Tuksook's Story, 35,000 BC

by Bonnye Matthews

  Back in the meadow, the People noticed the leaves beginning to turn yellow. They had completed the addition to the bent tree house. They had harvested green plants and tubers that would keep through the cold times and gathered herbs to dry for teas. They had more than enough food for dogs for the cold times. The People were as ready for the cold times as they could be. With thought to the People from the old land arriving earlier than planned, they had hunted prodigiously, and they had dried meat and hung legs that had soaked in sea water for half a moon. They had enough food for two full years in their storage room. Women continued to make clothing from skins without becoming overstocked until they found how many People would actually migrate. They had stacks of skins ready to use. They had done what they felt was their duty by telling Huaga that some thirty People were welcome to come to live with them. The People understood ants. They tried to be as prepared as the ants. The way of the People included the belief that animals had lessons from Wisdom for them to learn. They learned much from ants. Though apparently ready, the People still pushed to add to the items they gathered and to check and recheck that all was in order.

  Tuksook felt a sudden need for solitude, but she realized this was not a good time. There was too much final checking required on the house and its contents to take time for solitude, and Mi needed to continue to practice the stories. She was learning the stories she didn’t know. But the need for solitude pressed on her with a heavy weight. At the evening meal, she picked at her food.

  “What is it?” Gumui asked.

  “Same need as always,” she replied.

  “You can take the time,” he said.

  “Gumui, there remain too many things to check. I must wait.”

  “Then eat, Tuksook. Do not play with your food.”

  Mi sat with them watching. Her brown eyes didn’t miss anything.

  “Hi, little feather,” Gumui said to Mi.

  The little girl laughed. “Feather? Why’d you call me a feather?”

  “Today I was down on the river level. I looked up to see an eagle feather floating down from the sky. It made a spiral motion as it came down. It was a sight to see. It’s a little thing from a big bird. You’re a little thing, too. I don’t know why I said that, but you’re special like the descending eagle feather.”

  Mi was fascinated. “You really saw an eagle feather fall from the sky?”

  “Yes.”

  “What’d you do with it?” she asked.

  “I let it lie where it fell.”

  “Will you show it to me?” Mi asked.

  “Tuksook, do you have her reciting stories tomorrow?”

  “If you will take her there, go after the morning meal. Then, she can recite.”

  Gumui reached over and squeezed her leg. He smiled.

  She smiled back. There was more delight than she imagined in having a child, she thought. Little things became special. To see with Mi through her eyes was a treasure she had never considered.

  Council was brief. The People were tired. They headed back to their sleeping places ready for rest.

  Tuksook dreamed. Her dream took her back to the vision Wisdom provided long ago. It was where she saw herself playing while her People were dying. Gumui waked her because she was mumbling.

  She looked at him.

  “You had a bad dream,” Gumui explained.

  “Yes,” she replied, as if he had questioned her.

  He held her to him comforting. They drifted back to sleep.

  In the morning, Tuksook tried without success to shake the awful vision from the dream. Why she wondered did that vision occur at this time? Gumui took Mi to the river level, a place she was not allowed to go unless accompanied by a hunter. He went to the place where the eagle feather still lay, where he had seen it reach land. He picked it up, holding it for her to see. Mi took it, twirling it in her finger tips.

  “Can you make it spiral?” she asked.

  “We’ll see. Come up to the meadow with me.”

  They found Tuksook, and Gumui said, “I plan to climb out on the leaning tree. I would like you to take Mi and a hunter to the lower level so you can see the eagle feather spiral.”

  “You know you’re not supposed to go out there.”

  “I know, but this is for learning something otherwise too difficult to show. If it works, we can show the People and let them know the tree remains a place where People cannot go.”

  “Sometimes you’re exasperating.”

  “You’ll do it?”

  “Yes,” Tuksook replied.

  “Oh, Mi, I need the feather,” Gumui said.

  Mi handed it to him. She took Tuksook’s hand to find a hunter. Hai was nearby. She asked him, explaining what Gumui planned to do.

  Perplexed, Tuksook reminded him for the second time, “You know nobody’s supposed to go out on that tree, but I’d like to see an eagle feather spiral.”

  The three of them walked to the lower level and turned to the right to stand near the large overhanging tree. Gumui had moved out onto the tree with great care. He had no place in his life for an accident. He had a wife and now a child.

  “Are you ready?” he called to the three below.

  They nodded. He let the feather go. It did spiral just enough that they understood the way it moved. Tuksook understood why Gumui was so fascinated with it. They were awed.

  When they gathered together after the feather drop, Gumui hit rocks together. All the People except Kouchu gathered in the meadow.

  “I have called you here to see something I saw yesterday. To me it was special to be able to see this and I’d like to share it with all of you, so you have the same opportunity that I did. I saw an eagle feather fall from the sky. It does not float as some feathers do, but instead it spirals earthward as the adult eagles do together when they are in their mating time. It’s as if the feather retains eagle ways. In order to do this, I have to crawl out on the forbidden tree. I do this only to share with you. After that the forbidden tree is still forbidden. Any of you who want to see this will need to go to the river level and stand near the tree.”

  The People were astonished, but all of them wanted to see the spiraling eagle feather. Not one, even Unmo wanted to be left out.

  Gumui waited until Unmo reached the place to see the feather fall, before he dropped it.

  “All of you are ready?” he asked.

  The People nodded, eyes fixed on the feather in Gumui’s hand.

  Gumui let loose of the feather. It spiraled. The People were fascinated. They’d seen small feathers fall, and they didn’t fall like that. Surely, Gumui reasoned, the feather retained the way of the eagle at mating time.

  Gumui carefully returned to the meadow and the People came up the path.

  Unmo walked over to Gumui. “Then, you think a part of an animal retains the way of the animal?”

  “I cannot prove that, Unmo.”

  “It is an interesting thought. I wonder whether, when we are dead, our bodies retain the way of us?”

  “Wouldn’t it be amazing if someday someone dug up my leg bone, spine, or tooth and could learn something about me from that part of me?”

  “There is so much we don’t know,” Gumui admitted. “We have learned so much, but there is still infinitely more to learn.”

  “I agree with you, young man.”

  “Oh, Unmo, I lost young long ago.”

  “Not from what I’ve seen of you and Mi,” Unmo said, eyes twinkling.

  Mi was with Tuksook when Tuksook fell to her knees.

  “Mother, are you well?” Mi asked.

  Tuksook could not answer. The old vison repeated in her mind web. She could not clear it. Mi ran for Gumui. The unique voice of Wisdom spoke, “Tuksook, reason. If you had not played, what would you have done? Don’t ignore this. Reason.”

  “Father,” she called, “Mother is not well.”

  Gumui came running.

  He found Tuksook on her knees.

  “Tuksook, what is it?”
/>
  “The vision keeps returning. Wisdom told me to reason what I’d have done if I hadn’t played. Gumui, I tremble inside that some catastrophe is coming where I will be required to hold the People together. It is an enormous responsibility. I don’t know whether I’m up to it.”

  “Tuksook, where’s your faith in Wisdom? Call on Wisdom for guidance.”

  “I understand that, but, Gumui, Wisdom told me to reason what I’d do.”

  “Then, take the time to do it. Wisdom has given you a duty. Do it. There is a purpose.”

  Mi went to him and he caught her in his arms. “Let Mi come with me today and you take the rock. No one will bother you. Stand up, Tuksook. You have to do this.”

  Tuksook stood feeling as if she weighed far more than she did. She walked across the meadow silently and climbed to the rock. She sat there, staring at the meadow below. It was a different perspective but the vision kept repeating. She intentionally slowed her mind web. Tuksook breathed deeply. She began to reason.

  Gumui took Mi into the bent tree house. He put the eagle feather on the rock in the central part of the house. Then, they went to the storage area. He found a small leather sphere used as a target for slingshot practice for those proficient in the skill. They went back to the meadow.

  “Mi, I am going to throw the sphere to you and you are supposed to reach your arms out and grab it with your hands. Don’t let it fall to the ground.”

  He threw the sphere and Mi missed it. He moved closer and tried again. Mi missed it. He moved even closer. This time Mi caught the sphere. Her face danced with surprise and delight.

  “Now, you throw the sphere to me.”

  Mi tried, but it didn’t go more than an arm’s length from her feet.

  “Mi, watch. I will turn sideways. You watch what I do with my hands, arms, and body.”

  He threw the sphere several times. Then, he handed it to Mi.

  “Now, do what you’ve seen,” he encouraged.

  Mi tried to put it all together. She reviewed in her mind web what she’d seen. This time it almost reached Gumui.

  “Don’t lose desire to succeed. Try again. This is practice.”

  Mi tried repeatedly. Then, she began to learn how much force she needed to supply to make the sphere reach Gumui, and he was finally able to grasp the sphere when it was thrown.

  “That’s good,” Gumui told her. “Now, we are going to throw it back and forth from you to me.”

  For quite some time they tossed the sphere back and forth. Mi improved to beome better and better.

  Gumui said to her, “Now, I’m going to move back a little, and you’ll have to use more force to make the sphere reach me.”

  Mi tried and failed.

  Gumui threw her the sphere and she caught it, grinning widely.

  “Now, throw it to me this time,” he said.

  Mi added force and tried again. This time, Gumui caught it.

  They threw the sphere back and forth for quite some time, until Mi developed some basic skill. Then, Gumui held the sphere and said, “It’s time to put this back.”

  They emerged from the bent tree house and Gumui said, “Let’s walk.”

  After a short time, Gumui said, “Now, Mi do you understand how you have to concentrate when you learn a new skill?”

  “You’re teaching me about when I bothered Awk, aren’t you?”

  “I want you to know what’s required to develop a body skill. Can you imagine if someone were trying to chat with you while you learned to throw the sphere?”

  “It would make me angry, Father. I need to use my mind web to learn this body skill. Talking would interrupt my reasoning.”

  “Mi, you learned the stories because Wisdom gave them to you. When you learn a skill it takes much effort and many repetitions. Each effort requires reasoning to know why you succeeded or didn’t. That’s how you correct to become better. You reasoned well.”

  “It’s very hard to learn a body skill, but it’s fun,” Mi admitted.

  “From time to time we’ll do more of this. You’ll learn to use the slingshot when you’ve trained your hands to work with your eyes. Then you’ll learn to use a spear. You’ll learn all that hunters learn, but you will not be allowed on a hunt. You will be Wise one. You have to be protected. But you will learn, and you’ll be well skilled.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure.”

  Amuin hit the rocks together for the evening meal. Tuksook left the rock and met Gumui and Mi on the meadow.

  “Success?” he asked.

  “Success,” she said without elaborating.

  They headed toward the food preparation area. The People greatly preferred the outside food preparation area. They had a giant deer stew for the evening meal. The savor of it was wonderful. Gumui went back for more.

  There was no council that night, so after cleaning the bowls, the People headed for the bent tree house or for a walk after the evening meal.

  Tuksook and Gumui sat side-by-side on their bench. Mi walked over and gave both of them a hug.

  She stood there, her face beaming, and she said, “I learned much today. When I first came here, I wondered why I had to be adopted. I’m starting to reason it. Living here is so different.”

  Mi turned and went to her sleeping place. She hung her tunic on the peg and climbed into the softness of her sleeping place. Tuksook covered her.

  Tuksook and Gumui prepared for sleeping, and that night, there were no bad dreams.

  Chapter Eleven

  “There’s the last of the right-sided land points,” Yumo announced as they followed a bend in the river.

  “Won’t be long now,” Huaga replied.

  “This has been a surprisingly easy sailing. Makes me wonder what happened.” Yumo scratched his arm. “I never thought I’d turn from the sea to land.

  “Yeah, me either. I’m having stiff joints and my back is sometimes sore. For me it’s definitely good to do it.” Huaga stared out at the river ahead. His hair, cut just above shoulder length and bound with a leather tie, had turned white along with his trimmed beard, and his skin was bronze from the constant sun exposure during much of his travels. He was a tall man with a very straight build. His muscles stood out from constant use. His headband had loosened in the salt spray, so he took it off, retied it, pushed his hair from his face, and put the band back on.

  Yumo stared at Huaga, and Huaga felt the stare and turned to look into Yumo’s dark blue eyes. his hair and beard were not as fully white as Huaga’s. He wore his hair in the same manner held by a leather band and his beard was trimmed in the same way. Yumo was shorter than Huaga, and his arm and leg bones, though a little bowed, were very strong. He was a stocky man.

  “What do you imagine our People will think when they reach the meadow?” Yumo asked.

  Huaga laughed a deep laugh. “They’re going to be so happy to have their feet on land—they’ll hug and kiss the ground!”

  “I don’t doubt it. I’ve never seen so many People at one time cling to bamboo with such a death grip! Ever since you talked to them about eliminating fear, they’ve tried to hide it, but it’s still there.”

  “It’s been hard for them. Think what it would have been, if we’d had some of our wild sailings.”

  “We might have lost some of them from fright.” Yumo kept scratching his arm.

  “Very possibly. They do look improved since the bath, but they still look awful.”

  “They’ll fatten up here, I’m sure. Wait until they taste sea aurochs roasted or sturgeon. Jerky’s one thing; fresh cooked meat is quite another.”

  “What in Wisdom’s feet are you scratching for?”

  “So you like my words?” Yumo said smiling at Huaga, who used his terminology. “Oh, a bug bit me and it’s on fire.”

  “Normally, those bites just itch. Are you making too much of it?”

  “No, not at all. Look how this swells. We’ve both been bitten by mosquitoes, but this is different.”
/>   Huaga looked at the exceptionally large swelling.

  “That doesn’t look good,” he said with a frown, wondering what bit his friend. “I think if you scratch it, you’ll make it worse. Maybe to the development of pus.”

  “I’ll try leaving it alone, but it won’t let me forget it,” Yumo replied.

  Yumo hand signaled the boatmen to turn the boat more to the left side.

  Huaga watched as they rounded the point. His brown eyes were sharp and his memory precise.

  “They’ll notice us now,” Huaga said.

  “Look, already children stare at us through the trees at the meadow’s edge.”

  On the meadow, dogs had alerted the People to the boat’s arrival before the boat rounded the point. More and more of them came to the trees to see the arrival of the People from the old land. People were not permitted to go any closer to the edge of the meadow than a man height. On the south side of the path that led down to the water, the stones dug up by Sutorlo’s sons and others provided a barrier that was clearly marked. Most of the People remained on the meadow, having listened to the hunters who primarily used the boats. At council they explained that too many of them on the lower level would interfere with the arriving People.

  The men who used the boats went running down the path to prepare for the arrival of the big boat. They had cleared an area of extensive vegetation as well as they could to provide a good place for the boat to anchor. Hawk and Vole rowed out almost to the freely running river to guide the boat to its anchorage. They were relieved that they had prepared in advance. Their Wise One guided them well, suggesting an early arrival was possible. Hawk stood in the little boat, waving. Huaga and Yumo waved back. Others on the boat began to wave somewhat timidly, communicating much to the two men in the little boat and the ones who could see from the meadow. Boatmen were lowering the sail.

  Hawk put his hands to his face to increase the volume of his voice. “We’ll guide you in,” he shouted.