Grey Eyes

by Franks Busch

  Flying Rabbit Boy cleared his throat in as manly a manner as he could. “Ahem!”

  Green Wing Woman, matriarch of the Turtle clan, came and opened the flaps. “Ohh, tansi, young warrior?” she said, observing the two fat ducks in Flying Rabbit Boy’s hands. “May the Grandmother Turtle guide you in the ways of learning.”

  “May the Grandmother Bear guide you in the ways of healing,” Flying Rabbit Boy answered appropriately. “I have come to seek your assistance. Mother Earth has given us her blessing this day, but I am afraid she has been too generous. Would you please accept one of these ducks? My family cannot make use of both and it would be wrong to let it go to waste.”

  With mock reluctance, Green Wing Woman accepted. “If it would help the Bear clan…”

  “Thank you, Nookum,” said Flying Rabbit Boy graciously. “I am in your debt.”

  “One day you will become a fine warrior.” From behind her came the sound of laughing.

  Flying Rabbit Boy could barely contain his smile. His cousin grabbed his arm and pulled him away. The boys bowed to the matriarch and went home, Flying Rabbit Boy with a new bounce in his step.

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  Though most of the clans had managed to replenish their food stores, the winter that year was long and difficult for the people of Nisichawayasihk. Life was especially hard for the Bear clan. Blue Elk Man and Brown Shield Man had again stayed behind when most of the other warriors had gone south for the great buffalo hunt in the fall. This year, the other warriors were not able to be quite as generous as they had been in previous years.

  Again, the saving grace of the Bear clan was the assistance of Drifting Butterfly Woman, the young matriarch of the Crane clan, and her husband Many Fish. She continued to recruit White Willow Woman and Singing Doe to assist in the cleaning and smoking of the fish her husband caught.

  Painted Turtle Man was having difficulties of his own. His sacred sight had somehow diminished, which many of the Nehiyawak attributed to his age. Whenever a warrior passed tobacco to Painted Turtle Man to be guided on the hunt or in some other endeavour, more often than not it would end in failure. One Deer clan warrior met with disaster. He was dragged back into the village on a makeshift travois pulled by Red Sky Man.

  A crowd was gathering in the centre of the circle of lodges where Red Sky Man had pulled the travois. Despite the cold wind and blowing snow the villagers were curious to hear the details of what had happened. People gathered, trudging through hard snow and wrapped up in their buffalo robes. “I went to the place Painted Turtle Man’s vision had guided me to,” explained the warrior. “I found the bluff to the northeast where he had seen the moose in his vision. I positioned myself at the edge of the cliff as instructed, keeping downwind from the birch tree below, just as I had been told. As I waited, I began to get sleepy and I didn’t notice a crow fly onto the tree I was under. The crow cawed loudly and startled me and I fell off the cliff and broke my leg. I called for help for some time before Red Sky Man found me.”

  “I do not think anyone should blame Painted Turtle Man,” said Red Sky Man, though no one had thought to. “Although I did not see any moose sign, I am sure there was one on its way. It was an accident no one could have foreseen.”

  “What brought you out there?” Painted Turtle Man asked Red Sky Man.

  “I was looking for spruce gum for a medicine I am making,” answered Red Sky Man. “Anyway, it’s a good thing I was there, or this warrior might have frozen to death.”

  The people of Nisichawayasihk murmured and offered prayers of thanks to Kitchi Manitou for preventing such a tragedy.

  “A long way to go for spruce gum,” said Painted Turtle Man, fixing his gaze on Red Sky Man.

  “I needed a certain kind not found around here. You have probably never heard of it.”

  Painted Turtle Man nodded suspiciously, then noticed the sky was becoming cloudy. He looked back at Red Sky Man, smiled, and walked away.

  “It is unfortunately the mind that is usually the first thing to suffer with age,” Red Sky Man whispered to the man next to him.

  Warriors who passed their tobacco to Red Sky Man that winter seemed to be blessed with unusual success. One young warrior of only fourteen summers had worn an elk tooth charm around his neck that Red Sky Man had blessed for him. When he went out hunting as directed, he managed to find and kill the largest elk anyone in the village had ever seen. The boy was immediately inducted into the Soaring Eagle Warrior Society for his success.

  Eventually, not only warriors but anyone seeking help or healing stopped visiting the Bear medicine lodge. Slowly, even Painted Turtle Man’s helpers began to abandon him.

  “I am sorry, Moosum,” apologized Soaring Spear Man, the last of his helpers. “I am grateful for your teachings. I must now go and learn what others might have to teach me.”

  “I understand,” said Painted Turtle Man, mustering what little pride he had left. “Go forward and learn. Of all the teachings that will be presented to you by new teachers, take only what you need and leave the rest behind.”

  With that final lesson, Soaring Spear Man nodded and shook hands with Painted Turtle Man for the last time as his student.

  One night, during a meagre evening meal at the Bear lodge, Walking Moon Woman spoke up. “My cousin. I have begun to miss the time we used to spend together. In this Bear lodge, I have only the young people to speak to. As I grow older, I wish to spend more time talking with my age mates. Younger people only ever concern themselves with the future. I wish to reminisce about the days that have passed, days which these ones were not around to see. You should come back into the Bear lodge so we can talk in the evening when I have my tea. You could also help to give me your advice on matters of importance to the family and the village.”

  “Your grandchildren are growing, my cousin,” replied Painted Turtle Man. “The Bear lodge already seems too small for them. Also, I have many medicines that would take up too much space and cause you much grief. I am afraid I would just be a burden to you.”

  The truth was, having seen seventy-two summers, the old medicine carrier’s body no longer had the strength to maintain a lodge by himself. Even with Little Grey Bear Boy and his cousin Flying Rabbit Boy trying their best to assist him, Painted Turtle Man did not have the help—or the muscle—he needed to continue.

  “Nonsense,” said Walking Moon Woman. “There is plenty of room. I will just have my daughters clean up some of their mess!”

  “We would be honoured to have you back in the Bear lodge, Uncle,” said White Willow Woman. “You could help to teach the children. Already they ask many questions and there is just not enough time in the day to finish our work and explain everything to them.”

  “Tapwe, you would be doing us a service,” added Singing Doe.

  “Tapwe,” said Brown Shield Man, “and we would all be warmer this winter if we were to add the hides from the Bear medicine lodge to one home.”

  “I think we would all be more comfortable,” nodded Blue Elk Man. It was a strange comment coming from the quiet warrior who had endured many hardships.

  “It seems the whole clan is in agreement on this,” observed Painted Turtle Man, looking from one adult to the next. “Who am I to argue with the Bear clan?”

  Blue Elk Man and Brown Shield Man got to work the next day disassembling the Bear medicine lodge. White Willow Woman, Singing Doe, and the children helped pack up the medicines and possessions and moved them into the Bear lodge. The lodge poles were widened and once again Painted Turtle man was with the clan.

  No sooner had the Bear medicine lodge gone down than a new Eagle medicine lodge went up. Red Sky Man, the new Eagle medicine keeper, had elevated himself quickly in the eyes of the people of Nisichawayasihk. This was not uncommon—the Nehiyawak often held newcomers in higher esteem than those who had grown up in their communit
y.

  On seeing this, Painted Turtle Man prayed. “Kitchi Manitou, is this your way of giving an old man a rest before calling me back on the long journey to the Spirit World? Show me how I can best be of service to the Nehiyawak.”

  He tried to focus on his one remaining task, the education of Little Grey Bear Boy and the other Bear clan children. “Your will be done, Kitchi Manitou…” he prayed whenever feelings of regret entered his heart.

  The Bear clan struggled through the winter. They may have all grown a little thinner through the hard-faced moons of Old Man Winter, but they greeted a renewed Mother Earth in the spring together. Little Grey Bear Boy and his cousin joined Many Fish in learning how to use a net in the river to catch spawning fish. His own children being too young to learn the skills yet, Many Fish welcomed the opportunity to teach young men who were still earning their warrior names.

  The river ice had broken and cleared, though the edge of the river bank still had snow and ice in the shaded areas. The water had not yet given up its winter chill and the two boys were careful not to fall in. To do the work they were doing it didn’t take very long for their mukluks to get soaking wet with the cold water.

  “You need to pull from the top of the net!” Many Fish laughed, as the boy’s unpracticed hands struggled with the net. “Pull into the current!”

  “But that makes it feel heavier,” whined Flying Rabbit Boy.

  “Tapwe, but doing things the harder way is usually the right way. When you pull with the current the net is lighter, so the fish can swim away from it. You need to catch them head on.”

  “Just pull!” growled Little Grey Bear Boy. The struggling boys managed to pull their net a ways up the river, getting it onto the land. Their cheering mothers and Drifting Butterfly Woman, matriarch of the Crane clan, greeted them and their full net.

  “Thank you grandmothers and grandfathers of the water.” Little Grey Bear Boy took out his pouch of tobacco and offered a pinch to the river. “You have blessed us with our fish brothers and sisters. We will no longer be hungry thanks to your generosity. Thank you, Mother Earth for your bounty.”

  “All my relations!” said the others when he had concluded.

  “It has been a long winter,” said Drifting Butterfly Woman to her friends, “and you two have become very skinny. I am starting to feel sorry for your husbands.”

  The women laughed at the playful jest. It was well known that the men of the Nehiyawak preferred their wives well-fed.

  “Tapwe,” laughed Singing Doe, “but these fish will change all that!”

  Many Fish taught the boys how to scrape the bark off of a tamarack tree and cure it over a fire to make a carrying pole. Once gutted, they hung the fish through the gills on the firm poles, filling two. They carried the poles, one end on each shoulder, home.

  With Flying Rabbit Boy in the front, Little Grey Bear Boy at the rear, and all the fish hanging between them, they looked like a large caterpillar. As usual, they stopped by the Turtle lodge to share their catch. They were greeted by Green Wing Woman, matriarch of the Turtle clan. Her granddaughters were quick to cast aside their sewing and quillwork to see what was happening.

  “Tansi, Flying Rabbit Boy,” called one of the girls. “What did you bring for me?”

  “Awas,” said her sister. “He came here to see me, didn’t you?”

  “Well, I…” blushed Flying Rabbit Boy as the young Turtles laughed.

  “Awas, you two, don’t tease him,” said the matriarch. “Go back inside and do your work.”

  “Motch, I don’t think they…” he was too late. They went back into the lodge as ordered, whispering and giggling to one another.

  “My boy,” said Green Wing Woman to Little Grey Bear Boy, “you have certainly grown this winter.”

  “Thank you, Nookum,” he replied politely.

  “You will soon earn a new name, it seems.”

  “Perhaps,” answered Little Grey Bear Boy, his heart jumping at the thought. “I will leave such concerns for Kitchi Manitou to decide.”

  She smiled. “Humility is a fine quality in a young man. May the Grandmother Turtle guide you in the ways of learning.”

  “And may the Grandmother Bear guide you in the ways of healing,” replied Little Grey Bear Boy.

  When they returned to the Bear lodge, the cousins tied the tamarack pole across the lodge poles. Just as they were about to set up the smoking rack, they heard an announcement.

  “People of Nisichawayasihk,” boomed the Crane clan warrior’s voice, “come and greet the new visitors to our village!”

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  The Crane clan warrior announced the visitors in each of the four directions.

  Near the centre of the circle of lodges stood two women, one in front of the other. The taller of the two looked to be about thirty summers. She stood with her hands on the shoulders of the younger woman, who appeared to be about thirteen summers. They wore strange clothes, made mostly of lightly coloured deer hide and quillwork forming diamond shapes. Their hair was braided with thin deer hide ribbons and mink fur hung from the ends.

  The younger woman’s head was bowed to show respect for the people of Nisichawayasihk and to indicate that the other woman would speak for her. The duty of greeting outsiders fell under the jurisdiction of the Eagle clan. “Welcome to Nisichawayasihk, the place where three rivers meet,” began the Elder Eagle twin. “What brings you to our home?”

  “I am called Yellow Moon Woman, from Azaadiwi-ziibiing, the place of the poplar tree river,” she answered. “I am told that among the Nehiyawak of Nisichawayasihk walks a great medicine carrier who is blessed with the dreaming eyes and the secrets of the plant world. We have come to seek his teachings.”

  The Eagle clan members stood with the sun on their faces and chins up. One of the young warriors clapped Red Sky Man on the shoulder. The elder Eagle twin smirked and nodded at her younger sister.

  “Tapwe,” she said. “You are well informed. Our Eagle medicine carrier, Red Sky Man, is the one you seek.”

  “Forgive me, cousin,” said Yellow Moon Woman. “The name I have heard spoken among the villages is Painted Turtle Man of the Bear clan.”

  The Nehiyawak muttered and whispered amongst themselves. Pilgrims from other villages seeking out Painted Turtle Man? This could be an embarrassing situation for Nisichawayasihk, partly because they did not hold Painted Turtle Man in as high esteem as the other villages apparently did, but especially because the Bear medicine lodge was no longer.

  “We have been told that a great miracle took place here,” continued Yellow Moon Woman. She looked at the blank faces around her, wondering what she had said wrong. “Last summer at the sacred sundance ceremony….”

  “I think you may have been misinformed. The miracle came about by way of the Grey-Eye magic. It was the Eagle medicine carrier, Red Sky Man, who was overseeing that particular part of the ceremony.” The twin allowed her voice to carry some of the annoyance she felt.

  Walking Moon Woman stepped forward for the Bear clan, addressing the elder Eagle twin. “My sister. There are many ways in which the miracle could be interpreted. None of us can understand Creator’s will. The interpretation you have shared is one of many. Here is another: it was under my cousin Painted Turtle Man’s guidance that my grandson was blessed with the miracle, for the good of all the Nehiyawak.”

  No one among the Nehiyawak who witnessed the miracle claimed to understand its meaning, though everyone had an opinion about it. Although it had been Little Grey Bear Boy who produced the miracle, two eagles had appeared. Red Sky Man was the one who did the piercing and he was born of the eagle. Painted Turtle Man had taken Little Grey Bear Boyto the tree, but any sundance chief could have done that. The miraculous healing that had taken place was only done by Painted Turtle Man’s hands and everyone knew that he and the boy shared an uncommon bon
d. Perhaps both the Bear and the Eagle where equally responsible? Kitchi Manitou’s will was never easily understood.

  The Eagle twins and Walking Moon Woman looked into each other’s eyes, neither one backing down. The tension between the two clans was palpable.

  Drifting Butterfly Woman stepped forward for the Crane clan. “My apologies, cousin. I could not help but notice your beautiful dresses. They are unlike any I have seen before and I am not familiar with the place of the poplar tree river. Are you of the Nehiyawak?”

  “I am sorry, cousin. We came from farther south than the Nehiyawak dwell. We call ourselves the Anishinabe, your neighbours to the south. My daughter and I hail from the Turtle clan and if this is the home of Painted Turtle Man of the Bear clan, we would ask to dwell among you for a time.”

  “Just what the Turtles need,” whispered Red Sky Man to the younger Eagle twin, “more useless mouths to feed.”

  The younger Eagle twin giggled, stopping herself when the matriarch of the Deer clan began to speak.

  “The Anishinabe people are welcome amongst the Nehiyawak. The great peace between our peoples is without beginning and without end.”

  The Nehiyawak nodded their agreement.

  “How is it you speak our tongue so well?” asked Drifting Butterfly Woman.

  “That is not my doing,” explained Yellow Moon Woman. “It is because of my daughter, Water Lily Woman.”

  She presented her daughter to the people of Nisichawayasihk, pushing her forward slightly so she could be seen. The young woman raised her head to reveal shining grey eyes. The Nehiyawak vibrated as the ancient magic coursed through them.

  “I wanted my daughter trained in the ways of the Grey-Eye magic,” continued Yellow Moon Woman to the shocked crowd. “We wish for her to be taught by Painted Turtle Man of the Bear clan. Our village has not known the Grey-Eye magic for many generations and there was no one who could teach her. When we heard of the sundance miracle, we made our preparations and left our village as soon as the snows melted.”