Tuksook's Story, 35,000 BC

by Bonnye Matthews

  They were the last of the hunters to survey for damage. They gathered in the south part of the bent tree house and assured each other that there was no damage. Each went to his own part of the house and put away the skins they’d used for protection against the cold.

  Toward high sun, though nobody checked to be sure it was high sun, Item hit rocks together. All the people gathered at the central hearth, sitting in their assigned areas.

  Item remained standing. “I have called you here to let you know, first, that Hapunta is very ill. She lies in the north part of the house. Avoid her. Second, I have a surprise. The women have finished the cold time protection for the hunters and Elfa. Elfa is included because she feeds the dogs. They are still working on protection for others, but the hunters’ cold time protection is complete. Try on the hat, mittens, pants, and jacket now so that we know they fit.”

  Each hunter’s wife carried a fur jacket, fur pants, mittens, and a hat that covered the head and had a short capelet that went from the hat out over the shoulders. For hunters who were not joined, their mothers handed them their protection. The hunters would be warm indeed. Those hunters who had just gone outside realized immediately the value of what they’d just been given. As expected, there was no one whose protection failed to fit well. Elfa’s cold time protection fit well. Hers was made from giant beaver.

  “Women,” Kew said as he turned around and around. “This will keep us very warm, but it doesn’t make moving around very easy!” He was trying to be entertaining by exaggerating limited movement, and the young men and children laughed more than the women and girls, who had worked hard on the cold time protection.

  Item was still standing. She said, “We would like all of you to go outside and stay a while and then report back as to how warm the protection is. Don’t forget your boots. You, too, Elfa.”

  The men who had started to remove the garments put them back on. They dutifully filed outside dressed for protection against the cold. Elfa followed.

  “Where was this earlier when we were out checking for damage and our fingers were freezing?” Stencellomak said dramatically to Unmo and Hawk who walked nearby. What they discovered quickly is that the protection was too warm to wear tied closed. They needed to untie the garments because they had begun to sweat. They carried the mittens, because they were too warm with all the other protection. They realized that they would have protection that could adapt to the cold temperature. They did not remain outside long. They’d report back to the women, and the women would work diligently to finish the protection for the rest of the People.

  Once inside, Unmo said, “I think we need to find a way to take off the mittens and secure them so we can use our hands, but have the mittens quickly available once we’ve done what we need to do with our bared hands.”

  The women chatted about various ways to solve the removal of mittens. Hunters carefully removed the cold time protection and folded them exactly as they had been folded. Women would take lengths of leather. They’d sew the center of the long piece of leather to the center back neck of the jacket. They’d run the leather through the arms of the jackets and tie the mitten through a slit to the piece of leather. Then, when the hunter wanted to remove his mitten, it would dangle near the sleeve, ready for him to put it back on.

  Item met Brill in the north part of the house. “How’s she doing?” she asked.

  “Not well,” Brill replied downcast.

  Item placed her hand on the girl’s head.

  Hapunta opened her eyes. She struggled, but asked, “Item, am I dying?” Then she began to cough hard.

  Item was visibly startled at the question. She patted Hapunta on the shoulder. “I see no signs of that, Hapunta. There’s no need for worry now. Just make full effort to improve.”

  “Brill, she needs to cough that mucous out of her lungs. Have her drink much water all day. Also, when you finish using the warm red sphagnum on her chest, have her bend at the waist dropping the upper part of her body over the sleeping place, so the mucous will flow downward towards the ground. Have her do that until she coughs up as much mucous as possible. Give her a bowl to catch the mucous. Don’t use that bowl for any other purpose. Run water over the bowl to clean it at the privy. Don’t put it in the communal rinsing bin. When she recovers, discard it in the fire.”

  “I will do that. How often during the day should she hang like that?”

  “I’d say four or five times a day. Treating it first with the red moss should help it to flow. It’s important to keep that mucous from drowning her.”

  At that thought, Brill determined to have Hapunta hang over the sleeping place at least five times that day. The very idea that Hapunta could drown while in the bent tree house was more than Brill could accept. If she had anything to do with it, her beloved daughter would become well.

  Near the south entryway Mongo and Taman had gathered to make stone spear heads. They loved the cold time when they were free to make and repair tools all day. Young boys were fascinated and would sit nearby to watch and learn from these elders. Mongo hummed while he worked, barely aware that he did.

  Women all over the bent tree house were busy making cold time protection for the rest of the People while Ing and Turl were fixing the mittens to leather strips attached to the jackets. Small groups sat together and chatted as they worked. Renwen and Kouchu, the wife of Loraz, were beginning preparation for the evening meal. Kouchu had, at Item’s request, checked to be sure every bowl was very clean. Item did not want Hapunta’s illness to spread. Item was certain that some illnesses could spread, especially when accompanied by excessive body heat. She didn’t know how the illness spread. She simply strove for cleanliness, avoiding the ill person, and keeping eating and drinking containers separated from People who were not ill.

  Tuksook was reciting stories to the Wise One. Story after story transported her to different times and places, all telling them things they needed to know to survive.

  Gumui and Orad had put on their cold time protection, taken a spear, and gone outside. As soon as they went out, snow began to fall. The flakes were enormous, looking like down feathers from geese or eagles. They were transfixed from the sight of it.

  “I never become too old to react to the allure of snow. It stops me and holds my attention with its beauty,” Gumui said.

  “It is beautiful. These flakes are huge!”

  “Orad, it’s sticking to the ground. Do you think it’ll melt before warm weather returns?”

  “That, as you well know is a wait-and-see, my friend.”

  “Already the back fill for the privy is frozen. We’ve never had to back fill with chunks.”

  “You would think of something like that!” Orad said teasingly taunting. “From the allure of snow to back filling with chunks!”

  “Let’s go up the hill to see what we see from there.”

  Orad and Gumui ascended the hill and realized that even with the bulky cold time protection, they were still able to climb up easily. They could function well, just slower.

  “Look!” Orad shouted.

  From the north a giant deer was entering the meadow. The giant deer presented quite a vision of the species. His antlers were massive, his coat prime, his health appeared to be perfect. The animal stood inside the meadow, having left the few trees that grew in that space. He surveyed the meadow.

  Gumui said, “I think he must come this way on his migration. Look how he views the meadow, as if he owns it. It’s like he’s noticing something’s different. Maybe he wonders about the changes.”

  “I’d like to know how he manages to carry those heavy antlers on his head. You felt how heavy the antlers were that the hunters brought when they first took a giant deer here. These look even larger.”

  “Well,” Gumui replied, “I’m just glad we don’t have to carry antlers to show the girls how handsome we are!”

  Orad laughed, imagining. Then he said, “Wisdom, protect this one. Give him a long life, with all the food he needs t
o remain healthy, and may he father many.”

  The giant deer looked right at Orad and Gumui. It walked proudly down the meadow. The dogs made small sounds, but did not bark.

  “Do you think he knows what I just said?” Orad asked, startled.

  “Who can tell?” Gumui replied with a grin.

  Gumui and Orad walked over to look at the giant deer tracks in the snow. They stored the shape, size, and distance apart of the tracks in their mind webs for future use.

  “Ready to go back?” Gumui asked.

  “Yes, but it’s going to be a long cold time in the bent tree house. It’s a good size, but it’s confining. I feel it already.”

  “I know what you mean,” Gumui replied. “With our cold time protection we should be able to go out to walk the meadow, if for no other reason than to be outside the house and move around.”

  Snow fell to a depth of a man’s forefinger. Then the sky cleared and there was sun. The sun looked weak, but it was there.

  Inside the north part of the house, Hapunta’s body heat had become very high and stayed there regardless of the willow tea. She wandered in her mind web or slept the sleep from which one could not be wakened. Item told Brill she must cool her down. She suggested they put her on a skin on the ground and cover her with snow. Togomoo went outside and gathered a large bowl of snow. It took several gatherings to have enough to cover her. She shivered, but her mind web was far from them. Finally, her shivering became harder, and the body heat returned to normal. Brill picked her up and laid her back on the sleeping place, covering her carefully with the skins. Hapunta did not waken. Brill noticed that Hapunta was becoming very thin.

  Four days passed. Early in the morning before the People were awake, Brill went to check on Hapunta. She found the lifeless body of her daughter staring out wall eyed through clouded eyes. It ripped her belly from end to end. She closed the girl’s eyes and propped a skin under her chin until she could find a chin strap to hold her jaw in place. Brill wept soundlessly while sitting beside her daughter’s body. She would miss this special little one. Brill wasn’t terribly surprised. In the last day or two, Hapunta seemed already to have left. She stood up and walked quietly to Togomoo. She touched him, waking him. She shook her head negatively and he stood up and followed her. He saw his daughter’s body and it tore his belly. Hapunta had been so special. He sat with Brill and both wept silently.

  As People awakened, more and more came to see what had happened. Hamaklob, Stencellomak, Wave, and Loraz dressed in their cold time protection before the morning meal, gathered tools, and headed to the part of the meadow on the south side where the People had planned to have a spot for burials. They moved the snow away and began to dig only to find the ground was frozen. The men, undaunted, gathered some wood and bones and built a fire on the frozen meadow land. They let the fire thaw the land. Once thawed they dug as deep as possible. They set another fire on the frozen ground and began again. It took a long time to dig the hole because of the need to thaw the ground. Once they had the hole the depth of a man’s waist from the bottom of the hole, they decided that was deep enough. They returned inside.

  Because not all the cold time protection was ready, the Wise One called all together at the central hearth for the grave side tradition. One by one People told what they chose of their memories of Hapunta. Finally, the circle of People had completed a round, and the Wise One told the creation story. At that point, Togomoo carried the skin wrapped body of Hapunta. Brill accompanied him. They were joined by Hamaklob, Stencellomak, Wave, and Loraz. Togomoo laid his first child’s wrapped body in the hole in the ground, refusing permission for his mind web to think on the coldness of it all. There were no flowers, so Brill took some red ochre powder and sprinkled it over the wrapped body of her daughter. They covered her body with the skins she’d soaked with her sweat. Then, Togomoo and Brill returned to the bent tree house. The men began to fill back the grave. Already the ground they’d dug up was refreezing. It was a rather lumpy back fill. They stomped the ground after filling the hole, hoping to mash the lumps into a more cohesive cover. Then, they brushed the snow back over the grave. The men returned to the bent tree house.

  Turl and Solong wept for their friend. The three of them had done so much together. It would feel very empty without Hapunta.

  Item went to the wood lean-to at the side of the house. She chose a piece of wood about as long as her forearm. It had no bark. She took a food preparation place knife designed for cutting small pieces of food. She made a notch in the wood. She took the wood to her sleeping place and put it in her sewing basket under the sleeping place. She would count the days to twenty since the death of Hapunta. If no one else had become sick like Hapunta in twenty days, they were probably safe from the illness.

  It was evening. Twenty days had passed. Item opened her sewing basket. She pulled out the wood piece she’d been notching. She cut the twentieth cut into the wood. Fortunately, no one else had hot body heat like Hapunta had. The twenty days should make it clear that the danger of becoming ill like Hapunta had passed. She would share the information at council and put the stick in the central hearth to burn. She felt showered in relief. Item had no understanding of what caused Hapunta’s death. She knew she knew a lot, but she felt there was much she didn’t know too. At such times she felt helpless.

  Tuksook wanted to visit Wisdom again. She knew that she could lie down on their sleeping place, but she feared interruption. She wanted to go outside. She wanted to go to the rock up the hill. Gumui was walking towards her.

  “Tuksook!” he greeted her with enthusiasm.

  “My husband,” she greeted him.

  “I have come to know you well, I think,” he said with a smile. “I am thinking you might like to spend time with Wisdom outside. We both have cold time protective clothing. What do you think?”

  “You have stolen the thoughts and words from my mind web,” she said.

  The two pulled their cold time protection from the pegs where they hung on the wall by their bench/sleeping place. They dressed carefully. They wanted the clothing to last for a very long time. Gumui was impressed each time he put the jacket on. What impressed him was the way the women had attached the mittens. He thought the idea solved the problem exceptionally well. It seemed simple, and so often, he reasoned, simple solutions were incredibly bright.

  The two left by the west entryway. They stood in the meadow briefly adjusting from the dark of the bent tree house to the stark white snowy meadow. The sun was out and the large flakes on the meadow reflected back a variety of sparkling colors. Tuksook breathed in deeply. Her outgoing breath was white, making clouds in the clean, cold, and invigorating air. The two headed toward the path up the hill to the rock.

  Once there, they realized that snow melt during sunny times had caused ice to form on the path to the rock. The footing was slippery at best.

  “Tuksook,” Wisdom’s small voice came seemingly from the air.

  “Yes, Wisdom?” Tuksook replied aloud while Gumui looked at Tuksook and turned, looking for something that would represent Wisdom. He hadn’t heard any voice.

  “Do not climb the hill. To climb the hill invites broken bones. Ice is under the snow. Follow my way, Tuksook.” Wisdom’s voice drifted away on the air.

  “We can’t go up there,” Tuksook said. “I think I just had my meeting with Wisdom.”

  “How? I didn’t hear or see anything. I realize you two met, but it’s something I don’t understand.”

  “It was the spiritual voice of Wisdom that he told me he’d begin to use to talk to me. I could hear his voice clearly. It was the second time I’ve heard his voice this way.”

  “I believe you, but I have to leave it at belief. It’s not something I can reason. I could hear or see nothing. We certainly won’t climb to the rock, Tuksook. Should you tell the People that they should avoid the hill?”

  “I’ll tell Father. He can decide whether to deliver the message or have me do it. As long as the messag
e is out there, all’s well.”

  Back in the house, Ottu and Kew were chatting in the north part of the house near the dry fish and meat place for the dogs’ food.

  Ottu said, “Well, Hapunta became ill at the same time as the red sky. I just think that somehow the red sky kept her from becoming well. I think it was an evil sign.”

  “How can that be when Wisdom told the Wise One that the red sky is part of this land and that other lights of different colors are also something we’ll see here?”

  “Suppose he made it up?”

  “Ottu, I don’t believe that. He vowed to stay in Wisdom’s way. You saw that tree felled by lightning on his sleeping place in the lean-to. You saw the lightning strike right beside him, where he heard Wisdom tell him never to leave his way again. You can’t fake that. It happened in front of all of us.”

  “I suppose, but I just find it so hard to trust him after the crisis he created with Rimut and Pito. He’s an opportunistic man quite pride filled, I think.”

  “Well, Wisdom chose him, and that’s sufficient for me.”

  “Kew,” Ottu continued confidentially, “just wait until we have another red sky and let’s see if something evil happens.”

  “I will wait and watch with you,” Kew replied humoring the old man rather than really concerned that another red sky would bring death.

  Tuksook and Gumui hung their cold time protection clothing on the pegs by their bench/sleeping place. Tuksook went to find her father.

  “Father,” she said, “I have something to share.”

  “Come, sit. We should be about the stories. Speak.”

  “Wisdom cautioned me while Gumui and I were about to climb the hill to the rock. He said that ice lies under the snow on the hill and it’s a place for broken bones.”

  “Do you wish to share that tonight?”

  “Father, I think you should tell the People that Wisdom cautions against climbing the hill behind us, because the ice under the snow could cause People to fall and break bones.”

  “Are you sure you would have me tell this?”