by C. S. Bills
The Tuktu muttered among themselves.
“Sit. Listen to what I have to say,” Attu said. He kept his voice calm although several weapons of the Tuktu were now pointed at him, while the rest still aimed at Senga. Attu admired how the man stood, his face calm, looking neither intimidated nor fierce, but strong. Attu turned to include everyone in his words. “And when I’ve explained, you will all understand. Then Kossu can gift Spartik with the bows and arrows he’s been able to make. We can teach you all how to make them as well. Please sit.”
Toonuk looked toward the other hunters. Several had lowered their weapons and were looking between Attu and Kossu now. Kossu had lowered his own spear and was nodding at them. “It is true. I have many bows and arrows to give Spartik for the privilege of taking Chirea from you to be my woman.”
Spartik let Chirea slide to the ground. She turned and straightened her woman’s garment. Spartik put his hand on her shoulder, but she didn’t try to return to Kossu. She stared at Senga instead, as the rest of her people were now doing.
Attu sat. Yural nodded her agreement with his decision and sat also, Senga and Ubantu on either side. The rest of Attu’s Clan saw what their leader had done and a few muttered their reluctance, since this put them in a vulnerable position should the Tuktu decide to attack. But they followed Attu and sat. He gave the sign of being about to speak and motioned for the Tuktu to sit also.
An incredulous glance passed between Toonuk and Spartik. Then Toonuk looked around as if he couldn’t believe how quickly Attu had calmed his own men, and how they all had sat, ready to listen. Toonuk stood for a long time, looking genuinely perplexed. The longer he stood doing nothing, the tenser his men became.
“Father?” Martu began. Attu could see the young man was trembling, but he held himself straight and met Toonuk’s eyes without wavering. “I want to hear what Attu has to say.” And Martu sat.
A collective gasp arose among the Tuktu hunters as first the young hunter who’d lost his grandfather moved to sit beside Martu, then several more.
“Please, Father?” Martu asked.
Toonuk’s brows drew together, but he nodded at Martu and the other young men then sat, motioning for the rest of his people to sit as well.
Attu took in a deep breath, and in a voice that was both calm and loud enough to be heard by everyone, he told the story of Senga. Attu explained how Senga had been forced out of his own Clan, had gotten caught up in the thief band, and then left when it meant attacking his own Clan. He told how Senga had wandered and eventually injured his leg and been found by the boys.
“Once Senga was banned from his Clan, what else could he do?” Attu said. “He didn’t want to be a thief. He wanted a chance at life in a Clan, a woman of his own, a place to belong.”
“But how do you know what he’s told you is true?” Toonuk asked when Attu finished. “He could have lied to you to get help and to stay here where he is safe.”
“That’s possible. But it’s not the point.” Attu felt the frustration rising in him and worked to hold himself back. “Your Clans have no way to keep this from happening – over and over again – men getting pushed out of their Clans with no place to go. What else do you expect them to do besides banding together and turning against those who have thrown them out?”
Attu knew he’d taken a great risk, speaking to Toonuk like this in front of all the people. But someone had to at least start the Tuktu thinking about how to stop creating their own enemies, or more than one band of thieves would be roaming again before long.
“How dare you say our Clans are wrong to make such men leave? I-” Toonuk began.
“I did nothing wrong.” Senga stood, his voice strong, although Attu saw his hands were shaking. “I loved a woman. She promised herself to me. And Poltow threw me out of my own Clan to give her to his brother.” He looked around. Martu and the other young Tuktu men were nodding. Even the older herders no longer looked angry.
“I never wanted to leave my Clan. I was forced to. I never wanted to fight them. So I didn’t. And because I’ve found these people, who will let me have a chance again at a good life, you say they are now your enemies and I should be killed? You are wrong.”
Lips popped among the Tuktu. Attu watched as Toonuk puffed himself up. He looked around at his older men, and his face grew still as one by one, they refused to meet his gaze. He looked to Martu, and something passed between them.
Toonuk seemed surprised. He started to stand, when his woman put her hand on his arm, turning her face upward to whisper to him.
Toonuk scowled, but did not pull away from her. She spoke rapidly, and after a few moments, Toonuk’s face calmed. He sat back down, as if he’d changed his mind. “We are not done here,” Toonuk announced, meeting Martu’s gaze again.
Attu was proud of the young Tuktu herder as he held his father’s eyes with his own steady one. Toonuk looked away first. “But my woman has reminded me that you welcomed us as friends,” Toonuk added, “and that tonight is for Chirea. Now. For the exchange of gifts.”
The rest of the evening was tense. Kossu demonstrated his weapons. The Tuktu were eager to get them. Much bargaining resulted in Kossu being gifted with several tuktu hides and various other supplies as well as Spartik’s willingness for his daughter to become Kossu’s woman. But feelings were far from smooth. Attu gave Toonuk several nuknuk hides and much dried fish in payment for the tuktu that had been culled after its injuries. Toonuk took the payment, but said nothing.
“At least the young couple are enjoying themselves,” Rika said. It was growing late. Most of the pooliks were asleep, and people were talking quietly in groups around the fire.
“Let’s hope Toonuk doesn’t get Spartik to change his mind about them now that they know about Senga.” Attu glanced at the pair.
Chirea sat blushing beside Kossu as the last embers were dying from the fires. Soon the two young people would be parted for the night. The full moon was in two days. They would be joined then.
Spartik and Ubantu were seated directly across from Attu. He realized they were also talking about Chirea, and he began listening to their conversation.
“Chirea was a daughter born to me when most men become grandfathers,” Spartik said, glancing toward Toonuk.
“My second son was born just before my first grandchildren,” Ubantu said. “I think about him growing up, and I wonder if I will be there to see him find a woman someday.”
Spartik nodded. “I am glad to see this day, but it will be hard to have her go. Only the spirits knew she would find a man among those we didn’t even know existed until a year ago. And her man found the bow wood! A better match she could not find, to have such a clever man.”
“Next day, Kossu will show you the types of trees that make the bow wood and how he’s learned to dry it to make the best snap back once the arrow is released,” Ubantu said. “There must be clumps of such trees near many of the lakes you stop at with your herds.”
Spartik smiled his agreement.
An understanding look passed between the two older men. Spartik’s eyes drifted back in Toonuk’s direction. Ubantu followed his gaze and his eyebrows furrowed. Toonuk was sitting away from the fire, silent and brooding.
“Toonuk loves his son,” Spartik said, his voice so quiet Attu almost missed his words. “Now that Martu has proven himself as a herder who can protect his Clan...” he paused. “Martu is strong-minded, like his father. If Toonuk can’t learn another way to deal with such young men as his own son...” Spartik shrugged. “I have tried to talk to him.” Spartik’s words faded. He looked across the fire and met Attu’s gaze, his eyes filled with quiet desperation.
“We speak. Now.” Toonuk stood outside Attu’s shelter. Attu answered the leader, but took his time getting up and coming out.
The sun was only a hint of lightness in the eastern sky.
“Walk with me,” Attu said, moving away from the shelter and down to where the water moved restlessly along the beach. He did
not look back. If Toonuk wanted to play a power game with him, then so be it. The man Attu knew would respect nothing less.
Toonuk humphed and followed.
“I will let you keep this thief, but know it is the wrong thing to do,” Toonuk began.
“I say who is with my Clan and who is not,” Attu said, keeping his voice and face calm. “You overstep yourself.”
He felt Toonuk draw himself up as if to protest, but then his shoulders sagged and he stopped, sitting down in the sand instead, facing the ocean.
Attu sat as well, both looking out over the grey moving waves rather than each other. Attu felt the Tuktu leader working to say something. A long moment passed.
“The thieves are destroying my people,” Toonuk said, finally breaking the silence. “Nealria has spoken her women’s wisdom to me, long into the night.” Toonuk made a scoffing sound. “Spartik also, with Martu, after we left last night. You have spoken as well...” He stopped as if unable to continue.
Attu knew this admission was hard for Toonuk. He said nothing, waiting for Toonuk’s next words like a hunter over the nuknuk hole.
“By the trystas you are so patient!” Toonuk swore. Then he grew thoughtful, as if considering his own remark. “No one has left your Clan since you arrived on this land. My men have told me this. In fact, your numbers have grown. Your people are happy. You have your arguments, but they don’t end in bloodshed, as your father has said. And now you’ve even taken in this thief. And it is working for you, at least so far. How do you do this? We are Nuvik, too. What have my people lost since they came off the ice so many generations ago?”
Toonuk turned to Attu, his eyes filled with grief over the state of his Clans. Attu saw a desperate man, not the puffed leader from the night before, making the others believe he was in control, but the man Attu’s mother had hoped Toonuk would grow into, one who could admit his people were wrong.
I never believed I would get this chance, Attu prayed. Attuanin, give me the words to teach this man the ways of the true leader. And give Toonuk the ears to hear the truth. He is just one leader among the Tuktu Clans, but he is a powerful man. It is a good beginning.
The sun was dipping into the ocean two days later as the Nuvik and Tuktu gathered at the mouth of the river near the grassy upper edge of the beach. Chirea sat on a sledge pulled by a single tuktu. Shells along the sides of the poles jangled as the tuktu walked, guided by her father toward the edge of the river, where Kossu and Soantek stood with Yural off to the side, standing near a nuknuk hide laid out for the second part of the ceremony.
They reached the edge of the beach. Chirea walked with Spartik the short distance to the river’s edge. Her tuktu hide dress was elaborately beaded, her hair swept up on her head and decorated with beads also. Her hair had been pulled back so tightly her eyes and eyebrows slanted up even more. Her skin gleamed against the light tuktu hide. Attu knew Chirea had allowed the Nuvik women to use seal fat on her skin. It made Chirea look even darker, a rich color. She seemed to glow from within.
Farnook stood with Suka, his arm protective around his woman and Nipka, who for once was being quiet, her eyes large as she studied the tuktu now grazing where it had been left.
Keanu and Meavu stood side by side, their men behind them. Meavu was bouncing Tovut in his carry strap and Keanu rested her hands on her rounding abdomen. She would bear a child this winter. It made Attu anxious to think of Keanu in such a vulnerable condition during the time when the thieves might come.
I’m worried... Attu began mind speaking to Keanu.
Not today, Attu. Today is not the time to think about what might happen in the future. Enjoy this moment, leader of our people. See and celebrate today. Keanu motioned with her hand for Attu to look back to the ceremony.
You’re right. Attu looked toward the river. Kossu and Chirea were entering the water. Chirea had taken off her elaborately beaded dress and had been wearing a light grass shift under it. Kossu wore only the man’s undergarment. Soantek had his body paint on, the red for fire and the blue for water, in the swirling designs of the Nukeena’s spirits. He led the way into the water until he and the young couple stood waist deep in the slow current where the river widened to flow into the ocean.
Soantek gave the blessing, pouring the water from his sacred vessel on both Kossu and Chirea. He threw powders into the air and light exploded above the couple. Even though they’d been told ahead of time about this part of the ceremony, some of the Tuktu still grabbed for their weapons, looking embarrassed when their hands came away empty, all weapons having been left behind on this day of bonding.
Kossu and Chirea disappeared under the water and stayed under far too long. Spartik took a step forward, but Nealria placed a calming hand on his forearm and he stepped back as the young pair rose again.
Lips popped and thighs were slapped as the two walked back out of the river. The first part of the ceremony was accomplished. Chirea paused, Tuktu and Nuvik women surrounding her. When she stepped away, she was back in her beaded dress, the wet grass garment in the arms of another woman. Kossu disappeared behind a mounted hide screen, emerging again with a hunter’s shirt and pants on.
Next, they walked to Yural, who tied their hands together with the ceremonial rope as they knelt on the nuknuk hide and she spoke the words of bonding over them. When she said, “And you, Kossu, will be a true hunter to Chirea, bringing her the game for as long as she lives,” Rika placed her hand in Attu’s and squeezed. She had tears in her eyes. Attu knew she was thinking both of their own bonding and the future bonding of their children. He squeezed back.
But the ceremony wasn’t complete yet. Kossu picked Chirea up in his arms, and Yural and Soantek followed, each carrying a corner of the nuknuk hide. It was placed over the tuktu hide of the sledge, and the almost-bonded pair settled on top of it. At this point, Spartik approached the sledge. He painted symbols on the side of the tuktu pulling the sledge, then symbols on the foreheads of Kossu and Chirea. The young couple lifted their feet, and he painted something on them as well.
“Because to the Tuktu, feet are very important. To walk together through life is the symbol of both their union and their strength, for they spend their lives walking,” Rika whispered to Attu.
The symbol painting finished, Spartik spoke a few words over the couple, and taking a piece of tuktu antler, placed it on Chirea’s stomach, fastening it to her dress at a loop.
“A symbol of future children, and the growth of their own herd,” Yural said.
Spartik handed the ends of the guiding rope to Chirea. She smiled up at her father and he kissed the top of her head, holding her face in his gnarled hands for one lingering moment. He turned and slapped the tuktu hard on the rump as he whistled a sharp sound. It took off running along the grassy edge of the beach, Chirea hanging on to the guide ropes while Kossu clung to the edges of the sledge.
The Tuktu broke out into loud cheers and an ululation cry.
“Will they be all right?” Farnook cried as the couple disappeared over the edge of the first hill. “What if they fall off?”
“They won’t fall,” Nealria assured her. “Chirea has driven the tuktu since she was a child.”
“No bundling?” Attu looked to the spot where Kossu and Chirea had been coming up the next hill, but they were too far away to see clearly now. “No tossing?”
“No bundling. But we Tuktu love the tossing in the tuktu hide! We’ll do that when they come back,” one of the Tuktu hunters said, a smile spreading across his face as he looked knowingly at Attu. “If they come back...” he let his words drift off as his smile broadened.
The day after the bonding ceremony, the Tuktu left for the south with promises to return in the spring.
“Perhaps then I will get news of becoming a grandfather,” Spartik teased Chirea, who hid her face behind her hands at his remark. “Take care of her,” Attu heard the man say, as he took Kossu aside for some last words. Kossu nodded at the Elder, and pride swelled in Attu’s s
pirit. Spartik had nothing to fear. Kossu would be an honorable and capable man for Chirea. Spartik had no more to worry about than they all had while at least one group of thieves still roamed.
“This winter there will be much time by the fires,” Toonuk said. He clasped Attu’s forearm. “On our journey south, I am going to speak with my men. We will sit around the fire, like true Nuviks. We will learn the ways of our ancestors again, one man speaking, all listening. I will work to stop the struggle for power in my own Clan first.” Toonuk looked out over his Clan and herds.
Attu nodded but said nothing.
“I think the other Clan leaders will listen, when I explain how we have begun to act too much like the skittish tuktu we herd and less like the patient Nuvik hunter over the ice hole.” Toonuk’s lips quirked at the remembrance of some of what Attu had told him that early morning on the beach.
“You will find a way,” Attu agreed. “You are a strong leader. The others will listen to you. As you have said, no Tuktu wants to continue to destroy their Clans from within. May the true Nuvik spirits go with you.”
Attu stood on the hill for a long time after Toonuk walked down to join his people, until the Tuktu disappeared over the last of the hills to the south.
Sometimes I wish I were that naïve young hunter again, and all I had to do was escape the melting Expanse. Looking back, it seems much easier than what we face now. This is worse than the wait over the nuknuk hole. The nuknuk must breathe sometime. But who knows if or when the last band of thieves will sweep down on us with their sleds? Senga has said these men are determined to kill for what they want. There is no turning back for them. Attuanin, give Toonuk the strength to help his Clans stop fighting with their own people. This group of thieves must be the last to roam Nuvikuan-na.
Protect us, Attuanin. Give us strength. Give me the wisdom of the creatures of the deep, like the great killer whale fish, that I might keep my people safe as he keeps his safe from the sharks in the water of the Great Ocean and the predators, like my people, above.