Legend of Oria 1: Initial Contact

by James Campbell

  One man towards the front of the group spoke up and asked “Linda, thanks for inviting us out here. I am really excited about something you found describing the relationship between the natives and the Vikings.”

  Linda smiled and responded “Good point, as some of you know we have found a number of Viking artifacts at this site. It appears that a band of Vikings settled down towards the river in our dig. We’ll touch more on that topic later. Again, I request all of you to keep most of what you find out today quiet until we prepare a formal announcement. We don’t want to fuel any new and false theories prior to getting all of the facts.”

  A woman towards the back of the group asked, “Linda is it true that you believe the Vikings held some of the local Indians captive and were eventually freed by another tribe?”

  “I don't want to jump to any conclusions. However, there is some evidence to support that theory.”

  Oria kept a poker face throughout this discussion. He was the only one in the group who knew the real fate of the slaughtered family and the local people. It took Oria a fair amount of self-control to refrain from pointing out the errors in Linda’s theory of the Vikings holding the local people captive and their rescue by another tribe. After all, Oria was a member of the slaughtered family and he knew the Vikings and local Nanticoke people had intermixed for several generations prior to his birth. In fact, they had become one people.

  After several more questions, the group proceeded towards the massacre site. It was the first site on the way to the village remains. As they reached the clearing, Oria could see the petrified remains of his father and brother near their stakes. Their skin and facial features were intact and etched in stone. Oria stared at the location where the Susquehanna had bound and burned him. His stomach turned as horrible images ran through his mind. He couldn't believe that his father and brother's remains were still intact after 500 years and that no one had properly cared for them. He looked closer at the remains. The look of shock grew more pronounced on Oria's face.

  Linda seeing Oria's discomfort said to him “Oria, are you Ok?”

  Oria took a deep breath and replied, “I think so. This site brings back some bad memories. Those remains appear petrified while others aren’t.”

  “Yes. That's puzzled many of our team. This father and son must have been quickly petrified as they were burning at their stakes while the others left at the stakes were not. We have no idea how that is possible. We did not find anywhere else at this site any petrified artifacts or human remains”

  Oria knew how the remains must have been petrified. His alien captors must have scared off the Susquehanna and fired an alpha-K beam at his father and brother to save them from the agony of death. The others were already dead. Oria partially regaining his composure looked up at Linda and replied, “It certainly is a mystery. Maybe it was an extra-terrestrial being that intervened.”

  Linda chuckled to herself thinking this guy must be another one of those alien chasers. “Interesting theory Oria, I'm glad to see you're recovering and have a sense of humor.”

  Linda then returned her attention back to the group and started speaking. “As you can tell from Oria's and my conversation, we have uncovered some phenomena that we can’t readily explain. What you see here is evidence of more brutal times in our history. As you can see, evidence shows that our ancestors bound to stakes, scalped, and set afire many people. We’re not sure why one of the stakes had no remains. We also don’t understand why we found petrified remains on only two stakes and not any of the others.”

  Linda paused for a moment; the horror of this scene still angered her. She felt that the white man had frequently wronged Native Americans, but still she did not agree with some of the methods of her ancestors. She continued, “Most of what you see here was buried under a mound of sand and stones. Whoever put these people to death must have fled quickly. It looks like friends of the slain family buried the entire site. This is not a traditional burial by either Vikings or Native Americans. We can only guess that whoever buried this site must have been gravely frightened yet concerned that some attention be paid to the deceased.”

  Linda paused, and then pointed at a location away from the stakes and said, “Over there we found some Susquehanna arrow heads and other artifacts. Also, we have found many Nanticoke artifacts at this site. Of course, we expected to find Nanticoke artifacts since they are indigenous to this site. I say we, since I too, am a member of the local Nanticoke people. Our tribe has been located in this vicinity for many hundreds of years.”

  Linda surprised Oria at her revelation that she was Nanticoke and a decedent of his tribe. He wondered if she might even be a relative of his. However, it saddened him that she had no idea of the strong link between the combined Viking and Nanticoke heritage of her people. Oria raised his voice and asked Linda, “Linda, are you suggesting the relationship between the Viking and Nanticoke people was not a mutually beneficial relationship. How do you know it wasn't the Susquehanna that came down and killed this family and their local Nanticoke tribe?”

  Linda appeared a bit flustered. There was no way she could accept that anyone of European descent could have been decent to her people. She replied very sharply, “I believe history speaks for itself. For hundreds of years, Europeans have come to America and stolen land from the rightful owners. I don't see any compelling evidence to see where this group was different. Besides, Vikings weren't known as peace lovers. Most recorded encounters between Vikings and Native Americans ended in violence. For the most part Vikings, unlike other Europeans, weren't able to come over in sufficient numbers to defeat the local people.”

  Oria was amazed at the depth of Linda's conviction. He knew there would be no quick changing of her mind. Therefore, he responded in a neutral voice “Thanks for your answer. I believe I know where you're coming from.”

  Linda replied rather tartly. “You’re welcome.” She then glanced at the entire group and realized that she just slandered almost everyone there. Fortunately, most of the current lists of invitees were used to Linda's strong feelings. She was a well-known activist of Native American rights. Most of them agreed with her and contributed money to her cause. One of the reasons they came along on this tour was to see firsthand older historical evidence that supported Linda's assertions. The only one in the group that Linda was unsure about was Oria. She was starting to regret her decision to let him come along. Linda decided they had spent enough time at the massacre site. She feared Oria might come out with another remark that might have brought her current assertions in doubt. She got the group back into the SUV and headed back towards the dig around the old Viking village.

  The SUV pulled up just outside of the village and parked next to a roped off area. Oria climbed out of the truck and scanned the site. The memory of his old self started to come back to him. It was much prettier back then. His people had kept the field trimmed and low right up to the village wall. They kept the field clear to make anyone approaching the village more visible. Inside the village, they built the buildings with a mixture of both Viking and Nanticoke architecture. The Viking designs were more permanent than typical for the Nanticoke designs. The Nanticoke's were more nomadic than the Vikings.

  Linda led the group up a walkway towards the outside wall of the village. She was describing various artifacts found along the way. Once the group reached what used to be the village gate, she stopped the group and started speaking.

  “You are standing almost on top of where the gate to the village used to exist. We have plans to rebuild this village as closely as can be determined how it existed 500 years ago prior to its destruction by the raid. When you get inside you will find a mixture of Viking and Nanticoke architectures. The two groups must have co-existed for a long time. We have found signs of buildings that existed and someone destroyed long before the destruction of the village during the final raid. The Nanticoke people on the Eastern Shore of Maryland mostly fished and farmed. The evidence showed that the Nanticoke were
a peaceful people and avoided war. The Vikings probably had an easy time making slaves out of the local people.”

  Oria interrupted with several statements. “Linda, I agree from what we know of Viking history it is logical to conclude that the Vikings must have enslaved the local people. However, several things confuse me with this site. The newer buildings at this site appear to be of the same style. From the diagram you passed out, it does not appear that any slave quarters existed. In a typical Viking village, the leader always had the largest house with a great room that the entire village used. What I see, looks like a standard village with a mixture of Viking and Nanticoke customs. I don't see anything to suggest that there were two groups, but one group that had a hybrid heritage from both Nanticoke and Viking cultures.”

  Linda was thinking to herself; if this guy keeps bringing up these points, I will never be able to use this site to bolster my arguments that the local people have over a 500-year history of receiving abuse from the Europeans. Linda needed more evidence to bolster her work at gaining funds and land for her people. This newcomer, Oria, was becoming a problem. Linda decided that her best bet would be to discredit Oria. She then looked at Oria and replied, “I can tell you studied your history books. The charts that I passed out don't tell the entire story. If the only information I had to go on was those charts and the finds at this site, I might be inclined to agree with you. However, I've been studying the history of my people since I was a little girl. History books do not adequately record most of the older history. It is very likely that the structures used by the Nanticoke people were not as permanent as the Viking structures. After 500 years it would be difficult to determine if any other structures existed which were exclusively made from vegetation or animal hides.”

  Oria had several images from his childhood brought to mind. It was true; some of the Nanticoke people stuck to traditional customs and never adopted any of the Viking customs. However, that was not the norm. Oria remembered there was no distinction between those partially descendant from Vikings or those that were of pure Nanticoke descent. In fact, after 400 years and many generations of people, any significant traces of Viking blood had long ago disappeared. Oria thought Linda’s cause blinded her such that she could not see the truth when it was staring her in the face. He decided to just nod his head ok and not pursue the subject any further.

  Linda seeing Oria's tacit acknowledgment, continued on describing several of her findings at the site. She led the group towards the largest building on the complex, Oria's childhood home. The group stood at the doorstep of Oria's old home. As Oria stood there, he was coming to come to grips with his past. One of the reasons he wanted to return to the Eastern Shore was to put the torment of his last days on Earth behind him. He knew he would need to accept his tortured past if he was ever going to lead a contingent from Earth into battle against the Creytes.

  Linda began speaking about Oria's old home. “This building most likely served as the home of the leader of the local Vikings as well as the 'town hall'. You can see there are very few rooms off the grand hall. Mostly, the other rooms were the living quarters for the ruling family. We have uncovered a wealth of artifacts from this site including an old ax head, a two edged sword, pottery, cooking utensils, and a host of other family items.”

  Linda walked over to a short table set up in what was once the corner of the old building. On it was sitting a stone ax head and a two-edged sword. Oria recognized these items immediately. The ax head was off his father's old battle-ax that he received from successive generations Stoneaxs. Oria’s father told one of his ancestors; Olaf Stoneax received the ax from King Fairhair. Olaf Stoneax was the leader who led Oria's ancestors to North America.

  Oria spoke up and asked Linda “Linda, did you find the ax head and sword in the house or near the massacre site and does the ax head contain a symbol like this?” Oria began drawing a symbol in the dirt in front of him.

  Linda walked up and looked at the symbol. When she saw the symbol Oria had drawn matched the symbol on the ax, she was stunned. Her assistant had only dug the ax out of the ruins several hours earlier. She wondered how Oria could possibly know a detail like this. She replied in a soft voice “We found the ax about halfway to the massacre site. How did you know about the symbol?”

  “It's the classic symbol of the Stoneax family and all of the descendants of Olaf Stoneax, who served under King Fairhair.”

  Oria's response surprised Linda. Earlier, she had asked one of her archeological associates who specialized in Scandinavian history about the Viking symbols they had already found at her excavation site. None of the symbols matched any of the known symbols from Viking history. She hadn't checked the new symbol out, but she did not expect it to match any known symbol.

  Linda replied to Oria “I see you not only claim knowledge of local history, but also knowledge of Viking history.”

  Oria smiled and said “Not exactly. I wouldn't quite call myself a historian. My parents are of mixed heritage. They are descended from Scandinavians and the Nanticoke people. My father had stronger ties to his Scandinavian past. Since my name is Stoneax, I know my family symbols and some of their history.”

  “I see we have some things in common. Let's get together after the tour so we can make the most of our remaining time for the others on the tour.”

  Linda continued discussing many of the findings for the rest of the tour. Oria chose to remain silent since he had accomplished one of his primary goals, that is, getting an in to the local scientific community. The remainder of the tour lasted about an hour and then the group returned to the visitors lodge.

  When the last of the visitors left, Linda walked over to Oria and invited him out for a cup of coffee. She drove Oria to a local coffee shop in Cambridge, run by one of her brothers. With coffee in hand, Linda and Oria sat down at one of the outside tables. She looked at Oria and said, “I'm impressed at some of your knowledge and thoughts of local Nanticoke history and customs. We're a fairly small community and I don't remember seeing you before or hearing about a family called Stoneax.”

  Oria replied in the ancient Nanticoke language “Long ago my family was forced to depart from this community. It is only now that I am able to return.”

  Linda interrupted in English “Oria, I don't understand your dialect. We mostly speak English now.”

  A Nanticoke elder sitting nearby had overheard Oria's comments. He got up and walked over to Oria and Linda and said “Sir, you speak with an ancient Nanticoke dialect. You'll have to pardon our youth, they have forgotten some of our ways.”

  Linda smiled at the elder and said, “Hello, Jack Stone are you still hanging out here?” Linda wanted Jack to leave her alone with Oria. Jack, like most of the elders, didn’t want Linda tampering with ancestral remains or raising new issues and conflicts with the white man. However, they respected Linda for her work in helping the less fortunate members of their tribe. It was a love/hate relationship.

  Oria stood up and greeted the elder in the traditional way. Even though Oria was the elder of the two men, his physical appearance was that of a man in his mid-thirties. The elder sensed that Oria was much older and respected him as an elder. He said to Oria, “Oria, in some ancient stories that have almost been completely forgotten, there were tales of a family called Stoneax who lived and became one with our people. There was a ‘day of slaughter’ when all but a few of our tribe survived a Susquehanna raid and a strike from the Spirits. Our people now celebrate their survival in a festivity known as the Day of the Storm.”

  Linda looked puzzled. She had celebrated the Day of the Storm as a little girl. She had always thought that day celebrated the survival of her people after a great hurricane. There had been some quiet talk amongst the elders that there was more to the story. However, whenever she asked, they elders told her that the elders pass the details to only the most elder of the tribe. They did not want to stir up the wrath of the Spirits again.

  Linda replied, “I was always taug
ht that the Day of the Storm celebrated our survival from a great hurricane. All of the other stories were considered part of old superstitions.”

  Oria interrupted Linda and said “The Day of the Storm marks the time when my family left this area. Most of them rose to a new level.”

  Jack understood what Oria was saying. He gave Oria the old chieftain challenge which Jack's father, the current chief, had taught him. Oria returned the required response as a son of a chief. Oria's father had been Chief of the Nanticoke people. Upon seeing the response, Jack became silent. He and Oria stared at each other silently for a minute before Linda got their attention.

  “Um, guys, what's going on here? I'm a bit confused.”

  Jack turned to Linda and said “Linda, Oria is the son of a Nanticoke Chief. He is one of us.” He then turned toward Oria, felt the top of Oria's forehead feeling the indentation in Oria's skull where the Susquehanna scalped him. He then spoke quietly but firmly, “Welcome home, you must be the one the Spirits spoke about. They appear to have made you well. Your one journey appears to be over with another one yet to begin. You must be the one sent by the Spirits!” He then glared at Linda and said “Linda be kind to this man, he is your Uncle and sent from the Spirits!” Immediately Jack turned and headed down the street away from the coffee shop.

  Linda was astonished. Events were moving much too fast for her. Only an hour and a half earlier she regretted letting Oria come on her tour. Then he appeared to threaten some of her work only to become a resource of information helping to describe some of the findings at the excavation site. Now armed with this new information, Jack Stone had just further complicated her relationship with Oria.