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Tamarack's Story Home Implementation Plan |
| Legend #1 | |
How a Boy Learned to Hunt The Eshkibod (Raw-Meat-Eaters) are familiar to most of us, as they are renowned for their swift kayaks, igloos, and uncanny ability to hunt the shifting ice for Seals. Their little-known cousins the Adikanesi (Caribou People) live inland and have quite different lifeways. They are Caribou hunters and have developed a deep relationship with these four-leggeds. The Tundra Herbs, which cannot be eaten by the Adikanesi, are relished by Caribou, who in turn gift the plants, in the form of their flesh, to the Adikanesi. They return the gift by challenging Caribou in the hunt. Only the swiftest and most clever survive, and they pass their superior traits on to the young. Were Caribou not hunted, they would soon overpopulate the tundra, stripping it of greenery. Only one fate could follow--agonizing death from disease and starvation in the bitter cold of the long, black winter. When an Adikanesi hunt is successful, thanks is given to Caribou Spirit--the life force common to all Caribou. A finger is nothing without the hand, and so it is with an individual Caribou. As the hand gives the finger its life and purpose, so Caribou Spirit gives life and purpose to each Caribou. When one dies, her body nourishes the relations and her spirit lives on in the spirit of all Caribou. I would like to tell you the story of an almost-grown boy of the Adikanesi called Dewe’iganans (Little Drum) and how he found his way into adulthood. He had recently quested for his Lifedream and was anxious to begin living it. His dream told him that he was to be a hunter and bring the gifts of Caribou--meat, bone, sinew and pelt--to his people. Serving them in this way was to give him a deep sense of fulfillment; however, when he returned from his quest he said to himself, “I do not know where to begin. Hunting for Grouse and Hares around camp is one thing, but venturing far out on the tundra and tracking the mighty herds of Caribou is quite another! I know that part of becoming a man is finding my own way along my given path, and yet I am already lost before I begin.” Making a small fire for himself, Dewe’ig sat and stared into it. Most of the day passed, and just as Father Sun was about to touch the horizon, Dewe’ig jumped up and shouted, “I’ve got it! My uncle Geemoodapi (Laughs Inside) is the greatest hunter of the Adikanasi; I will go to him and learn the way of the hunt.” Dewe’ig spoke of his uncle with some pride and not too much exaggeration, as Geemood was truly a good hunter. He had Caribou medicine and was the eldest, most experienced, hunter of the clan. Providing consistently for his people, he would be sure to help feed and clothe those in need. “I will make a Petition Pouch for uncle out of this lush pelt from the white Hare I snared last White Season,” decided Dewe’ig. He empowered the pouch by decorating it with Caribou teeth, as they were what turned bitter Lichen into sweet meat and warm furs. He attached several of Caribou’s Sun-dried scat, because this was Caribou’s gift of nourishment to The Earth Mother so that She could continue feeding Her children. Lastly he made a latch from a piece of Caribou rib that had been used as a hide tanning tool. When Dewe’ig held the pouch, he could close his eyes and feel the power. He could not wait to present it, so he immediately went out to look for the elder hunter. Geemood had wandered alone out on the Tundra, which he often did just before going on a hunt. When Caribou called him, a farseeing look would come to his eyes, and his people would know that he wished to be alone to prepare himself for the hunt. This time Dewe’ig felt the same calling, so he thought it would be alright to go join his uncle. “I have been waiting for you Dewe’ig,” said Geemood when he heard the boy approaching from behind. “How ever did you know someone was coming to see you?” asked Dewe’ig. “It is not me who knows,” replied Geemood, “it is me who listens to those who do know.” “Uncle, I do not understand.” “Perhaps your mind does not, and yet your heart does. Come and sit with me.” The boy-man sat beside the aged hunter on a mossy rise overlooking a vast sweep of Moss, Heather, and pondlets that make up the Green Season tundra. “Honored Uncle,” began Dewe’ig, “this boy who strives to be a man believes that he has been given his Lifedream. He respectfully comes to you for guidance.” As he spoke he reverently, and with a bit of shyness, handed his uncle the petition pouch. “This person was told that Caribou wishes him to help keep her strong,” he continued, “and he feels the passion to bring Caribou medicine to his people. Nothing would please him more than to dedicate his life to Caribou and Adikanesi. He is so filled with this Dream that he feels about to explode, because he does not have the skills to serve in the way he is called. Now he sits humbly before you, asking if you would accept him as an apprentice.” “This man hears the words of your heart,” replied Geemood. “How might he serve in the walking of your Lifepath?” A thoughtful look came over Dewe’ig’s face. “Uncle, ever since I could first walk I have followed in your footsteps. When you would take your man-bow and go out on the tundra to hunt Caribou I would take my child-bow and stalk the Caribou my fanciful eyes saw lurking around the camp. When you came home with the gifts of Caribou I felt both the joy of the camp and the joy in your heart. I would bring in berries and greens, or perhaps a Hare, and they were my Caribou, so like you I also felt the joy of providing for our people. “As I grew older I came to notice the faraway look that danced in your eyes when you prepared for the hunt. It caused me to realize that there was far more to hunting than knowing how to stalk and shoot a bow. Uncle, that is what I wish to learn.” Geemood listened with quiet pride, as few children were so perceptive. He looked off over the low-rolling hills as he recalled bringing his own petition to a great hunter in the time of his youth. After a while he spoke; however, the voice was not his. The words came from a hunter whose bones have long lied on the tundra with those of his sister Caribou. This grayhair who sits beside you,” he began, “is honored as a skilled and cunning hunter; however, you must know that it is Caribou Spirit who deserves the honor, for it is she who presents those of her kind before me. And it is Wolf who should have the credit for skill and cunning. I am merely a clever imitator--a shadow--of Wolf, the real hunter. You have brought your petition to me because you have seen me hunt. It has not yet been possible for you to see the hunter within me, the hunter whose spirit guides mine. “I will fast on your petition, my brother’s child, and if I am given the sign that I am intended to accept it, I will do so with honor, on behalf of Caribou and our people. And then I will guide you to Wolf, as he was the first hunter for our people, and it was he who has taught us the ways of the hunt ever since that long-ago time of the first Adikanesi hunter. This is as was done for me, and for all those of our calling who have walked before us.” “My heart embraces your words, which touch me deeply,” responded Dewe’ig. At the same time, I found I had to force myself to listen. There were other voices distracting me, and yet they were echoing your exact words. Soon I realized that I was hearing your uncle, and all the wise hunters before him, going all the way back to when the first boy-man petitioned the first Adikanesi hunter.” Geemood smiled, knowing that when his bones lie mingled with the bones of Caribou and Wolf out on the Mother tundra, Caribou would remain strong and his people would be provided for. |
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| Legend #2 | |
| How Chant Came to the People “It is a good day to start a long journey,” said Gichinodin (Great-Storm-Coming) as he awoke. His silver-black coat shone in the morning Sun as though it were frosted with mist. So that everyone would know he was a chief of the Wolf people, he walked with his hackles raised and held his tail high. Anxious to begin his travels, Gichinodin immediately set out on the narrow trail that wove through a grove of stately Birch. Beside the trail flowed a brook that hummed through rushes and chortled over mossy rocks. Even though he felt the heaviness of the grave journey he was now undertaking, he was also uplifted by the unspeakable beauty that surrounded him. “I sense the presence of a Human coming up the trail toward me,” he said to himself. “Greetings my sister,” he said as he stepped aside so that the Human could pass. “This person is called Gichinodin and he is on a journey that will take him far away to an unknown land. His heart is warmed as he travels through this beautiful land where you live.” “This woman is honored to know you, Gichinodin,” replied the Anishinabi. “Her name is Eeshibag (New Leaf) and she is of the Cloud clan. She comes to the stream to fetch hides from the water, where she placed them last night to soften for tanning. he welcomes you to this land. We seldom have the gift of Wolf among us; what gives us the honor this day?” “I am now the last of my kind,” replied Gichinodin. “Without my sisters and brothers to run through the Forest and feast on sweet venison with, I am no longer Wolf. The spirit of our kind dwells not separately in each of us but in all of us as one. I am but a single pitiful person; I am nothing onto myself. I can neither carry nor honor the spirit of Wolf alone, so it is my day to die.” “That is hard for me to believe,” responded Eeshibag, “as I heard you chanting your Song from far up the trail, and it echoed without end like a chorus of spring birds. As I left my camp and started up the trail, your Song inspired me with the glory of the Wind and the river of your spirit. I know your chanting was welcomed by all the relations this morning--the Winged and Legged and Finned and Rooted--because we all joined with you in a great chorus celebrating the Circle of Life. Your song is vital to that spirit.” Having said that, Eeshibag felt more relaxed and was able to pause and reflect. She then added these words, “And you, Brother Wolf, you stand before this woman tall and strong, and your eyes burn with the fire of life. Had you not spoken of it, I could not imagine this to be your last day.” “That it is my last day is not important,” kindly replied the silverhaired one, “it is the last day of Wolf. By walking this Forest one last time and chanting our Song as though this day were our first, I am honoring the time my kind has been given here on the Mother’s lush bosom. I do this now because for us there is no tomorrow. The land from which I come has been raped and all of my kin have been killed. I know now that I have been spared only for this moment, that I might bring this message to the one who has been chosen to receive it. This person who now stands before her, respectfully asks if she will listen, and then carry the words to all of the Humans. My life will then be complete ” “This person’s heart is heavy,” lamented Eeshibag, “because it bears the sadness of all the relations. At the same time she hears your request and would consider it an honor to do as you ask.” A faraway look came over Gichinodin’s eyes. “Wolf and Human were the first of the relations to walk on the Bosom of the Earth,” he said. “We camped and hunted together; we feasted and told stories together. That changed when the other relations came to live here on Earth with us. At the great Welcoming Ceremony we held in their honor, Bumblebee came forward to speak for them, and this is what she said, ‘It is intended that you, Humana and Wolf, now begin keeping separate camps. You have different paths to walk. At the same time you are to remain sisters and brothers, helping and looking out for each other, and learning from each other’s examples. As goes the fate and fortune of one of you, so goes the fate and fortune of the other. I have spoken.’” “The prophecy of Bumblebee now comes to pass,” continued Gichinodin. “ Wolf has met his fate, and he has come to warn you of yours.” “Noble Brother”replied the woman, “your words burn like fiery coals upon my chest. Without you we will suffer. We are given meat and clothing by the Deer people, and you are their guardian--you keep them healthy by taking their sick and old. Since the time of our first ancestors you, the Great Hunter, have trained us in the ways of the Hunt. We will be drowned in a deep sadness when your shadow no longer crosses our trail. “Because I do not wish that upon my people, I will not believe that Wolf has met his final fate. You, a noble chief of the Wolves, still stand here before me, and your kin the Humans will stand with you, for we are warriors! “At the same time I wish to respect your desire to leave your loneliness, so I take from before you any selfish wish I may have to keep you here. And yet if I were to let you go I would also be giving up on my kind, because our fates are one. I cannot do that because it is not the warrior way. For that reason this person respectfully asks that you would honor the Humans with one last request--that you would allow us to carry your Song. For if the Song of Wolf survives, the spirit of Wolf will live on. “We the Humans are with you as are the stars with the night. We will bring honor to the warrior way--we will dedicate our lives and the lives of our children to the seventh generation, to healing the greed that so savagely plunders our beloved Earth. Endless camps of Tree People shall again cover the hillsides, and the Hooved and Winged, in uncountable numbers, will come back to blanket the Plains and blacken the skies. And then, my lonely brother, your kind may again dwell among us.” “This person is deeply touched by your words,” responded the last Wolf. “They speak the love of your kind for all of Life. You are truly a sister of Wolf. Still it seems there is no way for the song of Wolf to survive. I am afraid that, in spite of your noble intent, we are destined to leave the Circle of Life for all time.” Again a deep sadness overtook Gichinodin. He bowed his head and his once-lofty tail hung limp. All of a sudden he looked very old. The woman warrior looked caringly upon her brother, and at the same time she did not soften. In the tradition of her kind, she presented Wolf with a Petition Pouch, symbolically decorated with ornate Porcupine quill work. She gave him the Pouch with these words: “Since Wolf and Human have parted their ways, we have had no Song. In the days when our two camps were one, the Drum of the Human was our collective heartbeat, and the Song of Wolf was our collective chant. It is a lonely rhythm that now rises from our Drum, and our hearts have cried because there has been no voice to chant in Thanks-giving. “This person respectfully asks, again, if you would entrust us with your Song. We would carry it with honor, chanting it to the four Sky Realms, and keeping Deer strong, just as you have. In this way balance will be maintained among the relations, and we will all continue to dwell in the lodge of your most beautiful Song’s blessings.” The lone Wolf walked down to the stream, were he stood on the bank and looked out over the water. A long time passed, and when he came back he said in clear voice, “Honored Sister, you speak from a place of wisdom that eclipses my narrow truth. On behalf of Wolf Spirit, this person wishes you to know that we would be honored to have you carry the song of my kind.” At that he raised his head and his eyes beamed as they once did when he ran blissfully with his clan. “In the beginning,” he continued, “your kind and mine walked together. I see now that there may truly be a day when we come back to gather to drum and chant and hunt. Courageous Human, you have served my journey--our journey. My day, and the day of Wolf, is now complete.” “When all of the Humans chant your Song in ceremony,” exclaimed an overjoyed Eeshibag, “you will know that it is safe to return. My warrior spirit now hungers to begin restoring the balance, so that we might chant you back into being. I say ‘Farewell,’ dear brother; however, it is only ‘Farewell’ for now. Soon we will be running together like the Wind and stalking Deer as in the days of old!” Gichinodin, on behalf of his kind, and Eeshibag, on behalf of her kind, drummed and chanted together one last time. And then they parted, each to fulfill their destinies. |
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