Nanichak-na shook his head as he went down the hill. “That is an amazing group of things!” he said with a voice tinged with awe. “There is another place on the hill that has pines. I’m eager to know what those evergreens mark.”
“I would like to see it. Will you wait until after the morning meal to go?” Ki’ti asked.
“Of course, I will.” His eyes twinkled but the others who were behind him could not see them.
The evening meal was one of their best. They had roasted meat from the deer and wonderful greens from the hillside mixed with some root vegetables and a few blueberries. The chatter was light and optimistic in the cave until Van, Mhank and La’s three-year-old son, tried to take his brother Solu’s food bowl. Trying to force him to give it up, Van bit his younger brother. Mhank was swift to strike his son’s mouth to reprove his action. Van whimpered at the stinging from the strike and the words, but he would not try to take his brother’s bowl again.
The Mol who joined them for the trek to the big lake seemed to be enjoying the group instead of planning to leave. The men’s council was filled with numbers of issues and Ki’ti addressed the need to leave untroubled the items in the cave above them. She pointed out that there was a purple dipper as described in the Maknu-na and Rimlad story, but that it would be best to look with one’s eyes, not hands. She suggested that these things might be sacrifices to Wisdom, and that no one should rearrange or take anything from that cave. She let it be known that it troubled her to think what might happen to anyone who tried to take or rearrange what belonged to Wisdom. At that, everyone in the cave old enough to understand what she was talking about wanted to visit the cave, but they were warned not to trifle with Wisdom and what might be Wisdom’s things. They listened carefully to the warning. Not all believed those things were Wisdom’s, but they would not argue with the Wise One.
The People bedded down and when Wisdom restored color to the land, all were up and ate their morning meal and went hunting or to the meat preparation cave. Nanichak-na found Ki’ti and Untuk-na and the three of them began to walk up towards the cave shadowed by tiny Tiriku. The next set of pine trees was higher on the hill and just above the one that screened the cave where the special things were laid out.
At the cave, where the special items were, they found Manak-na. He exclaimed, “This is astounding. What a collection!”
“It is!” Nanichak-na agreed. “What did you think of that leg bone?”
“It’s huge!” Manak-na exclaimed, eyes wide. “It might be interesting to hunt whatever that came from. Maybe it’s a dragon leg. It’s a lot bigger than the leg bones of the giants!”
“I’m too old for that!” Nanichak-na laughed. “We’re going to the next set of evergreens. Want to come with us?”
“Of course,” Manak-na said.
The four continued up the steep pathway. There was another cave. It was at the top of the hill, but it was hidden from below with pines. The pines did not block the somewhat strange view from there. The cave was dome shaped with a very tall ceiling that had been hammered out. The debris had been taken outside and shaped into a wall that curved outward from the cave entrance. It was carefully roofed in stone blocks that circled in decreasing layers. There was a hole in the center at the top. The far wall was smoothed and on it were spirals and circles. In the center was a round stone pillar with a diameter the length of Nanichak-na’s arm. Drilled into the very center was a hole beside which lay a peg about as long as Nanichak-na’s hand. He picked it up and found it fit into the hole in the center. Around the center hole were 12 other holes. If pegs fit in those holes, there were none to be found. The peg for the center hole wouldn’t fit. It was too large. The circling holes seemed to be perfect distance one from another. They had never seen anything like this. Morning sunshine was coming from the doorway and it definitely lit the peg, but that meant nothing to them. Untuk-na moved a rock to enable him to see from the windows. He was surprised that the view was of the sky. The People were convinced that the cave had purposes to do with the sun, moon, and stars—purposes they did not understand.
When they turned to leave, Manak-na said, “Wait. Look at this.” He pointed to the big and little snares, the zigzag, the three stars, and other night sky sets of stars. “I think the people who did this knew a lot more about the night sky than we do.”
Untuk-na was amazed. The items laid out and now this display of night sky knowledge overwhelmed him. “These are all part of my giant ancestors’ things, are they not?” He asked in the style of formal language the Mol used at certain times, wondering whether they would see as he did.
Nanichak-na looked directly at Untuk-na. “Untuk-na, I have thought the same. Why else would the ceilings be so high? The windows, too? And this location is right on the path your giant ancestors made. But why here?”
“Because it’s a place where the paths cross,” Ki’ti spoke quietly. Untuk-na noticed that her eyes were widely dilated. “The giants made both paths. The path that crosses the one we follow goes to the sea that way, she pointed out from the door, and the one going the other way goes to tall mountains. Very tall mountains! This place has not been used for many, many, many lifetimes. The giants watched the stars from here and they told them of things that would happen and when. They learned to understand the night sky here. They learned to understand the sea at the end of the path that way. They learned how to make boats go where they wanted them to go and they learned of new lands.” Again she pointed out the door. “They learned of great mountains that way.” She pointed to the west, away from the sea. “And the way we go,” she pointed north, “they learned of the big lake and cold. On the path where we came from” she pointed south, “they learned of very warm lands and a very large land beyond the waters where many strange animals lived.”
Untuk-na and Manak-na had both been fixed on Ki’ti. Tiriku had moved to the doorway but focused on Ki’ti with a very soft whine. Ki’ti had changed her features slightly and was in one of her spirit places. She was given information there which was not available to people who couldn’t go wherever she went at those times. Both men were greatly concerned. Each heard what she had to say and were fascinated with the information, didn’t question it, but held it apart until they were sure she had returned to the present time and place safely. Nanichak-na had been re-examining the walls.
Ki’ti seemed to begin to relax and looked at her brother and husband. “I’m fine. You wanted to know, didn’t you?” she asked.
“You’re sure you’re back to us?” Untuk-na asked.
“Yes,” she smiled.
“So this was where they learned about the sky at night?” Manak-na asked.
“Yes.”
“I would really like to see the boats and learn to use them to go to new lands,” Manak-na said with enthusiasm.
“You’re a hunter,” Nanichak-na said flatly.
“Even people who go on boats have to eat,” Manak-na said, not really seriously thinking of taking the path across from the hillside.
The four went back down the hill. Each had responsibilities that required attention. There was always much work to keep the group healthy in all ways.
Elemaea, Mona, and Sofa were with Minagle at the end of the pond nearest the cave. Minagle was bathing Sofa and cleaning her hair. Elemaea and Mona had bathed and were warming in the sun. Both were excellent swimmers. It was chilly, but the pond was protected against the wind. The girls straddled a short log in the water and Elemaea spoke quietly and asked, “Mona, do the People disapprove me?”
Mona thought for a while. She wanted to respond kindly and truthfully. “Sometimes, Elemaea, People think you act before you think. That is what very little children do. It reflects badly on you and worse, it reflects badly on your mother. People know you have a good nature in your belly and would not choose to hurt People, but you are not careful of how other People feel. You need to learn to keep your mouth closed until you open it and speak as a girl growing up among the People. Sometimes, Elemaea, you i
nterrupt People young and old. It’s as if you think you’re more important than they are. That’s what the interruption says. You know better, but you just don’t act on what you know. I think you need to slow down. It looks to me that you are doing some of that.”
“Thank you, Mona. You’re smart for someone my age. I have been trying to be what my mother wants me to be, but it’s hard.”
“You’re seeing it oddly. If you love your mother, it isn’t hard. I could do what you do, but it would hurt my mother so badly that I’d never be able to do it. It just means you have to think about someone other than yourself first. That, Elemaea, is what love is.”
“But, but, I love my mother.”
“Elemaea, you don’t love her enough not to interrupt her. You don’t love her enough not to do things she’s told you not to do.”
“I see. Do you hate me?”
“Hate you? I love you! Elemaea, you’re my friend. I want to see you happy. You’ll never be happy until you control yourself and start to fit into the People where you’re supposed to fit.”
“Where am I supposed to fit?” The idea of fitting in was one totally foreign to Elemaea. She went through her mind web and could find no reference to fitting in anywhere.
“That I don’t know. You can’t find that out until you control yourself and start to look for your place. Then you’ll find out what you’re good at doing and you’ll get better and better at it. You’ll see how it contributes to the People. I’m learning to make garments. I love to do it. That’s where I’ll fit in. I’m going to the meat preparation cave later to see how I can contribute with the skins. For you, I don’t know. Each person has to find their own fit.”
“Can I go with you?”
“Only if you will listen carefully and do exactly what they tell you to do. The work can be tedious and you’ll want to go to play, but if you stay and work hard, you start to fit in, and it becomes a very good experience. But I don’t know whether you’re ready. I am.”
Elemaea felt her world changing before her eyes. Mona was going to work with the women. She didn’t want to work skins. It stank. She would not go with Mona. At the same time, she yearned with every fiber in her being to fit in somewhere. One thing she recognized. Everyone was telling her the same thing.
The People thrived at the new home cave. Available meat was healthy and soon their supply had just about reached the limit of their need, even at the most excessive. The weather was turning colder and new clothing had been prepared for that time. The season of cold days had arrived. When Wisdom restored color to the land, large flakes of white rain began to fall from clouds overhead. To the east, they could see the sun. The white rain was beautiful to watch. The big, flat flakes fell slowly, drifting silently in the windless air, straight down to the ground. Quickly the ground began to turn white. Likichi smiled contentedly. She knew they were well prepared for the season of cold days. Ki’ti stood in the entryway enjoying the scene and chuckling at Tiriku who pranced among the flakes, trying to catch them in his mouth. Ki’ti noticed that some flakes on the ground shone in the sun like tiny suns while others appeared in rainbow colors. White rain could be quite beautiful, she thought.
Manak-na talked to Domur, his wife, about his desire to take the path to the sea. She thought at first that he was not serious, but when she discovered that he was, she was distraught. She did not want to go to the sea. She definitely did not want to get on a boat to travel to strange lands. She also knew that Manak-na had resisted his adventurous spirit for a very long time. But how, she wondered, could he do this to her? She knew and assumed he realized that he’d have to leave her to go to sea. She agonized over how it was possible that he could leave her for an adventure. She could not understand. She could never do that to him. She was terribly torn and hurt, although she was convinced that his desire did not have anything to do with his love for her. She was certain he loved her, but to think to be without him ripped her belly apart. She could not comprehend this need of his. It conflicted with all that she was. But she knew that the call of distant places always drew Manak-na. She would have to encourage him and hope with all that was in her that he would return safely, if he chose to go to the sea. Manak-na had not mentioned anything about a sea adventure for a few days. She felt it would be a false hope to anticipate that he had forgotten.
Ki’ti sat on furs in a quiet part of the cave and reviewed in her mind web the stories that she told every winter. Elemaea walked over to her and said nothing. She crawled next to Ki’ti and sat still on her right side. Tiriku occupied the left side. Ki’ti noticed the child and observed the change in behavior. She put her arm around Elemaea and pulled her closer. She stroked the spiraling hair. Elemaea was a pretty little girl.
“I have noticed a change in your behavior, Elemaea,” Ki’ti said. “I approve.”
Elemaea squeezed Ki’ti’s hand. She smiled up at her mother. “I love you, Mother.”
“I love you, Elemaea.”
“Mother, how can I fit into the People? Mona is working skins and learning to make garments. Siff has been cooking. Tin has been learning about herbs along with Meta. I need a way to fit in, but I don’t know how.”
“What interests you?”
“I’m very good with the slingshot.”
“Listen carefully, my daughter. I asked what interests you, not what you’re good at.” Ki’ti was speaking lightly, not strongly directly.
“I could say nothing interests me or that everything interests me.”
“Well, sort it out. If there were something that if you could never do again, you’d feel your belly ripping apart—what would that be?”
“I don’t know.”
“Little Girl,” Ki’ti said, using a term that was no longer used for herself, but caused her to smile wistfully as she used it, “Spend the next few days looking for that thing that is important to you. Each time you do anything, consider it might be the last time you do it. Think how that would make you feel.”
After thinking on that for some time, Elemaea said, “Mother, suppose that nothing is that important to me.”
Ki’ti looked at her daughter. Perhaps there was nothing that had captured the interest of her daughter. Perhaps that was the reason for her impetuous nature? Ki’ti would think on it. She replied, “Until you are certain that there is nothing that is that important to you, keep looking for two days. If you have not found something at that time, I’ll set up some things for you to do to see where your interest lies. If you see someone doing something you haven’t tried, ask them to show you how to do it. Then try it. Don’t stop right away if you aren’t good at it. Nobody is perfect at first. It takes much practice. Ask yourself questions. How does doing it make you feel? Do your hands feel that this is something they were made for? Ask questions like that.” Ki’ti had no specific plan available. She would have to spend some time in thought about a plan, but she would wait one day. Instead of racing off, Elemaea sat quietly, resting her small body against her mother’s. From a distance Likichi noticed and smiled.
Manak-na had gone outside and climbed to the top cave. He stood there in his furs and looked out from the door at the path that Ki’ti had said went to the sea where they built boats for travel to strange lands. It tugged his mind web and his belly. Domur also tugged his mind web and belly. Could he really have an adventure without her? Could he be happy with adventure alone? If he had one adventure would it require another in the way that eating the morning meal made him have an appetite all day long? He realized he was asking himself whether one adventure would suffice for a lifetime. He realized, too, that he didn’t know the answer. He accused himself of having selfish thoughts, of putting himself first in a culture where that was inappropriate. He finally realized that he had some real fear down inside of setting out alone on such an adventure. His entire life had been spent as part of a cohesive group. None of his thoughts or reflections or realizations squelched his desire for a sea adventure. He looked at the walls around him. He wa
s fascinated to consider what others must know that he did not know. How much information there must be to learn from cultures different from his? Sometimes it overwhelmed him. It was not the first time he had entertained such thoughts. It would not be the last. He gathered himself together and left the top cave to bring wood and bones for the home cave fire. He did, after all, have work to do.
In the home cave Humko-na and Song went to Likichi. She stopped sorting her dried herbs and looked at them questioningly, holding onto a polished bent stick that was her cane.
“We think it’s time to join, Likichi,” Humko-na said with a smile. “We have stopped for a while and the time seems good.”
“Wonderful!” Song’s grandmother replied with a grin. “We’ve been wondering how long it would take! Have you set up the pronouncement with the Wise One?” She placed Song’s hand in Humko-na’s hand and put her free hand around theirs.
“Not yet, Izumo,” Song said with a lilt in her voice. “We wanted to share with you first.”
“Well, now you have. You’d better go to see the Wise One.” Likichi put her free hand on her hip and stood slightly bent from stiffness as she watched the two young people go to find Ki’ti. “That will be a good joining,” she said aloud but not so anyone could hear. Humko-na was twenty and Song was nineteen. Both had waited very late in life to join. Then her mind drifted to Smosh at age nineteen and Bun at eighteen. Neither of them had settled down with a wife. Then there was Smig at age twenty-five! His twin had joined with Tuma long, long ago. They had a child of 3 years! Likichi shook her head. She returned to her herb sorting with a smile.
Before she could attend to that task, Tita headed toward her with Din. Tita looked concerned.
“What is it, Tita?” Likichi asked.
Fighting tears, Tita said, “He is very hot, Izumo, and I am afraid.”
Likichi looked at her and very quietly she said, “Never say that aloud in front of children, Tita. It can frighten them and make things worse. You must show that you are certain all will be well. Sometimes words are a type of medicine.”
Manak-na's Story, 75,000 BC Page 8