Tuksook's Story, 35,000 BC

by Bonnye Matthews

  “Very well,” he agreed without reasoning it through his mind web.

  “Then vow,” she asked.

  “I vow to Wisdom never to repeat what Tuksook shares with me now.”

  “I talk to Wisdom.”

  “What do you mean, you talk to Wisdom? Do you mean that Wisdom also talks to you?”

  “Yes, but differently from how People talk. You wanted me to talk, so are you going to let me talk or keep interrupting?”

  “I’m sorry. Please, continue.” Gumui was beginning to understand part of why this girl fascinated him. She had a different depth from most People. She carried much inside her that was invisible to the People. He wanted to know more.

  Tuksook continued, “I talk to Wisdom. That’s why I like solitude. I love Wisdom. My father is our Wise One. He has angered Wisdom by his judgment. He has angered the women here because his judgment led to Pito’s death. More women will eventually die if the judgment is not changed. Rimut should be banned from the People. His pride is evil. Even now, he seeks a new wife. Pito isn’t yet buried. His children need comfort. He doesn’t care. He loves self alone. His parents are comforting his children. The women of the People are outraged. This afternoon late in the day, you will find no woman or children in the meadow.” She looked directly and deeply into his eyes. “Remember your vow. Women have had enough. We can live without the men. Women of the People know how to hunt. We will find another place. We will all leave.”

  Gumui was shocked. He was troubled about the death of Pito, but he never expected women and children to leave the People. Never in all the stories had that happened. And, he was vowed to silence. Still he was transfixed.

  “How do you know of this?” he asked.

  “Mother asked me to fly this morning. Then, after I found a place, she talked with every woman. Not one disagreed. All are resolved to leave until the judgment changes. Each knows how to leave to find the new place. We go by different ways. Do not ask me where we go or how,” she said flatly.

  Gumui stood there with his mouth open but with no words to say. He would have been terrified to go against Wisdom, and clearly, if Tuksook had flown, Wisdom was part of this plan. Wisdom controlled the flying. The children, he knew, belonged to women until girls began their flow and boys were of an age and hunter mastery to be called men. The children would obey the women. He knew he was about to see an event that the People had never considered—a unique event that would become a story to be told to future generations.

  “But what if you come against a bear,” he asked, concerned for the welfare of the women.

  “I would rather die from beast attack than the way Pito died. One who claimed to love her betrayed her instead—that is evil. A bear or another beast would have no evil intent.”

  “By Wisdom, you are brave!” he exclaimed.

  “It shows how serious we are.” She stood there firm, seemingly fearless. A girl willing to die from a beast instead of from evil. And the women of the People all agreed on the same need. Backed by Wisdom.

  “Tuksook, I have looked after you all of your life. I want to go as a hunter to protect you.”

  “That cannot be, Gumui. Only women and children can go.”

  He could understand but was greatly afraid for the women and children. All his life he had focused on protecting them. It was the way of the male People. He also knew to look out for men on the hunt.

  “Wisdom goes with us, Gumui. There’s no need to fear.”

  “Well, I guess you’ve finished your mind web reasoning. How’s your belly?”

  “There’s a plan to fix this, so I’m doing well.”

  He took her hand and examined her wrist, wincing. “I ask for a vow from you,” he said quietly. “Will you vow to tell no one you shared this with me?”

  “Of course, Gumui. I trust you. You can trust me.”

  For some reason that he did not understand, her words made him feel wonderful. She trusted him after what had taken place? He would have thought her father’s betrayal of women and Rimut’s betrayal of his wife would have caused her to trust no man.

  There was a call to the grave of Pito. All attended. The Wise One remembered the story perfectly, Tuksook observed. Little by little as the afternoon progressed, Gumui saw women and children wander off. They went in different directions. He kept his word. Somehow, he knew the injustice had to change and this was a plan, one that would capture the attention of the men. The evening meal was just about finished cooking when Shut and Cadpo left the meadow. They were the fastest runners among the women. Each took a different route from the meadow.

  The women followed rock paths that led to a central point quite some distance from the meadow. It went uphill nearing the top of a mountain. They kept to the paths careful to leave no trace, if possible, though they knew that eventually the hunters would find them. There was a cave near the mountain top. The face of the mountain was rock. The path up was a good distance beyond the cave. Tuksook saw it on her flight. The women and children climbed up the path carefully. They took the small children into the back of the cave, and had the older ones gather large rocks which they could roll downhill, if needed, when hunters or beasts came. The women no longer viewed the hunters as People. All had been silent when the evil judgment was made. For their silence the women counted the men and themselves as cowards. The women vowed never to be silent in the face of wrong again. No longer were they going to be cowards. The People were not cowards. Consequently, the adult male People were no longer People in the eyes of the women, because they had made no such vow.

  As evening wore on, men began to look to the hearth. At first they didn’t realize there were no women or children. They wondered why the food cooked untended.

  Suddenly, Kew shouted, “Where are the women and children?”

  All the men gathered near the hearth. The smell of the sturgeon from the rock warming area was tempting. Some of them took the food up and placed it on the log, taking a piece to eat as they did. All looked about wondering at the disappearance of the women and children. They were confused.

  Midgenemo asked, “Did any of the women tell anyone where they were going?”

  There was no answer.

  “I suggest we eat, and, if they’re not back, we send some men to find them,” he said.

  “There’s something amiss here,” Wave said strongly. “As for me, I’d rather go now to find them to be sure they do well. Never have all women and children left at one time!”

  “I’ll go with you,” Unmo added.

  “I, too,” Togomoo said.

  “Then, the three of you go,” Midgenemo said as he picked up a bowl. “Our women know how to take care of themselves. Something must have interested them.”

  “Interested them?” Ottu shouted out acerbically. “What could possibly interest every single woman and child, yet leave all of us excluded?”

  Silence felt loud.

  Wave, Unmo, and Togomoo looked at each other. Which way would they have gone?

  The women had left clear exit paths from the meadow but were very careful after that. There were exit paths going in all directions except towards the water where the men had been disassembling the boat. They also avoided the area east of the meadow where men were building the bent-tree home. Tuksook’s flight had helped the women find the rock paths. At the exit paths the three men sometimes found little items, as if intentionally misleading. The men began to follow one path that seemed to have been made by children. It went into the forest and then there was no path. They looked at each other frowning. Mystery was not part of the People. They survived well because of clear communication. At each exit path from the meadow, they found the same thing. The paths were clear at first and then disappeared. The men were confused and hungry. It was becoming too dark to follow a path in the forest. Wave suspected the women had planned this disappearance, but he did not have enough information to feel comfortable voicing his suspicion.

  “I suggest we return, eat, sleep, and at fi
rst light begin the search. Our women are able to take care of themselves,” Wave said with frustration.

  Both of the others agreed and they returned. At the council they’d share what they learned.

  The council was strange. Midgenemo tried to act as if this event were normal. Not one person agreed. Instead, they began to question him.

  “What? Do you question me? I talk to Wisdom!” he said in anger.

  “Then, talk to Wisdom and return with an answer for us,” Ottu challenged.

  Midgenemo stood, miffed, and left the council. He headed to the middle of the meadow and dropped to his knees. He raised his arms, looked towards the sky, and called on Wisdom, and nothing happened. He called and called.

  Wisdom always replied. He did not understand. He returned to the council.

  “I guess Wisdom is asleep,” he said unconvincingly.

  “By Wisdom’s testicles, man!” Ottu said a bit too loud, “You’re making that up. It looks to me that Wisdom isn’t talking to you! Wisdom never sleeps! You’re making things up to suit you. You’re putting us in danger!”

  Ottu’s swearing startled some of the younger men, but the older ones knew he did it when he was totally frustrated. Gumui wondered whether Wisdom actually had testicles.

  “This is somehow connected to your idiotic judgment the other night and Pito’s death. Is your mind web so tangled and your belly too full of food for you to reason or hear?”

  Gumui held his face and body tight to show nothing of his thoughts. He acted as if he were hunting and did not want the prey to spot him. He was grateful for Ottu’s insight that Wisdom had deserted their Wise One. He hadn’t known that was possible.

  “How dare you?” Midgenemo said in an attempt to clear the accusation and return his authority. He was agitated, feeling his heart beat too fast and hard. Pressure in his head was painful. He felt he should defend himself regardless of right—or wrong. He was the Wise One.

  “I dare because it’s true,” Ottu stated flatly. “And you, Rimut, you are worthless. We should ban you. You’re unfit to call yourself People.”

  Murmurings made it clear that others were beginning to share Ottu’s thoughts. They began to see.

  “So, let us sleep,” Ottu said flatly, “and tomorrow we will find our women and children. We will learn whether I am right.”

  The council normally closed by Midgenemo ended with Ottu’s comment. Midgenemo was perplexed. He understood that failure to talk with Wisdom could only mean that Ottu was right. He walked to the center of the meadow and called on Wisdom repeatedly. Wisdom was silent. He knew he was wrong, but pride kept him holding out that there was a chance his judgment had been right. He did remind himself that he hadn’t consulted with Wisdom but spoke the judgment assuming he was incapable of error. He was Wise One, after all. Midgenemo for the first time in his life was frightened. He went to his lean-to where Lurch and Orad waited. There was more room in the lean-to, but it was unwelcome.

  At first light the rain was falling. That, hunters knew, was not a good sign. More hunters agreed to seek the women and children. When Rimut volunteered, Midgenemo told him he had to remain at the meadow. That angered the man, but he knew some felt he should be banned, so he remained obedient. Loraz, Hamaklob, Stencellomak, and Anvel joined the search.

  The men spread out to the south. They followed each exit path, and each one led to nothing. Then they tried the path to the east. The same thing occurred. They tried the paths to the north and one led to a rock path. All men gathered to follow that path. They went without food. They grew hungry by high sun. The path continued. They stopped at a tiny waterfall to drink.

  “Do you think we’re still on the right path?” Anvel asked.

  “If Tuksook flew, this path would make sense. We certainly didn’t know it existed. If she flew, she’d know exactly where it went,” Loraz said firmly.

  “If that’s true, then Ottu is probably right,” Hamaklob said his thoughts out loud.

  “What do we do if we have a Wise One, who’s lost his way? He has to judge between two or more who cannot release disagreement. How do we live well, if he’s lost his way?” Stencellomak voiced the fear of all of the hunters.

  “Wisdom only knows,” Unmo said.

  “Let’s continue while we have daylight,” Wave urged.

  They walked on for quite some time, until Togomoo who was leading made hand signals to be quiet. His hunter hand signals showed he thought he heard something.

  The group remained quiet and Togomoo heard it again. It was in the distance and he had trouble discerning from where. Stencellomak used hand signals to signify that he also heard it. He made the sign of infant, and Togomoo nodded agreement. The others strained to hear, but all seemed silent to them. The noise was far away.

  They continued on the stone path. They took more care for silence. The path seemed endless. Togomoo and Stencellomak took the lead, since they had superior hearing. Togomoo stopped. The noise was above them. He looked up at a sheer rock wall. High above them he pointed. There was a cave, he thought, almost at the top of the mountain. The hunters saw it as soon as he pointed. They wondered how they were supposed to reach the cave.

  Item leaned over the ledge. The men saw her.

  “Go away!” she shouted.

  “Please, Item, tell us what made you leave? And what do we have to do to bring you home?” Unmo asked.

  “We have no home but this. Once we were People, wonderful People with Wisdom to lead us. Now, Midgenemo would have us led by a man—not Wisdom. We will not stand for that. We are the People. We don’t know who you are. We suspect you are cowards, since none of you spoke against the judgment.”

  “It was his judgment over Rimut and Pito’s death?” Unmo asked to make sure he understood.

  “Why ask? Cannot you see for yourself?”

  Unmo looked up. “We are simply verifying what we suspect. What will it take to bring you home?”

  “We will only follow Wisdom, not some man and his unreasoned ideas,” she said. Item felt very strange speaking against Midgenemo. She loved him. He had changed somehow toward the end of the boat sailing. She didn’t understand it. She continued, “The judgment has to change by vow to Wisdom. Rimut must be banned far away. You will take him by boat to a far place and leave him there. You must vow to Wisdom to kill him, if he returns. For us to view any of you as People, you’ll have to vow never to remain silent in the face of wrong.”

  “Is that your full request?” Unmo asked.

  “Unmo,” she said leaning over the wall of the cave, “you’ve known me a long time. That’s not a request; it’s a demand. Now go, before we start to roll boulders upon you.”

  The men were shocked, but they turned. The women would roll large rocks down, they knew. Women of the People were careful to say exactly what they meant.

  The men arrived back at the meadow just as darkness descended. They took time to eat. The men who remained behind were eager to know what they learned, but custom prevented them from interfering with the hunters’ filling their bellies. The dogs walked about on stiff legs in a state of unrest. A man had fed them, not their girl. Something was wrong.

  Despite the darkness, council met when the men finished eating and the bowls were cleaned and put in the container.

  “Did you find them?” Midgenemo asked.

  “Of course,” Unmo replied.

  “What is the problem with the women?” Midgenemo asked.

  “We have a problem—not the women. Ottu was correct. They were outraged at your judgment, which was against Wisdom and them,” Unmo said, tired and irritated at Midgenemo.

  “So what do they want?”

  “They demand, not request, that you overturn your own judgment by a vow to Wisdom, so it aligns with Wisdom, and that you take Rimut by boat to a land far away and leave him there. You must vow you’ll kill him, if he manages to return. Finally, to be viewed as People, each man has to vow not to remain silent in the face of wrong.” Unmo stared into M
idgenemo’s eyes.

  “Women issuing an ultimatum to me?” Midgenemo was surprised.

  “According to them Wisdom has deserted you. They are People and will follow Wisdom, not you. Because your judgment was against the teaching of Wisdom, they no longer consider you People. They no longer consider any of us People, because no one spoke against your judgment. Hasn’t it occurred to you yet, that they’re right?”

  “That’s crazy,” Rimut spoke up. “I’d die in some wilderness alone.”

  “Rimut, you made your decisions and acted on them. You have to accept what your decisions return to you. You mean nothing to me after what you did. My wife means everything,” Unmo said.

  Muttering among the men at the council made it clear that they agreed. Rimut became cold with fear.

  “Are you willing to turn your judgment around?” Unmo asked Midgenemo. “I must reason it through my mind web,” he replied.

  “Well, you’d better reason fast, or many here and I will desert you for them. I agree with the women completely. I only regret that I said nothing after your judgment. Pito might still be alive.”

  Again, the murmuring indicated that many of the men agreed.

  “I will give you my decision in the morning,” Midgenemo said flatly. Men left the council quietly and went to their lean-tos.

  In the morning, the men went to the council area. The sky was gray with clouds. Midgenemo stood before them and said, “I will vow when they return.”

  “No!” Unmo said. “Either you vow now before Wisdom that you overturn your judgment and return to Wisdom’s lead, and you send the boat removing Rimut, or we go nowhere today. Man, your pride is killing you and harming the People.”

  “I said I would vow when they return.” Midgenemo felt like the liquid in a cooking bag when hot rocks were added.

  “Who believes that?” Unmo asked.

  “I do,” Rimut said. Not one other reply came forth.

  Midgenemo walked off. The men went to start the morning meal. They would not return to the women that day.

  Midgenemo assumed that the women would become hungry and return for food. He had misjudged their resourcefulness. Young boys were learning to hunt and they snared rabbits and small animals. A few women were great hunters. Women had brought cooking pouches and bowls. The exit had been well planned.