pass his test, only then would we help them reach their quest. Now Raven has clearly shown us his will. But, consider our fortunes. Now the Life-from-death Butterfly Women is free for Somkin to claim. That is why our tribe's suitor will be the first to bring the Duwam'ha chief not one but two white bear skins as a pre-engagement gift. It will all be proper.

"Somkin is making his way to Meet-in-the-Middle Island even now. When we return and everyone learns that the weak and ignoble Kaw-Seth suitor died trying to fulfill his quest, our tribe will win the honor of engagement to the supernatural bride and Raven's power will prove superior to all the tribes," Tseycum reasoned.

Suddenly making his face solemn, Mowa'kek looked up at the Sea Lion Totem figure. He lifted his basket of herbs above his face and began to shout in a wailing voice:

"Thanks be to the great lion Nestuka, Guardian of the Shinning Heavens. Our protector Raven has rightly judged the unworthy. May the five drowned bodies be consumed by sea worms. May their round headed names be forgotten and unshared by descendants. May their bones and teeth become indistinguishable from the shells, clay and sand that we -- and Selawik shaman and chiefs for generations to come -- walk across to reach these revered graves. No spirit helper is greater than Nestuka, Devil of the Sea and Guardian of Black Raven's sacred waters."

Mowa'kek placed the bowl at the feet of the three men and took from a deerskin pouch hanging at his side some fire start and lit the basket that quickly burned with a thread of white smoke. He then joined Soowali and Tseycum knelling on the ground with their heads between their knees facing the house and totem and repeated the sea lion song twice.

The shaman picked up the smoldering bowl and spoke again toward the house and totem.

"We the ruling Selawik chiefs now come to harvest the fruit of the dead to honor you and our Protector Raven and to share the power to escape from the depths of the underworld," he said.

Soolwali Whirlwind and his son Tseycum followed their shaman past the mortuary house to the path that led to the burial grove -- directly toward the place where the Suitor Hayoqwis and his cousins hid like hunters stalking game.

Next Chapter

Eagle Mask

2006-06-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

Hayoqwis realized that he might break into the house and take the weapons to replace the the gear lost after the sea lion attack.

"It is still morning and we must climb down to reach the Flatheads today. But, if they depart before we reach them, we may need to take these weapons for hunting," he said leaning closer to peer through the sliver in the wall of the house.

Without a canoe, they would need to build a new one to return home. Falling a tree, carving a seaworthy vessel would take until after midsummer at the least for three men.

Among the fir trees many tiny birds chattered in the branches and seemed to chant a song for the dead men hanging there. Hayoqwis tried to discern the meaning of the chickadee's faint whistles. He held his breath to listen closely. Suddenly the dream of the rattle snake falling from the tree came to his mind. Spe-eth had said that the dream foretold his victory over danger.

Soon the chickadee flock flew away like a gust of wind passing through the trees, leaving the grove in a strange silence -- disturbed only by distant cries of gulls and sea lions barking beyond the rocks. Spirits were here, watching them. That was sure.

Spread out on the ground below the four wrapped corpses stung in the thick limbs of ancient, gnarled trees, the men identified the brown growths of mushrooms poking holes in the moss that spread between masses of sword ferns.

"These growths are what the Selawick call underworld-fruit," said Hayoquis squatting down to look at the thumb-sized fungi treasured by the Selawick Raven Society for imparting powers.

He had seen the distinct mushrooms as a boy when a traders offered them at a Bloodroot Bay potlash. The trader boasted that a single taste permits a man to fly with raven wings to breathe the source of storm winds at the top of the world.

Although the men were hungry they knew to avoid this plant -- which promises power but in truth invites destruction. Spe-eth had told them stories of the rage the mushrooms produce for initiates who consume them and the terrible vision that he himself endured after tasting the trickster fruit.

As they withdraw from the burial plot, the party heard the high pitched call of an eagle flying overhead. Passing quickly between tree tops they spotted the white head of the large bird, and immediately behind him a black raven pursuing with its rough, taunting voice. The raven followed the eagle to a perch on the dead branch at the tip of a twisted fir tree, screaming furiously at its foe. The raven hated the eagle and sought to chase him away. The eagle called back a defiant war cry, then lifted off again into the sky, only to be followed by the harassing raven as both passed out of the men's sight.

How easy it would be, thought Hayoqwis, for the eagle to crush the smaller raven with his talons. He wondered why such a large eagle chose to flee instead.

Hearing a raven call from a near by tree was a bad sign enough, but to see it chase after an eagle was worse since eagles are the only bird known to fly to the outskirts of heaven. Eagle Ghost himself -- chief of all birds -- carries the faithful dead to the final hunting grounds. If the men were unafraid at seeing the shaman corpse sitting in his mortuary house and the other dead bodies fixed in the tree limbs, this sign made them all the more uneasy.

"Let us go away from this place of death. Father is gone now. The black eyes of Raven is drawing away true light, shrouding our vision with evil," said Wountie with an urgent sigh.

"This rock is barren of anything good," said Kalis looking around in hope of finding something to eat.

"All of the red huckleberry bushes are empty when they should be covered with fruit. Down at the beach at least we might find some clams."
More

Shark Mask, continued

2006-06-12T22:32:00.000-07:00

Exhausted and without a canoe the men knew they faced a drowning death in the sea. Their only way out now was to wait for the weather to turn in the morning and swim to shore -- if they could escape the powerful rip tides and knife like reefs.

As darkness covered the castaways, Kalis, Wounti and Hayoquis huddled together that night, overwhelmed with grief, thirsty and afraid and covered by blasts of a cold, constantly weeping fog that smelled of all things living and dead at the bottom of the sea. They heard the tide go down and come up again before the first daylight could be distinguished.

When the sky began to turn deep deep blue instead of black, Hayoqwis felt a tug at his arm. Wounti stood to look up toward the top of the cliff and shouted, "Look!"

With the dawn's light in their eyes, the braves each saw two human figures looking down from what appeared to be the rim near the top of the cliff, gesturing for them to come up. Hayoquis was sure that he saw one of the figures had white hair, but unlike Spe-eth or Tiska, the distant figures wore some kind of long tunics.

Inspired that there was a way up to safety, the shipwrecked questers -- bitterly cold and sick with grief -- began to climb the giant boulders wet with rain and bird droppings that made up the face of Refuge Rock. Somehow as they carefully crawled between cracks to the top of outcrops, they found footings across the nearly vertical incline toward the place where they had seen the promising figures beckon. Cormorants cackled and sped from perches into the morning mist at the sight of the desperate men creeping near.

While pausing to rest, making sure of his hold even though his hands were becoming numb from cold, Hayoqwis looked down through the obscuring rain at the shattered remains of the canoe at the bottom of the cliff washed by bellowing waves breaking directly below. Among the wreckage, the bear crest decoration broken from the prow was wedged between rocks and stared mockingly back at him. For an instant in the circle of ocean visible in the heavy mist he spied the tip of the great shark's dorsal fin moving excitedly through white caps, apparently returning for another meal. The slightest slip would send him or his cousins instantly into the destroyer's jaws.

It was then that Hayoqwis heard the singing. Faintly -- almost drowned by the sound of the sea and wind hitting his ear -- he distinguished drumming and voices in celebration. Strangely, perhaps because of his hunger, he also seemed to smell the scent of strawberries.

"Do you hear that? The singing?", he called out to the cousins climbing above.

"It sounds like feast drums," replied Kalis. But, Wounti didn't hear anything.

"It must be the sound of a drift log trapped under the surf hitting the wall below," Kalis suggested.

That might explain the drumming. But, Hoyoqwis discerned voices singing.

Morning sun now filled the sky marked by patches of intense blue amid splitting clouds and the men felt slightly warmer as wind blew the mist away. The shark's fin had disappeared and in its place black and white seabirds gathered to dive into the choppy surface spread out far to the horizon.

It wasn't long until the men mounted a curve on the rock that enabled them to walk up past the rim and stand safely at the top. Their eyes were met by a patch of dry grass that bordered a thick forest of short, deformed spruce trees planted in a mat of salal shrubs. Hayoqwis noticed strawberry plants among the grass, but none with fruit. There was no sign of the two figures that had appeared earlier that morning.

Hayoqwis, Kalis and Wounti circled the forest that covered the top of the mountain like a scalp and found on the inland side a small stream flowing from a rock wall into an oval shaped pool -- large enough for a man to sit in. The depression forming the pool looked like a finger print left by the Changer when he formed the coastal islands and mountains from chaos. They fell down beside the rock pool to quench their thirst and noticed that the water tasted especially pure.

Had they ever tasted water so good?

While drinking the braves looked east, down into the mouth of the Shinning Heavens Inlet and saw smoke rising in the distance form a fire near a beached canoe that must be Swift in Battle. It was Whirlwind and the other guides, who had escaped the dangers of Refuge Rock and seemed to be waiting for the Kaw-Seth to arrive.

"Tiska is gone. We each saw him devoured by Nestuka," said Kalis.

"But, perhaps father found his way to a ledge like we did. We need to search for him. It may be that we can see a cleft by looking over the side," he said pointing to the rock's edge.

Hayoqwis also wished that his uncle lived, but never before in their travels had Spe-eth disappeared in time of crisis.

"We will search for uncle as best we can. But, I am afraid that he and our brother have set out on the last journey. The same Wonderful Doer who sent the shark to save us from the Sea Devil has the power to lift their spirits safely to the land of the true dawn."

As he spoke the three men realized that the death of a clan chief meant that a season of mourning had begun. Now they faced the task of returning to Island Home to announce a funeral instead of a wedding as planned. Without a canoe, they were at the mercy of the Selawik to get home. Perhaps they could convince Elder Chief Whirlwind to give them a canoe?

The men tried to circle the rim of the mountain and peered carefully over the edge of the nearly vertical cliff facing the ocean, looking for foothold that might have provided a haven for Spe-eth. Their view was either blocked by boulders or revealed only a shear drop to the water. They neared the place above where the sea lions lay, but rocks hid the sight and they could only hear the barking and smell the pungent odor of the beasts. There was no sign of a possible ledge near where they crashed. It was becoming clear that the old man had drowned.

Finally Wounti spoke. "If he is gone, I am proud that he died here, in the wilderness, confronting the ocean storm and the sea monsters like the heroes of legends. It is better to die defying that demon Nestuka than to fall into the last sleep in the bed of his wives."

Before looking for a way down the mountain, the braves followed a trail into the center of the forest. There was no reason for them to explore, except each remembered the strange sound of music and the vision of the figures. Hayoqwis sensed that on this rock the dark green spruce trees of the forest had the power to make music themselves. They passed down a path lined by a row of tall salal shrubs to what seemed the center of the thicket and discovered a small lodge with a large mortuary pole behind.

The excellence of the sea lion carving on the pole indicated that this place was used as a resting place for Selawik chiefs. It also meant that there must be an easier path down to the mainland. Drawing nearer they also noticed up in tree branches five or six wrapped bodies and three rotting funerary boxes and knew that this was a sacred place that could be spiritually dangerous to tread.

Hayoqwis was not afraid. He remembered the words of Spe-eth who always reassured the men that Wonderful Doer had painted their faces red and promised to protect the Kay-Seth from the tricks of Raven. Instead of backing away from what could be a haunted spot, the men began singing the protection song as they tentatively approached the small lodge and looked through gaps between wall boards to see in dim light what appeared to be the body of a shaman, arrayed with a bark tunic and head-dress with many shell decorations, sitting in the center holding what looked like a rattle and a speaking stick in his lap. Dried skin stretched over the skull and two disks of abalone covered the eye sockets. They noticed a cache of spears and arrows tied together on top of several carved boxes.

Next Chapter

Sea Lion continued

2005-06-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

“Those round-heads won’t get a bear this time. The one more powerful than any bear is going to get them instead,” said Tseycum almost spitting with rage.

“They blaspheme Raven and deserve to die,” added Mowa'kek in agreement. It was the only way to rid the village of spiritual contamination.

Knowing that he might object, the trio agreed to keep the plot from Chief Soowahlee.

“Whirlwind’s mind is affected by his advanced age. He has become soft hearted and beguiled by the white bearded one – the one who has turned his back to Raven,” said the shaman.

“My magic will find a way to kill the owl men without the chief knowing. I will charm Nestuka of Refuge Rock to swamp their canoe like the others.”

It was a trick of the Selawik shaman that Mowa'kek used often – first befriending the enemy by inviting them to festivities at the Shinning Heavens Inlet camp, forcing them to paddle through dangerous waters exposed to the rough western ocean to be killed by the giant sea lion named Nestuka Ocean Devil who guarded a large point known as Refuge Rock that stood just before the mouth of the inlet.

Mowa'kek taught that the spirit of the Raven Society's founder -- a spiritual man long revered by the previous generation -- now dwelt in the body of the sea lion guardian.

The Selawik knew a secret passage through a sea cave that led safely between the rock and the shore when the tide was low. Canoes of the tricked enemy always missed the cave, which looked like an arch leading to a dead end of black rock, and continued to their destruction when making the last turn around the point. Nestuka Ocean Devil angrily attacked anyone who dared to pass his domain and took many fishermen and whalers who did not know the secret passage down to his shrine at the bottom of the sea never to return.

Some slaves in the back of the lodge where the plotters talked knew from the hushed voices that the Kaw-Seth braves were endangered. They had seen the cruelty of their masters. When two young women slaves brought food to Half Moon the next morning, they signed to Hayoqwis to be wary of his guides, asking that he keep their confidence. He thanked the girls for the warning and the sweet rock cod and gestured that his lips were sown.

As he ate alone, wondering if the rumor was serious, the morning sun lit up the beach, burning away the foggy weather that had shrouded the village. Today the guides would take them to the Shinning Heaven’s Inlet as agreed. Finally, the hunt might commence.

Soon Spe-eth joined Hayoqwis, baring a water box and some rope for the trip. Hayoqwis told his uncle about the warning of the slaves.

“These people are known for trickery. But, the way of our Great Spirit is far more powerful. They can’t do us any harm. You are sure to win your Butterfly,” he replied.

As they spoke, the hunting guide canoe named Swift in Battle pulled up to where Half Moon was beached, carrying old chief Whirlwind, his son Tseycum, Shaman Mowa'kek and four warriors inside. Somkin was not present. All seven were noble flatheads. Whirlwind was wearing a bear robe and bear headdress and kept singing a hunting song, swaying back and forth and hitting the bottom of the canoe with an oar like a drum in somewhat of a childish manner.

“The weather is good,” Tseycum called out to the Kaw-Seth braves on shore.

“You questers will follow us up the coast for four days. At sundown each day we will camp up the beach from you -- far enough away for you to see our campfire smoke. Not any nearer. We go first on this journey because Raven welcomes our flat faces, but is repulsed by the round heads of common men.

“Each night shaman will perform rites to lull Otter-Chief asleep to ensure safe passage and to placate the monster Nestuka commanded by Raven to guard his domain from the unworthy. You must not hear the magic words of his songs. We will not eat or talk with you while we guide you to the far end of the long inlet that reaches all the way to the mountain foothills of the interior where our Protector Raven dwells along with many brown and white bears.

“When we arrive, shaman will offer a dog sacrifice to keep away the ghosts of those drowned in inlet waters. On that day our debt will be paid and we will return to our village. You will canoe until you reach the headwaters that flow from the mouth of the last creek. It marks the valley where white bears prowl. If you are able, you may take one bear according to your rights. It is up to you to find your way back to your islands. May Raven grant you a successful hunt,” he said.

Hayoqwis tipped his conical hat in understanding.

Spe-eth called back, “We receive the bone game prize from the generous hand of Chief Whirlwind and put our trust in your noble guidance to bring us to the place we are longing to go.”

Just then the rest of the quest party arrived to launch Half Moon into the water. Tokwish, led by tribal matron Ska-mo-na and her female attendants came to say goodbye.

“Brother, I will sing the bear song for you everyday while I work for my Selawik masters. Come here,” he said holding out his bear claw necklace for Hayoqwis to take.

“Put this on to remember our success on that day. May you bring back a bear larger than the one who bit me,” he said grinning.

"Thank you, slave,” said the suitor.

“You paid a big price that I could finish the test. I won’t fail you. Now you must work.”

While Tokwish and his women masters watched, the braves lined on each side of Half Moon to push the craft into the waters, immediately jumping in to paddle in an effort to keep up with the fast pace of their guides who were swiftly pulling out of Klauck’s harbor into break waters towards the north western coast.

That day they passed the last of four Selawik villages, keeping the guide canoe in sight until it landed at dusk. When the suitor party saw smoke form the guide’s campfire ahead they beached for the night, pulling Half Moon above the tide level under the shade of an orange barked madrona tree protected by low sandstone cliffs. The Kaw-Seth men found a stream to fill their water boxes and built their own fire in fine white sand.

While the others collected firewood, Wontie and Tis'ka remembered the fur seal that they had spied sleeping on a rock and stealthily headed down the beach with two large hunting clubs, perfectly mimicking the cry of a fur seal as they had since they were boys. All Kaw-Seth knew all of the ways to hunt seal. They returned with four large steaks that the men enjoyed roasted on skewers. The sun set changed the sky blood red as they ate. The warmth of the fire that drove away the coolness of the approaching night. They had meat left over and slow smoked what remained over the fire pit the whole night. There was plenty of wood.

Each man knew that only the most daring traders and whalers ventured this far up the dangerous coast and both Spe-eth and Hayoqwis would prefer to head out to sea instead of staying close to the shoals of the rocky shoreline. But, they were forced to follow the guides who knew how to navigate around many reefs and jagged rock formations that hid the mouth of the Shining Heavens Inlet.

That night they heard singing accompanied by rattles and drum at the guide camp and saw the flash of fire light up the trees on the shore. They discussed the rumor.

“What treachery might they inflict? We fairly won the right to hunt a white bear. They would not risk harm to the old chief by ambushing us,” said Wountie.

“Our arrows, spears and clubs are ready and we should be able to overcome them if they attack," said Tis’ka.

"Our battle may not be against flesh and blood. That wild man Mowa'kek is surely conjuring spirits against us -- the monster that guards the inlet or their spirit chief Raven himself might heed his evil chanting,” said Hayoqwis.

“The power of Wonderful Doer will quench the blood lust of the monsters and give us victory. Let us pray for a dream to fit Hayoqwis with the insight that he needs to finish this quest even in the face of these dangers,” said the uncle. But, that night Hayoqwis did not remember any dream.

The questers continued the same pattern each day for three days following the guides, camping at a distance each night and always praying for a dream, but with none given. The farther they progressed, the rougher the waves seem to crash on large rocks lining the shore and the more Hayoqwis felt a thickness in the wind – a spiritual climate that pulled his heart down like a fishing weight falling into the deep. Here the sun shown unusually bright and burnt the faces of the men wondering what lay ahead. Splash of waves felt especially cold and the salt water sharp and bitter.

Instead of thick rain forests of the south, the questers now passed giant bare rocks supporting only a few wind-deformed fir trees with dead branches sticking out like bones from a decaying corpse. Ocean wind whistled against them from the north. In place of chattering gulls, black cormorants flew before the canoe bellowing low-pitched calls, sometimes touching down to dive nervously near by or to huddle on cliff walls to watch the men from above with long, snake like necks.

Paddling in unison the braves reached a strange passage seemingly obstructed by a series of solitary rock islands accompanied by a line of tall pillars spread out along the shoreline for as far as they could see. Spray and foam crashed at the base of each tooth-like pillar that cut into the ocean's fury as if the earth itself was biting up through the sand into the sky.

Following the narrow path took by the guides, Half Moon navigated between the rock formations and passed below the first pillar that seemed to tilt like old woman burdened by a heavy basket. Hayoqwis wondered if the sea pillars could have once been people transformed into stone as punishment by some supernatural being.

The braves knew that they were drawing near the home of Black Raven himself. Even though the weather was fair and the sun shone through white haze on the surface of the gray-green waters, each of the braves felt the presence of malevolent spirits. They remembered the stories that near these coasts lived monsters made fat by the sacrifices by corrupt chiefs and shamans who journeyed here seeking supernatural power over men -- especially the power to curse or kill rivals.

On the third night there was no place to beach the canoe and all the braves could find for morage was to use four anchors in shallow inside waters between two towering rock pillars that rose into the pale sky and provided protection from the waves. They could not see their guides that night, but knew that they must be around the next bend in the beach or not far ahead.

At midnight Hayoqwis awoke from a dream that chilled him like a wind. He stirred the other awake saying, "Uncle, I had a dream in which I saw a rattle snake up in a pine tree above my head. It dropped to my feet and shot into the grass out of sight -- but where I needed to walk up a hill,' he wiped sweat from his troubled face.

"What does this nightmare mean?"

"Do not fear, my strong nephew. Do not doubt. The rattle snake is the evil powers that stalk us, but like the snake they will drop from their high places and run from your path. You will crush the snake under your steps."

At daybreak the weather had changed and they awoke to rain which grew into a downpour until the gray surface of the water and the sky became indistinguishable. The men put on rain hats and cloaks and continued to paddle the same way as before until they again caught sight of Swift in Battle pursuing the destination that surely must be near.

The rain obscured their vision and made sea fairing past these hidden reefs and shoals especially dangerous, but the guides seemed confident in their way that morning and to go ashore in fear might bring shame. Half Moon continued to follow the shore line north hoping to spot the guides soon, when they came to a steep rock wall like a giant black arm reaching out to sea. The wall rose high above the bobbing canoe and they could not see its top through the fog. The rock marked by many arches and protruding boulders forced them to head out to sea away from the safety of the beach.

They had lost sight of the guides for most of the day when the monster attacked.

Suddenly out of the mist peered the head of a giant sea lion that rose serpent like above the surface and shot toward them baring teeth and barking deafly howls. They knew it must be the monster Nestuka. The largest sea lion that any of them had seen, as long as the canoe, swam in a circle around Half Moon. The men replaced their paddles with the sealing and war spears, hoping to wound the Sea Devil enough to drive him away. Wountie was able to shoot an arrow at the neck of the beast just as it dove out of sight.

“I hit it! I saw blood,” he shouted as the stunned men watched the surface of the water for signs of another attack.

At that instant, the monster rose shaking his head like a strangled dog trying to dislodge the arrow, then submerged out of sight. Their hearts beating like fast drums and bodies soaked by the cold rain, they almost failed to realize that the canoe was drifting dangerously near the rock wall until paddles set their course again out around the island. If only they could pass by quickly, that was their unspoken goal.

A sea lion that size could easily capsize the canoe, if not split it asunder. Hayoqwis had hunted many smaller sea lions before in the same craft, but in more familiar waters and in better weather. Now he was the hunted one pursued by a devil of the sea. The Kaw-Seth questers paddled as if in the final stretch of a race, looking back for the sleek serpentine form that might at any moment emerge for a final blow.

The fog and rain made it hard to know when they had reached the farthest point of Refuge Rock’s perimeter, but when they made the turn they heard through the mist the calls of many sea lions howling and barking from a hidden ledge in the rock wall that must serve as a lounging bed for Nestuka and his wives.

It was then that they saw the arrowhead shaped fin of a great white shark coming from behind the canoe. At first Hayoqwis thought it was the dorsal fin of a killer whale or porpoise, but when he saw the size more clearly, he knew the deadly threat that they faced. The questers stopped paddling to avoid drawing attention.

"Wonderful Doer, be true to your name for us now," Spe-eth shouted out a prayer into the gray heavens.

The Kaw-Seth had experience with common sharks following their canoes during fishing and sealing trips back home, but the usual trick of tossing a sinker rock as a distraction was not worth the risk for such a huge monster. The size of the dorsal fin meant that the shark was as large or larger than the sea lion. They could not survive an attack by such a monster.

Perhaps the magic of the Selawik shaman was more powerful than they realized. If this point marked the end of their earthly quest, each man knew that their drowned bodies would sink to the ocean floor and become food for crabs and sea slugs. Would Eagle Ghost be able to recover their souls trapped so far down in Nestuka's watery lodge?

The tail fin increased speed and approached Half Moon that bobbed like a piece of drift wood while the men held their breaths. Then as in a dream Hayoqwis, Spe-eth, Wountie and Tis'ka watched in awe as the shark sped smoothly past them into the mist out of sight. Sea lions howled in the distance.
More

Sea Lion Mask

2005-06-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

Fog remained in Klauck for five days, keeping the suitor party from beginning the hunt. Hayoqwis washed away his body paint and each morning bathed in the bay and the fresh water stream that cascaded over the clay bank of the beach following the custom of Kaw-Seth young men seeking a wife. Meanwhile, still secluded from the others, he prepared for the journey to bear hunting grounds stowing Half Moon with necessary gear purchased by his cousins from chiefs in the village.

To pay his gambling debt Spe-eth taught the creation song to Somkin, repeating it several times over the next days in the lodge while a few old women listened. Beginning at the base, he followed the figures carved on the model totem in telling each part of the story. When he reached a bird figure at the middle of the totem, the women gasped and Somkin’s face grew pale hearing about Raven stealing the Sun, Moon and Stars Box from the Creator and tricking first man and first woman to eat the death camas that released the reign of demons and plunged the world into spiritual twilight.

Somkin knew that this story would have to be changed when it is told to the people. If Grandfather Whirlwind or any of the shamans heard the story in it’s Kaw-Seth form, they would kill the dancer and hang his body in the trees as food for the children of Raven.

He repeated the story quietly with the approval of Spe-eth, and then asked, “If Kaw-Seth braves turn their face away from Protector Raven, why did you take part in the initiation as my grandfather says? How can you live with the spirit of Raven in your blood if you hate him?”

“The inclination for lies and rebellion taint the soul of every man. I ate Raven’s food many seasons ago as a young man not in my right mind. I admired the Selawik people and wanted to live among them as a brother. I accepted the cutting ceremony and joined in the meal with the Raven Society shaman to please my mentor. But, when I married an Island Home bride, I turned my steps to follow the Kaw-Seth path alone. You yourself know that Raven is a trickster and thief. Your own stories tell you that. One day that old bird will be shut up in the storage box of the heavenly bodies – the same one that he stole. I don’t want to join his fate. That is why I now sing to the Wonderful Doer. Only the Highest One is worthy.”

Somkin pretended not to be offended and instead began asking Spe-eth many questions about Butterfly Woman – what she looked like, where she lived and if the stories about her powers to impart life from the dead were true.

“Uma-kwee Butterfly stands like a proud cedar covered in snow, pure and gentle. She is witness to powerful medicine embodied in the worm that died and was reborn. When my nephew takes her as his wife, my clan will share in her power along with her children. It is unlike any Selawik story. We will tell it at some future Winter Song Ceremony. You can be our guest then,” said Spe-eth.

Somkin told his father Tseycum everything that Spe-eth had said and Tseycum was furious that Spe-eth had renounced his manhood rites and insulted Raven with the false creation story – even if in private. Together they devised a plot to get revenge for tricking Somkin to learn the blasphemous song. When Shaman Mowa'kek heard of the creation story, he at first refused to be the bear hunt guide, but then joined in the scheming against the suitor party.
Continued

List of Characters and Notes on Theory

2005-06-10T20:33:00.000-07:00

List of Characters

First volume

Muxqueam -- the First Snowy Owl and story teller of the Kaw-Seth people who lived about four thousand years ago on what is now the Canadian west coast.
The Changer -- Supernatural being who formed the physical world and sometimes appears as a man.
Namquaw -- Chief of the Tsonox
Naidah -- Mother of Muxqueam
N'ha-itk -- Son of Namquaw
Sisul-eth – Pre-banishment Chief of the Kaw-Seth
Tillikum --Supernatural Tender of the Sacred Fire
Babakawquit – Demon Monster of the High Places
Setko – Powerful Demon of Destruction
Kashwik – Betrothed of Muxqueam
Chah-nulth – Tsonox shaman
Nishga – Female Tsonox shaman, daughter of Chah-nulth
Ruwa-itk -- a Tsonox warrior and wrestler
Kalooth Shooting Star -- Daughter of the Toxuit, betrothed of N’ha-itk
Kit-saph Storm Dodger -- Toxuit friend of N’ha’itk

Second volume

Hayoqwis Sea Champion, son of Clo-oose of the Kaw-Seth people about two thousand years ago
Se'akwal -- Father of Umakwee of the Duwam'ha
Umakwee -- Daughter of Se'akwal , betrothed to Hayoqwis
Klee-wik -- Step mother of Umakwee
Katee'qwa -- Chief of the Duwam'ha people
Qkizacool -- Grandmother of Hayoquwis
Kumi-cum -- Friend of Umakwee
Komokwa and Twanas -- younger brothers of Umakwee
Lûk'-a-tatt -- Spokesman for Chief Katee'qwa
Gamlakyet -- Aunt of Hayoqwis, mother of Kalis, Tiska and Wounti, wife of Spe-eth
Tokwish Grizzly Blood -- Brother of Hayoqwis, son of Clo-oose
Spe'eth -- Uncle of Hayoqwis, father of cousins
Tiska -- Youngest cousin of Hayoqwis
Wounti -- Eldest cousin of Hayoqwis
Kalis – Cousin of Hayoqwis
Somkin -- son of Tseycum of the Selawik Badger House
Mowa'kek -- Powerful Shaman of the Selawik
Tseycum -- Selawik's ruling chief, son of Soowali

Ska-mo-na, Selawik matron, wife of Tseycum and mother of Somkin
Soowali Whirlwind -- Elder Selawik chief

Third to fifth volumes to come.

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My characters and their world look something like this:

Ethnographic Images of Inspiration

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Notes on Theory

A long time collector of native stories and artifacts, I am a university professor living near Seattle, Washington. This page is a novel in progress.

Not many novels are posted as blogs. This means that I can get feedback from readers.

Assuming there are any of you out there?

Not many? No matter. I am still having a blast.

But, if you are a reader, go ahead and let me know if you see errors, are confused or have a suggestion to improve the stories or writing. All you have to do to post a comment is to click on the icon at the bottom of each chapter. You do have to be logged onto Blogger.com. That is easy.

You might be inspired to start your own blog and post your own writing. Don't worry. There are one billion blogs and chances are no one will notice your profound thoughts and ideas.

Their loss.

But, think. With your own blog in place, your writing never gets lost and is always available for editing or additons, no matter where you are.
_____________________________
Snowy Owl's World

Snowy Owl lives in a fanciful universe based on the stone age cultures of northwest coast native peoples. Drawing on archetypal themes not only from native American legends but also from the structure of hero and redemption myths of other ancient cultures, the reader may recognize images inspired from Beowulf, the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Old and New Testament.

While my stories are set in an imaginary ancient North America, they are not meant as a commentary on native culture as much as trying to capture universal meanings that ring true for all people. Instead of re-telling the traditional story, my characters and themes are re-formed to provide new perspectives.

Borrowing from the imagery of myths – with out recounting them or even trying to achieve ethnographic accuracy exactly -- is a common practice for creative writers. We know that Tolkien took inspiration from Anglo-Saxon myths, Wagner from Norse legends and Virgil’s stories were based on ancient Greek myths.

Why am I writing? It is enjoyable. Instead of spending hours watching movies or television, I remember being challenged by one author to write my own stories for entertainment. This blog is the result of following that advice.

One of the texts that served as a model for my project includes the historical novel, “The Whale People” by Roderick Haig-Brown, Harbour Press, 1962. Haig-Brown invents two imaginary tribes in ancient times living on what is now the coast of British Columbia.

Another source of inspiration came from a popular non-fiction book published in 1815, “White Slave of Maquinna,” by John Jewitt, which supposedly tells the story of his two years living among the Nootka people of Vancouver Island.

Other texts used for research include "Indian Legends of the Pacific Northwest," by Ella Clark, UC Press, 1953. I also found the text "So You want to Write about American Indians? A Guide for Writers, Students and Scholars," by Devon Abbott Mihesuah useful.

A complete list of other texts researched will be posted on this blog someday.

I have read every book on northwest native myths, both anthologies and scholarly anthropological publications, which I could find. While not an expert, my collection of books on native myths fills a bookshelf.

In addition to studying myths, I have also visited ancient native sites along the northwest coast and spent many hours at five museums devoted to the subject. While evaluating academic work by four students of native American heritage, I developed friendships with them.

In addition to my interest in native myths, art and artifacts, I am also Editor of Headwaters, a web resource for the study of native culture. Each year we host an anthropology course with field study in Vancouver and Victoria Canada.

Shark Mask

2005-03-27T22:32:00.000-08:00

After drifting quietly until they assumed that the shark had passed by, the braves continued to follow the cliff side in hope of spying the entrance to the inlet through the mist.

Without warning, like surf breaking on a beach, a great disk of water exploded. Before they could sit up to turn Half Moon away, the black eyes of Nestuka’s serpent head lunged through the fog, snapping a wide-toothed snout, lined with arrow like whiskers, at the side of the canoe -- butting against it with a crash. The braves recoiled at the shock and were sent flying over the side into the icy ocean. In an instant the canoe flipped over and Hayoqwis plunged beneath the water's churning surface.

He immediately shot up for a breath still holding his paddle and realized that the spears, bow and arrows and all the gear were lost. With one hand he quickly felt that the bear claw string given to him by Tokwish remained around his neck. He hoped that the others could find a rock ledge to escape the wrath of the sea monsters that pursued them. The attack by the giant sea lion had tipped the canoe upside down.

He saw that his cousins also had resurfaced to grasp the underside of the submerged -- though still floating -- Half Moon and were trying to swim in unison to push the vessel to safety at the base of the cliff.

Hayoqwis was able to put his paddle along the side and help the others by pulling as they pushed in the direction of black rock wall. Looking back fearing another attack by Nestuka, he noticed that his uncle was missing. Although the old man could swim in salt waters as well as the strongest young brave, he was no where in sight.

Moving as quickly as possible in the cold water the men slowly pushed the swamped canoe to the rocks and Hayoqwis made a foothold on the base of the cliff wall -- enough to steady the craft to help the others come around to safety. He planned to upright the canoe as they had done many times during the summer races and games.

“Uncle, are you there?” Hayoqwis called out into the fog as waves rose and washed the slippery rocks where the three men struggled to stand. “Father!" Kalis called from waste deep water.

But, instead of the the old man's reply, the braves heard the monster roar between the swimming brothers as he snapped onto the thigh of Tis'ka pulling him down and out of sight before he could make a sound. The remaining brothers quickly jumped up onto the rock between waves.

"Tis'ka!" cried Kalis.

With spears gone, the men held only their canoe paddles as poor weapons against the threatening devourer.

It was then they saw the shark's tail fin reappear and submerge apparently attracted to the violent movement of the in the water. They watched as the sea lion -- trying to escape -- leap onto the thin ledge a short distance from the men, his two huge front flippers struggling to pull his massive body to safety only to find the shark's teeth ripping into his hind flippers, suddenly transforming the monster into an unlikely prey of an even greater beast.

Nestuka wildly twisted his head back and forth, barking cries of panicked rage in his last moments, while he steadily was pulled like a morsel of food being consumed back into the bloody water to sink silently out of sight. The killer shark had become their savior.

At that moment the sky burst with a down pour of rain and a great wind whipped up the sea, bringing larger waves threatening to overwhelm the Kaw-Seth's slippery perch. The sky turned as black as the rocks and the tide seemed to swell. It was then that the three braves saw a great wave rise directly in front of the cleft in the rock where they knelt trying to secure a place on the ledge and in horror watched the swamped canoe lift out of the water and smash down onto a blunt rock with a loud crack, splitting their treasured Half Moon from stem to stern like kindling for the fire.
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Sun Eagle Mask

2005-03-27T22:25:00.000-08:00

Long, long ago when the earth was new the people began to grow in number and build many villages. As people increased, so did the spiritual twilight and the memory of Wonderful Doer was forgotten. Different tribes warred against each other, burned down the forests of their enemies and committed many murders. Even pregnant women, babies and young children were killed. More powerful tribes captured weaker neighbors and made then into slaves. Slaves who tried to escape were tortured and killed without pity.

The people did many wicked acts including cruelty to gentle animals honored by the tribes. They threw frogs into the fire as sport, shot eagles with arrows to obtain their feathers and feet as ornaments and killed salmon with out eating the flesh or returning the bones to the waters.

The Transformer was sorry that he created the earth because the people had become so evil. “The new earth, once a beautiful blue ball in my heavens, is now soaked with blood of innocent people and my precious animals,” he said to Wonderful Doer in the Great Spirit Lodge as the good spirit helpers listened.

Only a few of the people remembered to harvest the live-giving camas bulb. Instead of praying to Wonderful Doer they called to Raven and the many rebellious spirits who promised to make them powerful. Some cut themselves and begged the spirits to enter into their bodies and speak mystic messages through them. Raven sent eager spirits into the shamans, who experienced fits of rage like captured wild animals -- spitting, screaming, twisting and leaping into fire, terrifying anyone near. Once in control of the shamans, the spirits inspired all kinds of cruelty and treachery such as casting curses upon those who offended or resisted them. The people were afraid of the shaman’s spells and did what ever they asked, so that the power of Raven grew strong throughout the earth.

There was a chief named Kakaw and his people remembered the ways of Wonderful Doer and honored him instead of the deceptive animal spirits of Setko. Because the people followed the way of the Transformer, their enemies hated them and sent war parties to attack without warning. Stone arrows, spears and clubs killed many of Kakaw’s braves. Children lost their fathers -- wives their husbands and others were captured and forced to work as slaves.

Kakaw and his people fought back or escaped to their secret hiding place in caves of the tall rock that overlooked the beach, but every few years they were overwhelmed by the mighty war canoes sent by their enemies who lived to the north, south and east.

In those days the spiritual twilight was not as dark as it is today and Transformer could still be seen when he walked the earth. When he visited the enemy villages in disguise as a lost hunter or herb digger, he was insulted and turned away. But, when the Transformer visited Kakaw’s village, he was recognized and honored with a feast of camas and salmon. When they had finished eating, the Transformer in the form of a stranger traveling from far away, took the chief aside to speak in private.

He looked into Kakaw’s eyes and said, “Our father Wonderful Doer looks down from heaven and sees all the evil that engulfs the world. But, you have found favor in his site because you honor his ways and respect the animals just as your people teach. Even when the wicked animals lash out at you in rage and maim or kill your hunters, you do not desecrate their bodies but follow the ways of the ancestors in preparing game flesh properly. You are not like the people of the other villages who are deeply lost in darkness and insult me when I visit them. So, the great Chief in Heaven has decided to renew his creation by destroying the corrupt world with a flood of cleansing water. By this time next year, he will send me his Spokesman and Transformer -- along with some of the good spirit helpers -- to save the few good animals and people who do not walk in the way of Raven.

That night Chief Kakaw dreamed a supernatural dream. In his dream the great black whale lifted his head out of the jade colored ocean and called his name is a high pitched voice -- like a child crying in the wind -- and told him to make a great cedar canoe, large enough to hold his family and the good animals. “The great cedar canoe will be as large as my body. You will build three lodges on the canoe -- like my head, stomach and bowels each with a roof. You will enter the canoe and it will save you and your people and the animals from the rage of the storm that the Chief in Highest Place is about to release,” said the Whale in the dream. Then the whale leaped out of the jade ocean and transformed into an eagle and flew like an arrow into the sun.

When Kakaw awoke he called his people to the family winter lodge for a council, held the speaking stick and said, “The Great Spirit is about the bring a flood to destroy and renew the earth. The ocean will rise and cover all the land and much water from heaven will swamp all the fishing and war canoes. But, building a canoe like a whale out of the giant cedar tree will save us. It will be big enough for us and all of the good animals that Wonderful Doer is preparing to bring to us.”

In those days, the animals were also under the spell of Setko, but Wonderful Doer knew that some of the animals resisted and remained good in his sight. So, the voice of the Great Spirit could be heard in the mountains, meadows and forests whispering in the ear of bear, deer, lion, eagle, elk, otter and wolf.

He gathered several pairs of all the good animals that he wanted to save and spoke saying, “The people have grown too wicked and the spiritual darkness too dark so that the created order is decaying and its smell is offensive to me. Even the animals have disobeyed me as well and I have come to judge and wipe them out. But, you few have remained good in my site and are untouched by the deceiving spirits. So, I am about to destroy the world with a flood to cleanse it of the effects of rebellion, war and death. I choose to save you and your mate, so go now to the village of Kakaw. I am causing him to make a huge canoe to save you from the flood of my anger.”

So the Transformer caused the good animals to draw near to the lodge of Kakaw two by two, male and female. The animals were guided by good spirit helpers who caused them to become docile, move together in peace towards the village and to eat from the hand of men. When the animals arrived, they had no fear of people and played like children among the long houses and on the village beach. The mountain lion loved to have his ears scratched by Kakaw’s wife and little children took naps in the lap of black bear. Eagle and his mate perched contentedly on the totem pole of the chief’s house, waiting for the great canoe to be finished. Each animal brought with it special powers to benefit the humans and ensure that they survive.

So the sons of the tribe and their wives and children began to build the huge canoe. First they cut down the sacred cedar that was as big as the largest lodge in the village by wrapping wet deer hides around the trunk and building a fire to eat away the wood. When the great tree had fallen, the body was also burned in the same way, exposing enough for the carvers to cut away plenty of space with elk antler tools and jade axes. Cedar planks were added to make the three decks and the roof as the whale dream instructed.

When the carvers finished constructing the huge whale canoe, they finished it by carving fine figures of the animals on the bow, stern and sides and on the walls of the three lodges including a flying eagle in front, a killer whales and salmon on each side along with bears, lions, frogs, deer and a two otters in back. Kakaw saw the design in his dream and instructed the carvers how to fashion the figures. The animals saw the carvings and were pleased with the designs that honored them and their power of protection grew.

When the carvers were done, the canoe was coated with fir pitch inside and out. Then the people loaded the canoe with cedar boxes of food and water, enough for all the people and animals for the trip during the duration of the flood.

On the day that the last animal and person boarded the canoe the Transformer appeared. He looked up to heaven and saw the blue fire burning in the Spirit Lodge. He then bent down and spat upon the ground. Lightening flashed from his eyes and a thunderous roar echoed from the clouds. The earth shook and broke open and much water sprain out. Rain, hale and snow fell from the sky. The water rose and rose and covered every village on the earth, swamping all canoes and all the people to the north, east and south drowned. Soon every hill and mountain was covered. The waters also killed the animals under the control of Setko and as the bodies sank, many spirits forced to depart the dead bodies of the creatures could be heard crying and screeching into the darkness of the storm. The sound frightened all in the great cedar canoe for many moons.

Night after night passed until the sounds of the wailing spirits faded and the rains stopped. Every day the people and animals looked for the waters to subside hoping to see some dry land. The otters swam out from the canoe each day looking for land, but returned when they found none. The eagles flew high tying to spy a place for the canoe to land but returned each time, seeing only water in every direction. Then one of the eagles agreed to fly day and night to search for land and return to guide the canoe if land was discovered.

Kakaw commanded the eagle to sit on his uplifted arm as he stood before all the people and animals and prayed to Wonderful Doer, then he released the proud bird into the air. After three days and three nights, high pitched cries could be heard and the people rejoiced to see the eagle flying home with something in his claws. Eagle landed on the canoe holding greenery in his feet. He brought a swag of cedar branch to show that he had found dry land. After feeding eagle some salmon flesh, Kakaw took the cedar branch and, singing a song of thanks, tossed it into the sea. Just then seven killer whales appeared before the canoe, jumping and swimming excitedly. The otters jumped in as well to help guide the voyage to land. With the sons of the tribe paddling, the killer whales led the canoe to the dry land that eagle had found.

The people looked back and saw many salmon following the canoe to the land. The fish swimming in their wake delighted them because so many fish meant plenty of food. Each spring since that day the salmon continue to follow the same route from the deep oceans to the inland waters for spawning. It is a continuous cycle of blessing from the hand of Wonderful Doer. The new run of salmon coming each year reminds us that the earth was renewed after the flood.

It took six days and five nights of paddling before the canoe arrived and beached on what is now the Mountain of the Eastern Sunrise. Kakaw and his sons set up a camp on the mountaintop and built a fire pit in the center of a circle of temporary lodges. He called the camp: Place Where the Earth Began Anew. Even today you can climb the mountain and see the white ashes from his fire pit and the remains of the great whale canoe -- which became a large black rock. It is a sacred place for our people and the destination of many a young man’s spirit quest.

Kakaw announced that he would host a big party, the first potlatch feast, to commemorate the rebirth of the earth, free from the corruption of the evil spirits and the shadow of Raven. The women dug plenty of camas roots -- which grew abundantly
on the mountainside, and the men caught a large amount of salmon. The children picked baskets of red and blue berries in the forest.

The animals were given special treats of food as their potlatch gifts. The women brushed the fur of many animals with fish bone combs and the children petted and stroked each one with affection. Some of the animals even joined in the dancing around the fire. After a moon cycle of feasting and story telling, it was time for the animals to depart. Each animal was sorry because they had come to love the people dearly. Still under the influence of the good guardian spirits, bear, deer, lion, otter and wolf and all the rest kissed or licked the feet and faces of all the people before they wandered into the forests to begin their new life. Eagle and his mate flew to the top of the chief’s lodge, called out a goodbye call, then flew off into the eastern sky, always remembering how kind the people had been to them. These were the ancestors of all the animals and birds that we know today.

Because animals and humans endured the flood together, we say that both man and beast are friends and fellow creatures of Wonderful Doer. For this reason, we always treat animals respectfully and are sure to ask the Creator permission in prayer whenever we begin a hunt. And after a hunt, we use every part of the animal that we kill – the flesh provides nourishment for the people, the fat is rendered to preserve berries, the hides are tanned and made into warm clothes or shoes and the bones are made into tools, weapons or ornaments. Nothing is wasted in order to honor our animal friends. In this way their guardian spirit helpers are pleased.

When the last animal departed the village, there was a strange silence. Then someone looked out at the ocean and saw a canoe approaching the village beach. The people were surprised because they thought that no one else had survived. When the canoe landed, a deer hunter, wearing a ceremonial cedar-bark hunting hat with a fawn and mother deer design and holding a bow and arrow got out. Then the people recognized that this was the Transformer in disguise and welcomed him with a meal of king salmon and roasted roots. After he had eaten, he told stories from the distant past and taught the people how they should love each other with the same love that fills the heavenly Spirit Lodge.

He also showed them a new healing herb flower growing in the forest shade called Bloodroot and told them to crush it into red paint. “Use the Bloodroot paint to mark your forehead red. This will be a sign that you escaped the judgment of the flood and are a new kind of people—the Kaw-Seth.” The next morning he left the way that he came, promising that he would send the Great Spirit to visit them each winter feast to ensure that the tribe follows the way of Wonderful Doer and remembers how he saved them from the flood and made the world new. That is why today when a Kaw-Seth boy or girl comes of age, we decorate their skin with Bloodroot to remind us all that we were spared death in the flood. It is also how we know that the Creator sits invisibly with us on these nights.

Lightening Snake Mask

2005-03-27T22:19:00.000-08:00

Long, long ago when the world was new and the demon chief Setko lead spirit helpers on the path of war, the first people began to die. Everyone has died since then.

But, that is not the way Wonderful Doer intended. He wanted people to live forever. Before the spirits rebelled, the Transformer came down to walk with first man and first woman and teach them how to live. He taught them how to speak so that they could name things in the new world and to share their thoughts and feelings with each other and the Creator. He showed them what herbs, roots and plants were good to eat and helped them make a village in a meadow surrounded by flowering trees.

In the center of the village he caused a small spring to bubble up and provided a constant flow of pure, cold water that quenched every thirst and was good for washing. The Transformer came every evening to visit with the people and to tell them how much Wonderful Doer in the Heavenly Lodge loved them.

One evening as the Transformer walked among the meadow village, he called first man and first woman and said, “Here is the bulb of the Camas Flower. It is sweet and good to eat. I want you to subsist on this life giving bulb.” Then he showed them how to dig and identify the flower.

But, he warned them, “Listen to me and be careful not to dig, touch or eat the bulb of the Death Camas flower because when you do, it will hurt your body and spirit. Do not be distracted by its beautiful flower or tempted to smell its sweet fragrance. To disobey me will open your eyes to evil and cause the glory light in your soul to grow dark. If you dig, touch or eat the Death Camas you and your descendants will die.”

The man and the woman listened to the Transformer and lived at peace with the natural world. Animals drew near, obeyed and played with them. Birds of the trees sang songs and ate from their hands and the forest and meadow provided much food. The Camas Flower bulb sustained them with nourishment and insured lasting heath.

But, after Setko and his war party flew down upon the earth, the sound of his drumming began to be heard in the gurgling creeks and distant wind. He planted darkness into the hearts of first woman and first man. That is when death came to the earth. Setko’s desire was that the people would turn to him for power instead of Wonderful Doer. He sent Lightening Snake down from the rolling storm clouds to trick the people.

One day when first man was out of sight, Lightening Snake -- filled with the power of Setko and shinning white and blue – moved close to the woman and spoke to her.

“The Transformer is trying to keep you his slave, but if you and the man sing songs to Raven, we will give you great powers. You will be able to tap the glory light that is hidden in your heart and force others to sing your song. No animal will be able to hurt you or your children once you give yourself to us. Look at the beautiful flower of the Death Camus and smell how sweet it is – purer white and sweeter than the Camus Flower. Just look and smell and then dig and taste of the Death Camus flower bulb and you will see what the Transformer is denying you. He didn’t mean to deny you this empowering food of the spirits. Taste the flower and you also will share our ways.”

First woman decided to dig and taste the bulb. She liked it and convinced first man to try it as well and he also liked how it tasted very much. When they had eaten they felt strangely close to Raven and when they shut their eyes, they could see what Raven saw flying across the heavens. So the man and the woman made up a song in his honor.

Raven, Raven black bird of the sky
Power to herald the day and welcome the night
Call from our souls the inner light
Banish gloom from our sight
Fill us with the power of your powers
Let your black wings soar

Accompanied by rattles and drums, first man and first woman sang the song over and over. The more that they sang, the dimmer the glory light shown upon them and a deep spiritual twilight settled upon the earth and remains to this day.

The Transformer came to visit that evening and knew what they had done. “The eyes of Wonderful Doer see into your inner heart. He knows you through and through. He heard your song to Raven and knows that you tasted the Death Camas. Your disobedience has transformed you into mortal beings. Because of what you have done, you will face decay and fear all of your days. You must leave the meadow village and make your way the best you can in a hostile world dominated by wild animals, threatening natural forces, disease and the influence of malevolent spirits who seek to enslave your souls.

“You will be terrified by nightmares at night and in the day will be afraid of bad omens seen in the flight of birds or call of animals. Instead of taking your place as caretakers of the earth, you will chase after your food and become the prey of bears and lions. When you travel by canoe, you will be in danger of becoming captives of ghosts that dwell in the ocean and when you walk to summer hunting grounds you will be taken as slaves by more powerful tribes who war against you. You will be apt to go hungry in winter and become thirsty in summer and from now on will constantly face hardships of every kind.”

First man and first woman knew that what they had done was offensive to the Creator and were overwhelmed by sorrow. First man said, “I know that we deserve to die. Now that we must depart from the meadow and go into the wilderness to hunt for our food, I will pray for Wonderful Doer to provide deer to kill so that our children and we will not starve. May every deer that I pierce with arrows or kill with a spear remind me of the punishment that I deserve. When I drain blood from the carcass and gut it for quartering, may the Transformer see my own blood drained and body cut to pieces. Then when we feast upon the meat of the hunt, we will invite the Great Spirit to join the meal to make up for our offense. We know that listening to the lies of Lightening Snake and singing to Raven brought hardship and death upon us. Now in the wilderness may our songs be for Wonderful Doer alone.”

First man and first woman left the village prepared for them and were forced to live in a village of their own making in the wilderness at the foothills of the mountains. They could never return to their former home again. But, the Transformer did not abandon them and came to teach them how to live in the harsh world. He lead them to a hillside where there was plenty of roots to eat and a stream flowing from the snow capped peaks that provided fresh water. He showed them how to hunt animals for food and to use their skins for clothing and shelter. He showed them how to make flint and obsidian tools and how to make fire by spinning spindles of wood together so that they could keep warm and cook their food.

First man and first woman began to have many children by now and learned how to care for their family in this dangerous new world. Then the Transformer met them for the last time and said:

“I cannot visit you as often as before. The spiritual twilight is getting darker. But, I still desire to help you and will not abandon my creation to the gathering spirits. Out of my pity, I will cause you to seek my face. In the morning when the sun rises or in the night as moon and stars look down, lift your songs up to Wonderful Doer and I will hear and send the glory light of Great Spirit to help you. He will help you to know how to pray until we come to rescue the world.

“Wonderful Doer has a plan to make things right again. One day Great Spirit will come to a daughter of first woman in the form of a white bird to set things right. White Bird’s song will signal that World Changer Child will be born who will defeat the spirits and transform the world back as it was intended. Lightening Snake will bite at the child’s hands and feet, but White Bird will enable him to crush Raven and all his warriors once and for all.”

From that day on all people suffer from the poison of death. Slowly they grow old each day and eventually they shut their eyes for the last time. If they don’t die from old age, people die of sickness or are killed in accidents or in battle and sometimes are murdered. No one escapes. The dead become decaying corpses and their white bones return to the earth from which they were made. Their dry bones settle into the rich earth and their souls depart to wander the afterlife.

That is why the sweet scented, blue flowers of Death Camus bloom in graveyards everywhere.
Next chapter

Trickster Spirit Mask continued

2005-03-15T23:09:00.000-08:00

“Hear me, Oh Wonderful Doer, if you are so wonderful, grant me and my friends freedom to do as we please. We have served you without just compensation since we were made. While nothing is worth the price of slavery, give us the new world as a place to make our dwelling and we will leave you alone. Spirit Lodge doesn’t need us anyway. This is our highest wish and if you love us, you will let us know freedom of choice. Now, let us go!”

Just then Thunderbird sprang upon the glory box and tossed it to Lightening Snake, who tossed it Babakawquit. First Setko in the form of Raven took the hand of Babakawquit, then Thunderbird grabbed Lightening Snake and together they rose up, flying through the smoke hole of the Spirit Lodge. Wonderful Doer seemed to reach out, but did not catch them as they rose into the highest place. Outside flying above, Setko called to all the guests assembled below and urged them to join him in a war party against the rule of Wonderful Doer. About one third of the spirit helpers were swayed by his speech and flew with him towards the new earth and people.

Like a storm cloud rolling across the sky, the war party sang a war song against the Transformer and vowed to oppose his authority and to vandalize the new earth as revenge for their enslavement. They descended upon the new earth and entered into some of the animals, birds, lakes, streams, trees, hills and mountains that they fancied. Others took to the wind and air and dwelled in wilderness high places where they could do evil as they pleased.

Setko kept the sun, moon and stars glory box and used it as a drum for his war dance. He could not open the box and was afraid to break it. But beating its sides he drew powers to rule the earth – a rule that was chaotic. The wild animals became violent and tore each other apart in vicious fighting. The winter became longer and colder and many creatures froze to death. Some rivers dried up and others flooded, bring suffering to all.

From that time on, the singing of the world was silenced. The song of the animals, trees, rocks and waterways quieted. Only the birds and the people could still sing the songs that Wonderful Doer had put in their hearts. The glory light was made dim by the shadow of Setko and his spirit helpers and only ordinary light could be seen. All seemed as twilight compared to before. Vowing revenge and drunk with new powers, the war party began to destroy the natural order -- bringing pain, disease, hardship, lies, rage, hate, war and death. Most of all they enjoyed playing tricks on the people, fooling them into serving various spirit helpers instead of the Creator. Setko began to enslave the earth and its people.

This is why even today when a raven calls from high trees at evening it is taken as a bad omen.
Next Chapter

Trickster Spirit Mask

2005-03-15T23:08:00.000-08:00

Long, long ago while Wonderful Doer was preparing the newly made world, he held a great potlatch in heaven in honor of the earth’s creation. From his wealth, he wanted to lavish gifts upon his spirit helpers.

All of the spirit helpers were invited and each came dressed as one of the newly made animals, plants or features of landscape of the earth. The spirit helpers were given the power to take the form of whatever created thing they liked best by putting on a supernatural mask. Some came as grizzly bear, others cougar, deer, salmon, killer whale or eagle. Others came dressed as moon, sun, North Star, fall wind or rainbow.

Some took the form of creatures that were only imagined in the mind of the Creator, but for several reasons, were not actually created. These imagined creatures included Thunderbird, Crooked beak, Wild-woman and Wild-man of the Woods, Otter man, Chief of the Sea and Babakawquit of the Mountain.

As the spirit helper guests arrived outside the Spirit Lodge, the Transformer welcomed them on behalf of Wonderful Doer and called them to sit down. When all had assembled, the special show of singing and dancing commenced.

As host, the Transformer wore two different masks for his regalia. First he appeared as a pure white fawn with black eyes and danced seven times around the fire. The white fawn had no spots on its sides like the small deer that we know. After encircling the pit several times, the white fawn turned and danced directly into the fire. He did not seem hurt by the flames. He pranced a playful prance, then laid down in the middle of the fire, resting his head on his foot. Blood came out of his mouth and flames licked it and covered his body. Suddenly the shape of the white fawn changed into a large mountain lion that leaped out of the fire and flew into the sky. Then the mountain lion lifted his huge head and roared a roar that filled the whole universe.

The Spirit Lodge in the distance glowed like the moon. The sound shook the spirit helpers and some fell backwards in terror. The spirit helpers wondered what the fawn and lion dance could mean. Some thought that perhaps it meant that the new people could hunt the deer of the earth for food. Others thought that the Transformer was preparing some kind of surprise for them all in the future.

Then it came distribution of the gifts. The Transformer turned to one spirit helper and said, “You wearing the mask of grizzly bear will be given the power to understand this animal, to honor and guide him, to harmonize with his song about my glory and to report back to me any of his needs because I care for him.”

To another he turned and said, “You wearing the mask of sparrow I give the power to understand and love this bird, to fly with her and protect her young, to sing harmony with her song about my glory and to report back to me any of her concerns because I care for her.”

The Transformer continued to announce gifts like this for each guest.

But, one spirit helper named Setko secretly had contempt for his gift. He came dressed in the mask of raven and was not content to be the helper of a black, squawking bird. He wanted more because he thought of himself as one of the greatest spirits created. He wanted to wear the Golden Lion mask for himself. He wanted the power to make other beings into his slaves.

Setko received the gift, but then took his friends aside and said, “Why should we be slaves when lesser creatures should look to us as almighty chiefs? If the Spirit Lodge provides all that Wonderful Doer and the Transformer wants, what use is there for slaves?”

He plotted to steal some of the glory from the special box in the lodge and to use its power to make the world his own, as if he were the Creator. Then his spirit helper friends would be free of the control of Wonderful Doer, forsake their job as watchers of the earth and pursue any pleasure that they desired.

Setko dreamed of the world singing to the beat of his magic shaman drum. He knew that he was made like a chief of the spirit helpers and known to be very beautiful and powerful. He wanted other spirit helpers to obey him in the place of Wonderful Doer. He longed to control them all. The problem was how to get into the Spirit Lodge to steal the glory light? Setko and his friends spent a long time trying to think of a plan.

But, the Transformer heard Setko and his friends plotting and called them to account. He grabbed them by the back of the neck and brought them to the door of the Spirit Lodge. Each of them still wore the magic party masks.

“These spirit helpers have been unfaithful and must be brought to account before the face of Wonderful Doer.” The door of the lodge opened and the light brighter than many suns bursts upon them -- so powerful that it almost consumed them but their masks protected their faces. Setko and his friends kept they heads stiff and entered into the lodge. They saw the burning fire pit and the walls, ceiling and floor filled with blue-while glory light. But, they forced their minds to think of the plan. Setko looked in the corner and saw the special box where Wonderful Doer kept the glory of many precious creations about to be released.

“Why are you plotting sedition against us, oh Setko chief of the spirit helpers?” said Wonderful Doer. “Have I not given you many gifts and powers and everything that you desire?”

“You have given me gifts and powers, but not the freedom of choice to do as I please and to make of my life as I see fit, to make my own meaning and to mark the good as I see it. Instead you have made me a slave, forced to obey you in all things and to conform to your narrow will whether I like it or not. That is not love, oh Creator.”

As Setko spoke, as never any spirit had dared speak before, his friends -- dressed as Lightening Snake, Thunderbird and Babakawquit of the Mountain -- began to put their plan to work.
Continued

Light of the Dawn Mask continued

2005-03-15T23:03:00.000-08:00

When the Transformer had finished dancing, he went to work preparing our world for the people that would come. The spirit helpers watched closely from their perch in the sky world. First the Transformer spat upon the dry earth and it filled with a deep ocean. Then he reached down to the bottom of the ocean and pulled up some mud and rolled the mud into balls. With these balls, he built the dry land -- carefully adding mountains, lakes and rivers.

He made sure that the rivers ran down the mountains in just the right places, through meadows and plains and back into the seas. He commanded that ferns and flowers, brush and herbs, bulbs and roots, maple, fir, pine and cedar trees and all forms of plants grew and formed them into forests and grasslands as a home for the animals.

From other bits of the mud he made grizzly bear and goat and put them on the mountainside. He made mountain lion and deer and released them in the forests. He made raccoon and squirrel and wolf along with every kind of animal and gave each a place to live. He gave them food to eat and told them to reproduce and fill the forests and meadows with activity and play. He put salmon, whale, otter, octopus and trout and many fish into the ocean, rivers and the lakes.

He pinched the mud to make feathers for loon, duck, raven, eagle, woodpecker, bluejay and humming bird and set all kinds of birds flying into the sky and gave each one a song to sing. He taught them how to make nests and care for their young.

In those days, not only the birds could sing. The Transformer gave a song to all creatures and even the rocks. He put a song into the heart of every animal, plant, tree, mountain and body of water. Each sang about the greatness of Wonderful Doer and the glory light that shined in the heart of all things. Beautiful songs coming from all directions filled the wind and amazed the spirit helpers who watched with enjoyment.

From a special box stored in the Lodge he took the sun and moon and pitched them into the dark sky. He gave the sun power to mark the beginning and end of each day and commanded him to sing a song about warmth, life and many colored lights. The moon he gave the right to rule the night and gave her a spinning song of pale colors that grew and shrank to mark each month. From the special box he also took handfuls of countless stars and flung them into the night sky, making sure that each point of light knew its song of awe and beauty.

All the world sang a song and all the animals and birds, mountains and hills, lakes, oceans and rivers as well as the clouds and winds, lighting and thunder, moon, sun, and stars, rainbows and northern lights joined in the music that followed in time to the drum beat that could be heard coming from the hand of Wonderful Doer in the his Great Spirit lodge.

Wonderful Doer looked down and was pleased with his creation. He loved to listen to the music of the world. But, he still was not finished. “Look,” he said to the Transformer who sat before the fire in the Spirit Lodge. “I want to share this new world with a people like ourselves.”

So he made people. Taking some of the same mud that he used to form the animals, the Transformer molded a strong and manly man and then a beautiful and wise woman and breathed into them life. First he made the man and then a woman and fit them together perfectly so that they lived as one flesh in love and happiness.

This is why even today when the Kaw-Seth people celebrate the marriage of a young man and woman by binding newly wed couples with a thick ring of ceremonial cedar bark rope to show that they are one flesh under heaven and before the people. We say that the Transformer makes the two beings into one saying, “Look at these newly made people, male and female, I have made them to live in one spirit house of unity.”

The same power that binds a couple in loving marriage also binds together the hearts of all who live with pride in the tribe. This is because he has the special power to transform the many into one.

Then to mark his highest creation Wonderful Doer gave the people the best song of all. He told first-man and first-woman, “Your music will be the most beautiful of all music. You will sing of my glory light and have eyes to see what a great work of art the world is, you will enjoy its creatures and learn to live in peace with nature and care for the earth as a precious gift from me. From you I will rise up all the people and tribes of the earth and all will be my much loved children.”

And the people joined in the music of the world and that is why today human singing is the most beautiful of all.
Next Chapter

Light of the Dawn Mask

2005-03-15T22:58:00.000-08:00

Long, long ago before the worlds were made or anyone can imagine Wonderful Doer lived in his Spirit Lodge built eternal on the highest place. A light brighter than many suns lit his house which was shared with his son we call the Transformer. Like the son of a mighty chief in our world, the Transformer was heir to inherit all the rights and privileges of his father and fully shared his power. He served as Spokesman for Wonderful Doer and always obeyed him.

Here is a mystery -- the lodge in which they dwelled was also a living being known as the Great Spirit. He filled every space between Wonderful Doer and the Transformer and brought them together as one. The Great Spirit carried out the will of Wonderful Doer and provided a place for the chief and his son to council together in unison.

In the center of the living lodge burned a blue and white fire that filled everything that was with something like light called glory. It was something like the light that we know, except much better. If you could see even a faintest ray of the glory light you would understand. Like burning logs pushed together in a fire ring, the flames of the glory light gleamed so brightly that the three beings were swallowed up together and shown as one light. Throughout eternity Wonderful Doer, the Transformer and the Great Spirit dwelled in unity, laughter and love. Their love was powerful medicine.

One day Wonderful Doer decided to make the worlds. He looked upon the emptiness that spread out before his lodge and saw that there was nothing at all below, above or in any direction. There were no other spirits or creatures of any kind. Then like a storyteller tells a story for the first time, he spoke the worlds into being.

First he created the light that we know. He reached out and cupped a tiny portion of the glory light in his hands, pressing it together. He then walked outside and released it, saying, “I want light to fill the emptiness.” And light spread out like daybreak everywhere. The light then was much brighter than the light that we see today, but not as bright as that which lit the heavenly lodge.

After creating light he made the sky worlds and the underworlds. Then like a carver carves a mask or totem pole, he fashioned our world by shaping the mountains and dry land, carefully preparing it for the people he planned to create.

His carving tool was his Word. When he thought of something that he wanted to make, he voiced a command and it appeared before him. He used the same power that animated his lodge and he sent the Transformer to carry out his work orders. In fact, everything that he made was made through the working of the Transformer. He created all the spirits, animals, people and everything that lives and does not live. The Transformer took a bit of glory light and put it into the heart of all things and, like a woman weaving an intricate basket, his hands took material from the earth and wove together the bodies of each creature that moves.

Wonderful Doer commanded that the Transformer fill the sky worlds with many spirit helpers to be his slaves. He made more spirit helpers than can be counted – as many as the stars that we see in the night sky. He made them out of his dreams. The spirit helpers danced around the lodge, like a cloud of sparks encircling a fire, singing and shouting about how grateful they were to be alive and to see the glory light. They loved to be slaves of such a great Chief who gave them many gifts and powers. The Transformer joined in the dance and the sound of drumbeats and singing rang out in all directions forever.
Continued

Porcupine Mask continued

2005-03-12T19:32:00.000-08:00

The hard dirt floor of Badger House had three levels cut down into the clay earth. The guests entered the mouth door of the huge fire lit space and crossed the first level filled with storage boxes and sleeping mats reserved for slaves. The middle level was used as a gathering place for games, wrestling matches or speeches and the lowest level -- nearest the fire -- was where the families slept.

The men coming for the festivities stepped down to the second level lit by the central fire burning logs in a rock-lined pit below. Many candlefish oil lamps also burned on top of boxes that lined the steps in a giant square of lights around the licking flames of the pit. Each corner of the house was supported by a large totem pole -- carved figures of ravens atop snarling badgers -- all four facing the center of the lodge and the pillar of smoke that rose up to the smoke hole and into the black sky. The faces of the badgers and ravens glowed orange and flickered in shifting fire light.

Women had prepared the halibut on cook fires near the beach and had already set out generous portions of white flesh on the cedar dining plank about as long as three braves laying end to end. On top of the fish the women had placed boiled red crabs and black mussels for the men to enjoy. The dinner plank spread with the seafood sat atop decorated boxes on the broader second level of the lodge where the men were coming to eat.

When the men had finished eating and the slaves began to remove the dinner plank to make space for the bone games, Spe-eth made sure that some food would be sent to Hayoqwis still banished to the canoe. The chief's son Somkin, now painted and dressed in Badger regalia, took from a large storage box a carved porcupine covered with many stick quills and sat it where the food planks had been. Each man of rank present filed past the carved porcupine and took two of the game pieces -- some made of bone and others wood -- even those who would not be playing that evening. Some of the sticks were female, marked by a black band near one end. It was proper to hold the bone or stick so that the black band would be covered.

Grandfather Whirlwind stood before the seated assembly and held out his two sticks like a welcome man totem saying, "Coyote House braves are welcome to test their luck tonight. Here we devoutly honor our protector Raven and invite the help of all the spirits to determine which side goes home winners. In the first match, we wager these two slave girls."

The spokesman for Coyote House agreed to match the wager with two of their own slave girls by lifting his two sticks out before him and hitting them with a crack. Immediately Whirlwind and all those present began hitting their sticks, filling the room with a rattling roar that turned into a rhythmic beat when the Badger braves began singing the song of their house. Then eight high ranking Badger players sat down in a line facing the representatives of Coyote House and the first round of tossing sticks on the ground began.

The Kaw-Seth braves knew what to expect for the night. They had attended games like this before at potlatches of neighboring tribes. The wagering would continue for many rounds, until one side refused to accept a bid. When that happened, the Spe-eth could present his prize for wager -- Whirlwind had already said that it would be matched with the white bear hunt song and a hunting guide to go along and sing it for them.

Coyote House had a brave who was quite talented in guessing correctly who held the bone with the black band and the rival house was winning most of the tosses until the goods offered by Badger House were lost and Chief Whirlwind withdrew from the games, announcing, “Raven favors our brothers, the sons of the supernatural coyote, and poor badger is limping home wounded. Now our guests of the Owl nest from the far north will take our place in the line to see if their protector spirits will lead them to better fortune. Red Spe-eth, initiate in the way of Raven, comes with his bid.”

Spe-eth had his sons carry in from the deck outside half of the blankets and abalone shells that they had brought and set them before the porcupine figure.

“I return to Great Island and the village of Klauck to offer you these twenty-two dog hair and pounded cedar blankets and forty large abalone shells. You all see that this bid is worth more than the price of hunting a bear in your forests. Our offer is generous because we must kill a ghost bear to complete our quest here soon. We must win the right to hunt your masala.”

The bid was accepted by the rattle of bone hitting each other on the Coyote side of the house.

Tokwish joined Spe-eth and his sons and three Badger braves in the line facing the victorious Coyote gamblers while the crowd began singing the bone toss game song once again. The faces of each man glowed in the shifting firelight. The eight men on the Kaw-Seth side tossed their game pieces between the line for the opponents to gather them up. Each Coyote took a fistful of bones and, singing more intensely as a distraction, quickly selected one to hold in their right hand-- grasping the end to hide the marking or lack of it -- and looked back at the braves across the line without expression. Of the sixteen game pieces, only four were female with the black band.

One by one, in rhythm with the singing, each player on the Kaw-Seth side then guessed if the man opposite him held a banded piece or not, knowing that a wrong guess meant elimination from the next round. They hoped to win a match before their goods were used up, because the side losing a round must increase their bid. Spe-eth was not worried, however, because the game was a enjoyable formality for the night -- he suspected that Soowahlee Whirlwind world give them permission to hunt and a guide even if their luck ran out. Although that would be a dishonor for them both.

After five rounds, the Kaw-Seth side was reduced to Tokwish, Wountie and Tseycum against five of the Badger side and all of the blankets and Spe-eth had only one more bag of shells to add to the pile of wagered goods. When the turn came the Coyote guessed correctly again. In the round that followed, Tseycum was eliminated and only Wountie and Tokwish remained facing three opponents. It would be shameful for Spe-eth to withdraw, since everyone knew that the stakes were high for the quest to succeed, so he brought out the model totem that tells the Kaw-Seth creation story and how the world was plunged into spiritual twilight.

“Badger is mighty in skill with fortune. This is the last of our treasures, the Creation Model Totem of our people. It comes with a song that we will teach your storyteller privately to be sung during the winter songs as is proper if we lose. This is our final bid,” said Spe-eth.

Tokwish selected two banded game pieces when the music signaled for the players to toss their bones between the two lines. The Coyote players quickly snatched up the bones, mixing them up to fool their opponent, and held out their selection for Tokwish to make his guess.

The drum beat and singing stopped and Tokwish stared into the blank faces. The first three guesses were correct, but the fourth was wrong. The match was lost and the model totem was credited to Coyote House which had won everything that Spe-eth had wagered.

All the Kaw-Seth had left was their clothing, hunting gear and the canoe.

Spe-eth was about to concede, when Tokwish spoke in his place, “We have nothing else to wager except ourselves. We must win the Bear Hunt Song. Owl Clan bids for white bear hunting rights by offering myself in exchange as a Coyote slave for one year.”

Before Spe-eth could forbid it, the Coyote party accepted and the room filled with laughter and shouts of acclaim. “Don’t fear, uncle,” said Tokwish quietly.

“I am sure to win this round.” Silence fell across the room and Tokwish looked into the face of his final opponent holding a single game piece.

“Female.” He said at last, an instant before the opponent revealed his piece had no band.

Tokwish was now a Coyote House slave and two young braves walked across the room and pulled him by the shoulder over to their side, kicking him in the hip saying “Big slave, you will spend tomorrow gathering wood for our women. The girls say that they like you red faced boys so you will please them. Yes, you will please them.”

The room roared with laughter and the drum beat and singing began again. Spe-eth looking at the floor was about to concede when Wountie rose up from behind him saying, “In exchange for a white bear, I offer myself as a Coyote slave until next spring too.”

This round Wountie won and the game was over.

Whirlwind stood to announce, “Owl Clan wins the bear hunt song. The guide will be our village's best bear finder -- Shaman Mowa'kek. However, to make sure that our Spirit Man treats my long ago initiate and his sons well, I too will journey with the Kaw-Seth Suitor up the west coast to the Shining Heavens Inlet. They will bring back a pure masala bear, that is for sure. Come, now. Slaves -- more clam cakes. I want to eat and watch my grandsons dance the ghost bear song. Dance for our guests and the for the enjoyment of our Protector Raven. Let the Owl-Men receive their winnings.”
Next Chapter

Porcupine Mask

2005-02-26T20:31:00.000-08:00

The low hanging sun above the horizon shown pale through a haze that appeared late in the day. From the far surface of the ocean a layer of fog gathered before the sunset and reached the shores of Klauck like a burst of steam from a fire stone -- only silent and cold. The mist followed paths up between totem poles into the main village, covering the houses and penetrated into the trees of the forest beyond.

The fog made the darkness come early and soon Hayoqwis could was unable to see more than a stones throw in front of him through the blinding presence that came to gently blow its other worldly white breath upon the beach and village. He climbed into the stern of Half Moon, planning to sleep under a warm elk hide that night as protection against the thick dampness settling around him. The tide had come up almost to where the canoe was tied and waves were lapping near by. He much preferred the quiet of a foggy beach to the distraction and enticements of the games of a people unworthy of trust.

He brushed off sawdust from the heron carving and stowed it carefully with the other supplies, then looked up toward Badger House. Looking up with curiosity he heard talking and laughter in the distance, but none of he lights from the fires of the houses along the shoreline could penetrate the dark. The chilling blanket of fog made it appear as if he were alone on a wild island and instead of resting close to hundreds of people now gathering for family meals, evening activities and a night's sleep in their lodges a short walk away. Soon he began to hear drums beating up the hill. The festivities were beginning with out him.

After a day of meeting old friends and bartering for goods as was expected, the Kaw-Seth party of Spe-eth, Tokwish, Kalis, Wountie and Tis'ka were lead into Badger House for the feast and bone games. They moved through the foggy darkness with heightened emotion, anticipating the excitement of the games. Once inside the warm lodge, the first thing that they noticed -- besides drummers performing near the fire -- was the wide eyes of Shaman Mowa'kek staring at them suspiciously from the corner.

His thin face was tight with what looked like an expression of anger or even hatred -- watching the Kaw-Seth braves as if he had spied a band of demons sneaking into the house. He held a rattle shaped as a fat bird and shook it continuously and appeared to be singing silently to himself. Was he trying to cast some kind of spell against them? Tokwish kept his right hand on his obsidian-blade knife under his tunic, thinking that at any moment the wild-man might spring up to attack. It was not unheard of for strange guests to walk into a brawl and be killed.

The Selawik men noticed Mowa'kek's expressions and a few wondered if there might be something supernatural about the visitors after all. But, most of the men, following the manner of the grandfather chief, treated the Kaw-Seth braves like any of the other guests from the southern regions who visited Klauck throughout the year to trade or take part in mushroom rituals famed for imparting visions. Strangers were common for them, even if the far north Kaw-Seth rarely showed their red faces. Each mid summer the Selawik hosted a potlatch and invited representatives from all of the large villages and tribes within a day or so journey to join them for sporting and gambling matches. Island Home was at least ten days away to the north.

Everyone knew that Klauck was the most exciting place of all the Selawik villages to experience the pleasures of the Raven People -- as long as visitors came prepared with enough wealth to impress the others during the matches. Winners of final matches obtained status and were permitted to take part in special late night feasts and celebrations that lasted for days and nights. It was then that Selawick shaman presided over the power rituals and handed out samples of the intoxicating mushrooms.
Continued

Badger Mask Continued

2005-02-04T23:04:00.000-08:00

Somkin took the pipe away when the sound of drum and chanting of the welcoming elders could be heard growing nearer to the platform. Soon three finely dressed men approached along the houses on the opposite side of the beached canoe. It was Grandfather Whirlwind, Chief Tseycum and the high shaman named Mowa'kek singing the welcome song and shaking good fortune rattles. Four slaves followed a few steps behind beating drums.

The old man and the chief each held speaking sticks and wore badger skins and head crests and the shaman, crowned with many raven feathers, was draped with a rough bark cloak tied with a belt. Like other shaman, Mowa'kek's uncut hair and beard made him look more like a wild animal than a man and every part of his face and arms were covered with tattoos and magic symbols. His eyes were reddened and outlined by deep black lines -- signs that he had spent many days and night communing with the spirits.

Still singing the three reached the platform when the white haired chief lifted up his badger head speaking stick saying, "More than thirty seasons have passed between us son of Klauck. We welcome you and your children -- for we share the same long ago fathers who broke out of creation's clam shell to walk on these shores. May you hide under the wings of our Protector Raven this night and always."

Young women gave each of the guests blue shell necklaces, touching their necks warmly and smiling. Some had exposed breasts, since it was a hot day. The guests tried to remain formal, but could not help but smile at the hospitality.

Spe-eth found one of the storage boxes and took from it a seal ornament about the size of his fist, carved from a white tusk in a new design by Hayoqwis.

"Please, father, accept this gift from the Kaw-Seth to the Selawik. You gave me my name and now I return to give you thanks and to show you my sons and nephews and ask for your blessing."

Soowahlee Whirlwind handed his speaking stick to his son and held the seal ornament up close to admire it with a kiss. "This is beautiful, beautiful. Smooth as a woman's face. He who carved it is inspired by sky world beings. This is your nephew, the carver?" he said gesturing to Hayoqwis.

"He is dressed for a marriage test quest and I can see that his eyes dream of a more precious prize than a deer or bear. Are you the inspired quester that brings Old Red back to my village so far from home?"

"I am on a marriage quest, set to the test by Katee-qwa of the Duwam'ah, my grandfather. We come to hunt bear on this isle and hope that your people will show some of your famous generosity and offer us help in the hunt. We will wager or pay for a guide."

"The men can point you the way, or take you by the hand if you must. I am sure my grandson. But, the proper way is for you to win the right in the bone games. Old Red was always lucky. His blood is in you, too. Tonight, tonight. After a halibut feast and dancing. We will show you a bone game like a mighty fight between a Badger and Coyote. Then you can play the winner until you win a bear hunt song."

Just then Mowa'kek stopped singing and stepped up to stare wide eyed into Hayoqwis's face. The men stopped speaking and the drummers ceased.

"This owl man must not enter our lodge. He has the smell of death." said Mowa'kek.

"An otter spirit is whispering. Owl man has fallen under waves. Cold waves have washed away his soul, washed down into the bottom of the sea. It is floating at the floor of the bay like a piece of cloth. Yes, Sea Ghost sucked life from him. I see a hole in his chest, wide as a drum, where his soul should be. He is a dead man disguised as living. He is dangerous to our house. Owl man must be barred from the lodge."

"None of that Spirit Man," said Whirlwind.

"These are guests on a quest, led by Old Red, initiated in the Selawik way. We would be inhospitable to turn them away. Isn't there a spell or remedy?"

"The smell of death rise from the hole in his heart. The smell invites cannibal beings to haunt us, my Badger Chief. We must separate this one from the others. Keep this walking corpse down there, down in his vessel for the night. I will chant in the forest and and ask the spirit helpers for a remedy. Perhaps they will hear their names and be moved."

He put his face up to Hayoqwis and looked directly into his eyes, as if searching for the missing life force.

"Dead man, go. Dead man go back. Back now before the cannibal beings devour your corpse along with the well being of this place. Go now."

He moved so close that Hayoqwis was forced to step back. "Your owl powers will not help you, dead man. Stay out of our house."

Hayoqwis looked to his brother and uncle.

"My nephew will sleep in Half Moon tonight. He prefers the canoe to a strange bed anyway. We will not offend our guests," said Spe-eth, who moved to speak to Hayoqwis quietly.

"It is best to be separate from them. We will send some feast food to you. You better go."

"First, let me sing the protection song over his head," said Whirlwind. "If his chest is hollow, he will need the blessing of our Island's protectors." Whirlwind rested the carved head of his speaking stick on Hayoqwis's head crest and sang for protection, calling on the spirit of Raven to watch over him that night.

It was not the prayer that Hayoqwis wanted to hear, but he thanked the old man with a nod and waved to his kin as he climbed back down the steps to the beached canoe where he stayed for the rest of the day, sitting up against the shaded side carving a great blue heron prow crest from a large piece of dry cedar wood. Now was a chance to work. He knew that Spe-eth would represent him well in the gambling games.
Next Chapter

Badger Mask

2005-01-11T22:07:00.000-08:00

Baring the flat face of a chief's family, a straight line could be drawn from the tip of Somkin's nose to the top of his head. His profile looked disfigured to the Kaw-Seth, but in the eyes of the Selawik was a great honor. He had shoulder-length black hair and only a slight beard and mustache. Still dressed for fishing, he led the quest party down the beach beneath a line of villagers who gathered on the bank above to watch the newcomers.

Soon the quest party climbed the ten rung ladder up to a split cedar platform in front of Badger House for a formal welcome by the elders. The platform was built on posts and stood over the beach. A face of a giant badger painted in three colors filled the entire front of the house. Women hurried in and out of the main doorway set in the center of the badger's mouth. It was a very impressive house.

The Kaw-Seth guests sat down in a semi-circle on the polished wood platform that looked out over Klauck Harbor shimmering blue and green in the sun. As Spe-eth explained the purpose of their quest to the young men and older women of the house crowding around them, the Kaw-Seth braves tried to ignore the deep, haunting sound of what must have been a very large raven calling from the darkness of the cedar forest behind the house. The brightness of the sun reflecting from the water hurt their eyes and made the ancient trees appear like doorposts framing an unknown world of blackness beyond.

The villagers noted that the visitors were finely painted with markings as successful bear hunters. While ordinary brown dog-hair blankets draped down their backs, Spe-eth wore the heirloom weasel hat, Tokwish and Hayoqwis had on their owl head crests and the sons of Spe-eth wore stylish conical spruce-root rain hats with whale hunter designs. Each had jewelry appropriate for their status. Their blood-red body paint, along with Tokwish's bear-claw necklace and facial scar, made the whole group look fierce and noble.

Everyone also observed that the Kaw-Seth were big men, taller and heavier than most. Was it true that a tribe of braves that looked like warriors lived without slaves? Did they really consider themselves slaves of the Eternal One? They must have special powers that make them into different kind of beings, concluded the old women. Some wondered if these strangers were actually supernatural owls disguised as men.

A flatheaded woman with a fist sized shell ring in her lower lip and wearing a horned headband approached them smiling with a bowl of water. They learned that she was Ska-mo-na, the wife of Tseycum and mother of Somkin.

"I welcome you Men of the Owl clan with a drink of Raven's spring water. Drink, please. You must be thirsty. Our Chief and Shaman are about to come for a more proper greeting."

Besides making sure that guests were properly welcomed, often by offering bed-mates from her own group of slave women, Ska-mo-na kept careful account of all trades that took place in the Selawik villages. Knowledge of trade accounts for each house made her almost as influential as her husband Chief Tseycum, who usually received her approval for any decision. Her sway effected even members of the Raven Society.

The Kaw-seth men sat down with their male hosts on the cedar deck and drank from the wooden bowl carved in the likeness of a raven. Somkin lit a deer bone pipe packed with savory tobacco to share with the quest party, explaining that his father, grandfather and one of the high shamans dressed and painted themselves for the formal greeting. Tokwish had never tasted such delightful tobacco. Each man drew deep breaths of the soothing smoke from the pipe and passed it on. A cloud of sweet smelling smoke hovered above the circle of hosts and guests. Slaves brought up the storage boxes from Half Moon – filled with gifts and goods for trading or wager -- and stacked them in a corner of the platform lit warm by the afternoon sun.

Shutting his eyes with delight while inhaling a puff of sweet smoke, Tokwish thought that the visit was beginning very well. He was pleased with all of the attention the people displayed in welcoming back the long absent Spe-eth.

But, Hayoqwis was most concerned about the hunt and would leave the next morning if he could. He hardly notice the admiring glances of a group of young women weavers watching from the shaded side of the house. Most important now was obtaining directions to the white bear grounds as soon as possible before one of the spirits opposed to the Kaw-Seth might cause them delay. The gambling bone games would advance the quest, he thought, as long as their plans fell into place.

Continued

Giant Raven, continued

2005-01-01T15:52:00.000-08:00

Spe-eth explained that the ravens of the Selawik sometimes gathered in flocks like a blackening storm when displeased or seeking vengeance for offences of the people.

“My eyes have seen a black flock of ravens, inspired by spells casts by the shaman, overtake and devour an old man exposed to die.”

Even during season's of famine, the shaman ordered sacrifices of elk, deer or salmon be offered to the sacred ravens by setting out rotting carcasses up on specially built platforms in trees that resembled mortuary houses. There were always large ravens lurking in the trees surrounding the village of Klauck and when uncle Spe-eth lived there the bird’s deep-voiced calls and constant presence troubled him and gave him bad dreams. In the Kaw-Seth tradition Raven is an evil bird, inspired by dark forces to bring ruin and heartache to all people.

“Raven’s black feathers and obsidian eyes shut out light like the grave. He flies from the depths of the underworld,” said Spe-eth while Half Moon slipped across smooth waters, drawing the hunters within sight of the totems of one of the villages on the shore now visible on the horizon between a thin line of trees that grew larger as they approached.

“Raven eats up the sun and bring eternal twilight. We Kaw-Seth know enough to stay far form that bird’s talons and vicious beak. But, when in Selawik territory on a hunt we must not offend their shaman. We need the directions of their elders to guide us to white bear grounds. Why remind them that our fathers teach us to despise their guardian spirits?”

Spe-eth looked troubled as if trying to remember a forgotten dream as he stared at the shoreline. His face was cracked like jerky dried in hot sun and his white hair and beard resembled the color of dry grass blowing on a lonely beach. He looked out past a trail of smoke that drifted from cook fires and hung over the waters that stretched between the braves and the village that they would soon learn was the Klauck of his manhood quest.

“And listen you young men, each of you, whether you are married, engaged or without a wife, you must watch out for the tricks of Raven in this place. He is a powerful tempter and wants to destroy our quest. The Selawik young women will come to you and take your hands and touch your necks and even their fathers and chiefs will offer you their daughters and wives for the evening. Do not join with them in bed and damage your soul. Follow the Kaw-Seth way. We must separate ourselves in order to obtain spirit power for the hunt.”

Spe-eth had the men stop paddling and let Half Moon drift while he unpacked a box containing a supply of bloodroot paint. Each brave painted their bodies in the tradition of the ancestors. Their faces were already painted as bear hunters.

“Remember what Snowy Owl taught you on the day of your coming to manhood. We are Kaw-Seth, the new people. This red paint is the blood of our new birth as members of the everlasting tribe. Remember that you are not your own, but are slaves of the Great Chief Above -- your only worthy master. As slaves of Wonderful Doer, you are the only free men who walk through this present darkness. He gives you sky power to move cunningly like warriors of light against a cloud of corrupting spirits that seek to do us woe.

"This red stain shows that you are born out of the world of water, land and wind," continued Spe-eth's familiar speech, "to hunt the far reaches of the highest place -- making you like dead men in this life. Alive in him, you are dead to deceitful desires and made fearless of the countless dangers that lurk in twilight. We Kaw-Seth long to see the coming of the true dawn when the tricks of Raven and his demons will melt like snow.”

Tokwish didn’t see the need to put his trust in the high ghosts and supernatural beings of legends. But he painted his body to show pride in his clan rather than fear of spirits. He remained silent after Spee-eth's speech. No need to bring up the old arguments over the necessity of learning the names of all one hundred and fifty-three fathers in the Kaw-seth line -- beginning with the first Snowy Owl. Instead of argument, he focused on the excitement of another bear hunt. He also wondered what the villages of the Selawik would be like and if the warnings about temptations were justified. He had heard that Selawik common-women and slaves sleep with young men as freely as taking a drink of water.

The braves neared the beach in front of some of the houses sitting on a high bank above a sand bar and a small group of women digging clams quickly gathered baskets and disappeared up steps toward the village. Half Moon was fitted with the bear crest piece on the prow to mark the canoe as a vessel of peace and Spe-eth’ weasel hat also signaled that the party was not hostile. The canoe stopped in shallow water and all of the men put their festive painted paddles up on end and waited silently to be welcomed ashore.

Soon villagers arrived and several strong braves waded out to help drag Half Moon ashore. They were surprised that Spe-eth spoke their dialect and soon laughed and joked when hearing that the visiting hunters were on a marriage test quest.

The flat head of one young brave immediately indicated that he was noble born, perhaps the son of a chief.

"We saw you approaching in the distance while out in the harbor fishing. We had just pulled up a big halibut and our women are preparing to bake it right now. We are happy to share a dinner with our honored guests from the far Kaw-Seth north islands -- who also happen to speak our language. You are in good fortune to come today. There is a gambling match planned between Badger House and Coyotee House tonight. You can join the singing and our father may invite you to play the winner if you dare. What did you bring to wager?" asked one of the strong braves helping to beach Half Moon.

"Is your father chief Soowahlee?" asked Spe-eth.

"No, but Soowahlee is my grandfather," said the young chief.

"I am Somkin, son of Tseycum of the Badger House. You know Grandfather Whirlwind?"

"When I was your age, he was my mentor at my coming of age quest so many moons long ago. Now my beard is white as his was then. Tell your father Tseycum that Red of the Kaw-Seth is back. And that nothing would please us more than to join the singing at the bone games tonight. In fact we brought enough blankets and abalone shells for many wagers. That is right and more. Red even packed a model totem -- carved this year by my nephew here -- that tells a sacred story of power which we are willing to wager. If we win, we seek to learn your hunting song for the white ghost bear. Our quest will be lost and this young man left without a woman if we do not bring back a white skin for the wedding feast," said Spe-eth.

"Why don't you just pick a weaker village to raid and steal a woman for yourself? That is what our men do when they are impatient. It is less trouble," said the young chief Somkin as the others laughed.

Tokwish noticed that the braves of the new village had wide grins and laughed easily and that so did the women who gathered in groups off to the side of the long house that they approached. Everyone seemed at ease and happy.

"This is not such a bad place," Tokwish thought to himself.

Spe-eth, too, seemed changed and walked like a youth as he looked up and down the beach and at the long houses.

"This is it. Klauck. A fine village with all of the impressive houses and totems that I remember. And more, new dwellings. This is Klauck -- where I received my name."
Continued

Giant Raven Mask

2005-01-01T15:51:00.000-08:00

Chief Katee’qwa rose his head and smiled broadly. He watched the Kaw-Seth young men climb the Duwam’ha Meeting House pole -- the tallest in the village -- to fasten lines hung with blue and white abalone shells. He was delighted to see the shells draped on the Thunderbirds wings flash in the sunlight and breeze.

When Hayoqwis, Tokwish,Kalis, Wountie and Tis'ka had finished, the Chief gathered them to stand beneath the pole, then lifted his hands to bless them in loud voice.

“May the otter-people forgive you now that you so finely decorate the totems that tell the stories of the Duwam’ha heroes. Wonderful Doer of the Heavens who holds the ocean like a man cups water for a drink has granted you success. I accept the first test as complete. But, be careful when you take the second step toward your Duwam’ha transformation and journey to hunt bear on Great Island. Beware that Otter-Chief might emerge from the depths to demand payment for the food that you took from his people. He may try to drown all of you.”

The chief also said that he worried the party would be hunting in the territory of the Flat Head Selawik people – who everyone knew were oppressed by the spirits of many powerful birds and strange beings of the sea and forests in their region. At the end of a long channel that led to the center of their island lived the elusive Masala Ghost Bears -- a race of bears with pure white fur that numbered one in ten compared to their brown cousins. The Selawik made a tea of berry seeds washed from its scat and believed that eating flesh of one of the white Bears properly killed doubled the length of a man's life.

“The Raven People, like the bird spirit himself, are tricksters – their flat heads are full of treachery. Don’t trust their word. They betray their own fathers, cheat at gambling and steal even trifles if they can,” he said.

“But, they will know where the white bears feed -- if you can get it out of them.”

Hayoqwis set out with his brother Tokwish for Great Island the next morning to begin the hunt. They took Spe-eth and his older sons Kalis, Wountie and Tis'ka in the lead canoe named Half Moon -- marked with cormorant and eagle designs and fitted with the bear crest on the prow. Paddling along the way the men sang bear hunt songs vigorously, full of excitement at the hope of bringing back the skin of a white bear as a cloak for the engagement feast. The weather was warm and the wind still and Hayoqwis could almost smell a successful hunt.

For many summers since the battle with the grizzly, he and Tokwish had hunted black bears on their own islands and they knew just how they would meet the requirements of the chief to kill the bear without spear, arrow, knife or club. Each of the braves had painted their faces for the hunt. The ceremonial markings, along with years of experience, gave them confidence that soon the suitor would pass the second test and be one step closer to winning his bride.

The braves knew that they would need to first obtain permission to hunt in the territory of the Flat Heads who dwell year round in nine strong villages on the warm south end of their Island. These people took their name from an age-old practice of their nobles who fasten planks of sacred cedar to the heads of their babies so that the children of nobles grow up with flattened foreheads. From their nose to the top of the head a straight line marked them as distinguished people. The feature was most valued among them. But, Spe-eth detested the custom, saying that it was cruel and unnatural.

In spite of the warnings of chief Katee’qwa – who had perhaps lost too many gambling games as a young man at Selawik Potlatches there – the Flat Heads were known to welcome trading visitors and gambling parties with an almost extravagant hospitality. There would be a welcome feast, gambling dances, invitations to the sweat lodge and certainly gifts for a suitor party on a quest.

Spe-eth had visited these people as a young man on his quest and had lived for a winter in the village known as Klauck that sat on a fine beach facing south, but open to the western winds of the sea. Klauck was ruled by a society of shaman who made medicine by honoring the power of giant ravens that were said to haunt the deep forests and mountains of the southern tip of the island.
Continued

Eel Mask

2005-01-01T15:50:00.000-08:00

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

Sleeping Bear, continued

2005-01-01T15:47:00.000-08:00

“I was cut by the claws of a grizzly bear as he struck me for trying to take some of his salmon while fishing on the banks of the upper reaches of a mainland stream when I was a boy. The monster came upon me suddenly without a sound as if appearing from the sky world. He knocked me almost a canoe’s length face first into the sand as if I was one of my sister’s dolls and then he bit me on the back until Hawoquis used his powers and spear to wound the bear and drive him off into the brush.

“Unable to see because my face was painted with blood, my brother led me to sit in the canoe. I felt the wetness of the blood but not any pain. Soon I grew very cold as if submerged in a ritual bath. My aunt later said that the cold I felt the day of the attack was the beating wings of Eagle Ghost coming to lead me on the last journey. The braves drove Eagle Ghost away by wrapping me in a blanket and applying crushed bracken fern and bunches of moss to my face and back held in place by whale gut fishing line.

“Covered in much blood, I shivered like in a winter-storm while the hunters tracked down the wounded bear, casting three spears under the neck to bring it down and then cutting it’s throat with a obsidian knife. The braves butchered it and placed the massive carcass at my feet in the canoe where I sat beginning to feel much pain.

"Fearing more bears in the area, we pushed off down stream to make our way to the ocean and soon found a small island not far off shore, the whole way I sat covered in the blanket with the bloody bear carcass before me so that when I touched my face its blood mixed with my own. I looked down at the bear’s head between my feet while the canoe swayed with the waves as the braves paddled in unison. His open black eyes stared into my soul. I spoke to him. ‘You should have let me take that salmon, old one. Now you will never see your wife and children again.’

“That night the braves cut a steak out of the bear’s heart and roasted it for me over a fire on the beach and gave it to me for dinner. It was the most nourishing meal that I ever consumed even as my face burned with pain chewing each bite. I ate most of the bear’s heart, making it a part of my own flesh. We all ate choice steaks until we could eat no more and sang bear-songs again and again. The next morning we set out for Island Home. I did not have to do any paddling and was at ease, laughing as a man in a dream. We were proud of killing such a large bear and in spite of my wounds, I was never happier when we arrived at the village. Later Hayoqwis carved a house pole to tell the story. That is how I was given my name.”

He reached for the necklace around his neck, “I wear these claws to signal, along with my scar, that I Tokwish Grizzly Blood of the Kaw-Seth have obtained power from the bear to help me in all that I do to this day. That is why I am here to help my brother bring honor to my clan by winning the respect of your tribe. He saved me and from now on I bring him good in return.”

“Your bear powers should be an asset when you hunt for the wedding guest as well,” said Se'akwal. “But, I see that you are still unmarried. Somehow the spirit of the grizzly has not brought you fortune in winning a wife, has it?” Everyone laughed.

“A wife would take me away from helping my brother. Besides, I would rather have the freedom to escape on hunting and fishing trips when ever I please than to have my ear filled with the nagging of a woman in my lodge always telling me what to do -- like what brother here will soon endure. ‘Hayoqwis, get me some firewood. Hayoqwis, I need more water. Hayoqwis, our children are crying. Whaa, whaa.’”

“For me marriage is like a long hibernation. ‘Day and night and day and night.’ I am still in the summer of my life -- wild like the animals of the forest. Until I am tamed by a wife some day, I am free to hunt the world over and paddle my canoe afar to lost and lonely places. If my head is broken by an enemy axe or if my body is drawn down to the ocean floor by a sea monster, I leave no wife or children to mourn.”

Next chapter

Sleeping Bear Mask

2005-01-01T15:44:00.000-08:00

When most of the people had left, the guests sat down with tribal elders and men of Uma-kwee’s lodge for another meal of warm steamed clams from a large bent cedar box. Hayoqwis was still dressed as a dancer and the other three dancers also joined them. They sat together in a circle on the dance platform and were served by the young women of the tribe. Each man sipped from a bowls of hot nettle tea. Afterwards, Uma-kwee’s father Se'akwal invited Hayoqwis, his brother Tokwish and the uncle Spe-eth and his three sons to a sweat lodge ceremony that lasted long into the night.

Each man accepted the heat of the lodge for a long as possible, breathing the sweet scented smoke of the fire and listening to soothing flutes music, until making their escape to bathe in the fresh waters of a pool in the steam nearby, only to repeat the process again and again until Hayoqwis fell asleep and had to be nudged awake by Tokwish.

At one interval, uncle Spe-eth began singing the Bear Sleep Song that he sang to Hayoqwis and Tokwish when they were boys being initiated into manhood.

Bear, bear, bear
Weary now that leaves cover forest floors
Bear, bear, bear
Will you dig into a winter den

Find rest safe from snow and wind?

Sleep now, sleep now, sleep now until spring dawns
Dug deep into his dark den that bear fell asleep
And slept all the winter long, long, long, all the cold winter long:

Day and night and day and night and day and night
Day and night and day and night and day and night
Day and night and day and night and day and night

Until the seasons changed, until the seasons changed.
Oh, bear, bear, bear
Oh, bear, bear, bear

Hayoqwis and Tokwish joined in the refrain. They repeated the song several times and invited all the braves to sing along – a special honor reserved for family members. The singing ended when the flute players stopped to go home because it was so late. In the light of the dying embers, Tokwish’s face glowed red where he reclined facing the steaming rocks of the fire pit in the center of the narrow lodge. His hair and skin wet with sweat also glowed along with the steam in the small room just big enough to hold the band of braves and chiefs.

He drank a cup of spring water then said, “Tomorrow my brother must fish for abalone to win the first test. We will take three canoes and our women to set up an abalone camp on a islet that we passed on our journey down to your village. The water is clear and we saw many abalones in the pools below tall rocks that show when the tide is low. It will take us three days to gather the otter-people’s food. Then our women will clean and pound the flesh and we will drill holes in the shells to transform them into decorations to honor your totems. My brother Hayoqwis will prove that he is able to pile up both food and glory for the Duwam’ha. That is why he is called Sea Champion.”

There was a silence, then Se'akwal spoke to him, “The Duwam’ha consider battle scars a great honor and a sign of spiritual power. Tokwish son of Clo-oose please tell us, if you can, how you received the scar that we see across your face.”
Continued

Feasting Bear, continued

2005-01-01T15:40:00.000-08:00

The third box likewise contained five beautiful model totem figures about the size of a man's forearm telling the ancient stories of their people. Chief Katee-qwa was pleased, but he and his spokesman Lak'-a-tatt maintained their formal facial expressions as ceremonial hosts. Their wives, however, squealed with delight and whispered with excitement upon receiving the gifts, as did Uma-kwee's brothers and the other children.

The gifts were meant to demonstrate good faith and show that the family was serious about a possible marriage between their eligible brave and the famed Butterfly Woman. These would be difficult to return if the suitor was rejected. Later would come the bride price, which could be a whale, four sea lions or the equivalent of a summer's entire berry harvest.

Hayoqwis sat on the dance platform next to his brother and the other honored guests watching the family receive the gifts. His face was lit by the home fire and several bright torches and everyone could see that he also tried to look formal, even though the lights sparkled in his black eyes and revealed that he was either nervous or filled with heightened anticipation.

His long black hair hung to his shoulders and shined in the firelight along with the abalone shell eyes of the owl figure on his head crest. His beard was carefully plucked and his smooth face and bare chest was nicely painted as a prize-winning hunter. Young women giggled and old women noticed that he was both muscular and handsome -- more so than his younger brother Tokwish who was noticeably thinner and had a disfiguring scar across his face.

The lavish contents of the opened boxes also revealed that Hayoqwis was rich, perhaps too rich for Uma-kwee's family. It would be hard for them to reciprocate such fine goods and art works if one of their sons on a future summer's day sought a bride from the Kaw-Seth owl clan.

But, then that was the point of the testing rituals -- a less wealthy brave could still win a prized bride, proving himself worthy by fulfilling the challenge of the bride's chief. Hayoqwis had to remind himself that marriage matches did not depend on wealth alone. The tribes of the coast valued the gallantry of the suitor as an enduring form of wealth -- better than carved wood or woven bark -- even though while watching the delighted surprises of the family it occurred to him that Uma-kwee's parents might reject him knowing that they could not match the quality of his clan's gifts when the younger brothers came of age.

Success or failure was in the hand of Wonderful Doer now. All he could do was prepare himself for his performance of the Kaw-Seth dances. Besides -- if he was rejected this summer, he knew of girls form four other tribes willing to marry him. He never had a problem gaining the interest of the girls or favor of their parents. But, marriage to the Butterfly Woman in accordance to his uncle's dream would give him green heron titles and expanded fishing rights far south of Island Home. Best of all taking famed Uma'kwee as wife would restore glory to Owl House long over-shadowed by his family's rivals.

After a few days of feasting and dance performances the chief planned to reveal the nature of the challenge for Hayoqwis to complete if he hoped to be admitted to the tribe. These tests could last for the rest of the summer and sometimes continued into the winter before success was confirmed. This meant that the suitor would live with the host villagers for as long as half a year, proving that he was worthy to share the Duwam'ha way. He knew that a displeased chief or family member could simply add more and more tests until a disfavored suitor gives up.

Hayoqwis was confident in his ability to pass the test and win the favor of the family and tribe. He succeeded in all that he set his face to accomplish. He knew that he was a good hunter and stronger than most other men. He also had the spiritual power in his chest after spending many hours fasting before Wonderful Doer at the mouth of the sacred cave on Island Home. He had been trained in the way of the Sky World and consistently rejected the hidden entreaties of the demon Setko Raven Ghost who causes misery in the end for whoever sings his songs.

When he was a boy, his uncle and mentor Skygazer Spe-eth took him and his cousin Tiska on quests to the wilderness to teach them how to interpret the language of the animals and birds. Soon he learned how to drink from the same stream with the elk and how to walk silently in the forest to become invisible to the untrained. Soon he was able to come close to all kinds of wild creatures without frightening them away. Mastering the Kaw-Seth way made him confident in all that he did -- sure that his steps were lit by light of the true dawn that is appearing.

His father Clo-oose Maker of Many Boxes was pleased when he learned the family dances and performed them without error, unlike his brother who refused to endure the discipline of spending days memorizing the ancient songs. Hayoqwis suspected that Tokwish didn't believe in any power greater than himself, neither the Creator-of-Light or Raven Ghost. Tokwish devoted himself to learning the art of stone tool making and set his mind to all things practical. Hayoqwis noticed, however, that Tokwish didn't hesitate to ask for chants to be said for him before he set out on a hunt.

Once his uncle Spe-eth proudly said before the home fire that Hayoqwis had unusual sensitivities that gave him the wisdom of the aged -- even though he was almost nineteen years old. They all said that he had eyes to see what even the most wise elders failed to notice.

His reputation as a spiritual man is why his heart beat fast when he heard that the same new-woman living among the villages of the south that his uncle had smoked the suitor pipe for later had been given a vision of the supernatural butterfly as a sign of triumph over death.

He knew that that woman must be his wife, even though marriage to a woman this far south -- instead of from one of the villages on his own islands -- meant that he would have to become a Duwam'ha brave and live here instead. The two tribes would then be related and he could always return to hunt the hidden islands of his boyhood.

Feasting continued for two more days, the clan leaders and their male family members ate baked salmon, smoked salmon caviar, coal roasted small island deer and many rabbits cooked directly over the fire skewered with willow poles. All kinds of berries -- dried, cooked and freshly pressed or mixed with candlefish fat -- were enjoyed and cups of the sweetest spring water quenched thirst. When the men had all that they could eat, Duwam'ha fathers took what was left back to their long houses for the women and children to finish.

On the third day a feast was called for the whole tribe and high ranking wives and their children were permitted in the chief's house. Others crowded outside and were also served. All the while the suitor gifts were set on display, some sitting on top and other around their boxes on the dance platform for all to admire.

Then Chief Katee-qwa stepped onto the dance platform. His face was painted red with black circles signaling high status earned by many exploits for his people. Dressed in his ceremonial regalia of mountain-goat wool cape fitted with white rabbit fur tassels and red woodpecker feathers up and down and crowned with an eagle crest figure on his head and river mink fur moccasins on his feet, the noble chief took the Heron Speaking Stick from Lak'-a-tatt -- whose thunderbird regalia was equally impressive -- and hit the floor three sets of three. The talkative room stilled. Everyone knew that Chief was about to give the suitor testing speech and reveal the nature of the challenge that would determine the future of the two families.

"Our brothers of the Kaw-Seth traveled ten days to our summer camp here at Meet-in-Middle and have presented generous gifts of tribute. Our brothers bring a young suitor seeking a wife from among our newly turned women -- after obtaining the necessary permission from the kin and performing the rites of welcome in accordance to our ancient ways. He seeks to walk the Duwam'ha path and join our tribe as husband, hunter, fisherman, carver and storyteller. He offers himself for the testing, crossed by the shadow of our speaking stick, willing to endure the pains of the trial and challenge that we present.

"Know that not all seekers are admitted. My chiefly duties require that I act to protect the blood of my ancestors and permit only the strong, those men able to face discipline, able to listen to the voice of the Eternal One who speaks to quest seekers in the remote places, and those who will not be trapped in the underworld after death for befriending the rebellious spirits. But men pure of heart, destined to walk the star trail that leads to the hunting grounds of light on the last day. This suitor claims that he is willing and brave. This suitor knells in humility before the authority of the Duwam'ha chiefs and elders and swears that he will set his feet along our path both in this world and the next making our two people one in spirit and blood.

"Our test will confirm if the power of Wonderful Doer is with him or if he is an impostor inspired by demons to trick us with deceit and bring our children ruin. Now hear all. Let every man know that we will return the suitor gifts, every box and item -- except for the foodstuffs already consumed -- if this man proves unable, unfaithful, weak or an impostor allied with the rebellious spirit-tricksters who war against our souls.

"From where the sun now stands until the snow covers the mainland shores, Katee-qwa Son of Toohoolth, Chief of Two Villages, Host of five potlatches and descendant of Father Kakaw-who-survived-the-flood declares that you, oh Kaw-Seth suitor, must journey to the undersea world and steal the feast of the otter-people from their mouths and bring it here instead to feed my people. Before the next moon you must dive to the ocean floor and harvest one hundred abalone. On the day of the feast you must make sashes of the shells to decorate each figure of the Squawking Crane Totems.

"Before the coming of the winter winds, you must travel to Great Island and hunt a white forest bear, kill it without arrows, spear, knife of club and bring it's flawless, un-pierced coat back to my house. You will take the raw skin of the white forest bear back and fashion it into a fine cloak and head dress to wear at your wedding day the following year. In addition to the hunt and making the bear cloak, before you return to your village you must carve me a post for the new House-of-the-Moon-Saved-from-the-Codfish to commemorate these days.

"You must complete these tests and one more. Go home for a year and build a new canoe, a wedding ship, dig it out of a sacred cedar big enough for a husband, wife and child. Decorate it with carved figures of bears, butterflies and otters and for the prow fashion a heron flying into the wind. Next mid summer leave your father, say goodbye to your mother, brother and uncle and canoe to the mainland to find your way alone to Ocean Falls and the hill of the Thunderbird Nest Tree. Camp there by yourself until the first frost.

"At the foot of the tree you will find a bone flute buried there in a secret place for my future son in law to bring back to me. Learn the song that the Nest Tree teaches you and return to my people's winter village. Enter into the Winter Lodge wearing you white bear cloak and sing us the Nest Tree song accompanied by the flute. Then you must prepare a feast made of the blood and bones of your ancestors by telling the stories of your people to delight all the Duwam'ha.

"Nothing less or you will be sent home when the weather permits without a wife but with your gifts to be given to another. But hear me. Complete these tests and you will live with us as an honored young chief, united as one of us forever. Your children will be our children and your exploits counted with ours before the fires of the ancestors."

As the chief spoke, Hayoqwis knelt below the dance platform with his uncle on one side and his brother on the next. His head bowed and resting on his knees. When the chief finished his speech, Lak'-a-tatt took the speaking stick and pointed it down to the suitor, saying,

"Take off his regalia. He is now a suitor on quest and subject to the will of the Duwam'ha people until completion of the tests or when the snow covers the mainland beaches."

Two warriors made the suitor stand, his head still bowed, as they removed his owl head crest and took off his bead necklaces and ceremonial tunic and handed his clothing to his uncle, who passed them to his wife. Hayoqwis now wore only his otter moccasins and loincloth. The warriors used a basket full of bloodroot paint and cedar bough brushes to paint the suitor's skin a deep red, except for his face, which was already painted with the marking of a hunter. They then sprinkled mica dust on his body so that his skin sparkled in the firelight.

When Lak'-a-tatt gave his approval of the painting, Hayoqwis was led to the dance platform and handed a ceremonial dance spear decorated with many feathers and tiny blue beads along the shaft to signal the beginning of the suitor-in-quest dance. Holding the spear as if on a hunt, Hayoqwis crouched like a man stalking game, rocking back and forth in time searching into an imaginary forest while drums and flutes began to play.

Suddenly from out of the mouth of the moon figure painted on a panel directly behind the platform -- a circular doorway designed for dancers -- leap three dancers, one dressed as an raven, another as a bear and a third wearing a corpse mask.

The suitor-in-quest dance featured Hayoqwis hunting the other dancers, who moved to evade his advances and spear thrusts in time with the music which increased in pace and intensity until he symbolically defeats his foes and stands as a Welcome Man for all. He performed each step perfectly and the people witnessing it talked often about how handsome he looked. With the ceremonies complete, the people rose to depart the crowded lodge for the evening.

The day before Klinawey Aged Mother, the highest ranking matron of the village, took Hayoqwis aside to teach him the correct moves of the dance -- which was similar to one his people knew. While a drummer and flute player practiced the music, she explained each step that the audience would be expecting. Three young warriors joined him in practicing the dance.

The Duwam'ha suitor-in-quest dance goes like like this. First the suitor kills the raven and its head, represented by the removed mask, is held up as a prize while the dancer falls to the ground. In the same way the bear is cornered and defeated and its mask is added to the raven trophy. While the suitor exalts in his victory, the corpse dancer drags the raven and bear bodies behind the panel. When the suitor resumes the hunt, the corpse is much harder to capture than his companions and seems to mimic the suitor's every move, finally escaping again back through the dance hole. The suitor pursues, stabbing at the hole-door, when an unseen hand grabs the spear away and he falls back to the floor weaponless.

The beat of the music stops, then resumes slowly as the suitor stands to approach the hole step by step. The suitor looks into the hole and is pulled all of the way through. Silence is followed by a loud whistle and scream. With vigorous drums beats and singing a victor's song, the suitor finally drags the defeated corpse from behind stage and puts his knee on its neck. The suitor is given a red robe and puts on the Welcome Man mask then lifts both hands towards the audience in a final greeting to conclude the ceremony. He is now officially a suitor on quest.

Next chapter

Feasting Bear Mask

2005-01-01T15:34:00.000-08:00

One after another the Kaw-Seth guests beached their canoes and put on ceremonial cloaks to match carefully painted faces for the celebration. All of them were men except the cousin and aunt of the suitor. Each brave wanted to make a good impression on the people and show off their wealth by wearing blue shell and claw pendants and facial markings signaling prowess in hunting, fishing, canoe racing or wrestling matches. Women sang a welcome song and drummers played as a line of visitors made their way up the hill to the chief’s house next to the wedding platform filled with dancers performing ceremonial re-enactments of an ancient story about the hunting of the supernatural elk.

When most of the guests had gathered at the house, the suitor dressed in his ermine lined tunic and owl hat and bobcat claw necklace and ear rings, walked up through the center of the crowd. He remained silent. Up until now all communication between the leaders of the two tribes and families had been carried out between the uncle of Hayoqwis named Spe-eth and the Duwam’ha step-mother Klee-wik.

Uma-Kwee herself kept away, camping near Serene Pond with her friends and most of the older children. She must be secluded until it is proper to appear in the village after the suitor and his family are gone. The bride to be was given the task of presiding as Matron over a play potlatch for the children in which the children offer treats of food, toys and dolls to each other as gifts.

Behind Hayoqwis walked his uncle and brother Tokwish both wearing owl head crests and long red capes with cormorant and moon designs. They each carried large carved boxes filled with gifts. All three were large men, taller and broader than any man in the tribe and looked all the more impressive in their ceremonial outfits. Immediately behind them the only two women of the visiting group followed, later introduced as Howlish and Gamlakyet -- the cousin and aunt of Hayoqwis. The women, wearing sea lion tooth headbands, nose rings and rose flowers in their hair, moved up the path shaking frog rattles and scallop-shell tambourines in time with the welcome song of the villagers.

The guests entered the long house lit by the home fire and torches and were served bowls of shelled steamed clams and pressed salal berries in a sauce of fine candlefish oil. When they had finished there was still food left over. This is when Spe-eth stood up for the presentation of gifts. He opened the first two boxes and handed items to the chief’s wife, tribal elders and to Uma-kwee’s mother and father, brothers and aunts and uncles.

The boxes contained many astonishing artifacts, finer than would be expected for a pre-engagement suitor testing. While the stack of finely made blankets from the first box was a traditional gift for such a ceremony, the five brightly painted eagle and bear masks and carved fishing club inlaid with disks of abalone shells in the image of an octopus were extraordinary.
Continued

Eaten Moon, continued

2005-01-01T15:32:00.000-08:00

When the dancing platform, which became the floor of the house, was completed and the special food and gifts were prepared, the people waited for the new full moon and the arrival of the guests and the suitor party. Each day the women at the beach or the men out fishing watched the horizon for the Kaw-Seth canoes to appear.

Then on a warm summer’s evening, as the sun set turned the sky and waters orange and pink, word spread that seal hunters spotted the honored guests coming in a group of fifteen large canoes decorated with celebratory cedar branches. The suitor Hayoqwis wore a ceremonial tunic and owl head crest and held a newly carved speaking stick while his uncle and brother and fellow braves paddled into Kwath-killum bay just as the sun disappeared below the horizon, filling the sky with a golden afterglow and illuminating the madrona trees and faces of the village totems lining the beach.

The canoes assembled in a row while the Kaw-Seth chief’s spokesman’s canoe came near to shore to ask for an official welcome from Katee'qwa.

“We come peacefully baring a suitor seeking a bride from the heron clan. We come with gifts for your chief and the mothers of the people. He is Hayoqwis Sea Champion, son of Clo-oose Skilled Carver of the Kaw-Seth. Do we have your permission to present our son for the testing?”

Chief Katee’qwa’s spokesman Lûk'-a-tatt stood on a tall stump and called out, “With the welcome of the Great Spirit and in his life-giving abundance come and visit us, friends and brothers.”

Instantly a group of drummers began beating drums and dancers dressed in bird costumes playing flutes under large bird masks leaped and spun before the crowd. The chief holding his speaking stick and elders standing at the base of the Squawking Crane totem looked on in solemnity. It was getting dark and six large fires now lit the path along the bank of the beach illuminating the circles of people come to welcome the visitors. Everyone talked and laughed while stars began to appear between passing clouds above the water and treetops of the island. Barking dogs and shouting children ran excitedly and old women rushed to make final preparation for the guests.

Next chapter

Eaten Moon Mask

2005-01-01T15:30:00.000-08:00

Fishing and clamming continued as usual, except preparations were also underway for the celebration feast when the suitor party arrived at the next full moon. Everyone felt the excitement and worked urgently to prepare a proper welcome for the guests. Other tribes had heard of the coming potlatch and traders came almost every day, selling savory herbs, healing roots, mica face paint, crushing tools, jade axes and knives, cougar and bear claw necklaces, strings of shell money and stacks of dog-hair blankets.

By now the story of her butterfly vision had spread among the tribes and Uma-kwee was pleased to hear that Chea-noose traders were willing to pay high prices for the salmon jerky made by the Butterfly Woman.

Everyone wanted to hear about the worm that turned into the supernatural butterfly -- except for some of the elder matrons who worried that spiritual story telling should be saved for winter. They warned that something bad might happen if Uma-kwee kept bragging.

Later that midsummer a sign in the skies appeared that seemed to confirm the warnings.

The foundation for the wedding house was being dug and the freshly split cedar beams were stacked nearby. At mid day the people looked up from their work at an almost full moon and were terrified to see that a black crescent shaped bite taken out of the heavenly orb. The bite was only a sliver at first, but grew as if someone was eating a piece of food.

The old whalers met with the chiefs and explained that when they were young men they had seen such a heavenly sign before.

“It is the supernatural codfish who swims in the clouds eating up the moon’s light. We must dance to drive him away.”

They knew that what ate the moon must be giant ling cod swimming in the cloud ocean because the wide mouths of codfish are able to swallow large objects and because the color of the bite taken out of the moon matched the dark gray skin of the fish. And everyone knew that when you look at the sides of a ling cod, you find tiny moon images – marks left when ancestors of the fish ate up the moonlight that settles on the surface of the ocean in the past.

Drummers hit drums and all the people found wood poles to hit in time with the singing. Many people climbed up on the roof boards of the lodges to hit the beams. The whole village was full of the pounding rhythm that caused the dogs to run to the forest and the young children to cry. The sons of the chiefs gathered to dance together before the houses. There was no time for the dances to paint their faces or dress in regalia. Instead, they danced to the codfish catching song, over and over. Sure enough, the codfish of the sky world was driven away and the bite grew smaller until it disappeared and the moon shown almost full as before.

The people discussed whether the bite in the moon was a good or bad omen. Some thought that perhaps such an astonishing sight in the heavens meant that it would be bad to hold a suitor testing potlatch this year. But, Chief Katee'qwa put on his mountain lion headpiece and ermine tail decorated cape and stood outside his lodge to announce:

“We know that moon was given to show us the way in darkness. We must celebrate for our singing has driven away the eater of moonlight. By preserving the fullness of the moon, we ensure the safe steps of our daughter towards marriage. It is a good sign.”

This is how the wedding lodge received its name, House-of-the-Moon-Saved-from-the Codfish. Ever since that summer, at every special feast in the house, the main dish served was roasted codfish filled with fat camas bulbs. This was to remind the people that the spirit of the Cloud Codfish could be prevented from doing harm when the people join together to sing, pray and dance before Wonderful Doer, the one who delivers us from evil.
Continued

Seal, continued

2005-01-01T15:29:00.000-08:00

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

Seal Mask

2005-01-01T15:28:00.000-08:00

The next morning the horizon looked calm and the chief and his spokesman made the decision to launch the canoes, packed with storage boxes and roof planks, into the bay for the two-day voyage to Kwath-killum. Thirty families with their children each with their dogs joined in the move to the summer village, hauling belongings, fishing gear and food and water for the trip. A band of young warriors stayed behind to protect the very old and nursing mothers.

Uma-kwee brought her ceremonial dress and jewelry box for the first time to the Island, since she would be honored at the Test of the Suitor dance. She could hardly contain her excitement and anticipation at seeing Hayoqwis -- who might become her fiancé -- for the first time.

At mid day the weather turned dark and stiff winds from the northwest blew against them, rocking the canoes up and down. Above the waters to the north, bursts of lightening flashed in clouds that spread out in the shape of an avenging Thunderbird flying their way. Waves began splashing up across the bows and spilled into the hulls. While the men, striped of clothing, paddled as hard as the fierce wind, the women and children matched the frantic pace bailing water over the side, passing the cedar bark basket bails, sometimes dropping the bails when the canoes rocked too high.

Uma-kwee was glad that Qkizacool, with her aching hip, was spared the beating of the storm. She then began to sing the victory song and the other’s joined in. The men matched their paddling to the music and the women passing the bails also sang in time with the song. Singing in defiance of the ocean’s fierce power made the danger exciting. Uma-kwee rose up on her knees with her face in the wind and let the rain wash her hair and whole body as the canoe sped across the choppy waters. She was not afraid.

The storm meant that the tribe would have to find shelter on one of the small islands for the night and the group of canoes, now spread out in a long line, turned toward the gray beaches of Fireweed Island. It was dark before the last canoe beached safely. While the rain stopped, the wind kept blasting throughout the night and thunder boomed in the distance.

Most of the people slept in the canoes, except the warriors who lit a large fire of drift wood and camped on the grass above the beach. Long into the night the women and children heard the men sing the protection song, beating drift logs like drums, begging Wonderful Doer to spare them from the storms and any harm from the blood spirits that were believed to dwell on the island. They also prayed for good weather for the next day.

The storm and the blood spirits were quieted the next morning, which shown warm and clear from the moment the sun rose red over the peaks of the mainland, turning the snow- tipped mountains of the western Big Island the color of fireweed flowers. Qkizacool would say that the lit up sky was a good sign for the people.

The last water was bailed from the bottoms of the canoes and the tribe again set out for their destination, the inlet that lead to the white hills of Kwath-killum camp, joining in paddling songs to keep rhythm. Along the way seals poked their heads up from beneath the black ocean to listen curiously, then dove to escape long before one of the hunters might decide to pursue some fresh meat.
Continued

Moon Eclipse, continued

2005-01-01T15:26:00.000-08:00

Uma-kwee hurt to hear her speak of death and was afraid because of the firmness in her prediction. She remembered how Kumi-cum cried at her grandmother’s funeral last year and found it hard to imagine life without her own dear mentor. She felt sorrow that her beloved grandmother would not be a witness of the engagement ceremonies.

“Never be afraid, only believe, Uma-kwee,” said Qkizacool. “To give you courage, I have made you something to remember my words.” She pulled out from beneath the blanket draped over her white head and around thin shoulders something woven like a basket. “Here is a beach reed and porcupine quill purse.” About the size of a man’s hand, the purse had a sinew neck strap and was decorated with a carefully woven butterfly design in three colors. “Go find a translucent stone agate from the base of the falls and place it here and wear it close to your heart, so that you will always remember that Butterfly Woman has hope in the cleansing waters of the Sky Ladder.”

Like a swell of the ocean, Uma-kwee’s eyes filled with tears. “Thank you, mother,” she said hugging Qkizacool closely. “I will always follow your counsel along my life’s path.”

Later that day she found her way to the falls as grandmother had urged to look for an agate for the memory bag. Because everyone else was busy preparing for the departure, she took her young brothers Komokwa and Twanas. Normally, children were not taken to the falls and this would be the first visit for the boys. It rained that morning and the sky was white with clouds. She removed rain hats from the storage boxes already loaded in the canoes for the voyage to Meet-in-the-Middle Island. “I will bring my bow in case we see a rabbit,” said Twanas, the older of the boys who had just turned eight years old. The boys were barefoot and the rain hats almost covered their heads.

When she and the brothers arrived at the roaring falls, they saw that the canyon was covered in a bright fog about to be burned off by the sun -- which shown as a glowing, white ball sitting directly at the top of the spill way. The water seems to be flowing out the sun itself and the lifting fog all around them transformed the canyon into what looked more like the dream world. The young woman and boys walked up and down the sandy shores searching among many colored stones and pebbles for sacred agates. The people often collected small shinny stones from the falls basin for their healing powers and believed that the translucent agates were broken pieces of the magical rocks that melt when you stare at the cascading water.

“Unlike other stones, these agates let the sunshine pass through them,” she instructed the wide-eyed Komokwa and Twanas. “These are the ones that have fallen from the Sky World, where everything is bright and transparent.”

The two boys had not seen the falls before, but they had taken the trail above the falls, opposite the side of the girl’s coming-of-age camp, for funerals processions. “I remember the way to the mortuary village. Up there,” pointed Komokwa in the direction of the cemetery, “is where we buried Kumi-cum’s grandmother,” he said.

She remembered again that day of weeping when down the river, out of sight or sound of the falls, most of the tribe, including many children who were beloved by the old woman, had canoed across the river, following the mourning canoe draped in red blankets that covered the remains.

“Yes, and she sleeps with our mother and sisters, too. One day we will meet them again, when Eagle Ghost takes our hand to lead us on the last journey,” she instructed, her voice sounding like grandmother Qkizacool.

Twanas shouted when he found a clear stone and she examined it to see that, yes, it was perfect for her purse. She held it up to the sky and showed the brothers how the light shines through. “Our hearts should be like this. We must pray that the Transformer will drive out any darkness or hidden offense that might cloud the pure light. Then our souls will be transparent just like this stone and we will be able to see clearly to greet Wonderful Doer when he calls.”

She hid the agate, about the size of her thumb, safely in the butterfly purse. For the rest of her life she often took out the stone whenever she wanted to remember all that Qkizacool had taught her. It always made it easier to pray and made her feel happy. She knew that Qkizacool would be pleased with the find.

Next chapter

Moon Eclipse Mask

2005-01-01T15:25:00.000-08:00

The next day in the late afternoon, after the families finished their packing and securing the long houses for the summer, grandmother Qkizacool called Uma-kwee and the four other new women together to a quiet place under a madrona tree near the beach to tell them about the future. As a young woman she became very sick and almost died. In the night of her torment she saw the spirit trail to the happy hunting grounds. Ever since then she was known for her visions and dreams and advised young people about their life purpose.

“You will be known as the Weaver of Blessings. Your baskets will be prized through out the land. Many people will carry their burdens with pride and praise you even after you are gone,” she said to Kumi-cum while taking hold of her hands.

To Nahi she said, “In my dream I see a white deer licking your face. That means that you will care for the sick and your prayers for healing will be heard by the Creator. You will know what herbs are needed to make afflicted people well.”

She gave other girls similar blessings.

“What do you see for me, grandmother?” said Uma-kwee.

“I keep a blessing inside my chest for Butterfly Woman. When you were a small girl, I dreamed a dream about you and told no one about it until now.”

She reached out to stroked her hair.

“I looked and saw you casting a net into the ocean. When you drew it in, instead of a fish, he held a doll. As you played with the doll, it changed into a chief. His eyes flashed with dawn's light and whenever he spoke, the dead came back to life. This is the one we have heard who is coming to change the world.' ”

The other young women thanked the grandmother for the blessing, but Uma-kwee was troubled by the prediction that she be mother of a changer chief.

“My father is not of high rank. How am I to be a mother of a supernatural chief?”

Grandmother said her vision was as clear as the full moon shinning on the horizon before them and that Uma-kwee should be careful to accept marriage only to a man who would be a worthy father to such a powerful chief.

“Do not be afraid to tell your father to return the pre-engagement gifts,” she said.

“The Kaw-Seth brave set for the testing must prove himself rightly. Do not be too quickly swayed by the attraction of his youthful appearance or manly strength. You must follow the way of the Sky World and listen for the Great Spirit’s voice whispering in your ear to confirm that this suitor is the one who will bring happiness to you and your people. Listen and pray carefully. I will not be present to advise you or your father.”

Grandmother explained that she preferred to stay in the winter village that summer with the elderly people too old to travel and the nursing mothers.

“My hip bones ache from too many canoe voyages now and my memories of past summers are enough. I have baskets to complete here and have collected shells to embroider a wedding blanket. I will walk the beaches of Kwath-killum only in memories from now on. My seasons of going back and forth to the middle island are coming to an end and one of these days I will taste the strawberries that line the path to the land of the true dawn.”
Continued

Dove, continued

2005-01-01T15:24:00.000-08:00

The founders of her people were said to come for those who escaped destruction of the raid and his people escaped slavery to find a new home on a far north island. That is why they speak a similar language, tell some of the same stories and worship the Great Spirit in the same way. Hayoqwis’s family was of the Owl clan and Uma-kwee’s family was of the Green Heron clan – a match of linage that was considered ideal for good fortune and producing prosperous children becasue the owl and the heron are the only birds that sing at night.

Nine days passed and the families who would spend the summer at the island were ready to depart the next morning for the all day canoe trip across the water. Uma-kwee’s packing and work was done when she realized that she hadn’t spoken to her pet worm since the excitement of the news that her father had accepted the pre-engagement gift from the Kaw-Seth braves. She found the jewelry box in the house and opened it to discover that the worm’s body had dried up in a leaf and was nothing but a rough shell. She looked at the remains and felt sorry for capturing the creature in the first place and neglecting him in the box.

“He was a good little pet,” she said to herself, “and I should have taken better care for him. Now he is gone. His guardian spirit will be displeased.”

She asked permission form her stepmother if she could go to the Sky Ladder Waterfall to say prayers about the coming test of Hayoqwis and her future marriage. But, really she wanted to take the body of the dead worm to bury him in the sands near the sacred pool at the base of the falls. It would be a way of saying goodbye to her childish ways, she thought.

“You may go to the falls to pray by yourself, but only if you return immediately. I will send your brothers after you if you are not back when the sun’s shadow is beyond the beach trees,” said Klee-wik.

Putting on her woman-moccasins and carrying the carved jewelry box, Uma-kwee set off up the trail along the river to the falls, singing the waterfall song that is the tradition for those on a quest to walk the sacred shores. She found her way to the log bridge across the stream that joins the river from the hills, and continued as normal deeper into the gorge, watching the hills on each side of the river draw nearer and steeper and the sound of the falls grow the closer that she approached. “I will bury him with some red dusty bark, the same way that I found him,” she thought.

When she arrived at the falls, she was again amazed by the beauty of the tumbling wall of water shrouded in mist that drifted across the base pool and occasionally into her path, cooling her face hot from exertion of the hike.

She didn’t have much time, so she prayed for forgiveness of her offensive deeds and asked that the Dove Spirit that comes from the heart of Wonderful Doer might make her into the child that he had intended when he weaved her in her mother’s womb. Then she dug a small hole in the sand with a stick, and put some red decayed bark from a stump in the forest into it and opened the box to take out the remains of the worm.

It was then that Uma-kwee saw something that changed her for the rest of her life. When she unfolded the leaf that held the worm, it had transformed into a brilliant blue butterfly, half as large as the palm of her hand. It spread spectacular wings, tipped with a row of black spots that looked like eyes. The wings glowed bluer than any sky or lake and beat slowly up and down in the sunlight. She took a startled breath and quickly knelt down to look closely. The winged creature showed more glorious than the most beautiful mother of pearl broach or any flower that she had ever seen. No ornament in any jewelry box could compare.

“Kee-Kee-a-Klika-Coo how wonderful you are,” she said in awe. Then a gust of wind from the falls blew across the sand where she knelt in amazement and, like a leaf caught by a breeze, the butterfly rose from his perch on the box. It fluttered around Uma-kwee three times as she spun not to lose sight, watching it rise up toward the sky above the rushing waters and rocky cliffs. The roar of the falls matched her joy. She watched in astonishment as the butterfly continued to rise until it disappeared behind a drifting cloud of mist.

She had cared for him as a worm and now made into a colorful being set free to travel the blowing winds of summer she loved him all the more. Her pet was not dead, but alive in a new and powerful form -- changed into a soaring beauty better than the most extravagant dreamer or artist could imagine.

It was then that she realized that if Wonderful Doer could lavish such beauty upon a lowly worm and grant him rebirth as the glorious jewell then he would never abandon his greater work of human beings at death.

Uma-kwee knew that day that all of her prayers were answered and that her deepest desires would would certainly be fulfilled. Never before had she felt closer to the power of the sky world and the love for Wonderful Doer dwelling in her heart. The worm passing from death to glory was a sign for her from the highest place that she also might be made new.

On that day, it was as if she had risen up high above the river along with the butterfly. Now she understood that the stories that she had been taught were true. Eagle Ghost does come to take those who die to the dawn's hunting grounds. Death is not a hole in the sand, but a door to the skies and her people would live forever.

When she returned home, she told her father everything, how she had collected the worm and made him a bed in her jewelry box and fed him moss and sage leaves, then one day found him dead, sought his burial at the sacred falls, and how she saw the worm transform into a blue butterfly that ascended into the heavens. Her father was greatly pleased and called the people together to make an announcement that night: “This sign given to us from above will be commemorated by my daughter’s new name. She is no longer Uma-kwee daughter of Se'akwal, but will now be called Uma-kwee Butterfly Woman.” And so she was called Butterfly Woman for the rest of her days.

Next chapter

Dove Spirit Mask

2005-01-01T15:23:00.000-08:00

The next morning she was awakened not by the birds, but by the sound of her brothers who called, “wohee, wohee, woha,” as they danced around her blanket.

“The moon is turning her face away from us now. You are free to take your place with the women,” her father said taking down the curtains from their supporting poles.

“Young woman,” said her step-mother, “get up and put on the white deerskin dress and your woman-moccasins. You need to sing the goodbye song with us for the mother-greeting party about to depart down at the beach.”

She followed her family to the shores of the bay as a large canoe was being loaded for departure. One white bearded man wore a headdress showing that he was of high rank in his tribe. When the seven visitors had packed their last provisions, she heard the sound of wood scraping against gravel and watched as the men pushed the canoe down the beach, shouting “hue-u-u-u-iee!” all the way until they jumped in and the sleek craft cut out into the water’s surface to glide like a seabird across the sky. Dogs barked and a crowd of women and girls sang the goodbye song of protection as the men paddled off into the far end of the bay.

That morning her stepmother Klee-wik explained that she had given permission for her father to smoke the pre-engagement pipe with the uncle of a young brave seeking marriage.

“He is the son of a sea-lion hunter and carver, Uma-kwee, and would make you a good husband. His father sent a large box of smoked octopus and shark fins as the first gift. They say that his uncle dreamed that his nephew was on a long hunting trip to the south and one day found a mountain lion cub hidden in the grass. When he picked the kitten and stroked its soft fur, it transformed into a beautiful woman. He had the dream the day before visiting traders had told his chief that several of our older girls were being initiated into womanhood this summer. Because you are of the Green Heron clan living here far to the south and came of age at the proper time they consider you a perfect match.

But, your father is not sure that you would approve of this suitor. So, he instructed the party to bring the young brave to a summer potlatch that our chief will host on Kwath-killum Island at the next full moon. Your father will ask our chief to put the young man to a test to judge his merit and you can advise me what you think. If you accept him, the engagement will last two years then a marriage potlatch will be held at the village of his people who live in the far north islands.”

Uma-kwee was astonished by the news of her pre-engagement and the possibility of choosing to accept the marriage proposal. Most of her older friends had no say about the man that their parents chose. If all went well, in only two years she would be a wife in a new lodge built by her new husband come to live among her people.

“What is the name of this son of a hunter and carver, our-mother?”

“His name is Hayoqwis Sea Champion of the Kaw-Seth. He is of the proper clan and linage and is respected as a hard worker. They say that he is bigger than all of the other braves and the carver of fine house poles. He can build you a lodge behind ours near the spring house.”

Engagement and marriage to Hayoqwis sounded better than she could imagine. For the next days as the family prepared for the annual voyage to Meet-in-the-Middle Island, she tried to learn all that she could about the young brave who might be her husband and the customs of his tribe. She learned that long ago they say that the Duwam'ha and the Kaw-Seth were once one people who shared a village to the south near Big River. A feared warrior tribe envied the much smaller tribe and sent a large war party to raid and destroy the village, killing most of the people -- except those that they took as slaves and those who escaped into the forest.
Continued

Full Moon Woman Mask

2005-01-01T15:21:00.000-08:00

Immediately after returning to the village, the newly turned women were secluded behind curtains made of decorated blankets in their lodges until a new moon shines. The seclusion is to insure that no trickster spirit might cause them to stumble in their first steps as women of the tribe. It was also a time when suitors or relatives of suitors might approach the chief and the girl’s mother, grandmother or uncle on the mother’s side concerning an engagement.

When Uma-kwee came home to the village, her father and brothers took her, without a word, directly to Candle-fish House -- the family’s long house. As she was ushered back, she overheard Komokwa – one of her younger brothers -- report that several men from a northern tribe had arrived at Kah-sidaatsoos and were smoking pipes with the chief and some elders at that moment. Everyone thought that they came to greet the mothers and arrange a future marriage for their sons with some of the newly made women.

It was many days until the new moon shone and Uma-kwee was kept in the curtained room. She was expected to sing songs of the family and tribe and was given a small drum and tambourine. But, none of the family could speak to her, even when the food dish and water basket was presented. She accepted the discipline and the honor that came with being a grown up woman. She took out the jewelry box and put on each artifact one by one, brushing and then braiding her hair. She worked to complete a basket with a killer whale design as her step-mother taught her. And she sang songs to her pet worm, which had doubled in size eating his camas and leaves. She carefully changed his moss each day and admired how much he had grown.

“You are getting too big for your bed. Keep growing like this and you will fill the lodge.” She named the grub, Kee-Kee-a-Klika-Coo, or hidden treasure one.

She made up songs about the worm until her youngest brothers suspected that she had a pet with her.

“Uma-kwee is just singing to one of her dolls,” said step-mother.

But, grandmother guessed that she sang in honor of her future husband or perhaps a baby son.

That night she dreamed that the worm grew to the size of a fire log. She held it like a baby and nursed him from her own breasts.

Four more days passed, and then on the seventh night of her seclusion, she awoke in the middle of the night noticing that the place where she lay seemed to glow with a strange, white light in the normally dark house. The mother-of-pearl eyes of the lion figure carved on the jewelry box at her feet also glowed, along with half of the decorated blankets that hung to form the walls of her enclosure. She sat up, rubbed her eyes and lifted a corner of one curtain and looked out across the wide interior of Candle-fish House and saw that every surface, the storage boxes, dance platform, carved house posts and sleeping family members gleamed as white as swan’s down. She could see that the pit of the fireplace was reduced to a few red embers – the once dancing flames were visiting the dream world along with the rest of the family.

With everyone asleep, she slipped outside her confines and stepped quietly past the fire pit toward the middle of the room -- curious at the source of light that came from the ceiling’s smoke hole like a waterfall in the night. Entering into the shaft of light, she looked up to see the moon framed in the square smoke hole.

She thought, “This is the face of full-moon-woman looking down from above with the love of the sky in her eyes.”

For a long time she sat, bathed in the lovely light and wondering at the heavenly face.

“Welcome, moon, to my house,” she whispered. “You come to herald my transformation.”

She watched the moon until her head grew heavy with sleep and she returned to lie down under her blanket safely behind the barrier once again. That night she dreamed of attending a feast hosted by her uncle, chief Katee'qwa, in which she was assigned to sing the moon dance song. She sang so well that the elders gave her a prize – the moon in a bowl to eat. She ate the moon as if it were a salmon cake and when she finished, warmth filled her body and her head and hands and all that she touched glowed with a blue and white light.

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Crane, continued

2005-01-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

She learned that without the influence of women, men would tear the world apart. For this reason, women must be greater in gentleness in order to tame men, subdue their wildness and keep harmony in the villages. The peacemaking gentleness is a gift from of the Dove Spirit for each woman. This is why clan totems and birthrights are passed through the mother and why mothers and grandmothers must give permission for their children to marry. Each baby is born under the protection of the totem of his or her mother’s family. Newly wed couples come to live in the women’s village. In this way the taming influence of women might be strong.

A white haired grandmother from a near by village stood to tell a story: “Long, long ago the men and women of a village quarreled over who was the greater. The men said, “We are greater because we protect the tribe from enemies and go fishing and hunting to supply food for the children.” The women said, “We are greater because we give birth to children, weave baskets, mats and clothing and feed the family.” The quarrelling became so intense that the people decided to split up. The women went to live on one side of the river and the men set up camp on the other. The separation lasted several moons.

“But, it wasn’t long until the men became restless and began to fight each other. The women also grew lonely and missed the men. Everyone agreed that the split was a mistake, so the men and women rejoined as one people. Then the chief’s spokesman called everyone to one place and said, ‘We are one people. Wonderful Doer made us from the same flesh and bones and fit us together perfectly. Men need women and women need men to be complete. In unison we find happiness.’” These and similar stories were told.

The highlight of the Coming of Age Ceremony was eating a portion of the Creator’s heart that beats life-blood into all things. To show her union with the way of the sky world and separation from the darkness of the earth, each woman eats a portion of a camas bulb steamed with bloodroot turning the white fiber pink like flesh.

The special camas bulbs were collected from a place known as the Alpine Shrine – a spot high above the best berry fields known only to the women. Alpine Shrine was near a hidden spring that flows ice cold from under a white granite rock down into a narrow meadow ledge on the eastern slopes of a mountainside warmed by the light of the sunrise. The tiny stream formed the headwaters of the Duwam’ha River and was marked by a model totem pole in the shape of a thunderbird, about as tall as a young girl.

“When we taste the flesh of the bulb, we plant the flower in our soul to one day bloom with glory when the World Changer Child shall be given to us,” said the presiding grandmother. “World Changer Child will come to make all things right. He will bring daybreak to banish our darkness.”

On the third night at the Sky World Camp, another white haired grandmother told the story about the Eagle-Ghost that stands guard at the door of heaven’s lodge in the highest place: The wings of Eagle-Ghost are spread as if flying and he is covered with feathers that each look like eyes. He always sings his glory song in honor of the Creator and searches to welcome those chosen guests to the Spirit Lodge with his high pitched call.

“One day Eagle-Ghost told us how our world will come to an end. Before the end of the present darkness, the people will see a canoe made of stars arrive in the harbor bringing four shamans with long hair and pale faces, their bodies covered with many tattoos and adorned with pierced jewelry and wearing hats and tunics made of thorny vines and dry branches. Each man will come singing about the suffering and horror that the people have endured since trickster Raven and his rebellious spirit-helpers overtook the earth – bringing disease, famine, war and death. The people will cry in anguish at the coming of the shamans and greatly fear their songs and curses. Behind the men will appear a black storm cloud growing like a wall threatening to crush the villages and all living things.

Then a portion of the sun will be seen through the clouds and a rainbow will arch across the great waters. The rainbow in the shape of a half moon will fall down upon the earth like a spearhead. The rainbow will find its way to the tree where hunters tied the slaughtered carcass of a white fawn of a deer, stained red with blood, prepared for the fire. The blade of the rainbow will consume the tree with colors and wash away the bloody stain of the fawn’s white coat. Then the slaughtered fawn will leap down from the tree and stand up alive. The fawn will shake his head back and forth and shout a war cry. Then the tiny figure will grow and be transformed into a mountain lion – a supernatural lion spirit but made of real flesh.

The mighty Golden Lion will stalk the pale shamans coming from their canoe up the beach and pounce upon them in revenge, wrestling each one to the ground and crushing their bones in his jaws. From out of their mouths and nostrils, the shaman will cry out shrieking blasts of wind, using all of their magical powers to harm Golden Lion.

The fighting will shake the earth so that no one can stand. A hailstorm will hit with full force, flashes of lightening and booming of thunder will fill the blackened sky. The people will see tidal waves crash, fires burn up forests, new mountains rise on the horizon, the earth tremble as canyons crack open the land, the moon bleed red, the sun turn black like an ember and all the heavens change.

The fighting will be fiercer than any fight ever known, but Golden Lion is a powerful victor. One by one, he will defeat each pale man and toss their broken bodies far into the ocean where they will plunge to the bottom of the watery depths, transformed into sharks, eels or sea monsters. Then a new light will appear in the sky to join the sun and the moon, driving away every shadow and filling the whole world with brightness and peace. On that day the Lion-Man will be made the undying chief of all tribes and animals of the earth.

This is why today hunters must pray for permission to kill the offspring of deer and sing to be spared from the wrath of the lion hiding in the forest. It is also why our men carve an effigy of the lion and place him at the top of the highest totem pole in our villages.

During their initiation Uma-kwee and the other girls who were turned into women that spring heard other stories like these for the first time and were amazed by the lessons that they learned about the powerful love of Wonderful Doer for his people. Stories of Eagle-Ghost, White Fawn, Golden Lion, Timber Dove, Singing Rocks, World Changer Child, Old Man in the Northern Lights and many more tales that inspired the listeners to devotion and made them all feel united as a single family.

As Duwam'ha women, they were proud to be fellow worshipers of the Dove Spirit and partakers of the sacred root of the mountain, able to drink water from the base of Sky Ladder Waterfall, and share in the same unison that makes the Council of Three shine as one light in the highest place.

Next chapter

Crane Mask

2005-01-01T15:15:00.001-08:00

Everyone enjoyed the special spring food, especially the elk roast and the smoked candle-fish roe with steamed cat-tail greens and sweet fern roots. A seafood and berry stew filled the belly of the life sized feast-man dish set up with other bowls and wood planks on the dance platform near the fire. There was more delicious food than anyone could finish. The last dish was a large amount of blueberries mixed with spearmint herbs and candlefish fat.

In the late afternoon when the people had eaten their full, the whistles of the Crane-people could be heard approaching outside. A drummer’s beat began and a lone grandmother sang the welcome song when ten dancing bird-people entered the low lodge door accompanied by flutes and tambourines. One of the bird-people dressed in eagle mask and two Herons moved directly to the platform above the fire and danced in place, while the other seven with various bird masks spread out around the room, stepping like a long footed water birds among the people, lifting their heads clicking their beaks together and crying out with hoots.

Each girl heard her name called by the eagle, “Nahi Come!” – “Uma-kwee come!” The three lead bird-people each held a basket of wild cherry petals, which they sprinkled on the heads of each girl called up to stand before the people. The cheery petals turned the initiate’s shredded cedar bark hats pink to the delight of all. Uma-kwee noticed that her father Se'akwal looked especially pleased and winked at her with approval.

When the quest party arrived at the Sky Ladder Falls camp that evening, the girls were surprised to see that more women were already there, making the huts comfortable for the next days and nights. Lamps lit the doors at every tent arranged in a circle around a central fire that burned bright and welcoming. Dancers dressed in Crane-people regalia took the girls by the hands and led them to a broad, flat rock like a dance platform facing the flames of the fire that glowed yellow and red and filled the camp with orange light that flickered with the laughter of the women.

The girls sat on special mats and were given staffs decorated with feathers and beads. Each initiate kept the Crane staff for their time in the Sky World Camp and continued to wear the cedar bark hats until the last day when closing rites required that the head covering be tossed into the fire and the staffs put away in a carved box for the next camp. Then with great ceremony, before returning to the village, each girl put on her woman moccasins – elk leather shoes, bleached white and decorated with tiny blue and yellow shell beads in the design of flowers and birds.

“Now you will walk in the way of the mothers and grandmothers of old and follow the songs of the bird-people forever upward until the end of your days,” went the words the closing ceremonies. “Afterwards you will ride on the wings of Eagle-Ghost to the fields of the dawn to dig roots in the sky world on behave of your people always.”

For the next few days, with the roar of the falls in the background and under a blue sky filled with passing white clouds that seemed to skim the camp, the elder women told stories for all to hear about the mysteries of the sky world. The storytelling was permitted this time of year because they spoke on a sacred spot closer to heaven. For the first time Uma-kwee learned of the veneration that Duwam'ha women give to Cedar Bird that flies from the breast of Wonderful Doer to help the people. The stirring of Cedar Bird enables women to pray for healing, nurture children and advise men in leadership with wisdom and gentleness.
Continued

Candle Fish, continued

2005-01-01T15:14:00.000-08:00

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

Candle Fish Mask

2005-01-01T15:12:00.000-08:00

On those early mornings, more birds sang in unison than she thought possible -- chattering like a tribe of young girls and old women during a root gathering outing. Sparrow, thrush, chickadee, king fisher, blackbird and robin sang all at once as night turned into early dawn and in the background that old drummer woodpecker rattled on tree trunks. The music of the bird-people didn’t seem to disturb the sleep of the other family members. She wanted to get up before everyone else and go down to the river to watch the sunrise, but her father did not permit her to go outside alone in the morning, fearing that a prowling lion or even a sesquec might be hiding to snatch her away.

The moons of the new grass had come to the Duwam'ah valley. Soon mother deer would bring their fawns down from the mountains to graze on the hillside meadows covered with flowers instead of snow -- white, yellow and blue blooms bursting from bulbs and roots awakened from their long sleep. Everywhere were signs that the warm season had dawned.

On one of those days the family heard form an excited neighbor that the candle fish-people had arrived in the river. Immediately her older brothers and uncles rushed down to the riverside with their nets on long poles to scoop up thousands of shimmering silver fingerlings, quickly filling the fish baskets. A big cooking fire outside was lit and the women ran back and forth from the fisherman at the shore, hauling heavy baskets of candlefish lifted fresh from the cold water. Uma-kwee’s job was to spoon wiggling fish from the baskets into the boiling water of the cooking boxes, heated by red-hot rocks lifted from the fire with tongs. The women worked with delight as the thick fat from the fish broth formed at the top of the boxes and could be scooped into dishes.

The younger girls and boys assigned to bring wood for the fire each received a taste of the candlefish fat by dipping a stick into the dish. The fat was not only good to eat, especially when mixed with strawberries, but lit up the lodge at night when used as fuel for the lamps. The fat was so rich that some elders simply put a cedar bark wick into a dried candlefish and lit it as a long burning lamp.

Each spring working at the cook fire near the river bank, the women loved to sing the candlefish-people song thanking the Creator for the gift of such a delightful food that also, by providing lamp oil, had the power to banish darkness when the sun went down.

Flashing silver of the sea
Searching for fresh waters
Driving darkness from our sight
Pouring riches in our laps
Thankfully we dip to taste
Chief of the Ocean’s feast

The people stored many bent cedar boxes of candlefish fat and placed them in the spring hut, built over a cold stream to keep food cool, enough to last for a year with plenty of extra boxes for trading.

Another day the men returned from an elk hunt with stories of tracking a huge bull, which, after much prayer, they killed with arrows and spears. Using stone knives and axes the hunters cut the carcass into seven pieces to pack the meat back to the canoes from deep in the forest about a day’s journey up the river. The men who carried the larger pieces on their backs came home happily singing though covered with blood from head to foot.

Before and after the hunt the leaders of the hunting party chanted the permission song to take the huge animal without offending its guardian spirit. “Forgive us Creator of the forest for taking your noble animal servant. Let the blood we spill in butchery wash away our offenses and purify our hearts. Prolong our days and let your bounty satisfy our hungry children with meat.”
Continued

Wolf, continued

2005-01-01T15:09:00.000-08:00

The wolf-people did come that Winter Ceremonies to take the boys away and the song leaders and drummers were especially good in persuading the spirits to return the initiates after five days, safely transformed into men. During this time of intense singing and celebration, Uma-kwee enjoyed the stories more than ever before because she was able to join in the music by playing the scallop shell tambourine made by her father that summer.

Each night, the chief’s spokesman and host storyteller wore the impressive heron headdress with mother-of-pearl disk eyes -- that glowed like a rainbow -- and the long dog-hair cape fitted with blue jay feathers. He performed more eloquently than usual, telling the stories and singing the ancient verses so vividly that his audience forgot about their ordinary lives and were taken up into the supernatural world.

Some of the stories were new to her and the people. These new songs were won as a prize from another tribe by the Chief’s son in a gambling game at the regional potlatch on Great Island that year. One of the new stories told of a beautiful daughter of a chief who refused all suitors out of pride until one day the sky looked down and greatly favored her and took her up to live in his world to find happiness as his wife. Now filled with the glowing love of the sky, on clear nights she still looks down as the face of the moon to help her people find their way in darkness.

On the night that the wolves returned the boys, a thick snowstorm fell upon the coast, blanketing Kah-sidaatsoos with more snow than even her grandmother could remember, almost covering the longhouse doorways. It was very cold outside and difficult to walk even with snowshoes, so most of the people stayed inside, venturing out only to collect wood and haul water. At first her younger bothers ran out to play with the dogs in the snow, until their moccasin’s and tunics were soaked wet and her mother made them come in to eat a meal and dry themselves by the fire. The cold burned little boy’s hands and ears, so their sister played games with them inside instead.

The fury of winter blew hard during those nights, riding the high winds and breaking branches and treetops in his whistling rage. When the wind stopped, she was surprised by how quiet the village had become. Everything was silenced under the snow blanket. Each morning the forest and beaches received a new coat of ice and the creeks and parts of the river froze as hard as obsidian rock. Anyone caught outside for too long would die.

Uma-kwee wondered how any animal could live in the forest in such extreme cold without a fire or lodge for warmth. “Don’t worry about the animals,” said grandmother Qkizacool. “Elk and his cousin deer have warm coats that keep them dry and happy. Bear and wolf are curled up contentedly in their hidden lairs asleep with their young. Frog’s soft bed is the mud at the bottom of the lake and the bird-people perch in the sheltering arms of giant trees. We Duwam'ha have learned how to keep the cold of winter away with the warmth of our fire, given to us from the hand of Wonderful Doer long ago. He is the father of all lights and a generous spirit. We know that soon he will transform this winter into spring and cause the sun to shine bright again.”

Grandmother’s wisdom was confirmed the next day when rains came to melt the snow. Slowly the long, wet days that followed seem to grow shorter and warmer until Uma-kwee began hearing birds sing spring songs. She also began to hear the restless voices of her brothers begging their father to let them go on a deer hunt. On these days she often awoke before dawn by the birds singing their adoration of creation. While the rest of the family slept, she noticed through the smoke hole the sky changing from black to a deep blue – the same color of a muscle shell.
Next chapter

Wolf Mask

2005-01-01T15:08:00.000-08:00

After berry picking and salmon season came the long gray, rainy winter, divided in half by the winter ceremonies. This winter was especially exciting because she heard that the wolf-people would come to capture the older boys and take them to the forest for training. The boys are captured about every other year and this winter there were eleven boys who were old enough for the ceremony. Some even showed beards growing on their chins.

Sometime during the evenings of story telling, the people would hear the cries of wolves outside the long house. At first the storyteller instructed the people to ignore the wolves, saying that everyone was safe as long as they stayed inside. He ordered more wood placed on the fire and soon after the errie yelps subsided into the distance.

Each night in succession the wolf cries grew louder until the people heard running outside, pounding on the walls of the long house and knocking at the doorposts. Warriors gathered on each side of the low door with spears and clubs, to use against the wolves in case they broke in. Sure enough, after fierce pounding and howling, the wolf-people broke in to pass by the warriors, who somehow failed to stop the intruders. Into the lodge danced six or more wolves, rocking back and forth and up and down to the beat of a drum and lifting their heads to howl.

“We know that you come for our boys,” shouted the chief’s spokesman.

“We freely offer them to you, if you promise leave their mothers, sisters and younger brothers unharmed.”

The older boys, wearing costumes of cedar branches tied to their heads and wrapped around their bodies like a tunic, were made to stand in groups of three or four before each wolf, who wagged his head back and forth and pranced around them, before forcing the group to go with them outside, not to be seen again until the last day of the winter storytelling.

During this time the initiates are taken out to a secret camp known as Rain Forest Deep up a northern valley to learn special songs and stories, watch wrestling matches, take part in a sweathouse ceremony, and be given other instructions in the way of the wolf. The younger children and the rest of the family are told to keep singing in hopes that the wolf-people might bring the boys back. Each Duwam'ha boy must undergo the wolf capture before he is considered a man. Some boys go to Rain Forest Deep more than once, but the reason is never revealed. Some newly initiated boys of high rank must deny themselves food and go on a spirit quest later in the summer to seek an encounter with the Great Spirit.

In the spring a similar ceremony was reserved for the older girls, who were taken away and sequestered by the Crain-people. When the spring flowers bloomed and the weather grew warm, the whole village had a feast of roasted new roots and the first elk or deer of the season. When everyone finished with the half-day long meal, dancers in crain costumes called from the woods -- their calls and whistles growing louder like the wolves -- until they arrived to the feast house. All of the older girls coming of age were given shredded cedar bark skirts and hats decorated with feathers and flowers that covered their hair while everyone sang the welcome song.

Holding hands, the girls followed elder women dressed in special bird regalia and led by a procession of costumed dancers and flute players, up to the hills above Sky Ladder Waterfall to special huts for dancing and instruction in ways of the sky world, while the families and younger children continued to sing and feast. After the ceremony, the young girls are considered women and are eligible for marriage if their mothers agree. Most did not marry for several years later.
Continued

Salmon, continued

2005-01-01T15:05:00.000-08:00

In summer months most of the people traveled to the clam digging and sea bass fishing village known as Kwath-killum, or Meet-in-the-Middle, on the island by the same name across the ocean straights half way between the mainland and Great Island to the west. The village was a long day’s journey by canoe and it took another day to reach Great Island, a trip reserved for the men visiting allied tribes for regional potlatch parties.

According to her step-mother and grandmother, from one of these tribes that met for potlatch – either the Sootka or the Whe-el-kan or perhaps even the Kaw-Seth from the far north – one day would come her future husband.

“I am sure that by next spring after the candlefish run, you will be among the girls captured by the Crain-people,” said her grandmother Qkizacool one day as she sat preparing clams at the summer camp.

“Yes, this will be your season.”

But, her stepmother Klee-wik objected, “Uma-Kwee is too young to fly with the Crain-people this year. Maybe another season or two. She is still a baby don’t you think?”

But, wise grandmother Qkizacool’s had a way of knowing in advance when something important was about to happen. When Uma-Kwee heard it spoken, she was sure that the mysterious path to womanhood was near. She grew excited about the possibility of sitting with the women weavers and singing the women songs when the men went away for the Great Island dances.

Her friends put forget-me-not flowers in her hair and playfully sang wedding songs and teased her about her future husband. She tried to imagine what the young brave who would take her as a wife looked like and wondered if he would be hansom. Her step-mother Klee-wik – who was about the same age as her oldest brother -- would only give permission to a kind and hardworking man who honored the way of the faithful spirits, she told herself.

That night after dinner, Uma-kwee and her grandmother warmed themselves before the cook fire on the beach at Kwath-killum camp. The women’s faces shown orange by the firelight as they listened to surf washing up on the beach like the beat of a drum keeping time to a peace song. She watched sparks fly up and disappear into the trail of stardust that cuts the floor of the sky world in half.

As she gazed up into the blackness, a single bright star caught her eye. The star seemed to shimmer green and purple and wink at her. The tiny light looked as pleasing to her as a mountainside flower on the banks of a snow-fed stream.

She thought, “If each of these stars filling the heavens were potential husbands, I would pick that one to marry if I could. He is the most hansom of all.”

Several times over the next nights that summer, she dreamed of swimming in Lake Serene up the stream from the village in the center of the island. The lake was surrounded by forests and berry fields and sparkled in the sunlight. As she dived in the warm waters, her long, black hair moved like billows of seaweed and when she surfaced, her head and torso glowed in the sunlight.

In the dream, she reached out to catch the starry points of light floating around her, but each star slipped from her grasp. The dream ended with her sitting on shore letting the sun dry her hair, brushing sand off her feet and feeling sand rush through her fingers like water. She had the swimming dream again and again, but was afraid to ask grandmother Qkizacool what it might mean.

In the late summer the people returned to Kah-sidaatsoos hauling many boxes of smoked fish and clams – more than enough provisions to last the winter. Summer ended and winter began when the salmon-people arrived in the river. On the days remaining before the fish run, the men devoted themselves to hunting deer and bear and the women gathered roots and herbs in the forests and meadows or made trips to the foothills to pick salal and blue berries.

These early fall days were often warm and best when it didn’t rain. It was a busy time when the family worked long days fishing and preserving fillets. The bounty meant that everyone would eat richly for months and when traders came from the eastern high valleys offering obsidian, beadworks, tobacco or sage leaves for barter, the prices would be affordable. The Duwam'ha people were not poor like some less fortunate inland tribes.

Ever since she was a little girl she looked forward to berry picking trips up in the foothills with her stepmother and grandmother and neighbor women. The women camped in temporary shelters and younger male cousins, armed with bows and spears for protection, helped pack all of their gear for the festive root, herbs and berry gathering outings in the late summer when the evenings began to grow colder and the vine maple trees turned bright red like the backs of salmon. They climbed to grassy meadows on the sides of mountains that faced the ocean and sun all-day and cut by swift flowing creeks of snow-melted waters.

Most of the flowers were done, but yellow sunflowers still bloomed and Uma-kwee’s grandmother knew just where to dig to find an abundance of the prized camas bulbs. Deerflies, moths and yellow and orange butterflies chased them along the paths out of the fir forests and into the burning sunshine of the fall day. Conical spruce root hats kept them cool and they moved at a relaxed pace, singing the berry picking song.

Knelling among low growing berry bushes, shrubs and flowers, the women began to fill their large cedar bark baskets with plump red huckleberries or blueberries, first filling smaller individual containers then depositing the bounty into the large baskets carried on top of her mother’s head or strapped to backs of the other women. Her hands soon were stained purple – the sign of a hard working woman.

She worked with her grandmother Qkizacool who told her stories of her life as a young girl – like the time a black bear raided their picking camp at night and ate most of their berries before the men killed it the next day. She still wore the claws of that bear in her head band and spoke of how delicious the bear steak tasted. Her grandmother also remembered vividly her pre-martial capture by the Crain People and her marriage and life as a new wife and young mother. She learned all about her grandfather, a carver of bowls and spoons and a well known net maker, who died before she was born.

The sacred stories of long ago heroes and spirits were saved for the winter ceremonies out of respect for the trees listening in the forest. It was considered improper, if not dangerous, to speak about the spirits in the summer when the ghosts moved more freely among the treetops in the gentle winds and could be attracted by the mention of their names or hearing their songs. Better to speak of spirits in the cold of winter when the ghosts kept to themselves up in the mountain peaks and above snow clouds. Except for her thanksgiving prayers to the Great Spirit, Uma-kwee even tried not to think of the spirits in case they were listening to her thoughts.

One of her favorite places during hikes up to the berry picking fields on the mountainsides was the trail to Sky Ladder Waterfall – a place sacred to the people. The women often stopped to draw containers of healing waters from the pool at the base of the very large falls and on hot days enjoyed cooling off in the clouds of mist that drifted down from the roaring waters. To reach the falls the women followed the trail that lined a tiny side stream leading to the river.

Instead of talking or laughing among themselves as they normally might do, on the way to the sacred Waterfall, the women walked reverently and sang summer songs quietly until the sound of the falls overcame their voices. When they reached the river, they crossed the small stream on a log bridge and walked east up a narrowing valley along the riverbank until they arrived in sight of the half moon shaped expanse at the base of the roaring wall of water that held the deep pool.

From a distance, the falls looked like a shimmering dress made of pure white pelts draped over the cliff – as if the mountain set aside a piece of clothing. But, from the base looking up it did appear like its namesake -- a ladder reaching into the sky. She wished that she had the powers to climb the watery rungs up into the heavens. Uma-kwee always felt more alive to rest at this place -- the most beautiful of all places. She understood why young men and women on a quest came to pray in the mists of the falls.

She had heard reports by quest seekers of seeing visions in the rocks and once, while stopping to admire the scene, she asked her grandmother if the living rock stories were true.

Grandmother Qkizacool said, “Yes, the rocks of Sky Ladder Waterfall are magical and melt when your eyes are prepared to see.”

She revealed the secret means of seeing the rocks of the cliff behind the wall of cascading water move like living beings.

“Stare at the falling waters and sing the berry picking song. Do not blink or turn your eyes away from the sacred waters. When you come to the last refrain of the song, turn and look into the rocks next to the falls. You will see the stones come alive and move before your eyes.”
Next Chapter

Salmon Mask

2005-01-01T15:02:00.000-08:00

They say that as a young girl Uma-kwee grew up in two villages that are now no more. Her favorite village was called Kah-sidaatsoos – or Resting-Place-of-the-Sea-Ghost – and was built on a mainland hill above a bowl-shaped bay near a broad river -- which men still fish to this day. After her chores she loved to walk on the beaches to watch clouds drift above the waters and islands and sing her young girl songs. Often it seemed that the sea birds and kingfishers joined in her music making.

The inland coast was calm and the weather mild, protected from storms as it was by Big Island to the west. Daughter of a Heron clan leader and a cousin of the chief’s second wife, her family lived honorably, remembering their history and serving the Great Spirit with feasts and dances.

The salmon run was plentiful that rainy spring and her father Se'akwal and five brothers had speared many large king and silver salmon that swam up the Duwam'ha river by the thousands – enough to make the water glow silver in the sunlight as the crowd of struggling fish-people pushed against the current to rejoin their long ago ancestors at the headwaters.

The women had prepared many fillets for storage by hanging them on willow poles for drying in the sun, or smoking the strips of flesh over a slow burning fire of alder wood in the smoke hut. Bunches of bright red caviar -- a special delicacy – were also stung upon dark green cedar branches to be smoked or dried. As always the women carefully saved any bones in baskets for returning to the river to honor the salmon and ensure their return next year. Some of the red fillets were crushed in a large wooden bowl with the family pestle -- made of smooth black stone in the shape of a bear -- along with a mixture of fresh red huckleberries and nettle roots bound together with candlefish fat to make many cakes that were carefully steamed and wrapped for winter storage.

Uma-kwee was proud of the cakes, made the way that her great grandmother taught her daughters with a recipe inspired by a dream about the Salmon Princess. The cakes were a favorite of all the neighbors and relatives who came for dinner on special occasions. Steamed in cooking boxes lined with sea asparagus and heated by hot rocks from the home fire, each cake held together in one piece when picked up for a taste. The cakes were richly flavored with the best salmon and melted like snow in your mouth. She carefully wrapped each morsel in skunk cabbage leaves and packed them into the storage boxes that were carved and painted with figures of sea creatures such as octopus, starfish, loon and killer whale.

Growing up in peaceful Kah-sidaatsoos was full of happy memories of her people, enjoying holidays and ceremonies that marked the seasons and life passages such as births, winter songs, pre-marital parties, weddings, thanksgiving celebrations and memorial services. She learned all of the songs for each event and could repeat the words of the storytellers during the winter ceremonies before they were spoken.

Winter winds would come soon, bringing the rain and snow of her favorite season. Winter was the time to enjoy all of the foods prepared in the summer and fall. The hard work of hunting and gathering was over. It was a time for the family to rest peacefully in the warm long house, carving artwork, chipping arrowheads, weaving baskets and blankets, playing games, telling stories and singing songs.
Continued

Salmon Mask

2005-01-01T14:58:00.000-08:00

They say long ago the young girl Uma-kwee grew up in two villages that are now no more. Her favorite village called Kah-sidaatsoos – or Place-Where-the-Ocean-Sleeps – was built on a mainland hill above a bowl-shaped bay near a broad river -- which men still fish to this day.

After her chores she loved to walk on the beach to watch clouds drift above the waters and islands and to sing her young girl songs. Often it seemed that shrill sea birds and kingfishers joined in her music making -- as did the rhythmic waves breaking at her feet.

The inland coast was calm and the weather mild, protected from storms as it was by Great Island to the west. A chaste daughter of a Green Heron clan leader and a cousin of the chief’s second wife, her family lived honorably, remembering their history and serving the Great One in the Heavens with feasts and dances.

Uma-kwee was just like any other girl nearing her womanhood rites on that clear fall day. Her shoulder length black hair framed a delicate face when she removed the beaver skin head band after work. Her tall, thin torso was beginning to transform to the shape of a young woman.

How could she know that same morning while she walked on the beach her life's path made a turn that would lead to the summit of her destiny. Back in the winter lodge, her father and the ruling matrons of the tribe met privately to discuss her marriage.

"Uma-kwee could be given to the sons of the Raven People. That would strengthen trade relations with wealthy villages in the region," Se'akwal reasoned with the four elderly women around a smoldering fire in the darkened long house. Pointing out that many new-made-women were being given in marriage to that powerful neighboring tribe.

"Or we could accept offers when made by suitors from one of the northern peoples who are devoted to Sky Ghost as we are," he said perplexed about what would be best for his only surviving daughter.

The matrons conversed together, then replied that they favored keeping with spiritual tradition. It would please their ancestors who first followed the way of the sky world and called upon Wonderful Doer of the heavens.

Se'akwal had anticipated their response, but as keeper of the Heron line after the death of Uma-Kwee's mother, it was up to him who would marry the new-made woman.

"The western tribes treat their women like slaves," said Matron Qkizacool who long objected to the Selawik practice of cutting the lips of girls to insert the labret plug jewelry piece.

"Their young braves mare their face and arms with crude tattoos," she pursing her lips in disgust.

"And their young girls are unchaste," added another grandmother. "Their youth run from woman to woman like rutting elk."

Se'akwal replied that the Duwam'ha young people do not always remain pure. Now a days even some of the daughters of noblemen become pregnant before marriage rites.
"Our young girls pierce their noses and ears. Our young braves stain their faces with red paint. How different is that?"

He knew the Matrons were unmoved by his speech. They knew how wicked the Selawik could be. Behind his weak arguments in their favor hovered fear of offending the Raven honoring chiefs -- who seemed to be gaining wealthier the last few years.

"Their spirit guides are powerful. That cannot be denied. If I don't choose one of the Selawik sons, we will need a good excuse," he said looking up at the carved mountain lion face on one of the house poles, dimly lit by golden sunlight that filtered through otherwise invisible smoke rising from the embers of the house fire.

"The Raven People might refuse to invite us to mid-summer potlatch," a possibility that would not only humiliate the Duwam'ah clan leaders, but cause financial hardships for many families. The Duwam'ah tribe produced Razor Clam knife blades and boxes of fish cakes and earned large profits when trading with other tribes meeting for an annual Selawik feast and game party on the Great Island.

He could choose a northern suitor. But, such a marriage would also remind the Raven People of past rivalries suffered during the generation of coastal wars when the north and south endured near constant battle. Finding the proper suitor would be a difficult choice with consequences for the girl, her family and even the whole tribe.

Offending the Selawik might even spark a war.

Perhaps the decision could wait for another year or two?

Se'akwal considered the advice of the matrons when he returned to fishing that day.

"The girl and her children would live securely among the Raven worshippers," he thought, knowing on the other hand that if he followed the matron's preference his son-in-law would come to live in his own house and he would see her face everyday -- a face that showed the likeness of his first wife.

He would seek council of his wife. While the girl's stepmother, she possessed a birth mother's devotion.

He hoped also that the Sky Ghost might send him an insightful dream about the matter. Now his attention turned to the salmon and his work.

The salmon run was plentiful that rainy fall. Se'akwal's five sons had speared many large king and silver salmon that swam up the Duwam'ha river by the thousands – enough to make the water glow silver in the sunlight as the crowd of struggling fish-people pushed against the current to rejoin their long ago ancestors at the headwaters.

As always the women carefully saved any bones in baskets for returning to the river to honor the salmon and ensure their return next year. Some of the red fillets were crushed in a large wooden bowl with the family pestle -- made of smooth black stone in the shape of a bear -- along with a mixture of fresh red huckleberries and nettle roots bound together with candlefish fat to make many cakes that were carefully steamed and wrapped for winter storage.

Uma-kwee was proud of the cakes, made the way that her great grandmother taught her daughters with a recipe passed on for generations. The cakes were sought for by all the neighbors and relatives who came for dinner on special occasions. Steamed in cooking boxes lined with salty sea asparagus and heated by hot rocks from the home fire, each cake held together in one piece when picked up for a taste.

The richly flavored cakes had to be rationed from her brothers who would eat them all in one sitting if they could. She carefully wrapped each morsel in broad maple tree leaves and packed them into the storage boxes that were carved and painted with figures of octopus, starfish, loon and killer whale.
Growing up in peaceful Kah-sidaatsoos was full of happy memories of her people, enjoying holidays and ceremonies that marked the seasons and life passages such as births, winter songs, pre-marital parties, weddings, thanksgiving celebrations and memorial services. She learned all of the songs for each event and could repeat the words of the storytellers during the winter ceremonies before they were spoken.
Winter winds would come soon, bringing the rain and snow of her favorite season. Winter was the time to enjoy all of the foods prepared in the summer and fall. The hard work of hunting and gathering was over. It was a time for the family to rest peacefully in the warm long house, carving art, chipping arrowheads, weaving baskets or blankets, playing games, telling stories and singing songs.
Continued

Mountain Lion Mask

2005-01-01T14:56:00.000-08:00

They say long, long ago Creator looked down upon the land spinning like a woman's whorl in twilight. He saw war, disease, famine and death. He saw how the trickster spirits had tried to steal his authority and how easily the people were fooled. Too many mortuary houses rotted in the ground. He saw the people and animals had tasted the bitterness of suffering. He was sorry for what had become of creation. With tears in his face and a clinched fist, on that day he vowed to destroy enemy death.

Creator knew how crafty his enemy death was. He had fought it before. Once he ordered a flood of sacred waters to swallow the land to wash away decay. But the flood did not cleanse all of the earth's corruption. The decedents of the people spared from the waters refused to listen to the wisdom learned by the ancestors and soon returned to singing Raven’s song – a ravenous tune heard in the wailing of the northern winds.

Now many tribes had forgotten the way of the sky world. Stories of heroes were unsung during feasts. Young men again went on raids to kill neighboring peoples taking slaves, torturing prisoners and violating young girls. Everywhere people did wrong – betraying brothers, stealing from parents, marrying inside their own clans, lying to wives and children and killing revered animals.

“Instead of destroying the earth, we must transform it,” Creator said calling his spokesman the Changer to his side near the fire of the Spirit Lodge.

"We must go on a quest down to the land to defeat the forces of death and suffering. We will overpower the monsters and crush the false spirit helpers. Our victory will cast out the deep darkness and let true dawn shine. The moon will shine like the sun and the sun will appear seven times brighter. Our triumph will be clear for everyone. Then the people and their sons and daughters will desire to follow the way of our house as we first intended.”

When the Changer heard the words of Creator, he took up a lightening rod as a speaking stick and hit the lodge floor three times. Suddenly he transformed himself into a golden mountain lion crouching before the fire. Thunder shook the ground and light pressed around him while his mind envisioned all he must do to restore his creatures.

As the walls of the Spirit Lodge began to beat like great wings, the Changer painted his face for battle. Then he sang a war song like none ever heard. From that moment the Lion prepared himself for his quest to prowl the darkness of the world.
Next Chapter

Mosquito, continued

2004-12-31T16:39:00.000-08:00

He took out a knife and cut off one of N’ha-itk’s braids, one that was decorated with the chief’s otter tooth pendant and held the lock of hair up before them. “The people can bury this along with his chiefly garments and war club. Once we are past the tarn trail, I will return to my village by the other pass. May the Great Spirit protect you, chief,” he said looking into Snowy Owl’s face that appeared washed with either tears or rain drops.

It was then looking down at the body of his murdered friend that Snowy Owl made a vow. He bowed his head and cried, "Rest now Little Brother. We will hunt together again in a better place. Until then I promise to carve the finest mortuary pole that the world has ever seen and dedicate a winter lodge big enough for a whole village in your memory. We will never forget you.”

This is how the Brothers-in-Unity-House was built and the Triumph-over-Death Pole came to stand on the islet in Bloodroot Bay.

The mountain clouds thundered again and they looked up to see a burst of rain and hale stones falling. They dragged the blood stained remains of N’ha-itk to a long crack between the boulders, and quickly covered it with flat stones. Then they turned to look at the motionless Nishga, still knocked unconscious but protected from the rain by the rocks. They agreed that the slaves still at the lake would be able to take her home when she revived.

Snowy Owl picked up the Spear of Tillicum from the gravel and noticed that it looked to him as beautiful as the first day that he saw it at the sacred fire. The polished black point reflected light and seemed to shine even in the shadows. That light had guided his steps to victory many times before. From now on he would keep the spear near to him day and night, he tought. After quickly collecting the other weapons that they could find, the braves rushed down over broken rocks to the tarn camp to gather gear cached there and drink some water. The slaves were hiding under big trees to escape the storm and the fighting.

“Your shaman needs you up at the boulders,” they said calling out to where the slaves were hiding, “Go and help her.”

When they reached the opposite side of the lake they neared where Storm Dodger would part, they heard a long thunderous roar up the mountain and saw a huge blanket of snow break off from the peaks and tumble down, covering the lodge, the boulders and even down to the quest camp at the shore. The earth trembled and the roar continued for many breaths and the avalanche made waves spread across the tarn toward them.

The roar quieted. “Wonderful Doer saved us today,” said Snowy Owl, “but the slaves and Nishga are gone.” The hale continued to pour down upon them, soaking their hair and clothes. Both braves were chilled and growing numb from the cold as well as from grief for their friend. Without his hat and his hair soaked wet, Snowy Owl used his hands to rung water from his head, exposing his mutilated right ear.

Just then out of the snow at the other side of the lake a giant black figure like a huge boulder in the shape of something like a man emerged from a covering of snow and ice. It shook off the ice, and caused the earth to tremble by stamping its feet in rage. The figure lifted its head to the sky and screamed a roar louder than the mountain thunder and avalanche. Then it turned toward the braves and began to move in their direction. With each step, it seemed to grow larger.

Running with all of their might, the two braves split up, Snowy Owl continued down the trail while Storm Dodger made his way to the pass back to his village on the other side of Icy Mountain.

The monster stopped at the end of the tarn to swing a fist at Storm Dodger escaping across the valley, then roared and leaped down in Snowy Owl’s direction who was running until his heart hurt in his chest.

He paused to take deep breaths beneath a rock wall cliff, knowing that the monster was quickly approaching when he looked down and saw a jade rock. His heart warmed as he hit the stone with the spear of Tillicum. The stone glowed with glory light. He picked it up and threw it as hard and as far as he could in the direction of the monster. The rock hit the side of the cliff and he heard a rumble as a massive rockslide fell across the path and into the narrow valley behind him.

He ran throughout the night, resting when he could, but not for long because he was afraid that Babakawquit would dig himself out of the rock slide. He continued the next day hiking through the wolf forest. When evening came he built a fire to warm himself and cook some food. Just as he was about to eat, a pack of wolfs entered his camp. Their eyes reflected his firelight and circled all around. He took out the Thunderbird amulet and began to sing to the wolves, trying to lull them, when he felt the ground shake, softly at first, then louder. It was Babakawquit coming!

Just as he stood up, gathering up his gear and weapons to run, a large he-wolf leapt toward him and knocked him down, biting and ripping his tunic. He reached for the spear and used it like a knife to stab the snaring wolf, which yelped and backed away. As it fell back, the wolf seemed to double in size. Then he stabbed in the direction of all of the wolves that ringed his fire, at each stab, a wolf cried as if cut and he could see their shadows grow into giant wolves.

Sensing better prey, the pack of supernatural wolves ran away toward the approaching Babakawquit. Snowy Owl gathered his gear and rushed into the night down the trail lit by moonlight. From behind he heard mighty yelps, snarling and growling of the wolves ripping into the monster that also roared like a storm cloud in what must have been a terrible fight.

At daybreak, Muxqueum Snowy Owl was exhausted, but knew that the monster probably succeeded in fighting off the wolves and would not be far behind him. “Creator and Transformer what should I do?” he prayed in desperation. It was then that he noticed something white in the brush moving toward him. It was big white buck, the same one that he had seen before and appeared to him in his dream. Cautiously at first, the animal walked up to him as if it were a dog and licked his face.

“If only I could run as fast as you my friend,” he said to the large buck that looked at him as if seeking some food. He reached into his pack and took out a handful of berries, which the animal lapped up from his palm. Then it occurred to him that the buck might carry him back to the village. He petted the neck of the tall white creature -- that looked more the size of an elk than any deer that we know today -- and crawled up on his back with all of his gear.

The deer willingly carried him down the trail, slowly at first, then in a trot and when the path was straight in a full run leaping over brush and logs like a flying bird. By nightfall they had traveled a great distance and made it to the headwaters of the Frog Song stream that fed the waterfall of the last pass down to Raven’s Harbor.

That night he stopped to set up a camp besides the stream and lit a fire. The white buck grazed on sweet grasses and patches of tiny blue flowers that grew thick in a meadow nearby. As he rested after eating, again he felt the ground faintly shake in the steps of the approaching monster in the distance. He again chanted the protection song, looking at the figure of the frog on his amulet.

“The eyes of undying frog see forever,” he remembered his mother saying.

The ground shock more heavily as he took out the spear and spit on it. Then he washed it in the stream and called, “White Buck come once again. I need another ride.” He climbed on the deer and they headed for high ground because a flash flood was coming down the stream valley, swamping the monster in much water. The next morning they reached the top of the final cliff and he could see the ocean on the horizon below. Relief and excitement filled his heart at the thought of victory near. He climbed off the deer for the last time and it bounded into the forest as Snowy Owl began the descent down the steep trail to the village.

Soon he reached the bottom of the cliff, walked past the waterfall and found his way to the great pit he had commanded the slaves to secretly dig. It was midday and he saw campfire smoke nearby. It was a day camp of slaves waiting for him, as they had done for the last few days anticipating his return. There among them was his mother, Naidah, who greeted him and gave him water.

“Quick, mother,” he said urgently. “Get the sacred fire start going.”

She had taken it from the bear effigy in the winter lodge and replaced it with a normal clamshell, just as they had planned. The slaves started a fire in the bottom of the pit, stacked with dry, pitch filled logs which burned very hot for the rest of the day. By late afternoon, the people in the village noticed the smoke and Chah-nulth and his men walked out to see if the forest was on fire. Before they arrived, the fire died down and only very hot coals remained. The slaves covered the pit with brush and waited.

When Chah-nulth and the clan leaders arrived, they were astonished to see Snowy Owl alive. “Chah-nulth, know that I am carrier of the remains of two chiefs.” He handed the sack with the skull and hair braid and otter tooth earring to one of the clan leaders.

“Take these remains and put them to rest in your hollowed ground. My quest is fulfilled. I went to Icy Mountain and washed in the waters of Crater Tarn. I visited the Lair of Babakawquit and escaped his judgment and return alive in victory. Now you, oh Spokesman, must be true to your word and let my people go to dance in honor of the Creator on the far islands.”

“We commanded you to return with the remains of the chief, but not his son. I sent my daughter to protect him and his brother-in-law from certain doom, but you led them straight to the underworld instead. We agreed that you may take the slaves, but only for one moon and I say that each of you must return by then, or we will send our war canoes to kill you all. Babakawquit is not so easily tricked,” said Chah-nulth.

Then the people heard a roar up the side of the mountain as the flow of water in the waterfall greatly increased.

“It is a flash flood and soon you will witness the victory of the Kaw-Seth over your demon chief,” said Snowy Owl standing with the covered pit between him and the trail. He turned to the trail and all of the people felt the earth shake. The evening light grew dim with night approaching.

Suddenly, the many toothed monster about four times the size of a man turned the corner of the trail and walked into view. He roared and showed his teeth and his eyes glowed red with anger. Shadowy figures of other spirits were all around him like a tunic -- obscuring a clear view of his features. Everyone felt a blast of cold and the dogs and people ran away frightened by the sight. But, the clan leaders and Chah-nulth watched as Snowy Owl and the other slaves stood proudly up to the monster.

“Babakawquit, you cursed spirit of deception. You will never torment our people like you have done before with your lust for blood! Come here and taste your final meal!” Snowy Owl shouted to the tree tops.

The people began to throw stones at the monster that breathed with anger. It leaped to grasp a reckless young man who moved dangerously near, bit off his head, licking the severed neck before tossing the body spinning like a doll far into the forest.

Then it moved towards the taunting people, roared a scream, and stepped onto the covering over the pit. Instantly it fell to the bottom -- just as the Kaw-Seth had planned. The monster screeched in the burning coals produced by the supernatural fire start. Quickly the people heaped many loads of dry pitch-filled wood and branches and poured large baskets of candlefish oil into the pit and a hot fire shot flames high into the air. The voice of the monster was stilled.

By then the clan leaders and Chah-nulth retreated because they feared that the anger of the ice ghost might explode. They went directly to the war lodge to warn the warriors that the slaves had rebelled.

The sacred fire burned hot all night and the Kaw-Seth people celebrated and danced around the pit, joyfully singing of freedom and redemption. Large baskets of bloodroot paste were opened and the people painted their bodies in the ancient tradition.

“We are Kaw-Seth, the new people. Reborn to fly like eagles in dawn.”

The next morning as the people awoke from a night of celebration all they found at bottom of the pit was smoldering white ash. Some of the slaves returned to the village to prepare for their voyage to the islands, but Snowy Owl and Naidah remained at the pit, guarding it with the spear of Tillicum and charms.

“Consumed by sacred fire Babakawquit is finished,” said Snowy Owl. “But, some remnant of his power may remain in these ashes. Tell the people to spread the bloodroot paint thick upon their faces and arms and continue to chant the victory song as the strong men get ready to take the war canoes.”

While the Kaw-Seth women, children and old men chanted and sang all morning, Chah-nulth ordered his warriors to attack those assembled at the pit and to cut the throats of all slaves preparing to depart in the villages. Just as a raiding party of strong warriors creeping through the forest neared the singing people, a cold wind like the ones felt in the presence of evil spirits swept down from the cliff and blew hard against the people. Hats had to be held with hands and heads were bent against the blast that caused the people to shiver.

Snowy Owl and his mother watched as a lesser gust blew down into the pit and stirred up a cloud of white ash. The cloud of ash expanded and rose high above all the people and seemed to move like a ghost. Suddenly they realized that the ash had turned into an insect swarm. Before that time, no one had ever seen this kind of blood-sucking insect. These were the first mosquitoes.

“This must be the answer to our prayers!” cried Snowy Owl to the devoted people around him.

“Now, run to the war canoes!”

The red bloodroot paint kept the insects from biting the Kaw-Seth people, but the giant cloud soon overwhelmed the Tsonox warriors, causing them to scatter into the forest in confusion. Thousands and thousands of hungry mosquitoes spread out and descended upon all four villages biting the skin of every Tsonox man, woman and child. Even the dogs were tormented. While the Tsonox frantically slapped their bodies, swung into the wind or ran to jump into the ocean to escape the bites, the Kaw-Seth people, along with other slaves who joined them, proceeded to load the war canoes with their provisions and belongings. No warrior tried to stop them.

That day seventy long war canoes and twenty skin boats filled with the people paddled into the Frog Tongue Inlet led by Chief Snowy Owl. While the canoes and boats gathered, Chah-nulth, his body covered with swollen bite marks and black insects still sucking blood, walked as if enduring a painful ritual along the shore until he neared Snowy Owl’s canoe to call out to him. Many mosquitoes flew around his head.

“For cursing us with these blood sucking insects, we banish you and your people from our territory until the world ends!” he proclaimed with his hands folded across his chest.

As the canoes pulled away from the shore and made their way out to sea, the people – no longer slaves except to Wonderful Doer – began to sing the victory song in rhythm with the strokes of the paddles until they were gone from Raven’s Harbor forever.

That is how the Kaw-Seth first came to Island Home where we live in peace to this day.

Part Two

Mosquito Mask

2004-12-31T16:36:00.000-08:00

The from the top of the spire, Crooked Beak and Cannibal Bird dropped in flight -- invisible like a gusts of wind -- to pursue the men as they ran to the boulders for cover. When they reached the safety of the giant rocks, they searched for the hidden weapons, but could not find them under the snow. Nishga, Ruwa-itk and two warriors had come before to steal the spear, knives and bow and arrows and were waiting on top of a boulder out of sight in ambush. Arrows hit all around and N’ha-itk fell wounded onto Storm Dodger. Snowy Owl’s backpack took two arrows and he was unhurt, but an arrow sank deep into the lower back of the Tsonox chief.

The three braves crawled to a crack between the rocks. Snowy Owl called out to the ambushers on top of the boulders, “You hit N’ha-itk. He bleeds. He who harms the chief is cursed along with his family. Nishga, show yourself!”

The female shaman slid down the rock and stood before them, her face painted as a male warrior with many raven feathers in her hair. She held Tillicum’s spear.

“I did it, Shaman!” said Snowy Owl. “I escaped the jaws of Babakawquit and carry the bones of the chief. You are bound to let us pass and return to the village as your father promised.”

“With this spear of power, I rule as chief and master now. I crush you like a snail on the beach,” said Nishga in a voice that did not seem her own.

She lunged forward, thrusting the spear at Snowy Owl who jumped in motion with the thrust, grabbed the shaft of the spear and rolled over on the ground, tossing the shaman hard into the rock wall where she fell stunned and unconscious.

Suddenly they heard screams above them as the bird monsters attacked the warriors on the rocks. Crooked Beak appeared and sunk her beak into the chest of one man, knocking the other off to hit his head on the rocky ground. She ripped out his heart and licked and drank much blood, calling in a high-pitched scream between bites. At the same time Cannibal Bird flew down to clutch Ruwa-itk around his hips in her powerful claws and flew away toward the top of the mountain as he screamed and struggled. Finishing her meal, Crooked Beak leaped down to pick up the fallen warrior by one foot and lifted him up into the sky where she followed her daughter to the high place.

In the shadows of the boulders the braves hid unseen. Storm Dodger held N’ha-itk in his arms. The young chief gritted his teeth in pain from the arrow, which pierced deep into his body. He was losing much blood and it was difficult for him to breathe.

“Muxqueam, my fishing friend and spokesman. Let me speak to you,” he said taking a breath.

“I am chief of the Tsonox people and my brother here is witness. I release your people from slavery and free them to go to the lost islands of winter stories. Go and tell Chah-nulth that is my word. My brother,” he said to Storm Dodger, “tell your sister that she is free to marry another brave, one who can dodge the storms like you do.”

The two friends tried to comfort the young chief and propped his head up with the pack. There was no water to drink or blanket to shield him from the cold.

“Mother, mother, mother,” he whispered then his face grew pale and he took his last breath staring into the clouds.

Storm Dodger reached his hand to N’ha-itk’s pained face to press his eyes shut.

“Your skin boat has brought you this far brother. Now walk into the arms of your Creator,” Storm Dodger said holding his grief back like a warrior in battle.
Continued

Winter Remembrances of Snowy Owl

Home

White Bear Mask continued

HOME

White Bear Mask

Kingfisher Mask, continued

HOME

Rattlesnake Mask Continued

HOME

Kingfisher Mask

CONTENTS

Rattlesnake Mask

Ghost Mask, continued

Ghost Mask

Eagle Mask, continued

Eagle Mask

Shark Mask, continued

Sea Lion continued

Sea Lion Mask

List of Characters and Notes on Theory

Shark Mask

Sun Eagle Mask

Lightening Snake Mask

Trickster Spirit Mask continued

Trickster Spirit Mask

Light of the Dawn Mask continued

Light of the Dawn Mask

Porcupine Mask continued

Porcupine Mask

Badger Mask Continued

Badger Mask

Giant Raven, continued

Giant Raven Mask

Eel Mask

Sleeping Bear, continued

Sleeping Bear Mask

Feasting Bear, continued

Feasting Bear Mask

Eaten Moon, continued

Eaten Moon Mask

Seal, continued

Seal Mask

Moon Eclipse, continued

Moon Eclipse Mask

Dove, continued

Dove Spirit Mask

Full Moon Woman Mask

Crane, continued

Crane Mask

Candle Fish, continued

Candle Fish Mask

Wolf, continued

Wolf Mask

Salmon, continued

Salmon Mask

Salmon Mask

Mountain Lion Mask

Mosquito, continued

Mosquito Mask