Anung's Journey

by Carl Nordgren

  Each fish had badly wounded the other but they still fought on and on until they were both so weak they floated to the water’s surface and that was when Fisher hopped down from the rock and jumped into the water and caught the two fish. Each fish was as big as Fisher but they were so weak now he could easily carry them to shore.

  Fisher had never seen so much food at one time. He ate and he ate. Each fish was much bigger than any chipmunk or mouse he had ever caught.

  Fisher kept eating and eating even as he grew fatter and fatter.

  Marten came out from behind the tree. When he saw how fat Fisher had become and how much fish was left he asked Fisher to share it with him but Fisher said no and kept on eating. Marten waited a moment but when Fisher kept on eating he asked again if he would share the remaining fish. Fisher was much bigger than Marten and turned from his catch and tried to drive him away. But because he was so fat he was now very slow. Anung and Turtle watched as Marten showed he was too quick for the fat and sluggish Fisher. He darted around him again and again and was able to steal away all the fish he wanted.

  For many days Anung and Turtle traveled deep into the forests. One day when Anung was stalking a grouse to shoot with his sling he heard something behind him but when he turned there was nothing there, just a branch moving as if the wind had been blowing.

  But there was no wind. Whatever it was frightened the grouse and it flew safely away.

  Every night he found a good place to build his fire and on many nights Turtle would tell him more stories. The night after he heard something following him Anung was lonely for his village and afraid of the night spirits that haunted the deepest forests and he beat his father’s drum to remember the songs his mothers and fathers had taught him. Most nights he was still excited from the day’s journey exploring new lands and he would beat the drum and sing a song of the many new things he had seen. But this night he played his drum to sing the songs that called on the spirits to protect him.

  Each morning he and Turtle headed off towards the land of the first sun. Now there were many kinds of nuts though fewer berries along the way. The forests were filled with grouse and when he used his sling to kill one of them, it fed him for two days.

  Each night when he settled into his campsite he set snares to catch rabbits.

  When his camp was near a river or lake, he made fish traps to catch walleye or perch.

  The men of his village had taught him well. And Gitche Manitou was watching over him. So he was not hungry. He was warm at night. But he was never relaxed for now it seemed that nearly every day he heard or felt something back there, back in the forest, following him. Turtle didn’t hear anything, and tried to assure Anung, but Anung had learned that a turtle doesn’t hear very well.

  After many days traveling through the forests Anung saw signs that people lived nearby.

  He came upon a path that led him through the spruce trees then out of the forest into a field of corn, a field much bigger than any Anung’s village had grown. On the far side of the corn field Anung could see the edge of a village that was much larger than his.

  Anung had never seen so many corn plants growing in one place before. So many plants meant there were many mouths to feed. While he could not see all of the village yet what he could see was much larger than any Anishinaabe village he had ever visited. He had been traveling many days and was glad when he thought his journey had ended right there for he believed he would find the greatest chief of all the First Nations people living in such a great village.

  As they walked through the cornfields, Turtle told Anung the story of First Corn Plant.

  “Corn was proud to be the tallest of the Three Sisters. She was slender but she was strong. The people planted her in the best part of the garden. Corn was happy to look out at the beauty around her. Watching the sunrise and the sun set made her happy. The rainfall made her happy.

  “One day she saw two butterflies flying around her. As the butterflies danced their wings brushed against each other. This made Corn sad for she missed being close to a family. As the butterflies flew off she sang her song of loneliness.

  “When the sun rose the next morning Corn saw that Squash Maiden had made her way towards her. Squash Maiden had heard Corn’s lonely song and she reached out with her vines and grew close to offer her friendship. Corn said, no Megwetch, we cannot grow together. You may be my Sister, but you wander everywhere while I stand in one place. I grow tall and slender to share the sunlight with my young Corn plants. Your broad leaves will block the sun and my young plants will not grow. You must grow alone.

  “Bean heard this and planted herself next to Corn. Her slender vines spread out always reaching for something to lean on. She touched Corn gently and softly wrapped herself around her stalk and leaves. They grew tall together. So they became Sisters and learned they should grow close together this way.”

  Anung saw how the people of this great village planted the Three Sisters. They planted their beans with their corn, and their squash grew in a separate field. He saw that the plants were stronger and the ears on the corn plants were bigger than those that grew in the gardens of his village. He saw there were many more beans growing all along the vine. He would remember and would tell the people of his village the story of the Three Sisters when he returned.

  Beyond the corn field Anung saw one of the sacred herbs had been planted. It was a patch of Asemaa. There were men of this village working in the field, cutting some of the broad green leaves of the Asemaa plants.

  These men appeared very different from the men of Anung’s village. They wore their hair like the men of his village. But where he could see their skin it was covered with colorful pictures. Some of these were pictures of the animals of the forests. Some were designs. The men of his village did not decorate their bodies like this.

  When these men spotted Anung they greeted him warmly and waved for him to come forward. The people of this great village were Odawa, brothers of the Anishinaabe, and they could see Anung was Anishinaabe.

  Anung did not need Turtle to understand and speak with these men for they shared many words.

  Anung told the Odawa men of the vision that drove his journey. He told them he had been traveling many days off the paths and trails of his people for he was looking for the greatest chief of all the First Nations people.

  He told the men that to keep his journey on the true direction he had walked through the thickest forests. He had climbed over many dead falls. He had to break through thickets of branches and vines. He swam lakes and rivers.

  And he always kept his eyes and ears opened for Windigo.

  The men told Anung he was brave to journey through the forests alone. They told him their chief was not the greatest chief of all the people, for some men of their village had visited a greater chief who lived to the East in the land their ancestors lived when they were one people, before they became the Brothers of the Three Fires. But the chief of their village was a good man and he would be honored to meet such a brave boy.

  They took Anung to meet their chief. His name was Trout. Anung told Trout of his vision. He showed Trout the stick that bore a notch for each day he had traveled and the stick was covered on all sides. He had begun his journey during the last days of Niibin. Now Dagwaagin was soon to give way to the cold winds and snow of Biboon.

  Trout told Anung that living in his village were men who traveled the forests and the waters farther than any other people for the Odawa were the greatest traders of all the First Nations people.

  Once the men of this village traveled along The Great River that flowed to the East.

  They followed the river to a great salt lake so big the water stretched the sky and the lake and the sky met as far as the eye could see. On the shore of this salt lake the men found a village much larger than any they had seen in their travels. The Odawa traders spoke of the great herds of caribou they found to the North. He told Anung that in this great village his men said there were as many people a
s there were caribou in the greatest herd.

  Their Three Sisters gardens grew all around this great village, and each garden was bigger than the Odawa village.

  Each net they used to fish the great salt lake that stretched the sky was longer than all of the Odawa’s nets sewn together.

  They carved great canoes from the biggest trunks of the tallest trees.

  They had walls made of tall tree trunks all around their village.

  Their wigwams within the walls were as long as the course the boys mark when they run their races.

  They had storehouses with furs of beaver and mink piled higher than a man could reach.

  There were visitors from many tribes in this great village. The Odawa traded with many tribes but at this great village they met men from places they had never visited or even heard stories of before. Many strange languages were heard. Many strange customs of dress were seen.

  Trout told Anung that the chief of this village was the greatest chief of all the First Nations people. And that the journey to this village would take so many days that Anung must find himself a new stick to mark the days to come.

  All these things Trout told Anung.

  That night Anung beat his father’s drum and sang the song that had come with him on his journey. It was the song of his village.

  He sang of when he was a boy and how one man made him snowshoes so Anung had a good pair when he was with the men checking their traps. He sang how another taught him how to make snowshoes for himself as a man.

  Anung sang about the women of his village who cared for him when he was sick. How each woman of his village always prepared a serving of food for him and only gave it to their children when they knew Anung had been fed at another fire.

  All night the Odawa village had a feast for Anung. They cooked their best meats. They sang their most joyful songs to Gitche Manitou. They thanked the Great Spirit for leading Anung to their village. They gave him a song of the Odawa trading routes to take with him on his journey, and they asked the spirits of their ancestors still roaming these forests to guide and protect Anung on his way.

  The young men and women danced for many hours around many fires. All the Nokomis danced around the Grandmother fire while the elders beat the drums.

  They gave a large leaf of Asemaa to Anung. This was so he might remember to thank Gitche Manitou during his journey. They burned much of the Asemaa they harvested in the fire as their offering and the smoke carried their prayers for Anung’s safe journey to the heavens. They smoked the rest of the Asemaa in their best pipes that they shared with each other.

  They filled Anung’s pouch with pemmican and dried meats. They gave him all the good breads he could carry.

  Each man of the village came to Anung to tell what he knew about the forests and the waters ahead. There was a treacherous ridgeline with a narrow passage and they told Anung how to navigate it. Then he would pass through the lands of the Wyandotte. They warned Anung that he may not be greeted so warmly there. For the Wyandotte were not brothers of the Odawa or Anishinaabe or Pottawattamie. Some villages act as if they are. But some villages do not.

  The next morning when Anung awakened in the Odawa village there was the first freezing touch of Gashkadino-Giizi. Before the sun rose, the work of the people of this Odawa village was to rebuild their fires to feel the warmth and prepare to cook the first meal.

  Geese flew over Anung’s head. The aspen leaves were putting on their gold. The cold Keewatin winds would soon surround them.

  The Odawa fed Anung. Then they gave him one of their finest possessions, a coat that would keep him warm when the snows fell. It was made from a white buck deerskin. Inside the coat was a full beaver vest.

  When Odawa traders traveled to the West where the prairies touched their forests they found Dakota who brought buffalo robes to trade with them. They gave Anung their finest buffalo robe.

  Anung was happy to receive these gifts. He put on the coat. He wrapped the buffalo robe in a bundle and carried it on his back. He walked into the forests towards the land of the rising sun.

  Winter Approaches

  At first the cold mornings became warm days but soon Anung felt the cold deep into the day. The stone from his sling flew behind the grouse. And he caught only the smallest ground squirrels in his snares. So he was glad to have been given such good food by the Odawa.

  But after days passed and the night’s bitter cold held tight to the day, the food he had been given was gone.

  Now the stone from his sling was deflected away by the branch of a tree. Now his snares were empty. Before he could get close enough to a deer for a killing shot with his bow, the deer heard him and vanished in the forest.

  Four days passed when Anung had no food but a few dried berries. He was growing very hungry and very weak. That was when he spied Squirrel sitting on a branch scratching his ear with his hind foot. Squirrel nodded to Anung then turned and disappeared into his hole in the tree. Anung climbed the tree to try to catch Squirrel in his tree hole. When he looked inside the hole he saw Squirrel sitting next to a great pile of nuts. Squirrel was scratching his side with his hind foot. Anung could feel the hunger pains in his stomach growing sharper.

  Anung removed Turtle from his pouch so Turtle could tell Squirrel of Anung’s deep fierce hunger. Squirrel scratched his belly then offered to share his nuts with Anung and Turtle. Anung was so weak he could not crack open the nuts so Squirrel cracked them open with his teeth and gave the best parts to Anung and Turtle to eat.

  After they had been well fed Anung repaid Squirrel by playing his father’s drum for him and singing the songs of his journey to find the greatest chief.

  Then it was time to sleep. Squirrel scratched his chest with his hind leg. He chewed the base of his tail with his teeth. He scratched so much that Anung could not sleep lying next to Squirrel so he moved away to the far side of the hole.

  In the morning Squirrel gave Anung some nuts to take on his journey.

  As the sun rose to fill the forest, Anung began scratching his arms and his legs. Something was burning his skin and making it itch. He did not know what it was. As he walked on, first he scratched behind his ear, then under his arm, then he scratched his scalp, and with every step he scratched and scratched.

  First Anung could smell the smoke and then, ahead, rising above the trees, still at some distance, Anung could see smoke. He scratched his neck and his stomach and walked in the direction of the smoke, hoping to find a village. As he drew closer he could hear strange voices. It seemed there were many voices singing many different songs but he could not understand the songs for he could not understand their words.

  On the trails leading through the forest towards where the smoke rose, Anung saw people walking together. Then he could see they were carrying many bundles. When he came closer he was surprised to see what was wrapped in the bundles for each one carried the body of a dead family member. Some had been dead for a long time. He could see some had recently died.

  Turtle told Anung this was a village of Wyandot and that they speak a different language. Then he explained to Anung that some Wyandot bury their dead first in the ground near the dead person’s favorite place so their spirit can say goodbye to that place. And some Wyandot build small shelters for their dead on the tops of scaffolds that sit along a path the dead one’s family will follow, so the family can say goodbye to the spirit.

  Then every ten years the Wyandot collect all these dead parents and children and return with them to their village. The songs they were singing as they passed by were the songs the living sang to the spirits of their dead.

  Anung came out of the forest to the widest path to the village. Many on this path were carrying bundles. Others carried the pots or the war clubs or the medicine bags or the blankets that had been left with their family members to use in the next world.

  When the men of this village saw how Anung was scratching himself they stopped him from entering their village with them. Then they called
for the elders.

  Turtle told Anung that the Wyandot asked him why he was scratching himself like Squirrel. Anung told of being fed by Squirrel, and of sleeping with Squirrel in his tree to stay warm.

  The elders told him he must take off all of his clothes. They threw the buckskin coat with the warm beaver vest on a fire and burned it. They burned the buffalo robe next.

  One of the elders told the young men to bring water so Anung could bathe. They told him that the squirrels in these trees were stricken with fleas. Some of their people were bitten by these fleas and became very sick, and some of them died and were among the dead present.

  After he bathed they gave Anung some clothes to wear. Then they invited him to come into their village for the Feast for the Dead.

  All day the Wyandot villagers told stories about their deceased family members and Turtle translated for Anung. And they sang songs to their spirits. They lit many fires to warm the spirits as they gathered to listen to their brothers or wives sing of their lives.

  They all sat together on the ground, the living and the dead.

  They sang songs for the spirits of their children who died too soon.

  They sang songs for their wives who died during a terribly harsh winter and for husbands who left wives all alone in old age, and for brothers and fathers who were killed in a battle for hunting grounds.

  They sat on the ground together and sang these songs while they washed the bodies they had gathered. Then they wrapped each body in clean furs and hides.

  Anung watched as one Wyandot took the arm of his dead brother and wrapped it with the body of his brother’s first daughter and sang of her beauty to him and told her that her father’s strength would always protect her.

  Another man mixed the bones of his father with his father’s trusted hunting companion and sang of their great moose hunts in this world and of the hunts they will enjoy in the next world.