They entered the meadow and went to the house to put their spears away. People in the meadow were going about their routine lives quietly. Unmo, Momeh, Togomoo, and Wave were digging the space for the body of Bruilimi. Children had gathered branches of the little gray fuzzy budding willows that they called puppy paws. No colorful flowers had bloomed yet, but there would be covering from the puppy paws to show respect.
Seeing that Tuksook had returned, Item hit the rocks together to call for the People to attend Bruilimi’s burial. People came from all over the meadow. They circled the grave where Bruilimi had been carefully placed. Her body was wrapped in a skin, but the People could see that her body had been covered in red ochre. Around the circle at the grave each person told their special connection with Bruilimi and why they’d miss her. It was as if with words they tried a final embrace. Then, Tuksook told the creation story.
People dispersed quietly talking to each other as they left. The men who had earlier dug the grave filled it back in.
After there had been a time to adjust, Item hit the rocks together again, calling for the evening meal. When the People arrived at the outside food preparation place, Item announced that there would be no council that evening. Tuksook asked her to make that announcement because after the day they’d had, there really wasn’t anything left to discuss.
At the grave side, Tuksook had searched for Toagrurt. She had seen his parents and Loraz, but no Toagrurt. She wondered what happened to the boy. Now after the evening meal, she continued to wonder. She walked over to Item after she ate. “What of Toagrurt?” she asked.
“He remains evil-spirited. He lies where he came to rest when Loraz threw him. He continues to seethe with anger. He may have to remain outside and unfed for us to reach the part of him that will consider change. At least with the weather we’re having, he won’t freeze to death. I’ve never known one so hard to reach. I will tell you, Loraz is not straying for any reason. He came to the grave side, but his ears were probably with the boy. This hurts Loraz, but his concern is the boy and the People. He won’t let the boy know he’s watching over him this night, but I assure you, Loraz will not leave him outside without watching.”
“I understand, Mother. I know I was hard, but this boy is beyond anything I can imagine.”
Item put her hand lightly on Tuksook’s shoulder.
Tuksook looked into Item’s eyes. For a moment they shared a bond.
Toagrurt had spent the night frightened from every night noise. During the night he cried quietly not wanting anyone to know that he was frightened and lonely. He never saw Loraz who crept up from around the house, not the east entryway. No one used the east entryway that night. Toagrurt hadn’t taken any hunter sessions for young children, because the leaders would not accept him into the group. He had no idea how to protect himself, and with the leg in such pain, he couldn’t move. He envisioned animals finding him and feasting on him.
When the sun lit the sky once more, Toagrurt was hungry and thirsty. He saw Item. He told her to bring him some water. She walked by as if she hadn’t seen or heard him. He grew louder. Then he realized she’d heard and seen him but chose to ignore him. That angered him greatly. It took until late after high sun for him to realize the disaster of his continuing to do what he’d been doing. He called to people who walked by, but all ignored him. Finally, feeling as if he’d been discarded on the trash heap, he began to weep. This sound is what Loraz had waited to hear. He had been sitting inside the east entryway behind the skins where he could not be seen. He waited for a long time. Then, he went outside to look at Toagrurt.
He told the boy that his behavior was despicable and that it would no longer be tolerated by any of the People. He had to have respect for every one of the People. He had to stop demanding things and doing things the way he wanted. He had to find out what was the People’s way and do that. Deviation, he had to understand, would put him back where he now lay. Loraz wanted him to understand that his life was not certain. There were People who thought his behavior so bad, they would have set things up to kill him. That frightened the boy badly.
In the late afternoon, Loraz came to Hustep. He sat on the ground across from her where she was cutting greens for the evening meal.
“I come from talking to Orad. I know it has been tough to see someone else step in to try to reach Toagrurt. The break in the boy finally occurred. Item is setting the bone now and some other women are cleaning him up. I don’t know whether he has changed or just given up for the moment. For a while he will be dependent totally, because he will not be able to walk about. What I want from you is assurance that you will in no way give in to a single demand he may make. Not one. If he tells you he wants water, tell him you’ll provide it when it’s convenient and make him wait. If he tells you he needs to go to the privy, tell him you’ll help him when it’s convenient. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
“Yes, Loraz. Orad and I have spent much time talking about Toagrurt. He was our first child and we let him do things we knew we shouldn’t have. We were just so happy to have him.”
“And he learned how to manipulate you and Orad to continue to have whatever he wanted even if it wasn’t convenient or something he should not be granted. That is the evil that cannot be permitted. I hope it dies now, but if not, there will be more of what has occurred. If he even seems to question what would happen if he returned to his old ways, let him know that I and many others are waiting for that to happen, because we have stronger ways of dealing with evil-spirited children.”
“That would frighten him,” Hustep replied.
“Then, let him be frightened. I speak the truth. It doesn’t matter whether he is frightened. He has to know the truth, and he has to learn to live by it. He wants no one in authority over him. That is not real. He has to learn the reality of the life of the People and the way of Wisdom. There is authority from many places among our People. I warn you, if you give in to him at any point, you are contributing to any future discipline that comes his way. You are a parent. You must be a parent. You must have authority over him and show it. You’ve let him display authority over you. That is all wrong. Children have no authority over parents. Do you remember the monkeys near where we lived?”
“Yes.”
“What did they do with their young when they misbehaved?”
“They grabbed them immediately and shoved their little faces to the ground,” Hustep replied remembering.
“Was that effective?” Loraz asked.
“Well, they held them there until they stopped the irritating behavior.”
“I’ll ask you again. Was that effective?”
“Yes.” Hustep was beginning to see the point Loraz was making.
“They did it immediately,” Loraz emphasized. “The little ones learned immediately who had the authority and to obey. With Toagrurt, you have to make up for a long time of giving in to every whim he had. It won’t be easy, but you have no alternative but to toughen up. He’s not like a little monkey who wants to steal his mother’s food. He’s like a larger monkey who is breaking the monkey way of doing things. At that time numbers of monkeys would discipline him—hard. You’ve seen that?”
“Yes, I’ve seen numbers of monkeys attack a single monkey. Sometimes they lame the one they’re after or cause it to lose a finger or an ear. I’ve seen them kill one.”
“That’s what I’m trying to have you to see. We are not a lot different from the monkeys. Toagrurt has come to see himself as a chief, who can order things to happen. He’s come to see himself as having authority over you and Orad. You have to cause him to eliminate that notion now and forever. I charge you with doing that. We don’t have chiefs here. If we did, it wouldn’t be a child!”
“I understand, Loraz. Toagrurt is not the only one who has to change. I have to change.”
“Yes,” Loraz said, tired, “And Orad.”
“Thank you for your help. I’m glad it was you and not someone who wouldn’t care at the
beginning whether he lived or died.”
“You’re welcome. I believe it is Wisdom’s way to provide every chance possible, but not to deviate from what’s required along the way. I don’t want another Rimut among the People. I want to see Toagrurt grow into a responsible adult. We need every person we have.”
Loraz stood up, cursing his stiff knees in his mind web. He left, heading towards Item and the boy.
“Did the leg set well?” Loraz asked Item.
“I think so. It wasn’t a bad break. I took him to the food preparation area where he’s leaning against a log. He’s hungry and tired. I hope he learned.”
“I hope he learned also. At least the process to turn him around has begun. The child was becoming a total irritant to me.”
Renwen hit the rocks together calling all the People to the evening meal.
Orad and Hustep walked hand-in-hand with their two other children. Toagrurt saw them coming and looked at Hustep.
“Mother, I need food,” he called out.
“You’ll have food when it’s convenient,” she said coolly.
Toagrurt was shocked at the reply but remained silent. He was trying to find what was the People’s way, but he had no understanding.
Orad and Hustep chatted briefly with some of the other People and slowly began to fill the bowls of the two youngest children. Orad carried the bowls to the children and told them where to sit. They were well outside the reach of Toagrurt. They sat and began to eat.
Hustep filled her bowl and Toagrurt’s. Orad came over to fill his. He carried the bowl to Toagrurt and he and Hustep sat on the far side of the other children, not near Toagrurt. When they finished eating, Orad collected the bowls from all three children. He merged the remains to one bowl and took the filled bowl to the trash heap to empty out the contents.
There was no council planned for the evening. Orad suggested the family take a brief walk. He told Toagrurt that he was too heavy to carry any distance, so they’d stop for him when they returned from their walk. They all left and walked down the path to the lower level and followed a path that led to the boats and beyond. The little children loved to look in the watery spots where occasionally they’d see minnows. The evening sun was lengthening and they enjoyed their walk. The little ones were happy not to have to put up with the mean things Toagrurt would do. They didn’t realize life could be so pleasant on a walk.
By the time Orad, Hustep, and the children returned to the meadow, Toagrurt was becoming anxious. They did not forget him. Orad carried him to the privy and then to the house. He was frightened by what Loraz had told him. He was frightened because his parents were acting very differently toward him. All he seemed to remember is that Loraz had told him to learn the People’s way and Wisdom’s way. He didn’t know what Wisdom’s way or the People’s way were. He watched the People around him.
“Mother, bring me water,” he said later in the evening.
“You need to ask this way, ‘Mother, please, bring me some water.’ Now, I’ll bring it when it’s convenient,” she replied and continued doing what she was doing.
“I thirst.” His tone was demanding.
“Son,” Orad said, “Your mother told you she’d bring it when it was convenient. It’s not convenient yet. The People’s way is this: if you have a need, take care of it yourself. If you cannot do it yourself, ask politely for help from someone else at their convenience. You cannot get water for yourself because you were disrespectful and disobedient. Your rebellion was rewarded with a broken leg. So now you have to learn for a long time what it is to have to wait for things at the convenience of others. Just be glad that her answer was wait. She could have refused.”
Toagrurt thought on that for a while. Life had changed. He knew he had to learn to live this new way, but he didn’t like it. The rebelliousness he had exhibited was significantly reduced as he struggled to learn how to be.
The sounds of the bent tree house quieted immediately. Oneg had begun to play her flute. She had come to love the flute and the People loved to hear it. Oneg didn’t play it every night—only when she felt drawn to play it. Sometimes she played alone; other times she played with others she could neither see nor talk with, but their music merged. Oneg would play for quite a while. Sometimes she would play long enough that some of the People would ready themselves for sleep and drift off to sleep listening to the clear notes of her tunes.
Her mother, Bit-n would play with her for brief times. Bit-n played well, but she did not have the talent Oneg had for picking up new tunes and winding them into ways of communicating through feeling.
This evening Oneg realized that she found Nal very attractive. Nal was Item’s fourth child. The two had been down on the river level after the evening meal. They had talked back and forth as People did about routine matters, but Nal found himself looking at her, as if he’d never seen her. Something about her at that moment drew him in a way that he’d never experienced. The sun behind her made her red curly hair glow around her head in a way that reminded Nal of the glow of fire embers. Nal had stopped her, though he felt clumsy, and told her she looked beautiful. Oneg hadn’t known how to respond, so she thanked him and said he was a good looking man. She had believed that for a long time. Nal asked Oneg to walk with him. They walked along the path by the water’s edge. When they were out of the People’s view, they stopped and looked at each other, and Nal bent down to kiss her. She stood on her toes to return the kiss. For them it was their first kiss and quite startling. They returned to the meadow silent, hand-in-hand.
Oneg found comfort in the music. She could express her feelings that she couldn’t verbalize through the tunes and the moods of the music. It was as if the ancient musicians could understand her feelings and give her the sense that she was part of feelings that had begun at the beginning of time. As Oneg flowed with the music, she should feel freedom to flow with the feelings she’d just experienced, things she wished she could have said to Nal, but knew no way to express.
Nal heard the music and listened intently. It spoke to him in a language of feeling—a language he’d never heard until this evening. It spoke to him as if she played for him, saying things she couldn’t form in words—things he couldn’t form in words.
Oneg felt a comfort from the music she could find nowhere else. Finally, she realized it was very late and past time to put the flute away. She packaged it in its protective skin and put it safely away in the box under her bench/sleeping place. She snuggled down in the skins and soon went to sleep.
Many days passed. Toagrurt had learned some of the ways of the People. He was developing a polite approach to asking for things he needed. He found that the People responded much better when he was polite. He was trying, but the behaviors were not natural. Toagrurt felt awkward.
After high sun, Oneg, who never had said anything to him, walked over and sat on the edge of his bench. He was surprised. She was, he knew, the woman who played the flute.
“How are you doing, Toagrurt?” she asked.
“Better. The pain is mostly gone.”
“That’s good. I had a broken leg once. I wore a splint for a long time.”
“And you’re walking like your leg never broke?” he asked.
“I was fortunate. I only am reminded that I broke my leg when the weather turns cold or rainy. Then, the bones that broke ache.”
“I hope my leg heals well.”
“Be sure to do what they tell you to do. It makes a difference,” Oneg said.
Toagrurt looked at her. He wondered why she stopped by.
“What do you do, while you sit here all day?”
“Nothing. It’s boring.”
“Do you know how to make tools or anything like that?”
“No, nobody taught me to do anything like that yet.”
“Is there anything you think you’d like to be able to do?”
“I can’t think of anything.”
“Well, spend some time thinking about what might interest you. Ha
ving something to do can make your stay in one place worthwhile. That’s how I learned to play the flute. It was a good use of my time.”
Toagrurt remembered what he’d been taught, “Thank you, Oneg. I will think on it.”
Oneg went to help the women at the food preparation place.
Oneg walked over to Item who was looking at the food servers. “Item, I just came from Toagrurt. I wondered what he might do while he cannot move about. I learned to play the flute. Is there something he could work to learn? I asked about his interests and he seems to have none. It would give him good use of the time.”
Item stood up. Her back was not comfortable from all the leaning over she’d been doing. Item placed her hand on her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun. “That’s a very good thought. It would occupy his mind web with things that would contribute well to his growing a good spirit. Let me see what I can do to find something. Good help, Oneg.”
“Thank you, Item. Is there anything I can do here?”
“You can relieve my back. I’m trying to go through the bowls to see whether any are cracked or needing to be replaced. Would you check them?”
“I’d be glad to help.” Oneg began by placing the bowls on the log where food was served. Then, she’d examine each one in full sun.
Item went to each of the men who taught young hunters things that didn’t involve moving from a single place. She asked each one to make the attempt to teach Toagrurt a little of what they taught. Each agreed to try, but they would not put up with the evil spirit in the child. If he displayed that, they would stop.
The first to respond was Taman. He brought Ren with him to Toagrurt. “Toagrurt, today you’re going to begin hunter training. You’ll work on the slingshot. Ren has hung a leather sphere from a tree in the south meadow. She will show you how to use the slingshot. Already she has gathered many pebbles so that you can do much practice. These are practice pebbles, smaller than what a hunter uses. You must pay attention and practice. You must use your best effort. You must show a good spirit the whole time. You must show respect to Ren and to me. Nobody is perfect right away. It takes time to learn and much time to perfect your shots. You will work with her for days to learn this. This is one of the first things a hunter learns. Do you want to do this?”
Tuksook's Story, 35,000 BC Page 24