Tuksook's Story, 35,000 BC

by Bonnye Matthews

  Finally, Gumui stood before them. He began, “May Wisdom bless and keep this house. Let us dedicate it to peace among us. I have taken a stone at the center. I placed my open hand for peace on the stone. I blew red ochre around my hand to preserve the Spirit of Peace that resides here. Let it be a reminder. This is the west entry. Hamaklob will take Taman’s whole family and Mongo’s whole family through this part of the house past the central hearth to the south part of the building. That is where their personal bench/sleeping places are. They will go in first. Pago will lead Kew’s whole family and Ottu and Bruilimi, along with Loraz’s family and Anvel’s family to the east part of the building. You’ll find extra storage areas in that part of the house near the entry. They will enter second. Then, Unmo will lead his family and Midgenemo’s family to the west part of the building. They will go in third. Finally, those of you who store things come to find me once you’ve seen your bench/sleeping places. We have storage in the south part of the building, the west part, and the whole north part of the building is storage. There is storage above on racks made of the cross pieces overhead. I’ll introduce you to the storage areas.”

  He nodded to Hamaklob. “Taman and Mongo, please lead your families to follow Hamaklob.” Quietly the People began to file through the entry into the bent tree house. Those outside could hear comments, “Look at that!” “This is wonderful!” “The central hearth is already lit.” “Who’d have ever thought . . . ?”

  Gumui nodded to Pago. “Kew’s family, Ottu and Bruilimi, and Loraz’s family, please follow Pago.” In very orderly manner the People followed Pago. Momeh carried Oneg, since her father, Pago, was busy showing People their places. Again, those waiting outside could hear the comments from the People who were seeing the place for the first time.

  Gumui nodded to Unmo. “Midgenemo, please lead your family to follow Unmo. Unmo will also lead his family to their bench/sleeping places.” Finally, the remaining people could see why the others had been exclaiming. It was truly a sight to see.

  Once Item and Midgenemo were shown their bench/sleeping place, they both stared at the covering. Orad and Lurch were grinning. Finally, they told of taking the giant beaver and then working the skins the best they possibly could as a surprise for their parents. Item felt the pelt and it was so soft she was overwhelmed. Midgenemo also felt the prized skin. He was deeply touched that his sons would do that for them. He reached out and hugged both of them. Item did the same.

  “I don’t know that I’ve ever been so touched in my life,” Midgenemo said trying to control his voice.

  “I’m just so proud of you,” Item said.

  The boys couldn’t stop grinning. Tuksook was delighted for her parents. She felt a stab of unforgiveness where her father was concerned, and then quashed the feeling and smiled at both of them.

  They had a functioning home in the new land. Though none had ever seen a bent tree house, it somehow felt right, a tie with one of their bigger-thanlife ancestors named Ki’ti, built by another bigger-than-life ancestor named Wamumur. What astounded the People was the amazing amount of room the house provided. Between the central hearth and the north part of the house, there was a big log. No one had to ask its purpose. There they’d find the choices for the evening meal laid out there, when they couldn’t eat outside.

  Gumui stood outside enjoying the warmth of the sun on his skin. He smiled as he heard the sounds of the People happy in their new home. He felt a great sense of relief and contentment. It took a lot longer than he expected for the men and women who had things to store to come back outside. There were already places for storing herbs, stones for making spear points, sticks for spears, skins of a wide variety and left over pieces for many uses, jerky, nets for fishing, cold time clothing, boots, hats, glue pots, ropes, containers. The list seemed endless to him. He knew that Unmo and Item had better understanding of all the details than he did.

  Unmo came outside. “They are really happy, Gumui, you did well.”

  “It wasn’t I—it was many of us.”

  “Young man, you organized it. Without you, we’d still be working on it. You found efficient ways of doing things. We’d all heard the stories, but you seemed to have the plans built into your mind web. I enjoyed working with you. I never came to you and asked what needed to be done and had you give me no answer. You kept track of all that needed doing and the order in which it needed to be done. Again, I say, you did well.”

  “Thank you, Unmo. It means much to me to hear you say that.”

  “You’ve given us a gift. We won’t be forgetting it. I like the reminder of peace among us.”

  More men emerged. Clearly the bent tree house far exceeded everyone’s expectations.

  They went inside and began to talk about the storage.

  As time went on, a piece of mud from the ceiling fell to the floor. Gumui took some leather strips and wove them to the limbs that made the roof. He gathered mud and carried it up there using hand holds, covering the limbs along with the leather strips so it would hold better. In the southern portion of the house, one end of Wave and Cadpo’s sleeping place broke apart and that had to be repaired. One of the bins that the People had used on the boat broke. It had been moved to the bent tree house to a storage area designed to hold stones for making tools. One side split, so the bin was attached to another bin and the wall that had split shared the unbroken wall of the attached bin.

  Finally, one evening Gumui went to Midgenemo and told him that he planned to leave to explore the next morning. Midgenemo told him to be sure to take plenty of jerky and to make sure that Tuksook carried her share. Item overheard and asked what they were discussing.

  Midgenemo told Item he’d given permission for Gumui to take Tuksook on his exploration of the Eagle’s Grasp area, so if he needed someone to fly, she’d be there. He explained that he waited to fix whatever might need fixing on the bent tree house, but he was ready to explore the area. Item was dumbfounded that he’d given permission for Tuksook to accompany a young man alone on such a trek. She thought the idea of his need for her to fly was preposterous, but kept silent about it.

  “Listen, Item,” Midgenemo tried to explain. “Gumui eventually wants to join with Tuksook, if and when she’s ready. He’s as aware as you and I that the time is not yet. He’s a young man who’s responsible and wise beyond his years. I think this trek would be good for both of them.”

  For some reason that Item could not understand, the idea seemed somehow acceptable. She too liked Gumui. She decided not to try to change Midgenemo’s mind web. Instead, she found a bag into which she’d put herbs for taking care of minor problems they might encounter. She’d go over the contents with Tuksook.

  After the evening meal and the council, the People settled down to sleep. Tuksook was so excited that she could hardly slow her mind web to allow for sleep. She looked across the part of the bent tree house where her sleeping place was and saw that Gumui was moving about trying to find a comfortable spot. So, he also was excited about the adventure, she thought. She forced herself to calm as if she were going to talk with Wisdom, and she fell asleep.

  Chapter Three

  Gumui had been awake for a brief time. He touched Tuksook on the shoulder. She opened her eyes and excitement flooded her. She stood quickly, eager to start the journey. When she returned from her run to the privy, she saw that Gumui had put on his backpack and was ready to help her put on hers. She folded the covering on her sleeping place. She turned to see Gumui attaching a water bladder to her backpack just as he had to his own. He helped her shrug on her backpack. He picked up the spears he’d set aside before going to sleep. He handed her two of them. While the People slept, the two walked quietly from the bent tree house. They crossed to the center of the meadow where a central bamboo pole stuck up from the ground. Tuksook walked directly to the pole and touched it flat-handed with her fingers pointing upward, leaving her hand to rest there. The pole was significant. To her it symbolized Wisdom’s way of being prepared. T
here were a few other poles in the meadow. They all related to the central pole.

  Tuksook whispered, “Spirit of the Rising and Setting Sun. Remain in the laws of Wisdom that guide you while we are gone from our People.” It was a prayer, not an order.

  The People loved the new land, but they had to make one strange adjustment. It had to do with light. The sun’s position in the south indicated high sun. Sun in the northeast indicated daybreak. Sun in the northwest indicated the setting sun. At night it was possible to see to work. The sun would dip below the horizon, but there was still residual light in the sky by which to see. The People had to force themselves to sleep in light, so that they obtained adequate rest. When they arrived in the new land, the elders placed bamboo poles in the ground to mark the sunrise and sunset in relation to geologic features such as a mountaintop or a valley at the top of a mountain. Before a man became a hunter, he was obligated to learn how to set up and use poles for markers. They checked the markers daily as long as the sky wasn’t too cloudy. They needed to know what the new land would tell them about life there. They wanted to fix the equinoxes and solstices for an index to seasons, so they had an estimate of how they related to the cold time. They lived in the present but always prepared for the cold time. The People realized that the sun’s duration in the sky was lengthening. They agreed they should have time to gather food to last through the cold time. Women began the call to the evening meal when the sun was in the west. That provided time for eating and cleaning up, time for council, and time to prepare children for sleep. Then, the adults would sleep. Some had to pull skins over their heads to keep out light in order to sleep in what they considered light of day. They hoped it would be easier in the bent tree house than the lean-tos. The first few days in the bent tree house were encouraging.

  The two left the central pole and headed toward the north, past the dogs, to the stone path that led east into mountains. They crossed to another path that led north. Tuksook did not know the way Gumui planned to go. She was filled with joy just to be accompanying him. As they left, questions began to come to her. Where was he going? When could she have some quiet time with Wisdom? How far would they travel that day? There was a morning quiet as the sun shone on clouds that looked like gold. There was also a bright pink to the sky. It was so lovely that it did not invite her to speak. She simply enjoyed the beauty of the morning and knew that one way or another, her questions of the day would find answers.

  Some ancient force carved the path they followed. Land above the path appeared to have broken off a little more than the width of a man’s shoulders from the land on which they walked. Gumui learned of the path from the hunters who recently brought the cat skin. It was a good path, because it was a level rock ledge on which there was no soil to encourage plant growth. The two walked in shadow once they reached the rock ledge, because the mountaintops blocked the sun. They could see the river to their left. As Tuksook saw it from this perspective, she remembered the flight. She could see where they were in relation to the whole.

  Tuksook kept watching Gumui in front of her. He’d wrapped his soft aurochs skin around his shoulders after he’d put on his backpack. It served as his sleeping skin and as a wrap to ward off the cold. It was pinned in the front with a piece of fowl leg bone rounded at the ends. Tuksook’s skins were rolled and tied atop her backpack. She wore a cloak for warmth made of the pelts of many rabbits. Women wove the pelts together from strips. The women didn’t want to put much stress on rabbit pelts because they were weak skins. The way they wove the skins gave them flexibility. The effect of the woven pelts made the cloak attractive, warm, and soft. Her cloak had a hood. Rabbit cloaks provided good warmth, but they didn’t last long. Her cloak was white and gray. The pelts came from the old land. Like her tunic, someone had used the cloak before Tuksook wore it. Because of the fragility of the cloak pelts, her cloak in back went over the backpack, not under it.

  As high sun neared, the path led out onto a lovely meadow. There were camels grazing at the far east end and bison with young browsing or resting toward the southern part of the meadow. Gumui used hand signals to tell her to follow him and remain quiet. They went to a place where they could see the whole meadow, but they were partly hidden among young birch trees that grew close together with some interspersed spruce. Gumui signaled her to help him remove the aurochs skin. He laid it out on the ground, helped her remove her backpack, and motioned for her to sit on the skin. He removed his backpack and sat near her. Gumui watched the wildlife intently. He wanted to study the animals to know their ways. He let her know they’d be there for quite some time. If she remained where she sat, she would have plenty of solitude.

  Tuksook had never been so close to anyone when she met with Wisdom. For a time she simply sat there watching the animals and watching Gumui watch the animals. It occurred to her that his study was for hunter knowledge of the ways of camels and bison in this place.

  Slowly she began to turn loose of the world in which she lived to drift to the world of the spirit, a timeless, formless place that Wisdom created for her benefit—a place where she could meet Wisdom apart from her tangible world. It was a place where Wisdom took on a form that Tuksook would recognize and understand. She knew it represented Wisdom—it was not Wisdom. At last, she was there in a room-like cave with brilliant white walls. She’d been there on other occasions. Wisdom rested on a large carved stone with a wall behind for leaning back a small amount. Wisdom’s feet were on the ground. The ground was like a dark, clear blue stone. It had the appearance of great depth. Two white steps bordered the sides of Wisdom’s resting place. She climbed the steps, walking in the spirit to Wisdom. Wisdom’s hair was white and there was much of it. In some ways it struck Tuksook as bright white light directed outward in many directions. Wisdom wore a long, white leather tunic. Tuksook would not ask from what animal it was made. She’d never seen an animal that could produce such a large pelt. At the top of the two stone steps, she threw her arms around Wisdom’s bent knee, where she rested her head. She felt welcome, for she knew she was. Wisdom’s large hand rested upon her head lightly.

  “May I speak?” Tuksook asked.

  “Of course,” Wisdom replied in a deep voice that seemed born of the sea. “Wisdom, I know recently I disappointed you.”

  “You displeased me.”

  “I have forgiven my father. I will not lie again.”

  “You forgave your father for gain. You will lie again.”

  “Does that mean I failed to forgive him?” Tuksook purposely ignored the second part.

  “It means you forgave him in words and perhaps in deed—but not in spirit.”

  “There are so many levels!” Tuksook complained.

  “Tuksook, there are as many levels as there are. That is my way. I establish the levels. You have to stop your self-centeredness. Complaining of levels is self-centeredness. You will be Wise One—not Wisdom. You can replace a Wise One, but you cannot replace me. Already you cannot recall the stories fast enough. You must practice daily. Your People depend on this. When the present adventure for you ends, you will tell your father about knowing the stories. You will tell him that you visit me. You will admit truthfully that you withheld the knowledge to prolong your childhood. If he punishes you for hiding the information, you will accept it without a word. You will begin to practice the stories daily. That is my way.”

  “I understand,” Tuksook replied slightly trembling. She adored Wisdom yet was fully imbued with fear of this being. Still she wondered whether she might find a way to prolong her childhood.

  She shielded her eyes from Wisdom’s face from which colors of red, orange, yellow, and white streamed out, colors through which she could see, but brilliant enough to exceed the comfort of her eyes. They emerged as if from an enraged hearth fire. Wisdom’s dark eyes flashed occasional glints of light blue, as if the light emanated from flame.

  In a very deep voice with no compassion, Wisdom said, “Your thoughts are unacceptable. How would
you feel to return to your new bent tree house to find every one of the People dead?” A smaller-than-life visual occurred on the floor near Wisdom’s feet. It showed Tuksook exploring along the river bank, skipping a stone on the water’s surface, while in the meadow above the People were dying off one by one. In the visual, she climbed to the meadow to discover she was alone. She knew the visual wasn’t real, but it was as if she could watch herself there, viewing it from above. The images were completely life-like, not misty at all.

  Tuksook slid out from beneath Wisdom’s hand and looked directly upon the face that was at first compassionate and now seemingly brutal with intensified flame-like colors emanating from it. She was shocked. She knew great anger existed in Wisdom, but she’d never seen this much of it. She knew Wisdom had destroyed people in other places. There were some things Wisdom would not accept. Tuksook didn’t know what they were, simply that there were some. Had this been a place like her world, Tuksook was certain a big wind would have blown her off her feet.

  “Why respond to me in such a way, Tuksook? All I have done is to show you to yourself. Truth. You continue to want to prolong your childhood? You do so and your People could perish. Learn, Tuksook. Stop putting yourself first in your mind web and belly.”

  “I’m sorry, Wisdom,” Tuksook said sincerely.

  “I don’t care to hear about your sorrow. Your sorrow can be compared to your having a belly ache. You focus completely on self. I want to know that you have fully understood and your self-centeredness is dead. You belong to me. It is not the other way around. Your People depend on you now and in the future. Your life is lived for them—not yourself. You must learn to give strength to many. Prepare yourself at this time, so you will be ready. You are no longer a child.”