Manak-na's Story, 75,000 BC

by Bonnye Matthews

  “How did you do that?” Lugmi asked timidly wondering whether these people had a form of spirit power.

  “Our Wise One found a mummified man of the People. She realized he was evil. He was like us,” Manak-na said, “People—not Mol or Minguat. He spoke mean spiritedly to our Wise One. She realized he should be buried so his spirit could go to Wisdom. He didn’t want that to happen. She insisted, and our people buried him across the valley. Outside the room where the evil mummified man was, there was a painting that showed what the evil man had done. Our Wise One had that wall totally destroyed so it could not be reassembled. She did not want our People looking at the painting and learning evil from it. We hacked some large rocks out of there!” Manak-na mused.

  “Good—that is good,” Lugmi said, seemingly calmed. She still wondered about how their Wise One knew she needed to have the man buried and destroy the pictures to get rid of the evil.

  Komus decided that confusion was in the air among the newcomers. He explained. “Many, many, many years ago, the man of whom you speak came to the Mol giants. They were dying out, and he managed to get them to follow him and his evil ways. The giants subjugated all of us. They would not let us continue to speak our language. We had to speak the language of the Mol. We tried so hard to keep our language, but all we could manage to keep was our way of doing things. They didn’t seem to care about that. They would leave us alone as long as we spoke nothing but Mol and gave them gifts. They wanted special things: much food and things like a piece of jade or a purple bowl that had belonged to someone way back in our time. At least I think it did. They gave those things to the evil man. I suppose he ate the food we sent to feed them. There were more of us then. Many to the west moved further west to get away from the evil man. We didn’t see that as an option, so we put up with things until the evil man died.

  Some of our men went to take the special food and things, and they discovered that the evil man was dead. Oddly his spirit told our people to leave these things every time they were due. That was several times a year. The man said he wasn’t dead; he had changed into a god. Our people were terrified and left the things for the dead man. When it was clear that nothing was happening to what we left, we stopped taking them. Passing the spot to go to the boatbuilders’ place, I could still feel the evil from that place until now,” Komus said obviously still awed. He looked at his people. “It’s gone,” he said with finality and conviction. “The evil is really gone.”

  Manak-na said, “If you have had things taken from you to give to the evil man, there are things laid on a table in the cave where his body was. You are free to come to our home and take back what was taken from you, if it’s on that table. We have left those things alone. None of us wants what is not ours.”

  Komus’s people were looking at each other in total disbelief. Later they would quietly question what kind of people could overcome such evil—wondering whether they had an even greater evil. After all, the evil man was one of the people like Manak-na. Maybe Manak-na and the others like him were evil. Only a couple of them were really Mol. Maybe Manak-na had cast a spell on them and on Komus to make them believe the evil had ended when it was about to get worse.

  “This Wise One of yours,” Monski, a hunter asked, “is a woman?”

  “Yes,” Tongip-na replied.

  “How can a woman have the strength to fight a god?”

  “First, the man in the cave was no god. He just wanted to see himself that way, and he seems to have convinced giants and others that he was. He was just an evil man. Second, the woman is our Wise One who communicates with the spirit of Wisdom. She is the storykeeper and storyteller of the People. She is tiny. She is not physically strong. She is very strong spiritually. Those things are different. She sees right to the heart of truth.”

  “But she is not among you?”

  “No, she is not,” Manak-na said. “She is considered a treasure among our People. She doesn’t take risks such as this travel, for if we lose her, we lose our stories from the beginning of time.”

  There seemed to be some release of tension among Komus’s people. Manak-na wondered whether they were frightened by the idea of their Wise One. It almost made him laugh, but he controlled himself quickly. He did not know these people. Maybe if they stood a little in awe of their Wise One, it would be a good thing. When he could, he whispered that among his People. Later, he smiled to himself. Why shouldn’t they stand in awe of Ki’ti? He was her brother, and he did!

  They spent time talking and getting acquainted until some of the women indicated it was time for their evening meal. All went to another area where they sat overlooking the beautiful lake. Each person took his or her bowl to the table where women filled it. Then they found a place on the hillside to eat. It was a restful time. Food always seemed to taste so good when it was eaten in the outside air. This time was no exception.

  Mitrak asked Komus, “What is this meat? I think I have never eaten it.”

  He replied, “It is seal. Long, long ago, our people lived far to the south. That is why our skins are dark. For many reasons we migrated north. When we arrived, it seemed the thing to do to eat seals. They were plentiful and relatively easy to kill. They of all animals kept us healthy. We lived on the large land north of here where the boats turn toward the islands between the west and east. Our people left a warm land for one that is very cold. We have stories about the black and white seals they ate. They saved our lives. There are brown ones and grayish ones, but the black and white ones fascinated them. But that land is unstable. We had to move. How wonderful it was for our people of long ago to find this place with seals in a lake! When we don’t come to the lake to eat seal, we are not as healthy. We have been eating seal ever since. A lot of our culture centers on seal, because we believe it gives us life.”

  “But you are inland. Seals don’t live here.” Manak-na was fascinated.

  “They live in the big lake,” Komus said, wondering whether he should share this privileged information.

  “Seals in a lake?” Manak-na asked. “I thought they were only sea creatures.”

  “Well, what can I say? They live here.” Komus wondered how they got to the lake, but didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about it.

  After the cleanup, people came to the newcomers, carrying tree limbs and branches, which they put in a sheltered area with a view to the lake. It was material for a lean-to, a very large lean-to; one that would accommodate more than the six newcomers. They helped the newcomers put it together, so they’d be prepared for sleep. Many evergreen branches were placed on the ground of the lean-to to make it soft and fragrant. Gourds of water were brought and placed under the sheltering roof, so the newcomers would not thirst. The People were grateful for the help and for the shelter. When they were in the lean-to alone, they spoke in the language of the People. They had not noticed any who could understand that language, but they took care what they said. There were none of Komus’s people who spoke the language of the People.

  When Wisdom restored color to the land, it was with great golden skies.

  “When it looks like this,” Mitrak said, “You’d expect to hear a shout from Wisdom.” She combed her hair, picked her teeth, and tried to make herself tidy. “We’ve forgotten the gifts,” she said to anyone who would listen.

  “You’re right,” Aryna said. “Let’s take them to the morning meal.”

  “Good idea,” Kai-na added.

  When Wisdom returned color to the land, they gathered the combs, tools, and red ochre and went to the place where the people of Komus planned to eat. His people had noticed that the newcomers had gifts, and they were eager to see what that meant. All gathered together to see what they could learn.

  Manak-na spoke, “We brought gifts to you from our people.” Tongip-na laid a small piece of leather on the ground. “These are combs for hair.” He demonstrated how to use them, noticing that these people definitely had use for them. He laid them on the skin that was on the ground. “These
are knives for your women to share. We have a young woman who has been making tools since she was a child. She made these for the smaller hands of women and for more intricate use. They can be used for preparing food or cutting items for sewing.” He laid them on the skin beside the combs. “This is ground red ochre. Do you use it?” he asked.

  The people looked at him uncomprehendingly.

  “It comes from grinding red ochre rocks. You can see that I paint my face with it. It is something you can use for making marks on cave walls or putting on the skins of the live or dead. It is a preservative for skin.” He laid the container on the skin on the ground with the combs and the knives.

  “This comes from us as a gift with good wishes.”

  A very old man stood carefully, looking at Manak-na. “Your people have been very generous. I thank you for the gifts and for accompanying Komus home. I delight to know that the evil man is buried and can cause no more problems. We have also heard that the boatbuilders’ place exists no longer. That cannot be. We will have to send more people there to rebuild. Those people will have to pass your place. Will you permit them to pass?”

  “Of course,” Manak-na said.

  “Some of our people live on the other side of the sea. We cannot leave them without any communication available to this side of the sea.”

  Manak-na wondered who Komus’s people on the other side were. All he recognized were Mol and People. He supposed that they were not really all that different. And some did have darker skins, but he thought it was the darkness of getting more than enough sun on the skin. Maybe not.

  Newcomers watched as Komus’s people came to look at the gifts. They tried combing their hair and discovered rats. Aryna was near a woman who tried to comb her own hair. Aryna showed her how to remove the rats before combing, so it wouldn’t hurt so much. She did it so gently that the woman was grateful. When her hair was fully combed, she was smiling as she felt her silken hair.

  The newcomers were ready to return home. They didn’t want to seem too eager to leave, but they were anxious to return. They discussed it with Komus, and he understood. He assured them that his people would understand. At the evening meal there was discussion between the two people after Manak-na had made the admission that they had originally planned to trek as far as the lake to make that their home. The people of Komus made it clear that an adequate number of animals to take care of two sets of people could not be found at the lake. They asked the newcomers whether they hadn’t noticed a lack of meat animals on the way up. They thought about it and agreed. They asked what happened.

  “Years ago,” a man said, “Before the people left for the west, we over-hunted. We had to feed ourselves and take food to the evil man. The animals began to die out, because they could not raise enough young to replace what we were taking. We have been very careful in the last few generations to come here to fish and eat more fish, and we always take as many seals as we are able. We need the seals for our health, and that way we can help land animals build up the herds again. But it will take a while. I’m glad you didn’t come here to live. We might have fought over the few animal resources we have. That would not be good.”

  “I agree, that would not be good,” Kai-na said.

  “We have found our new home, and it is good,” Manak-na added. “We like it a lot right where we are. The white rain is deep in the season of cold days, and that makes hunting difficult. To come further north would make things worse, we reasoned.”

  Komus added that he’d told them about having to wear double outside garments in the season of cold days just to go outside. He assured them he’d told them how difficult hunting would be in the cold times.

  For the first time Manak-na wondered about his friend, Komus. He wondered whether the man was making things sound worse than they really were to prevent others from migrating to the area to eat seals. The idea consumed Manak-na’s mind web. He could find no way to prove it, so he left it alone. He berated himself for being suspicious without foundation regarding a man he’d known for a while as a friend. After all, his people had no plans to move to the big lake anymore. It did, however, add an edge to the way he viewed Komus.

  The newcomers assured them that they planned to leave in the morning. The people of Komus brought them a lot of jerky for their return.

  Before the sun appeared in the sky, the People were gone. Manak-na and Tongip-na both had bad feelings. It was the way hunters felt when they sensed they were being stalked. The six of them discussed it. They made as little in the way of tracks as they could. They climbed over the hill and down the other side, keeping to the rocky ground. By the time they reached the woodland that edged the path, they had trekked far. Manak-na and Kai-na gathered branches that had leaves. They brushed out their foot tracks as they walked. When they came upon a forest with large width trees, they told the women to go uphill to guard their backpacks. The women were aware that there was a threat, and they were unwilling to hide while the men fought. They carefully retraced their way back down to the place near where the men waited. They had slingshots and a few women’s spears. They could see quicker than the men the seven men who followed them. The men were trying to read the tracks that had been brushed.

  Manak-na heard them before he saw them. He elbowed the other men. They were prepared. Each stood well hidden with spear raised. The men were almost on top of them when they each thrust their first spear into a man, killing three. They were on to their second set of kills when Tongip-na caught his foot in a root and fell. Manak-na and Kai-na speared two more of Komus’s men. The remaining two were about to spear Tongip-na, when from the bushes three slingshots spun and the remaining two men were hit in the temple with rocks from the slingshots. One man, speared in the side, remained alive barely.

  Domur went to that man and stood over him. “Coward!” she said with venom. “We brought you gifts and you tried to take our lives. What manner of men are you?”

  The man had a spear sticking through his side. He was in much pain. He said, “We don’t trust you. Your Wise One will come to demand food and gifts from us. You’ll come to the big lake to eat our seals. We don’t want you here. We thought if we could destroy you, we could sneak up on your people to destroy you all.”

  “Foolish man! We are the best friends you could have. We are People of our word.” Manak-na breathed heavily and spoke in a measured way.

  Domur stood there glaring at the man in anger. “Coward!” She spat out the word and roughly jerked the spear from the dying man making his blood flow more freely.

  “We have to retrace our steps,” Manak-na said, jerking his spear from the other dead man. Tongip-na and Kai-na pulled their spears free from the dead. Tongip-na noticed his spear point had broken. It was still useable but not quite as effective.

  “What do you mean?” Tongip-na asked.

  “I mean that we have to go back there to make it clear to all that their little plan didn’t work, and that they had better stay away from us, or we’ll return to destroy them utterly.”

  “What?” Domur was totally confused.

  “If we fail to react they will judge us weak. They will come to destroy us. We have to stand up, now. When they see that three men and three women killed seven of their hunters, they’ll think twice about taking advantage of us.”

  The People tied the dead men together and began to drag them to the top of the hill. They hoped going down would be easier. It was. They arrived at the camp to be met by Komus.

  “What is this?” Komus asked in dismay, looking at the faces of the dead.

  “These men followed us to murder us,” Manak-na spat out the words.

  “By all the gods,” he turned to the old man, “are you all crazy? These people are my friends! You have done evil, when they have done nothing but good to you.”

  “We are trying to protect ourselves,” the old man said quietly.

  “That is a certain way to bring war upon us all,” Komus said. He turned to his people. “I will no longer l
ive where Punilok is leader. Replace him now, or I leave.”

  Punilok said in a quiet voice, “All those who will follow Komus walk to the far side of the creek.”

  All the people of Komus went to the far side of the creek except Punilok and his wife.

  “How many of you knew what the hunters were doing?” Komus asked.

  Two dead hunters’ wives whose tear stained faces gave away their relationship to the dead bodies, stepped forward. “I knew,” one said, and the other said, “I also knew.”

  “None of the rest of you knew?”

  No one else indicated they knew.

  “Why didn’t either of you say anything?”

  “Who would I tell?” one asked.

  “I was frightened,” the other added.

  Komus said, glaring, “You are as responsible as these men for what has been done. The deaths of our own people are your responsibility as if you’d murdered them with your own hands. These People will never trust us again. Before we lost seven hunters, they had three times as many hunters as we have. When I go back with some of you to the boatbuilders’ place, we may all be killed, and it will serve us right. Such evil foolishness. Where did this evil arise? It must die!”

  The People watched as Komus took on the leadership. They would never have guessed he had it in him.

  “You two women and Punilok—over there,” he ordered. They moved to the log where he pointed. “Who are the guards today?” he asked. Two men stepped forward.

  “Where’s the third?”

  “We’ve only had two for a long time.”

  “Takuk,” you are the third guard. “Guards get your spears—now!”

  Punilok’s wife ran to him and wrapped her arms around him.

  The guards got their spears and returned to Komus. Komus looked them steadily in the eyes, “Kill them,” he said. Komus’s people were deadly silent. They were aching inside, but they were terrified to try to stop what was occurring. Without hesitating, the guards speared the four people.