Later, startled by a fluttering noise, she stared towards the north. Untuk-na shared the log on which she sat, but he was not right next to her. Ki’ti was very tired, but wasn’t ready to climb the hill to the cave. Suddenly, they saw ravens land. The ravens formed an irregular circle. They seemed intent on harassing a raven that was with them and about which they had circled. They pecked at it without doing it harm, but the raven was frightened. Ki’ti hoped it was not their raven. The others continued to peck at it and they seemed to be talking one by one. One or several would rush the raven and then appear to peck it. Ravens in the circle seemed to cheer on ravens that pecked at the raven in the center or chat among themselves. The birds were very noisy. The bird in the center appeared accused of something. It had feathers askew, and Ki’ti wondered whether it had indeed been pecked hard by some of the birds. Some others hopped up to it shrieking.
Ki’ti and Untuk-na were startled when Raven flew from the sky and landed right beside Tiriku. The bird cocked its head from side to side using first one eye and then the next to scrutinize Ki’ti and Untuk-na. It was as if Raven wondered why they were there. Raven brushed against Tiriku and flew off. Momentarily the thought passed through Ki’ti’s mind web that the bird wanted them to know he was not involved in the activity of the other ravens.
The whole ring of ravens began to hop towards the single raven. Finally, the raven that appeared to have been accused took flight. Others followed screeching at it. It flew as high and fast as it could. Ki’ti was certain that the raven would not return to the area where these ravens lived. But what had happened? She wondered, what could a raven do to make a whole group of ravens reject it? Untuk-na took her by both hands. He pulled her up. He knew she needed sleep, even if she’d forgotten.
The boat was nearing home. An inlet had been dug but was dammed. They would have to dig out the dam and wait for a high tide before the boat could enter. A new double hulled boat was sitting in an adjacent area. Boatbuilders raced to the shore when they saw the boat returning. It was a time of rejoicing for the safe return. There would be feasting.
Manak-na had talked to Ralm about getting cold weather clothing made for Ahna. They would be leaving to find his People and she would not survive without cold weather clothes and boots. Ralm had explained that all that was needed was to ask the women on the hill. He’d accompany Manak-na and Ahna to the village after he finished up at the shore. He told Manak-na they might already have some things available. They did that service in exchange for the hunting the boatbuilders did for them. Manak-na told him he’d also need a backpack for her. Ralm assured him that the backpack would be part of what would be supplied. He told him that meat sticks would also be provided to each one. Manak-na was very grateful.
They spent some time saying farewell to people they knew. Later that day, Manak-na, Ahna, Yomuk, and Ralm went to the village on the hill. Ralm explained what was needed.
“We have what you need,” a very thin, gray haired woman told Ralm. “This is the girl?” she asked.
“Yes,” Ralm said.
The old woman went to another part of the building in which they were standing. The building wasn’t a place where people lived. Manak-na had no clear idea what the purpose of the building was but it appeared to be a place where clothing and other things were kept so they were available when needed. It seemed to fill a storage function for clothing, backpacks, boots, head coverings, boat sails and rudders, strips of leather and rope, and things unfamiliar to him. These items were kept in the way that their meat storage worked for keeping meat available when needed. It struck him as a great idea to have needed items made in advance of need and ready for use.
She returned with a number of items and a backpack. She tried the garments on Ahna. Ahna had never had any foot coverings and they felt very strange. She did not reject them, she just watched. She had to learn how these garments worked, so she paid good attention. The pants were a little long but with the boots on, they were fine. The heavy, long jacket was fur lined and had fur cuffs. There were hand coverings made of fur lined skins. The head covering was fur and it draped around the shoulders to a length longer than Manak-na’s hand. It tied in front. The material was heavy. Ahna wondered what type of weather required all this heavy clothing.
Manak-na thanked the old woman. She seemed surprised at his outpouring of gratitude. She told him that they had appreciated his hunting. He bowed his head.
Ahna thanked the woman. The woman reached out and hugged her. Ahna returned the hug, but she could not understand the behavior of these people. They were so different from what she knew. She was amazed at the clothing. She guessed she was going to a place where it would be very cold. Just wearing the heavy clothes for a few minutes made her sweat profusely.
Ralm suggested they remain that night and depart the next day. Manak-na thanked the man, told him he wanted to say farewell to Pah, but then wanted to depart. He had far to go.
They went to find Pah and he tried to encourage them to stay, but Manak-na was firm. They would leave. Ahna was struggling under the weight of the backpack. Manak-na already had her bedding tied to his backpack along with his. They were all weighted down. Finally they left the boatbuilding place and began to walk up the hill. Manak-na had decided to stay in the cave where they slept the night just before arriving at the boatbuilders’ place. It would take about half a day to reach it.
Ahna did not complain. Her load was heavy for her, but she had no intention of saying anything that would be of a negative nature. She felt truly grateful for all that had been done for her. Ever since Manak-na had taken her, People were caring about her for what felt like the first time in her life.
After much uphill struggling, the three reached the first cave. Manak-na checked for snakes and spiders and beckoned them inside. They went in and laid down their burdens and took time for meat sticks and water. Wisdom was sucking color from the land, so they finished the meal and got out their bedding and prepared for sleep. They slept well.
When Wisdom restored color to the land, they ate, packed up, and left heading for the place where the paths crossed. Manak-na was convinced it would take more than two double hands of days to reach the place. Ahna definitely slowed them, or, he wondered, were they just not in very good shape after sitting so much on the boat? It was easier to blame Ahna than face the fact that they were not in the hunter shape they had been before the trip. But Manak-na wouldn’t let himself live with a lie, and finally he realized that he and Yomuk were grateful for the extra time they were taking. They were no longer in good hunter shape.
They plodded on until they found a place for each night. Occasionally Manak-na or Yomuk speared something for the evening meal. Manak-na usually cooked the food, since neither of the others had been taught. Manak-na decided that the time for them to learn was the present, so he began instructing them. He explained the meat sticks as useful for their designated purpose, food in the absence of fresh food. Ahna learned to look for specific greens and Manak-na showed her how to cook them in a bladder he’d taken from a deer Yomuk had killed. The greens and water were placed in a bag which was hung on a tripod. Hot rocks from the fire were dropped into the bag using folded leather or sticks to pick up the hot rocks. The hot rocks warmed the greens. Manak-na talked to her about local snakes and showed her some of them and where they stayed during the day and at night. Not knowing the plants in this place, she was told not to deviate from what they had previously picked. She was very careful.
When they reached the place where the paths crossed, it was too early in the day to stop. They turned north on the path, and finally saw the cairn with the arm pointing north. They knew that was a sign for them, and they followed knowing they might see more of those. They did. When they reached a place where dirt covered the path, another cairn pointed the way. Manak-na speared a black, long nosed boar that he found in the hills. They had a great time eating that night. They slept in lean-tos in the valley. The meat they hadn’t eaten the night befor
e was tied high in a tree across the valley from where they were. They could hear other animals trying to get it as they drowsed. Manak-na had the first watch and Yomuk had the second. Animals left them alone.
The next day foretold the pattern of many more. They walked and walked. The cairns were clear for giving directions whenever the path was covered. All three of them were increasing in strength. Yomuk had taken some of the clothing for Ahna and put it in his backpack to ease her load. Manak-na was impressed. Ahna was relieved.
They had fresh food almost every night. What wasn’t eaten at night was eaten the next day. Rarely did they need meat sticks. Meat sticks, or jerky, from the Mol was palatable, but it wasn’t as good as the jerky prepared by the People in Manak-na’s and Yomuk’s opinions. Ahna was grateful still for food regardless of how it tasted.
As they had felt on the boat, day faded into day with little to change the pattern. They continued north, surprised at how far the People had come, yet bored at the seemingly endless sameness of the place. As they continued on, one day a raven kept sweeping over them and screeching with great force. As they continued, suddenly Ahna said, “What is that? Do you hear people?”
Manak-na said, “I hear nothing but a noisy raven.”
Yomuk said, “I can hear something. It is very faint.” The raven was flying about making sounds that varied and suddenly in the pauses Manak-na could hear People. “We have finally arrived,” he announced, standing a little straighter.
People came flooding down the hill. Domur was in front. She had heard the raven and hoped it meant what she wanted it to mean. Her hope was rewarded. She raced down the hill and the two hugged. She looked at her husband’s face and wondered about the face painting. Her fingers found the scars on Manak-na’s back and she knew she’d find out about that later when it was time for sleep. All were shocked to see three People when they only expected two. But no one was displeased. There were hugs and People took their burdens and carried them up the hill. It was nearing time for the evening meal and the excitement created so much noise in the home cave that the sounds were almost deafening. Likichi shouted for the noise to decrease. An instant hush fell over the People. -Na hunters were called to get their food. Ki’ti realized that Ahna would have no way to know the way of the People, so she went to her side and told her to follow her. She asked where the girl’s food bowl was. She looked for her backpack and saw it in the cave toward the end. She went to get it and returned to Ki’ti. Ki’ti looked at the bowl.
“Manak-na did this?” she asked.
“Yes,” Ahna said with pride.
“We’ll get you another,” Ki’ti said.
“No, please, that is the first thing I ever owned in my life. I treasure it.”
Ki’ti looked at the girl. She reminded her of herself. “It’s okay,” she said, “Nobody will take it from you. It’s just that our bowls are better. Why don’t you keep yours and use one of ours.”
That seemed reasonable, so Ahna took her bowl back to the backpack and Ki’ti gave her another.
“After you get your food, Ahna, find me and sit with me,” Ki’ti said. “I want you at the men’s council after we eat.”
“I will,” was all that Ahna could think to say. She knew if she’d ever approached the men’s council at her home, she’d have been beaten severely. It would take her a long time to understand these People.
Domur and Manak-na walked outside together. She asked, “What is the face painting?”
“Ahna’s grandfather believed that the god of the underwater wants to hurt me. He gave me this bag of ochre and showed me how to paint this to protect me from the god of the underwater.”
“But you are not near water now.”
“He assured me that the god of the underwater is not constrained by the water.”
“Oh?” was all Domur could think to say.
The evening meal was finished. Ki’ti showed Ahna how to clean her bowl and where to put it. She showed her how to recognize it again. Then she took her to the place where the men’s council met. Ki’ti took her seat and Tiriku came over and sat beside her and then stretched out. Ahna was astonished.
“I do have a dog,” Ki’ti explained to Ahna.
Ahna suddenly realized that Ki’ti had the leadership seat at the men’s council. She did not understand at all. She grew up in a place where women had no leadership function.
Manak-na made eye contact with Ki’ti. She nodded to him.
Manak-na said, “We went to the land of the boatbuilders. There we hunted while the boatbuilders finished the boat. The boat was huge with two sections called hulls. Hulls are made from binding bamboo logs together to make it almost solid. Six trees, three at the lower level and three at the top holds the hulls together. It creaks. There is a mast in the center of the front two top logs. A mast is a pole to pull up the sail, a wind catcher. The mast is made from a log. The mast holds a flat mat of grasses carefully woven together in ways I do not understand. That’s the sail. It catches the wind and that makes the boat move through the water. It is an inspirational thing to see. It’s as if the boat has two bird wings of brownish green that make it speed over the water. On the back of the boat is something called a rudder. There are two of them. This makes it possible for a man to make the boat move in the direction he chooses. The front and back of the hull is pulled upwards. It’s much narrower at the end point than in the middle. I will draw this tomorrow so you can see what it looked like.”
“We live on a huge thing called earth. This coconut has a drawing of where we went. If anyone is interested I’ll show you how the coconut shows this. I treasure this coconut, because it shows our entire voyage. When we reached the land where the sun rises, we found this girl. Her name is Ahna. Their bird man had given a prophecy about her just after she was born. He told that People would come for her to take her to a different place where there was something she was supposed to do. After her people heard that she would leave, she was treated poorly. It was as if they thought she had rejected them. She was just a child! She is still a child. She managed to survive in spite of little food and being struck for anything they felt she did wrong—or for no reason at all.”
“On our voyage home, Ahna, Yomuk, and I experienced a terrible storm. Waves on the water were as high as these hills, if not higher. Sometimes the storm would stand the boat on end. It frightened us, except for Ahna who didn’t know what to expect from a boat on water. One man was taken by a wave. Some waves crashed over us. We were tied to the boat. There were things we’ve never seen. There are fish that fly. When they land in the boat, you have to throw them back to the sea or keep them to cook for the evening meal. There are monster animals called whales. They are large to enormous. They can be as long as it is from this cave to the valley below. They breathe through nostrils instead of gills. When they breathe out, it makes a steamy spout that looks a little like a volcano exploding, and it all smells awful. We have had an interesting time, but it is good to be home.”
When Manak-na stopped talking everyone was looking at him gaping. He had tossed out so many ideas at once that they were having trouble assimilating. Manak-na desperately wanted to talk about his adventure, but he had tossed out the information in ways he’d seen the Mol do, and it frustrated him, because even he recognized it. There was no way his People could put all the information together and make sense of it. Even Ki’ti was staring at him, unsure what to say.
Ki’ti looked at Yomuk. “Do you want to add anything?”
“Manak-na did a good job of telling the adventure,” Yomuk said.
Ki’ti looked at him. Maybe he did a good job for you. You were there. For us, it’s confusing, she thought, but she didn’t say it out loud.
Ki’ti looked at Ahna. “Is there anything you’d like to say?”
Ahna was stupefied that she’d be asked a question, but she recovered quickly and said slowly as one learning a language, “I am glad to be here. I do not know why I am supposed to be here. Do you?” Her gree
n eyes pierced Ki’ti’s blue ones. She was searching, and Ki’ti understood.
Ki’ti looked at the little girl. Little Girl? The two words that came together almost took her breath. Surely this couldn’t be the one to replace her? She said, “I am not certain why you are here, Ahna. We are glad you are here, and no one will hurt you. In time we will know why you are here. Do not spend time in worry. Just enjoy life here.”
Manak-na noticed the peculiar expression on Ki’ti’s face as she tried to answer Ahna’s question. Then it occurred to him that the girl might be Ki’ti’s replacement the People so desperately needed. It also occurred to him Ki’ti might be thinking the same thing. He was glad he didn’t suspect that on the trip. He’d have been even more frightened on the ship in the storm, if he’d thought for an instant that Ahna was Ki’ti’s replacement.
The meeting ended and People began to unroll their sleeping skins. Ki’ti wondered whether Ahna had sleeping skins. She asked Manak-na. He wanted to go to Domur, but he answered that she did. Ki’ti asked him to send Ahna to her.
Before he could reach Domur, he told Ahna to go to the Wise One, the one who led the meeting. She did, but suddenly she was frightened.
Ki’ti noticed and she asked, “What is troubling you?”
“Manak-na said you are the Wise One. Are you like our bird man?”
“Little One,” Ki’ti said, “I am a storykeeper and storyteller. I do not know anything about your bird man. You have no cause to fear me.”
“I feared the bird man, because he told that I had to go away, and my people hated me for that.”
“People here will not hate you. You are just a little girl,” Ki’ti said. There were the words again, she thought. She was looking into an exquisitely beautiful face, Ki’ti realized. It looked like Manak-na might have braided her hair.
Manak-na's Story, 75,000 BC Page 23