“In fact, my sons, and I’m not just saying this to flatter you, the memories of my visits to your countries are among my fondest. And the same can be said about the numerous occasions when you’ve separately been to my wigwam as guests. In fact, since you started coming, whenever word came that either of you was on the way, I looked forward to your arrivals with the greatest of pleasure because you’re both very good storytellers, and most interesting and entertaining company. I’ve come to look upon you as beloved sons. Because you are such to me, I want one Sunrise to have both of you come visit with me and Spring Flower at the same time. Such a future visit is possible because I know in my heart that when you come to know each other intimately, as I know you both, there will develop a brotherly love and respect between you that you will enjoy for the rest of your Sunrises on Mother Earth.
“I firmly believe that seeing such an eventuality come to pass will be much easier than everyone thinks. It’s already begun in many ways between your citizens. Such is witnessed by the fact that many of them often come to our villages at the same time to visit family and friends, especially on special occasions. For instance, when I was first elected Village Chief, many Springs ago, your Nations declared a truce and set aside differences for a short time to permit leaders, and many citizens, to come for a visit with us. During those few Sunrises your Peoples exchanged pleasantries with each other and no recriminations were made. These are not the actions of brothers and sisters who cannot overcome their differences; they are the actions of brothers and sisters looking for a path to reconciliation.
“Another positive factor that should help us find a way to your reconciliation, my sons, is that the cultural differences between your Nations are very few. In fact, there is so much in common between them that either of you could live in the other’s village without much adjustment. My sons, because of such positives, and with the Great Spirit guiding us, we will finish our negotiating labours at this meeting with a Peace Treaty that will stop the senseless killing and preserve the honour and dignity of both your Nations. Neither one, my sons, will suffer any loss of face by reaching out to the other.
“If you feel a need for assurances of the truth of this, review what our brother Big Mountain just said about the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet countries. Ours have nothing to regret by being partners in a brotherly relationship, where blame is never apportioned and problems are worked out with give-and-take and dialogue. This is the way of the Great Spirit, and civilized Nations. It can be so in your situation; in fact it has already started.
“This is witnessed, my sons, by your sitting down together this Sunrise. By this simple act, you’ve taken a huge step towards finding peace between your Nations. And, I know in my heart from talking to each of you separately that the will is in your hearts to end the war. I firmly believe the Great Spirit loves you equally as His children and wants you to love and respect each other, not fight. Therefore, I ask you to participate in these proceedings with a burning desire to realize success. Now my dear sons, let us begin the process by examining the ancient disagreement between your Nations. I want to start by asking each of you to give an overview of the reasons for the dispute. Sleeping Bear, as the eldest you have the honour of speaking first. Please proceed my son.”
“My esteemed father, I’ll start by extending to you my People’s sincere thanks for agreeing to mediate our war with our brothers, the Penikt. Your agreement to so generously give your time to help put a stop to our conflict demonstrates once more that you are a man with a warm and generous heart, and great wisdom. In fact, my father, it’s because of your humble wisdom that we’re here this Sunrise to talk in the first place. If it wasn’t for you prodding me by educating me about the evils of war and the benefits of living in peace, something I now really want, I and our War Chiefs would be plotting how to exact more revenge upon the Penikt instead of trying to make peace with them. You probably don’t realize this, my humble and esteemed friend, but you’ve changed a great many attitudes about war in many countries since you started convincingly preaching against it so long ago. Your pleas for peace have always been so convincing and logical that I’ve never found them wanting. Because of this, my father, I’ve become one of your strongest converts.
“My father, this will please you, there is positive change occurring in many countries in attitudes toward war that are derived from your antiwar crusade. Because of your teachings, many who once thought that war was the only way to settle disputes, are now viewing peaceful negotiations as the preferred and honourable way. Now, my wise and noble father, in light of what I’ve just said, I swear by the Great Spirit that I want to see our Nation at peace with the Penikt. This is especially so when I see nothing but a future of bloodletting if we continue to follow the path of blind hate. When I review our situation, it breaks my heart to think about the needless suffering the citizens of our Nations have endured for so many Seasons because of this conflict. With just a little humility and brotherly regard before the war started, a peaceful solution could have easily been found. But, instead, a war was started, motivated by hate, which, my father, blinds men to everything, including the horror they pursue. In our case it completely blinded us to the hurt we were causing and the positive example of the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet Nations living side by side, prospering in glorious peace.
“Why, I ask my father, does it take so long for men to see the folly of their ways? It has finally happened to me, but it took uncountable Moons of warfare and streams of blood to do it. Facing the truth, my friends, makes me feel nothing but shame for the way that we’ve spilled enough of the blood of our loved ones to fill a river. Related to this senseless course, and this is something I’m really ashamed to admit: the war has been going on for such a long time that it seems like a natural part of our lives. To have come to this is inexcusable.
“But, my father and brothers, what I’m about to reveal is even more shameful than what I just said. It’s bad enough to go to war with a neighbour and carry it on when there are clear cut and identifiable reasons for doing so, but this is not true in our case. In ours, the root cause of it goes so far back, in endless Moons, that the details of how it started have become blurred. Even the Elders have only vague memories of it.
“And yet we’ve carried on as if we were pursuing reasonable justice for a terrible wrong. It must seem incredible to you, my father, that a Nation, supposedly populated by intelligent people, is involved in such deplorable foolishness. I see some of you looking a bit shocked. But, my friends, it’s true. We’re carrying on with fighting a war that no longer has a valid reason. And possibly never had.
“To demonstrate how incredible this is, I’ll tell you the one tale of the origins of this war that still has some credibility. It’s thought that uncountable Moons ago a Chief from one of our Nations — it’s not known which one — was killed by a blow to the head from a war club. The blow probably was delivered in revenge for some kind of insult. Afterwards, the person who delivered the blow claimed that it was an accident and that he had no intent in his heart to do his brother harm. The other side didn’t believe him and declared war.
“My father, it’s reprehensible and indefensible before the Great Spirit that our Nations have continued to spill the blood of our loved ones over something that is no longer relevant. Therefore, my father, we ask you to review all the real and imagined wrongs of the past and come up with an honourable way for us to end it forever. Our people want peace.”
“Thank you, my son. Lone Wolf, my beloved son, please enlighten us with your views.”
“My esteemed father, I also wish to thank you for agreeing to mediate and for prodding me to want to find peace with our neighbours. If anyone can come up with an honourable solution it’s you. I echo the words of my brother Sleeping Bear, who has so eloquently laid out the cause and effect behind our dispute, and rightly described it as folly. While I was listening to him, my father, I hung my head in shame. It’s undisput
able that blind hate is the only thing motivating us to continue with the war, because in reality continuation of it has no defensible justification. Thus, I solemnly pray that the Great Spirit will, through you, show us the way to peace and unity and end our state of madness.
“And, my friends, the madness of it came home to me with force when I heard Sleeping Bear talk about what might have been the cause behind the war, which is identical on our side. In fact, if I didn’t know it was the truth, I would have found it unbelievable. For us to be fighting over something we have no recollection about is foolishness. We have, over the past hundreds of Moons, exacted a terrible revenge upon each other. But my father, not all is lost, because of what I’ve heard so far this Sunrise I know in my heart we shall find a way and the Great Spirit will probably forgive us. How can we do otherwise? To carry on with a war without meaning, to kill our children over nothing, is an affront to the Great Spirit and to all mankind. With great enthusiasm we second Sleeping Bear’s plea for you to review the facts and help us find an honourable way to end our foolhardiness. Our people also want peace.”
“Thank you, Lone Wolf, my son. In view of what you and Sleeping Bear have just said my task will be so much easier. This is how I intend to proceed. Over the next two Sunrises I plan to interview all people present in camp who have any knowledge of the history of the war and get ideas from our brothers on how we might resolve the issue. Then on the morning of the third Sunrise, I shall present a peace plan for your consideration. Please ask the Great Spirit to light my way.”
During his interviews with knowledgeable individuals, Lightning Bolt heard a multitude of versions of the incident that gave birth to the war and recounts of many of the retaliatory actions taken by both parties afterwards. From these, by the sunset of the second Sunrise, he had compiled all the information needed to fashion a just solution. He then joined the gathering for a delicious supper.
Afterward, to permit him to develop a peace proposal for the combatants to consider, he decamped for the night and set off for an isolated cove, along the shores of the Basin of High Tides, to camp alone for the night. After asking the Great Spirit to guide him, he worked out a peace proposal that he thought would work.
Early the next Sunrise, with a bounce in his step and confidence in his heart that his proposal would be accepted, he returned to the main camp and ate a hearty breakfast. Afterwards, with an air of good expectations pervading, he called the parties together to hear his solution. With the end of traditional ceremonies he began. “My sons, I’ve verified during my investigations that for uncountable Moons your Nations have spilled the blood of the other to right a wrong that no one can recall to memory. The hate from the original bloodletting, the bloodletting afterwards and a fear of loss of face are the only motivating factors for the continuation of the war. Thus, to continue it cannot be justified by either Nation under any known set of civilized standards or circumstances.
“The facts I’ve just mentioned almost leave me at a loss for words. I beg of you my sons not to be insulted, but I cannot help say this. The behaviour that your Nations have indulged, for countless Moons, is the epitome of the follies of humankind. I pray that you, in the name of your Nations, will take this opportunity and lay down your arms and embrace each other in peace forever. I have great confidence that you will do so because in your opening statements you both agreed that you want an honourable end to the conflict. Therefore, my sons, I expect, perhaps incorrectly, that what I have to offer will be well received.
“I firmly believe that it is an ideal solution for healing the rift between your Peoples. My sons, the solution I’ve worked out is very simple and will, if accepted, leave both parties with their honour intact. Because only the Great Spirit knows who started the war, and because all agree that this war does not hold any ongoing just purpose or need from either party, that both of your Nations will simultaneously agree to accept the premise that both of your Peoples were jointly responsible for starting the conflict, and that both Nations consequently share equally the blame for the pain and destruction this war has caused. Then, to begin in earnest the healing, your Nations will apologize to each other for the bloodshed caused and agree unconditionally that the war is over. I can’t see any reason why adopting the suggested solution should not be acceptable, because it doesn’t require either Nation to lose face by admitting to being the sole instigator.
“Brothers, you now have a workable solution to ponder for resolving your dispute. Go in search of peace and return at sunset with your answers. May the Great Spirit be your guide.”
As Lightning Bolt sat resting and sunning himself by the banks of the River Goes Backwards that afternoon, watching the phenomenon that gave the river its name, he talked to the Great Spirit about the shortcomings of mankind. “Great Father, how many people have died since the beginning of time to satisfy the efforts of men trying to erase bruised egos, or to seek revenge for what was perceived to be a wrong? The number must be uncountable. In this instance, it boggles the mind to contemplate that the action of one man, in a moment of heated anger, caused a bloody war between two previously friendly, fraternal Nations that has lasted so long and cost countless lives. If the citizens of the Nation whose Chief had delivered the fatal blow and that of the victim had acted responsibly, and opted for an independent adjudicator from another country to come in and pass judgment upon the survivor, so much pain and sorrow for the Atikitkas and Penikt could have been avoided. But, by seeking blind vengeance, they’ve visited great sorrow upon their children’s children trying to heal bruised egos.
“But, my Father, such folly is not only applicable in this instance because, as you well know, men fight over practically anything. I’ve seen them go to war to try to acquire material things, territory and power they don’t need. For what purpose? They are only mortals and must some season leave it all behind. Dear Father, to know the peace that living in a country where all people put the welfare of their fellow citizens before their own is the most secure and comforting feeling one can ask for. Perhaps, Great Spirit, one Sunrise these unfortunate Nations will find the way.” Lightning Bolt continued for some time in his talk with his Maker, and slowly dozed off into a peaceful sleep.
That evening, after dining on fresh lobster and other delights from the bountiful bay, the warring Chiefs and their advisors reassembled to give their verdict on Lightning Bolt’s peace plan. The Grand Chief reopened the proceedings with a short prayer. He then invited Sleeping Bear to speak for his Nation.
“Father and brothers, my colleagues and I have reflected upon the tragic dispute that has so long caused war with our brothers the Penikt. With grieving hearts we have come to appreciate the full extent of the horrors and tragic losses that it has caused us and our neighbours. Lightning Bolt, my father, you come from a Nation that has not initiated an aggressive action against another Nation since time immemorial. Your Nation has a wonderful record for keeping the peace, accomplished because your People are happy and satisfied with their lot in life and do not desire anything belonging to others.
“Further, and equally important, your People do not strike out in blind rage to try to exact vengeance upon another person. Instead they can ask for conciliation by an esteemed person or persons and abide by their judgments. Such a sensible practice has not been our way of life but I wish to tell you with the utmost sincerity that this, if Lone Wolf is willing, will change.
“My father, this will please you greatly, I’ve been authorized by my colleagues to apologize to our brothers and sisters the Penikt for the ages of hurt we have caused them and to accept that both our Nations are equally responsible for causing the war. I will do it now. Lone Wolf, my brother, I offer to you and your country’s citizens our deepest apologies and accept our equal share of the blame. With this I wish to inform you that from this Sunrise forward we fully intend to live in peace and cooperation with your Nation, if such is agreeable to you.
“We m
ust do this, my brother, because the hurt caused by the war is history and nothing can erase it, especially how we have killed each other over countless battles. I know in my heart that what our Nations have done in the past to each other in the name of false pride must have been extremely displeasing to the Great Spirit. But, if during this Sunrise we seek to mend our ways and make a pact to live in peace and friendship with all our neighbours, because of His love for all of His children, I know He will eventually forgive us.
“With great hope for peaceful future relations between our Nations we lay before you Lone Wolf this proposition for ratifying the peace between our Nations. We propose that two Sunrises before the first Moon of Autumn we, with permission from the Maliseet Nation, and in the company of the Mi’kmaq and all Eastern Nations which might want to join with us, meet once more here by the banks of the River Goes Backwards to bury the hatchet between us forever. I further propose that after we’ve ratified our Peace Treaty we ask the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet and other Eastern Nations to join with our Nations in making a pledge to live in harmony with each other for as long as the sun may rise. I thank you, my esteemed father and brothers for hearing my humble words. May the Great Spirit always be with you. Lone Wolf, my dear brother, I await your words with great anticipation.”
Lightning Bolt, visibly pleased by the course things were taking, without comment, recognized Lone Wolf with a nod.
“Sleeping Bear, your words were like the songs of returning birds in Spring to my ears. Your statement that in the past we have acted foolishly and without consideration for the dignity of our brothers and sisters is the shameful truth. We too, my brother, with pain in our hearts, have spent this Sunrise reviewing the details of the conflict between our Nations and to be brutality truthful we are also hard pressed to find virtue in what has taken place. The shame we share for our follies will be with us always.
Chief Lightning Bolt Page 24