Tuksook's Story, 35,000 BC

by Bonnye Matthews

  “Let us walk outside before the evening meal,” Tuksook said to Gumui.

  “Let’s do it. Dress warmly.”

  The two put on their cold time protection and walked to the west entryway. Snow still covered the ground. Where they’d had to dig it out to reach certain places in the meadow, it was easy to walk. Otherwise the snow lay mid-thigh to Gumui. They walked to the dog’s house, to the central pole where they measured the location of the sun, and to the path to the river level. The sun was shining, about to descend. It made sparkles on the snow, a sight that delighted Tuksook.

  “Obviously, I didn’t become pregnant when we were in the wet forest,” Tuksook said.

  “True,” Gumui replied. “Does that sadden you?”

  “No,” she said with a smile, “I have to trust that when it’s time, Wisdom will spark a life in my belly and we will have a little one. Right now, it seems, I have much to learn. I just keep my mind web on what I need to learn. It’s interesting and it makes me think so many things I’d never think on my own. I am happy, Gumui.”

  “I am happy also. We have a good, warm bent tree home. The volcano has decided to calm down, and we have the house fixed so that any eruption in the future should bring very little ashfall into the house. We have plenty of food to eat, even if we couldn’t go out to hunt at all. By the way, Midgenemo told me that my days as a hunter of large beasts is over. My primary hunter responsibility is protecting you.”

  “Oh, Gumui, I’m so sorry.”

  “No reason to worry, Tuksook. I suspected as much when I knew I wanted to join with you. I realized it would probably result in a choice between you and hunting. I will admit that I am glad I became a hunter first, so I’ll always be considered a hunter, even if the big beasts are something I can no longer hunt. I’ve done a large amount of large animal hunting. I have the memories. It’s a challenge, but I’d never choose you second. Always—Tuksook first.”

  She walked close to him and took his arm. She adored him.

  “I’m glad we don’t live like the stranger,” Tuksook said.

  “I, too. It must be unsettling and troublesome to live suspicious of strangers, always wondering whether someone wants to take your things or kill you. That is no way to live.”

  “I love your cold time protection, Gumui. The beaver is so shiny and it looks good on you.”

  “Well, Tuksook, I love the giant beaver on you. The lightness of the pelts make you look like a furry little animal that I’d like to grab with my arms and hug tight.” He acted on his words.

  “Gumui!” she protested.

  They played in the snow, rolling in it and laughing, forgetting the ash.

  “Ah, I have come across two beavers, romping in the snow. I think I must spear them,” Unmo said gleefully, spear raised.

  Gumui and Tuksook stood up laughing.

  “What fun that must have been. You make me remember my young days,” Unmo said.

  “Life is good, Unmo,” Gumui said.

  “What better to do on a day such as this?” Tuksook said smiling.

  “What better to do, indeed,” Unmo replied. “Except, hope that days become longer soon. I’m wanting to have the freedom to move with ease.”

  “I agree with that,” Gumui said.

  Someone began to hit the rocks together calling for attendance at the evening meal. The three walked to the bent tree house together.

  While she was taking off her cold time protection, Tuksook noticed the stranger was sitting on the edge of Oneg’s bench. She finally noticed he had the flute in his hand. She wondered what the stranger was doing with the flute.

  Gumui put his arm around Tuksook and they went to take a bowl for the evening meal. Tuksook could see that Oneg was wrapping the flute and putting it away. Bit-n approached Oneg with a bowl.

  Time passed and the meadow ice rotted and melted away. Where it might have been swampy, the drainage of the meadow was wonderful. The People could walk on it without becoming mired in mud. The ground thawed. Hunters went out on a few searches and returned with a camel on one hunt and a bison on another. The People and the stranger feasted.

  Finally, the stranger said at council one night that in a few days he would have to begin the search for his home. He planned to follow the river to the sea, go west until the land let him turn north into another sea. Then, it would be a long travel home following the shore. That is what his memory held for him. The women had made him a sail from giant deer hide which they oiled with sea aurochs oil. Wikroak said it was thicker than the caribou hide, but should be fine. The hunters would help him repair the mast.

  The following day, after the evening meal, Wikroak addressed the council. He was not accustomed to speaking at meetings of his people, but he had learned much during his stay with the People.

  “First, I want to thank all of you. Second, I want to thank Wisdom. I don’t know Wisdom, but I know that if it weren’t for Wisdom, I wouldn’t have been welcomed and treated so well. I might be among the dead now. But such is not how it is. I have some things to share. First, in this bag there are fishing hooks. In my land, I make these and many people want them. I made these from your ivory for your fishing boat travels. Just add some fish or meat to the hooks and you should be able to catch fish. He passed the bag first to Midgenemo. Midgenemo examined the fish hook that he lifted from the bag first. He was surprised. He knew Wikroak had made fish hooks, but these were things of beauty. He handled it. It was so smooth. In the bag there were many others. He reached in and pulled out several. Each differed, but each was a work of art. Each had a smoothness that made him want to let it linger in his hand.

  “These are beautiful,” Midgenemo said, “They should call many fish. Let us hope we don’t lose them to a fish that wants to wear one in its mouth forever.” People laughed. Midgenemo passed the bag to Ottu.

  “My next gift is to those hunters who paddle boats. I had to make oars. You have so much wood available that I decided to make some of the oars in the style of my people to leave with you.”

  He went to his bench and pulled the oars from beneath the bench. He pulled out four of them, leaving two behind. The poles were long and had paddles on each end instead of being just one paddle on one end of the oar. He had colored them in blacks, reds, and whites. The People were unsure how he made the colors. The oars were works of art.

  “Finally, one thing while I was here made my belly soft and warm. Instead of food, it was the tunes Oneg played from the flute. When I saw the flute, I saw how fragile it is. I tried to make some more from bird bones. These are a little less fragile. Oneg has tried them all to be sure the sound is right. Bit-n’s flute has a high pitched sound. The ones I made are deeper. The holes, we found, have to be spaced very carefully to make the sound right. I leave all but one with you. The one I carry with me will be for whoever of my people will try to learn to play it. If none try, then I shall. I have learned the basics from Oneg and Bit-n.”

  “I ask that you not change your ways but remain in Wisdom’s way forever. You have taught me so much. I would like for the rest of my life to remember you as you are. It will give me warmth of the sun when the sun hides from us in dark cold time. Wisdom, if you’re real and can hear me, know that your People are wonderful, and I cherish the memories forever. Keep them in your way.”

  The Wise One asked whether there were anything else for the council. Since there was nothing else—what could anyone say after what the stranger said—the council ended.

  The next day the People had the morning meal and then they helped the stranger pack up his boat to leave. The People knew he liked sea aurochs and since they didn’t have sea aurochs where he lived, they gave him much of it to feed him on his way. The man had fattened and was relatively strong again. Days of being at sea would return him to full strength quickly.

  “Wikroak,” Midgenemo said to the man who was no longer a stranger, “Travel carefully. If a storm comes up, beach and wait it out. It’s best to arrive there alive than not t
o arrive at all.” The Wise One embraced him. “Wisdom, stay with him,” Midgenemo asked.

  Then all the People said, “Wisdom, stay with him.” The act was unplanned. There was joy in the communal prayer.

  Togomoo braved the icy water to push Wikroak’s boat out into the river, and soon the boat was in the current of the river heading for the sea.

  “He’ll make it home,” Tuksook whispered to Gumui.

  “That does not surprise me,” he whispered back. “I wonder what he’ll tell his people of us.”

  “I think, Gumui, very little. He will want to protect us.”

  They returned to the bent tree house to see Oneg outside in the meadow walking without the splint. It was clear that she had not used that leg for a long time. She was frustrated.

  “What’s wrong with my leg?” she cried out to Bit-n.

  “You haven’t been able to use it for a long time, so the leg has to start with just a little use today and a little more tomorrow and a little more the day after that. You cannot push to be normal the first day or you could re-injure yourself,” her mother tried to explain. “At least you are starting the last part of a return to normal.”

  “I will return back to normal?”

  “Oneg, I cannot promise that. The break in your leg was a very bad break. Just take your time with this. Try to be patient. Don’t re-injure your leg. Let it take time to grow strong again. Let’s go to the shower. I hear the water is running.”

  “Oh, Mother, Ren had a shower and about froze. She said she was shivering all over. She did say she felt cleaner than she’d felt all during the cold time, but freezing like that—it’s pretty tough to wash clean.”

  “Come on, Oneg. Where is my tough girl’s spirit? Let’s go make ourselves clean.”

  Oneg rolled her eyes at her mother. Bit-n walked quickly into the house returning with some skins for drying. She and Oneg headed to the shower.

  Hunters gathered in groups planning hunts, or in the case of Togomoo, Hawk, Vole, and Taq boat travel to capture a sea aurochs or two was in their mind webs. The new oars Wikroak made would have a trial. They were eager to eat meat that hadn’t been dried, and they wanted the skins to cover the full house roof.

  A crashing noise came through the wooded area to the south of the meadow. Then, the distinct sounding of the mammoth warned all People to beware. Hunters raced to their spears most of which were still in the house. They came back out at a run, just as the beast was breaking into the meadow. Oneg and Bit-n had just begun to shower. They didn’t hear the beast because they were talking loud over the waterfall. Bit-n turned and saw the animal. She pulled Oneg closer to the rock wall. She handed the girl a skin to use to dry off. Oneg pulled her hair over her head, twisting it to drain the water out. She wiped herself with the towel. She made small movement as she pulled her tunic over her head. Bit-n was doing the same thing. Both were quiet. They stayed against the rock wall, heading south to the east entryway to the bent tree house. Oneg followed Bit-n.

  The mammoth stopped in the center of the meadow. It seemed confused by the People and by the things in the meadow. It went to the center pole for tracking the sun. It wrapped its trunk around the center pole and raised it up from the ground. It laid the pole on the ground.

  Dogs were growling their warning growl. They were trained not to bark, except on command. There was no command. The dogs were not tied, but they were taught to remain in their area, the dog house and a perimeter around it of about two man heights, and they used the sloping hillside for their privy. It was a large area. The dogs bristled, watching the mammoth. The great beast noticed them. It had a wariness of these animals. Wolves? The mammoth was shy of them, keeping itself as far to the east as possible.

  Not having the ability to reason what to do easily, the mammoth followed its instinct, leaving for its traditional route to the summer feeding ground. It headed to the north and then curved to the east to follow the rock path for a brief way before turning north again. It bellowed from time to time, easing some of the stress built up from confronting the changes in the meadow.

  The elders gathered to discuss the event. They wondered why there was only one mammoth since those beasts lived in groups, not alone. They wondered why it chose the center pole to pull from the ground.

  Ottu said, “I have seen a large rock that we could have the young people bring here. It could serve as our center pole.”

  “Where is it?” Mongo asked.

  “It’s through the wooded area south of here. There’s a path I took when I saw it—I think that’s the trail the mammoth used!”

  “Is it far?” Kew asked, thinking if Ottu had found it, it couldn’t be but so far.

  “No. Would you like me to show you?” Ottu offered.

  “I’d like that very much,” Kew replied with a questioning glance at Mongo.

  “Let’s take our spears,” Mongo reminded.

  All the men took their spears and headed to the south part of the meadow. Ottu came along, white hair and beard flying in the breeze. He looked delighted to be about showing the rock to the others.

  They found the path, and the mammoth had definitely used it. They kept following it for a while and suddenly they came to another meadow.

  “It seemed to me when I first saw this place, others must’ve lived here just like we do now. I think this stone may have been their center stone. Come over here.”

  The others followed, fascinated that Ottu had found this place and remained silent about it.

  “See how, if you stand here, the mountain tops line up on the horizon? You can see how they could have followed the line of the sun from rising to setting.”

  “Why have you not mentioned this until now?” Kew asked.

  “I didn’t see any need to mention it,” Ottu replied.

  “There’s a hearth over there and some flat stones for a council like we have. There were not many at the council if all had a stone to mark their place to sit. Someone made tools over here. Look at the chipped pieces of stone.”

  Kew and Mongo exchanged glances.

  “The place is very old,” Ottu continued. “Maybe it was just a place hunters stayed to hunt or fish. It’s not possible to find any remains of what they lived in. I’m guessing a lean-to.”

  “Well,” Kew said, “That would mean it was a temporary place. Maybe the whole group of them came here in the summer and left for somewhere else in the cold time.”

  “I brought you here for this rock. I think our young men could bring this to our meadow where we could use it for our center pole. No mammoth could pick it up and move it.”

  “Let’s go back to see whether we can find enough young men interested in the effort. It is a beautiful rock,” Mongo said. “It would be interesting to have it in our meadow.”

  Kew looked at Ottu. “I can’t believe you found this and didn’t tell anyone.”

  “I told you when it was time for it to be told.”

  Kew chewed on that idea as they returned to their meadow.

  Back at the meadow, Mongo did a whistle that called hunters to assemble. It was not an urgent call, but it did have an expectation that hunters would gather soon. Hunters began to arrive, interested to find why the assembly was called.

  When all the men gathered, Ottu said, “The mammoth pulled up the center pole. That reminded me of a place where I’d seen some large rocks. There’s a perfect rock to replace our center pole—one that a mammoth cannot destroy. It would mean some strong hunters would need to move it here. Are any of you interested?” he asked.

  Hamaklob said, “Elder, I think it would be best if you show it to us. Then, we could make a decision based on how well we thought we could move it and how.”

  “Very well,” Ottu said. “Follow me.” He led them back down the path through the forest to the once occupied meadow to the south. The men were amazed to find an ancient living place that until now apparently only Ottu knew existed.

  Hamaklob, Togomoo, Hawk, Stencellomak, and Wave
were determined to find a way to bring the stone to the meadow. The People were capable of anything—the younger men were convinced. It was just a matter of solving the problem, and that would enable them to move the rock.

  While the younger men pondered the options, the elders returned to the home meadow, went into the bent tree house, and enjoyed tea, not saying a word but remembering their middle years, when they were given hard problems to solve and mostly they found solutions to the problems. In the comfort of the bent tree house with their tea, the men looked at each other, eyes twinkling, imagining the younger men problem solving.

  From her bench Oneg played the new flute Wikroak made her. She had several but the fullness and depth of the sound of this one delighted her most. She played tunes that no one had heard. They were tunes of long ago and far away. It caught the mind web and brought it close to something in the long past without making the connection clear. The tunes she played seemed to capture and hold everyone who heard it in timeless sound communication. Oneg had touched the spirit of music, and it was infusing her with special talent and connection to the ancient. It was as if in her confinement, she ventured back in time to make music with those from another time. She couldn’t see the ancients or hear them exactly, but they seemed part of her and she felt part of them. It was something very special. This experience enabled her to become a unique contributor to the People, and it kept her from feeling so alone while her leg improved.