by Franks Busch
GREY EYES
GREY EYES
FRANK CHRISTOPHER BUSCH
Roseway Publishing
an imprint of Fernwood Publishing
Halifax & Winnipeg
Copyright © 2014 Frank Christopher Busch
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form by any means without permission in writing from the publisher,
except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
Editing: Sandra McIntyre
Design: John van der Woude
Printed and bound in Canada
eBook development: WildElement.ca
Published by Roseway Publishing
an imprint of Fernwood Publishing
32 Oceanvista Lane, Black Point, Nova Scotia, B0J 1B0
and 748 Broadway Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3G 0X3
www.fernwoodpublishing.ca/roseway
Fernwood Publishing Company Limited gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund,
the Canada Council for the Arts, the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism and Culture and the Province of Manitoba, through the Book Publishing Tax Credit, for our publishing program.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Busch, Frank Christopher, ºd1978-, author
Grey eyes / Frank Christopher Busch.
ISBN 978-1-55266-677-7 (pbk.)
I. Title.
PS8603.U815G74 2014 C813’.6 C2014-902928-4
Dedicated to the lost children of Turtle Island—survivors of the Indian residential schools, Indian day schools, Indian and Métis mission schools, Inuit federal hostels, 60’s and 70’s Scoop, forced adoption, foster care, and group homes—and to all other victims of colonial assimilation policy.
May you find in these pages
that which was wrongfully taken from you.
Village Chart
BEAR CLAN
(Walking Moon Woman and Waving Willow Man are brother and sister, Painted Turtle Man is their 1st cousin)
Walking Moon Woman (Bear) – Rising Hawk Man (Crane)(deceased)
Walking Cloud Man (Bear) – Red Feather Woman (Turtle)
Brown Bear Man (Bear) – Rolling Shield Woman (Wolf)
White Bear Man (Bear) – Circling Hawk Woman (Marten)
Singing Doe (Bear) – Brown Shield Man (Wolf)
Flying Rabbit Boy (Bear)
White Willow Woman (Bear) – Blue Elk Man (Marten)
Little Grey Bear Boy (Bear)
Yellow Hawk Girl (Bear)
Waving Willow Man (Bear) – Standing Sun Woman (Crane)
Painted Turtle Man (Bear) – Nesting Doe Woman (Deer)(deceased)
MARTEN CLAN
(Blue Cloud Man and Gliding Heron Woman are brother and sister)
Blue Cloud Man (Marten) – Green Wing Woman (Turtle)
Red Feather Woman (Turtle) – Walking Cloud Man (Bear)
White Feather Woman (Turtle) – Blue Bird Man (Crane)
Swimming Bear Man (Turtle) – Speaking Fox Woman (Deer)
Gliding Heron Woman (Marten) – Black Sturgeon Man (Deer)(deceased)
Standing Elk Woman (Marten) – Black Buffalo Man (Wolf)
White Elk Woman (Marten) – Shining Tail Man (Sturgeon)
Blue Heron Girl (Marten)
White Hawk Boy (Marten)
Walking Sky Woman (Marten) – Speaking Thunder Man (Wolf)
Green Star Woman (Marten) – Big Feather Man (Turtle)
Little Star Girl (Marten)
Yellow Bear Girl (Marten)
Blue Elk Man (Marten) – White Willow Woman (Bear)
Coming Thunder Man (Marten) – Red Dragonfly Woman (Wolf)
Black Elk Man (Marten) – White Rain Woman (Eagle)
EAGLE CLAN
(Soaring Star Woman was married twice, she outlived her two children from the second marriage)
Soaring Star Woman (Eagle) – Grey Bear (Bear)(deceased)
Dark Cloud Man (Eagle)
Soaring Star Woman (Eagle) – White Lightning Man (Loon)(Deceased)
Spirit Dance Woman (Eagle)(Deceased) – Wading Elk Man (Deer)(Deceased)
White Star Woman (Eagle) – Red Spear Man (Wolf)
Diving Hawk Woman (Eagle)
Bright Stone Boy (Eagle)
Laughing Cloud Boy (Eagle)
Shining Star Woman (Eagle) – Laughing Oak Man (Crane)
Singing Loon Woman (Eagle)
White Shield Girl (Eagle)
Shimmering Sky Woman (Eagle)(Deceased) – Hunting Lynx Man (Turtle)(Deceased)
Grey Lightning Woman (Eagle) – Swimming Duck Man (Deer)
Rolling Hoop Girl
White Rain Woman (Eagle) – Black Elk Man (Marten)
Red Hawk Boy (Eagle)
White Spear Man (Eagle)
WOLF CLAN
Blue Lightning Woman (Wolf) – Jumping Buffalo Man (Sturgeon)(deceased)
Black Buffalo Man (Wolf) – Standing Elk Woman (Marten)
Speaking Thunder Man (Wolf) – Walking Sky Woman (Marten)
Rolling Shield Woman (Wolf) – Brown Bear Man (Bear)
White Butterfly Woman (Wolf) – Standing Rainbow Man (Crane)
Tall Spear Boy (Wolf)
Standing Arrow Boy (Wolf)
Flying Turtle Man (Wolf) – Little Doe Woman (Deer)
Red Dragonfly Woman (Wolf) – Coming Thunder Man (Marten)
Waiting Rainbow Woman
Big Cloud Boy
Little Spear Boy
Red Spear Man (Wolf) – White Star Woman (Eagle)
Brown Shield Man (Wolf) – Singing Doe (Bear)
DEER CLAN
Talking Stone Woman (Deer) – Searching Fish Man (Loon)(Deceased)
Smiling Hawk Woman (Deer) – Tall Bear Man (Crane)
Little Doe Woman (Deer) – Flying Turtle Man (Wolf)
Soaring Spear Man (Deer)
Speaking Fox Woman (Deer) – Swimming Bear Man (Turtle)
Many Fish (Deer) – Drifting Butterfly Woman (Crane)
Swimming Duck Man (Deer) – Grey Lightning Woman (Eagle)
Little Rock Girl (Deer)
Blue Stone Man (Deer) – Shining Moon Woman (Crane)
Red Stone Man (Deer) – Little Wing Woman (Turtle)
CRANE CLAN
Standing Sun Woman (Crane) – Waving Willow Man (Bear)
Tall Bear Man (Crane) – Smiling Hawk Woman (Deer)
Yellow Cloud Woman (Crane) – Diving Eagle Man (Eagle)
Standing Rainbow Man (Crane) – White Butterfly Woman (Wolf)
Laughing Oak Man (Crane) – Shining Star Woman (Eagle)
Shining Moon Woman (Crane) – Blue Stone Man (Deer)
Brown Bird Boy (Crane)
Blue Moon Girl (Crane)
Drifting Butterfly Woman (Crane) – Many Fish (Deer)
White Arrow Boy
Red Willow Girl
Standing Bow Boy
TURTLE CLAN
(Yellow Moon Woman and her daughter Water Lily Woman were adopted from anther tribe)
Green Wing Woman (Turtle) – Blue Cloud Man (Marten)
Swimming Bear Man (Turtle) – Speaking Fox Woman (Deer)
Red Feather Woman (Turtle) – Walking Cloud Man (Bear)
Blue Feather Woman (Turtle)
Green Seed Girl (Turtle)
Little Wing Woman (Turtle) – Red Stone Man (Deer)
Blue Tail Girl (Turtle
)
White Hoop Girl (Turtle)
White Feather Woman (Turtle) – Blue Bird Man (Crane)
Red Tail Girl (Turtle)
Yellow Moon Woman (Turtle) (Ojibway)
Water Lily Woman (Turtle) (Ojibway)
“My people will sleep for one hundred years,
but when they awake,
it will be the artists who give them their spirit back.”
Louis Riel, Jr. (1844-1885)
Contents
1 PIYAK
2 nīso
3 nisto
4 niyo
5 niyānan
6 nikotwāsik
7 tīpakohp
8 ayinānīw
9 kīkā-mitātaht
10 mitātaht
11 mitātaht piyakosāp
12 mitātaht nīsosāp
13 mitātaht nistosāp
14 mitātaht niyosāp
15 mitātaht niyānosāp
16 mitātaht nikotwāsosāp
17 mitātaht tīpakohposāp
18 mitātaht ayinānīwosāp
19 mitātaht kīkā-mitāhtosāp
20 nīstanaw
21 nīstanaw piyakosāp
22 nīstanaw nīsosāp
23 nīstanaw nistosāp
24 nīstanaw niyosāp
25 nīstanaw niyānosāp
26 nīstanaw nikotwāsosāp
27 nīstanaw tīpakohposāp
28 nīstanaw ayinānīwosāp
29 nīstanaw kīkā-mitātahtosāp
30 nistomitanaw
31 nistomitanaw piyakosāp
32 nistomitanaw nīsosāp
33 nistomitanaw nistosāp
34 nistomitanaw niyosāp
35 nistomitanaw niyānosāp
36 nistomitanaw nikotwāsosāp
37 nistomitanaw tīpakohposāp
38 nistomitanaw ayinānīwosāp
39 nistomitanaw kīkā-mitātahtosāp
40 nīmitanaw
41 nīmitanaw piyakosāp
42 nīmitanaw nīsosāp
43 nīmitanaw nistosāp
44 nīmitanaw niyosāp
45 nīmitanaw niyānosāp
46 nīmitanaw nikotwāsosāp
47 nīmitanaw tīpakohposāp
48 nīmitanaw ayinānīwosāp
49 nīmitanaw kīkā-mitātahtosāp
50 niyānanomitanaw
51 niyānanomitanaw piyakosāp
52 niyānanomitanaw nīsosāp
53 niyānanomitanaw nīstosāp
54 niyānanomitanaw niyosāp
55 niyānanomitanaw niyānosāp
56 niyānanomitanaw nikotwāsosāp
57 niyānanomitanaw tīpakohposāp
58 niyānanomitanaw ayinānīwosāp
59 niyānanomitanaw kīkā-mitātahtosāp
60 nikotwāsikomitanaw
1
PIYAK
The old man fought his way home through deep snow. Beneath a ragged buffalo skin robe, he wore a buckskin shirt and leggings. Once adorned with intricate flower and vine quillwork, the shirt was now bare, the leather scuffed and scratched. His long grey hair was half loose and half braided, to show he was still in mourning.
“Kitchi Manitou,” he called out in prayer. “It is your servant, the one they call Painted Turtle Man. Thank you for letting me be alive to see this day. You have given me so many days upon Mother Earth, for which I am grateful. I am ashamed to ask you for just one more, so I can live to see the miracle you have promised.”
The wind howled. There were not enough hides to keep out the cold, not enough meat to stave off hunger. He had walked long and far to check his snares, which he had been forced to set farther and farther from the village. This was a job for a much younger warrior, but Kitchi Manitou had given the old man a task of the highest importance. He had to do it himself.
With his right hand he clung to the tattered robe, his only refuge from the icy grip of Old Man Winter. In his left hand he carried the body of a half-starved rabbit, the fruit of his labour. Last night, he’d had to dig a hole in the snow for shelter, so he was desperate to make it home tonight. He thought about crossing the frozen lake to save time, but the wisdom his years had earned him argued against it. The open wind of the lake would cut right through him and his shoddy robe. If his old joints locked up on him out there, he would surely die and his family would starve.
The edges of the lake were deep with drifting snow and the old man steadied himself from one tree to the next. It was hard to break the trail and he had to be mindful of the rocks beneath the snow. He had run these paths as a boy and knew every hill, rock, and root on them, but his body had begun to lose its willingness to undertake such journeys.
From the edge of the forest by the shores of the lake he could see the circle of hide-covered lodges—Nisichawayasihk, the place where three rivers meet. His people were the Nehiyawak, the two-legged ones. The land did not belong to them, but they to the land. The Nehiyawak were not the only two-legged ones, though one would have to travel for many moons to find another people.
As Painted Turtle Man approached, he heard something: a woman wailing and moaning against the beat of a drum. The heaviness in his body lifted. He was not too late.
“Thank you, Kitchi Manitou, for giving me my legs that have carried me home.”
2
nīso
A scream ripped through the cold winter night. The glowing lodges continued to flicker their fire light, as though not to notice or care. Wind whistling through pine trees was the only answer to the sound. The inhabitants of the other lodges remained quiet, both out of respect for Kitchi Manitou’s coming blessing and out of fear for the danger to mother and child.
The labour cries came from a small and ragged lodge made of mismatched buffalo hides strewn together against the bitter cold. Bear lodge was the home of Walking Moon Woman, the grey-haired matriarch of the Bear clan. She shared her home with her two daughters and their husbands. Her three elder children, boys, were gone, married into other clans as was the way of the Nehiyawak. Her sons tried to help when they could, but their obligations were to their new clans.
The days of glory for the Bear lodge had passed, and its inhabitants struggled to prove their value to the village. For their hunters, fish were hard to catch, berries hard to find, and animals scarce. Times were hard for all of the Nehiyawak, but hardest for the Bear clan.
In the old days, when Painted Turtle Man and his wife still walked together, he helped her make the medicines for the people, evoking the spirits of the ancestors to take pity on the sick and suffering. Now that she was gone, he had been all but forgotten by those he had dedicated himself to helping. The emptiness in their bellies was mostly what the Nehiyawak thought about.
Of course a true medicine carrier gifted by Kitchi Manitou could call upon the ancestors for visions and heal wounds and ailments with a little magic and a wave of the hands. But Painted Turtle Man had not been born with such abilities. He had to make do with what he had been taught: the secrets of the plant world, how to guide a hunter to good hunting grounds, healing the sick with medicines, and the mysteries of the medicine wheel. He could pray and that he did, every day, asking Kitchi Manitou to take pity on the Nehiyawak and make life easier for everyone.
It mattered not that the other clans snickered at Painted Turtle Man’s prophesy, whispering behind his back. It mattered not that the villagers would accept neither his teachings nor his medicine cures, and would not send their young to him to be guided in the healing ways. None of it mattered now, for Painted Turtle Man knew that Kitchi Manitou, the Great Spirit, was about to bestow a great blessing upon the Bear clan, a blessing that was sure to restore their former glory.
The wind had blown snow over the lodges, covering the door flaps. Painted Turtle Man put down the rabbit
and dug the snow away so he could pull the flaps open. He picked the rabbit back up and brushed the snow from its fur. His own clan had begun listening to the talk of the other clans, and doubting him. This did hurt a little, but he pretended not to notice. It would be forgotten when the miracle occurred in this once-dignified lodge. But first, the mother-to-be would have to pass the test of all life-givers in bringing new life into the world.
“We have been blessed by the Grandmother Rabbit,” the old man declared, proudly displaying his prize as he entered the lodge.
“Close the door!” snapped Walking Moon Woman. “You are letting the cold in.” She continued about her midwife duties without another thought or consideration to Painted Turtle Man. The old man curled his lip and shuffled in. He had expected a warmer reception from the remaining Bear clan, none of whom had eaten for two days. He gave the skinny rabbit to Singing Doe, Walking Moon Woman’s eldest daughter.
“Thank you, Uncle,” she whispered and began skinning the rabbit with a dull stone knife.
Singing Doe had yet to be blessed with a child. Last summer she had tried, but the baby girl had been born without breath. The young woman’s face and body still bore the strain of losing the new life. For the Bear clan, the loss signalled the moment their luck finally ran out. The people of Nisichawayasihk expressed their sympathies, but some whispered that it was the Bear clan’s fault. That they had brought it upon themselves. That the child was better off…
The expectant mother pulled and stretched the braided leather ropes looped around the lodge poles above her. The leather moaned under the strain of her weight as she pulled herself into a squatting position during each contraction.
Two men tended the small fire and chanted their medicine songs in support. The man beating a buffalo hide drum was Brown Shield Man of the Wolf clan. He was husband of Singing Doe. Brown Shield Man always had a kind word or a joke to share. He ignored the rumours and gossip about the loss of his child and laughed it off when one of the younger men questioned his manhood, as though his seed had been too weak. Today his face was serious as he tried hard to ignore his fear that tragedy would strike the Bear clan again.
The other singer, the expectant father and husband of White Willow Woman, was a tall and muscular man called Blue Elk Man of the Marten clan. In contrast to his brother-in-law, he was stoic in nature, speaking only when words were completely necessary. A fierce warrior and hunter, Blue Elk Man now looked helpless. All his speed and strength were no help to his labouring wife. Adding to this was the fact that his left leg was bound below the knee where he had been injured by a sharp rock hidden by deep snow. He had not hunted in four days.
