Tuksook's Story, 35,000 BC

by Bonnye Matthews

  Item stood by Meha and put her arm around her. “Come with me Meha, I will make you some chamomile and fireweed tea.”

  Meha went with her, her mind web switching from disbelief to grief and back. In the house, Item left Meha at her bench and went to make the tea. Women came to comfort her and deliver their sympathy. Meha wanted to crawl into a small cave to be alone. That was not the way of the People.

  Item brought the tea. Meha drank it, while Item watched.

  “Do you want to lie down to rest for a while, Meha?” Item asked.

  Meha nodded. She stretched out on her sleeping place, and Item covered her. Item hoped the rest or sleep would help her through this initial stage of her grief.

  Meha covered her head and in the dark continued to weep until she slept.”

  Later, Item waked Meha when the evening meal was called.

  “Item, I don’t want anything to eat. I just want to sleep.”

  Item gently took the skin and pulled it over Meha’s head. She watched for a while, stopping the few who came to awaken Meha. Then, she went to the food preparation place to find her bowl, fill it, and eat.

  When the council began, Tuksook took the time to speak.

  “We had a terrible accident occur today. It seemed needless, but we have to remember that each of us has a life line. His ended. I do not want to see anyone else fall from the edge. We are a group of People whose lives revolve around hunting. Safety is the first rule for hunters. We teach this to children as soon as they can speak. We have become complaisant in this land of peace and plenty. We must wake up! Stay alert! Life depends on it!”

  Her emphatic ending startled the People who were accustomed to her quiet way of speaking. She wanted them to remember. Their responses encouraged her to think the People would take more care for safety. Tuksook noticed that Echa, Sutorlo’s oldest son was looking at her, communicating his desire to speak.

  “Echa,” she said rather than nodded.

  “As some People know, my father was looking at the stones most of which are buried under the dirt. They are fascinating stones, but my brothers, Knom and Snum, have found a safety use for them. We want to dig them up, level the ground beneath them, face the designs so we can see them, and lay them end to end as a barrier beyond which People should not stand or walk. We ask permission to make this barrier.”

  “From whom do you ask?” Tuksook asked, amazed at a possible speedily addressed safety answer to a specific problem from the sons of Sutorlo.

  “From the People.”

  “Is there any dissent from the request of Echa?” Tuksook asked.

  Silence.

  “You have your permission, Echa.”

  Kiramuat looked at Tuksook.

  Tuksook nodded.

  “I would like to help. Would others, who wish to help, stand?”

  Five more people stood.

  “That is all I have to contribute,” Kiramuat said.

  Tuksook said, “That is good. I suggest all of you meet after the morning meal.”

  “Is there anyone else who wishes to speak?” she asked.

  Silence.

  “The council ends for this night.”

  After the council met, Tuksook found Mi.

  “Mi, I want to speak to you.”

  Mi looked worried, thinking she might have done something wrong.

  “I want you in the future to sit next to me at council. You need to see how it works from where I sit, not among the People. All we do goes to prepare you to become the next Wise One.”

  Lamo heard the exchange. She and Abet had been wondering whether Mi should go to be with Tuksook. They had no knowledge of how to teach a Wise One. Mi ran off to talk to Awk.

  “Wise One,” Lamo said, “may I speak with you?”

  “Certainly,” Tuksook replied.

  “Abet and I have wondered whether it would be best for Mi to stay with you. The People adopt. Abet and I have no understanding of raising a future Wise One. You and Gumui could be her parents and she would call you Mother and him Father. We don’t want to be rid of her; we want to do what’s best for her and the People. You would no longer need to find her for reciting or ask our permission. Please, don’t answer now. Talk to Gumui and see what he thinks. I will seek you out tomorrow. Abet and I both think it best.” Lamo gave Tuksook no time to reply. She turned to find Abet.

  Tuksook stood there with her mouth open. Off to the side she could see little Mi. She had brown wispy hair that flew in the breeze. In her round face she had brown eyes, a tiny nose, and a tiny mouth. She had no look of the old People, but she did have the memory. For Tuksook the idea of having a child, even if she couldn’t give birth to one was a startling concept to her. She would discuss it with Gumui.

  Tuksook found Gumui talking to some of the elders about Sutorlo’s fall. He saw her and excused himself.

  “Walk with me, Gumui,” she said.

  “I will,” he replied putting his arm around her.

  “Gumui, Lamo said she and Abet have been talking, and they think it best that we adopt Mi. I was so startled I couldn’t really respond and she didn’t give me the opportunity. She said she’d find me tomorrow for our answer.”

  “And I thought all this time, I’d have you to myself,” Gumui teased, squeezing her.

  Tuksook pulled away, distressed.

  “Wife, I am only teasing you. Of course, I think it would be wonderful. She is so adorable and you’d be a great mother as well as teacher for her. With both together, it should be ideal, and you won’t have to keep asking their permission for things you want to do. I fully approve. What are your thoughts?”

  “I don’t think Ki’ti had to be adopted. I cannot think of another future Wise One’s being adopted.”

  “Tuksook, you have the memories. How is it that I know Ki’ti was adopted and you don’t remember.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Your father would be undone, if he knew you missed this. Do you remember the story about the death of Wamumur and Emaea? Say it in your mind web.”

  Tuksook and he continued to walk while she went through the story. She stopped and looked at him. Ki’ti was adopted in the same manner as Abet and Lamo proposed with Mi.

  “I’ve said that story more times than I can count and I missed the point of adoption. Abet and Lamo must have remembered it and used that to do what they’ve proposed. You’re right, of course. How could I have missed that?”

  “Tuksook, you aren’t perfect. No one is. Remember how Wisdom taught you that?”

  “Oh what a confusion I made of things, misunderstanding a story I tell. I wonder how many others there are.”

  “Stop being so hard on yourself. I insist! Slow your mind web. Reason.”

  Tuksook sat down on the trampled grass. “I think it would be my dream come true, Gumui.”

  “Then, tell her tomorrow that you and I approve wholeheartedly, for it would be good for all of us. Decide when the move will occur. Be prepared for Mi to be confused and disoriented for a while.”

  “I will, Gumui. You’re really happy about this?”

  “Oh, yes. To have a daughter! I can teach her to hunt.”

  “Gumui, you can teach the skills but she cannot go on a hunt.”

  “I know,” he said, smiling his special smile.

  Tuksook stood up and gave Gumui a hand to help him up. They walked to the bent tree house.

  At high sun the next day, Lamo found Tuksook, and they made the agreement. Since Mi was with Tuksook, Lamo explained what would happen. It would happen now.

  “But will Awk still be my brother?” she asked.

  “Yes, Mi,” Lamo told her, “but Gumui will be your father and Tuksook will be your mother.”

  The little girl stood there looking confused.

  “Mi, come with me. We have my old bed that is not used at all. It will be perfect for you. It has a nice soft caribou to sleep on and soft skins for covering.

  “If I want to talk to my old mother
and father, is it permitted?” Mi was trying hard to capture the details.

  “As long as I haven’t given you a task to complete at the same time, of course.”

  Lamo stood there watching Tuksook interact with Mi. She knew they loved each other. What she also knew is that Tuksook yearned desperately to be a mother. Lamo saw this as the right thing to do for many reasons.

  “I have some things I must do,” Lamo said smiling. “I’ll see you both later.” Lamo went to the edge of the meadow to help remove flesh from small beaver skins.

  Tuksook reached for Mi’s hand. The little girl gave her the hand. They walked together to the bent tree house where Mi would have a new place of her own.

  “This surprised me,” Mi told her.

  “It surprised me, too, little one,” her new mother replied.

  On the way to the bent tree house, Gumui came running over, picked up Mi, swung her around in circles high in the air, and said, “I understand, Mi, that you’ve made me a father.”

  “I have?” she said, laughing at the swing through the air.

  “Well, if you’re my daughter, I’m your father.”

  “Please, do it again.”

  Gumui turned her about up high in the air. She giggled. He put her down, and watched over her as she staggered off balance briefly. Then, the three of them went to the bent tree house.

  “This is my bench/sleeping place with Gumui,” Tuksook told her once inside. “And this one is the one I had when I was young. This is yours now.”

  “I don’t have anybody else to sleep with?”

  “No, it’s all yours,” Gumui assured her.

  “I like it,” she said convincingly.

  The entryway flap to the west part of the house opened enough for Abet to walk through.

  “I thought you might want this change,” he said smiling at Mi. Looking at Gumui, he said, “I think this is for the best. It will be a little empty for us for a while, but it’s not like we’re far away.”

  “You have made two people very happy. I hope Mi finds this good for her, too,” Gumui replied.

  Mi was snuggling in the soft caribou skin that formed the base of her bench/sleeping place. She was trying to hold the longer caribou hairs in her toes. The bed she shared with her sister did not have skins as soft. She missed the presence of her sister, but not her sister. The two didn’t do well together. She missed the nearness of Awk. All the newness had her slightly off balance. She determined to make the best of it.

  The bent tree house became silent as one after another families settled for the night.

  Out at sea days later the sun rose following a horrible storm. People were severely frightened. After all the boat had tilted to such an extent several times they thought it would overturn. Yumo called all the People together.

  Huaga stood before them. “The storm you experienced was a big one for you. That’s why we tied everyone to the boat. For those of us who are boatmen, it was an average storm. You lived! We knew you’d live. This is as safe a boat as you can find. We are on the way to a better life. No life comes without dangers whether you’re on land or sea. You learn to live with what you must. Look how long you lived without enough to eat. That was more likely to kill you than a storm. The earth does some things that can be frightening. You must learn to expect the things the earth can do in order to keep on going, whatever the earth brings. Continuing to keep going when times are tough is the difference between those who fail and die and those who live and thrive. Do you understand what I’m saying?

  The People nodded. Even some of the boatmen nodded.

  “We are going to a place where the People are examples of those who continued to keep going. They are welcoming us. I don’t wish to transport a group of People who flinch at every hard time. I want to show them that even though you’ve survived starvation, you are still People, still ones who continue on when times are hard, People who don’t fear what naturally occurs on the earth, but rather accept what is and keep living well. Is this clear?”

  The People and some of the boatmen nodded seriously.

  “Now, each of you has things to do to make this sailing a good one. I want to see you disperse and continue on.”

  The People dispersed. Huaga had no certainty that his words would affect anyone, but it did cause People to turn loose of their death grips on bamboo and begin to do what they were asked to do.

  Paw and Lumu had not been terribly frightened by the storm. They rolled their sleeping skins and stowed them at the edge of the wall in the covered sleeping place. The night boatmen were preparing to unroll theirs so they could sleep after the morning meal. The women helped the boat’s cook prepare the food. They had some grains the women couldn’t identify, which they boiled. There were the remains of the fruit: melons, coconut, and two kinds of fruit they didn’t recognize but had eaten on the boat. They had jerky, a gift from the migrant People. Each meal was a feast to the People who had been starving. They had learned to eat in a way their bodies made good use of the food. On the boat, the People from the old land still looked like skeletons. It would take longer than a sea crossing to change that.

  Huaga noticed the People were dirty. He suspected lice filled their hair, except no one was scratching. For so long water had been in short supply. Bathing was limited to the sea. They had dirt on their skins when they arrived at the boat. The salt water spray had streaked but not removed the dirt. A few had matted hair. Their clothing made them look ghostly. Clearly they had worn the same things for decades. No new skins had been available. Animals, they had refused to follow, had fled north. Huaga planned to have them wash when they reached the river.

  Huaga walked over to Jowlichi. “Wife, is lice a problem among the People?”

  She was a little surprised at the question but replied, “I think some of the People we left behind still had some. There was an outbreak a long time ago, but then they seemed to go. Some of us bathed frequently in the salt water, staying under as long as possible to dislodge them. Most of us on this boat never had them. I can check with the few who had them.”

  “Please do that. We are going to live in a shared house, not a cave. I don’t want to introduce lice.”

  “I’ll let you know what I find out.”

  “Thank you, Jowlichi. You are a good woman.”

  She held his gaze. “You, my husband, are a good man.”

  He left for his duties aboard the boat.

  “Yumo,” Huaga called out, “it looks like we have good weather for this day,”

  “I agree. It is good!”

  The People on the boat were fascinated by the boatmen. Except in a storm, they ran all over the boat as if they were on land. They walked on bamboo poles, yet there was no hesitation to gain a foothold. Often the men didn’t even look where they placed their feet. Huaga and Yumo’s children were awed by their fathers. They were more attentive to what the men did than other migrating People.

  As the day wore on, the boat moved along with a multitude of salmon returning to their home waters. They swam close together as if intent on their purpose. The boatmen took long poled nets and netted numbers of them. They would have them for the evening meal. They knew how good they would taste.

  “Land ahead! Land ahead!” Yumo shouted.

  The People looked and saw no land. They wondered what Yumo saw, but they already realized that the boatmen knew what they were doing.

  Huaga walked over and Yumo pointed out the island.

  “I’m not certain which one it is. With that storm we probably came further north than usual.”

  “We’ll be near it soon enough,” Huaga said.

  Wind was blowing strong enough to move the boat at a good speed. The island became larger and larger. “It’s Island Nineteen!” Yumo boomed.

  “Are you sure?” Huaga asked.

  “Sure as the feet of Wisdom,” Yumo said laughing.

  “Feet of Wisdom?” Huaga laughed back.

  “Well, there are People who aren’t boatm
en on the boat.”

  “I see,” Huaga said, still laughing. It was Island Nineteen. He could now see for himself.

  “Special council,” Yumo called out.

  All gathered.

  “My People,” Huaga began, “The island we see before us is Island Nineteen. The way we move the boat through these waters, it is the last island before the mouth to the river we will sail up. We are close to the place where we meet with the People of the new land called Eagle’s Grasp.”

  There was a sense of relaxation among the People. They were delighted to know that the sailing was reaching its end.

  “We’re not going to stop,” Huaga told Yumo. We have no need as close as we are to the river.

  “I agree,” Yumo said.

  Using the wind they avoided the island and headed off to the river. By the time they reached the river, they still had a stiff wind and swells were moderate. The men continued on sailing in the mixing of water from the sea with water from the river mouth’s rushing out into the sea. Increasing wind did not make the river entry easier. The boat pitched and rolled. People became alarmed again, but they kept very quiet about their fears. They were supposed to continue on unafraid of what the earth offered.

  Finally, the boat entered the river. The moon was out and almost full. There was no difficulty seeing. The further up river they traveled, the less pitching and rolling. The boatmen pushed onward to a place they knew they could anchor briefly. They set the boat in this cove and the night crew watched to be sure the boat didn’t drift.

  After the morning meal, Huaga told the People they would bathe and clean their tunics so that they were presentable to the People in the new land. It was hard to pay attention. The People gawked at the green landscape surrounding them. It was truly wonderful and totally different from their old land. It wasn’t long before people were letting themselves into the water to wash. Many had never learned to swim. Water was over their heads, so they clung to the boat while washing. The water was very cold to them. They came out shivering. It had been a long while since they had been able to bathe. Rivers and creeks were dry with only little pools here and there. The fatigue from starving also made them less aware of their need to bathe. To the People on the boat, this chance to wash was a luxury, cold or not.