Likichi, Ahna, and Elemaea cleaned Ki’ti and put her best tunic on her bony frame. They laid her on Ahna’s chinchilla skin that was given her by Rokuk. It was Ahna’s gift to cover Ki’ti in the grave. Men would carry her body down to the burial site in it. The women had done all they could do.
Domur carried a container of red ochre to where Ki’ti lay in the home cave. It was a large container. She began with Ki’ti’s face and neck. She went to every part of her skin that was exposed and put the red ochre powder on her skin. She used a lot, but it didn’t matter. She wanted Ki’ti to be preserved. Tears fell and she continued, rubbing the powder between Ki’ti’s toes.
Some People were surprised when the chinchilla skin with Ki’ti’s body was carried down to the grave and uncovered. The red ochre was covering Ki’ti completely. Somehow, though, to all it seemed right.
Ahna carried the little dog down to the grave site. Children had been scouring the hills for flowers and had amassed an extraordinary amount of them. She watched as they passed by Ki’ti’s grave to toss in the flowers.
Ahna went to the place where she was supposed to stand by Ki’ti’s grave. She held Ti’ti and thought back to her arrival among the People. She remembered how Ki’ti had treated her. She remembered when Ki’ti realized she had been given the memory for the stories.
Ahna wanted to weep, but she had responsibilities to carry out and could not take the time to weep. She felt she must honor Ki’ti by withholding her emotions and telling the story. Holding Ti’ti helped. The little dog snuggled as close to her as she could get.
The circle formed around the grave. To Ahna’s left the People began to tell what Ki’ti had meant to them. This telling took a long time. Ahna had never seen a grave side honoring last this long. Manak-na later would tell her it was the longest he ever experienced. Stories of Ki’ti poured out of the People, things nobody had ever heard before. It would become legend. Ahna would need to make many stories for the People. She listened carefully. When the circle returned to her she shared her love for the woman who loved her and taught her to love. Then she began:
“In the beginning, Wisdom made the world. He made it by speaking. His words created. He spoke the water and the land into existence, the night and day, the plants that grow in the dirt, and the animals that live on the dirt, and those that live in the water and in the air. Then he went to the navel of the earth. There he found good red soil and started to form it into a shape with his hands. He made it to look a little like himself. Then he inhaled the good air and breathed it into the mouth of the man he created. The man came to life. Then he took some of the clay left from the man and he made woman. He inhaled and breathed life into her. Wisdom created a feast. He killed an aurochs, skinned it, made clothing for the man and woman from the aurochs, and then roasted the aurochs for the feast. The man and the woman watched carefully and quietly to see how he killed the aurochs, how he skinned it, how he made clothing from its skin, and how he roasted it. They paid good attention and they were able to survive by doing what they had seen done.”
Ahna took a brief time to keep herself organized. She still held Ti’ti.
“The People were special and Wisdom pronounced that the man was to treat the land and the water and the animals and the woman the way he wanted to be treated—good. And the same was true of the woman. And it went well for a long time. But Wisdom hadn’t made the People of stone. He had made them of dirt, knowing that they shouldn’t have lives that would go on too long for they might get prideful and forget Wisdom. That is good because People should not be without Wisdom. They would die.”
Ahna took another brief break to breathe deeply to keep from weeping.
“That is why the People return to Wisdom when they die. They are placed in the earth and Wisdom knows. When Wisdom hears of a death of the People, Wisdom waits until the grave is filled back. He waits until it is dark. Then he causes the earth to pull on the spirit of the dead to draw that person’s spirit back through the dirt of the earth to the navel from which all People came, the navel of the earth where the red clay for making the first man was. The dead spirits depart for the navel of Wisdom. That is where they reside for all time. All People’s bodies return to the dirt. But their spirit, that essence of the person made by the One Who Made Us, is pulled back to Wisdom in the place where first man was made, and Wisdom keeps all those he chooses with him there, safe and loved. There is a cycle Wisdom made: a cycle from the navel to the navel. He keeps the spirits of those whom he chooses and he destroys those whom he hates. Wisdom hates those who hate him, those who ignore him, those who would be hurtful to him or the land or water or to those living things Wisdom made including People.”
Ahna looked up. What a tribute it was to Ki’ti to see all the faces in grief, having said such lovely things about her, faces tear streaked but reverently quiet. It was good. Ahna wanted to throw herself down and wrap her arms about Ki’ti’s body, to weep, to be unreasonable. But she was Wise One and had severely restricted behavior expected of her. She had to be the mature one, the one who could be counted on to hold together. She would do it. She would hold together no matter what happened in her lifetime—out of respect to Ki’ti. She would be a good Wise One—for the sake of Ki’ti.
She put her free arm around Elemaea. “I loved her,” she said.
“I know.” Elemaea put her arm around Ahna. “Ahna, I will help you in any way I can.”
“Thank you, Sister. I will always need you.” The two walked up the hill hand in hand while Ahna carried Ti’ti.
Untuk-na stayed behind as others left. He knelt at the grave side and would not leave until Wisdom sucked color from the land. Then, he knew, Ki’ti was fully gone to Wisdom.
Manak-na went up the hill hand in hand with Domur. “Will you walk with me over the hill?” he asked.
“Of course,” she replied.
They climbed to the top and Manak-na showed her the way he normally went to the bottom of the hill. They climbed the next hill to the place where the red ochre was. Domur had never seen the bald hill where the ochre was available and the strange stones were assembled.
“What is the purpose of these stones?” Domur asked, fascinated.
“I have no idea. I’ve never really examined them well.”
The two began to look carefully at the stones. They had odd markings on them. They looked at the stones and realized that they were arranged in a circular manner and that the markings on the stones all faced the center of the circle. They tried diligently to make sense of the stones, but had to give up. Whatever the markings meant—they meant nothing to Manak-na and Domur. Somehow it made them both sad. Some people at some time had meant to communicate something and now it was lost to time. Would it be that way with them? They wondered. They sat amidst the stones for a long while talking about just that. What wonders could the stones have revealed to them? How could a People capture what they knew and make it available to other peoples over a long time? They knew no way at all. All they had was their stories. Life was ephemeral, transient. If a storyteller died, all was lost, unless there was a replacement. Manak-na spoke of the tidal wave that wiped out the people at the boatbuilders’ place and the one that took Tikarumusa’s people. No one was saved. Komus would go to the boatbuilders’ place, but did Komus know enough to restart the boatbuilding? How would they do with no seals living nearby? Who could know? Would he remain there or go to the other side of the sea? The People could have been wiped from the earth when Baambas blew. They weren’t. Why? So many questions—so few answers. People would live, learn, make mistakes, discover brilliant things, then die or be destroyed, and lose it all. New people would start all over again, as if what was known before never existed. It seemed a terrible waste somehow. Or maybe it was a type of salvation—something in Wisdom’s plan.
Manak-na stood. He reached for Domur’s hand. She gave it readily, and he helped her up. They stood together, man and woman, and embraced in the center of the circle of stones. They ha
d a long way to go before Wisdom called them. They would do their best to live well. Together.
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Manak-na's Story, 75,000 BC Page 42