by Franks Busch
From out of the Bear lodge two Red-Eye warriors were dragging White Willow Woman and Yellow Hawk Girl away. Flying Rabbit Boy and Singing Doe tried, in vain, to stop them. The Red-Eyes pushed them off with little effort.
“You will stop this!” said Little Grey Bear Boy.
“What?” scoffed Dark Cloud Man. “Are you still alive?”
“You cannot kill me so easily.”
“Are you so sure of that? My army has taken the village. I am the master now.”
“Your so-called army is defeated! My father and uncles are finishing what is left of them now.”
Dark Cloud Man looked up at the village and for the first time noticed the warrior bodies strewn about.
“This cannot be. Cowards. You have betrayed your master!” His eyes glowed red and a great rumble came from the sky. “Very well. If I am not to rule here, no one shall.”
“Don’t do this!” Walking Moon Woman ran towards him just as he raised his hands, a strange and horrible chant on his tongue. She grabbed him, trying to pull his hands down out of the air.
Dark Cloud Man slapped her hard, knocking her back onto the ground.
“Nookum!” Little Grey Bear Boy ran to the old woman’s aid.
Walking Moon Woman got up onto her knees as a ball of fire broke through the cloudy sky. A hole had been punched through the clouds, making visible the stars of the night sky. The fireball came down to the earth and Dark Cloud Man pointed one of his arms at Walking Moon Woman. The fireball swerved and struck her directly, exploding the earth beneath her and knocking Little Grey Bear Boy backwards. Of the Bear clan matriarch, nothing was left.
58
niyānanomitanaw ayinānīwosāp
“Nookum!” Little Grey Bear Boy screamed.
Dark Cloud Man continued to chant, his eyes glowing red and tears of blood oozing from the sides. The Red-Eyed magic continued bringing fireballs down in a rain of fire upon Nisichawayasihk. The remaining villagers ran about in a panic, screaming and crashing into each other. There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide from this curse. Fire ignited the trees in the forest and the remaining lodges.
Little Grey Bear Boy summoned the waters about him again, though it had stopped raining and there was less to be had. He raised his hands in the air and clapped them at the Red-Eye. The stream of water, small but powerful, fired at Dark Cloud Man, but was repelled by the shimmering dome of energy that surrounded him.
Water Lily Woman spoke a chant and raised the rock and boulders from the broken ground and hurled them at him. The rocks bounced off the dome. Flying Rabbit Boy fired an arrow at the Red-Eye, which shattered upon the dome as well.
“It is no use,” said Little Grey Bear Boy. “We need to break his concentration.”
A fireball came hurtling towards them and they dove in different directions, the earth exploding where they had stood.
The fireball had struck nearest Little Grey Bear Boy. Dazed, he looked up to see the Eagle lodge tear in half as a fireball hit. The younger Eagle twin sat in a shower of smoke and debris. “Where is my sister?!” she screamed, panicked. “She was hiding right next to me. Where is my sister?”
Little Grey Bear Boy tried to regain his senses and speak clearly. “Auntie! The lodge is falling…”
The Eagle lodge, or what was left of it, began to tip over towards the woman. Little Grey Bear Boy got to his shaky feet and limped towards her, but he came crashing down. His leg was bleeding and there a shard of stone protruded from a deep wound. He watched helplessly as the lodge continued to tip, the broken ends of the support poles sharp as spears.
She saw the danger too late. As a scream rose in her throat, a grey-haired figure knocked her over, throwing his body on top of hers, the broken poles stabbing deep into his back.
“MOTCH!” screamed Little Grey Bear Boy, as he dragged himself towards the impaled body of his adopted grandfather.
The younger Eagle twin dragged herself out from underneath Painted Turtle Man, gasping. The old man coughed blood as one of his punctured lungs tried to breathe.
“Moosum!” she cried. “Why? After everything…”
“My girl,” choked Painted Turtle Man. “I never cared about anything you said or did to me. You are a woman of the people of Nisichawayasihk. I have always loved you as though you were my own daughter. You need to live and help the Nehiyawak rebuild their lives after all of this has passed.”
Little Grey Bear Boy dragged himself next to the old man, trying to keep the shard in his leg pointed upwards, while the younger Eagle twin wept.
“Moosum.”
“My boy. It is time for me to go. My beloved wants me by her side once more. You must take up my bundle and carry my peace pipe for the Nehiyawak. Will you do this?”
“I don’t want your peace pipe!” sobbed Little Grey Bear Boy. “I want you to stay with me.”
“I know, my boy,” answered the dying man. “I want that too, but it is not meant to be. I will watch over you from the Spirit World. I will tell Kitchi Manitou about the man you have become…” Painted Turtle Man, medicine carrier of the Bear clan for the people of Nisichawayasihk, drew his last breath upon Mother Earth and his spirit left to join the Great Mystery beyond.
The rain of fire continued all around and Little Grey Bear Boy could hear Dark Cloud Man’s maniacal laughter. Water Lily Woman came running to his side. “Moosum!” she cried when she saw the old man.
“He has left us,” said Little Grey Bear Boy.
“What will we do?”
“I don’t know,” said Little Grey Bear Boy looking up into the sky. Through the holes in the clouds he saw a green flicker of light. “We have only one chance. The Spirits are dancing. We must ask your father to help us.”
“I do not feel him this night,” cried Water Lily Woman.
“Someone is dancing for me,” replied Little Grey Bear Boy. “I can feel it.” He looked down at his hand to see he was still clutching his turtle shell rattle. He began to shake it and sing the Dancing Spirits song. Water Lily Woman wept as she sang. The lone Eagle twin looked up at the sky and watched the clouds part to reveal the aurora in all its quiet magic. She knew the song they were singing and added her voice to it. From their hiding spots behind rocks and trees, the surviving people of Nisichawayasihk added their voices and sang in harmony.
The flickering lights in the sky began to take shape. Soaring Star Woman appeared, beside her a man none of the others recognized. Little Grey Bear Boy knew this was his great ancestor, Grey Bear, the last Grey-Eyed Bear before him.
“My son!” echoed the voice of Soaring Star Woman from the sky. “You have shamed and disgraced the Eagle clan. What have you done to the Nehiyawak?”
“Mother!” cried Dark Cloud Man. “It is you who shamed Grandmother Eagle. We are destined to rule the Nehiyawak, not to be their slaves. I have taken back what is rightfully ours.”
Now Grey Bear spoke. “Nothing is given that is not earned by our own efforts. You deserve nothing by virtue of your birth. You were brought into this world naked and alone. It was the Nehiyawak who took care of you and kept you alive when you were helpless. Is this how you now repay their kindness?”
“I will not serve the Nehiyawak!” screamed Dark Cloud Man. “It is they who must serve me.”
“Then you do not serve Grandmother Eagle,” roared Soaring Star Woman’s spirit. “We Eagles do not command the Nehiyawak. We put ourselves in front of the others to protect them. We bear the blows and the hard words of our enemies to keep the Nehiyawak in harmony with those around them. That is the duty of the Eagle clan and it is no greater than the duty of any other. If you cannot live your life in service to the Nehiyawak, then you are no son of mine!”
The red faded from Dark Cloud Man’s eyes as his mother’s words wounded the remaining piece of humanity in his heart. The glowing energy dome around him faded.
/> The remaining lodges were broken, fallen, or in flames. What was once a circular village was now a flaming ruin. Sections of earth had been torn out and smoking craters where fireballs had struck pockmarked the ground. The dead bodies of friend and foe were strewn about in lifeless heaps. Children cried over dead parents and the survivors dragged the injured towards the cover of the forest.
From the opposite side of the remains of the village, Flying Rabbit Boy saw his opportunity. He drew the magic arrow from his quiver and notched it to his bow.
“My need is great and my heart is true…” he whispered as he aimed at Dark Cloud Man. The arrow flew high and far the length of the village. The arrow began to drop and Flying Rabbit Boy feared it would not make the distance.
“AAAAAAAHHHHH!” screamed Dark Cloud Man as the arrow plunged deep into his thigh.
////
The two Red-Eye warriors who had been standing with Dark Cloud Man looked back and saw Flying Rabbit Boy. They raised their weapons and charged after him, screaming wildly. With the instincts of a great hunter, Flying Rabbit Boy drew one arrow after another, firing them deep and true into the hearts of the attacking warriors. He notched another arrow and was ready to fire at anyone who threatened the people of Nisichawayasihk, but the last of the Red-Eye warriors were running or limping away. Dark Cloud Man pulled the arrow out of his thigh and broke it in half. He raised his hands in the air but could not make the Red-Eye magic work.
“You fools. You are too late to stop me. My servants are everywhere. I will have dominion over all the people of Turtle Island and there is nothing you can do!”
He spat on the ground and jumped up, turning into a crow and cawing loudly at the Nehiyawak as he flew away.
No one cheered or celebrated the end of the battle. What was there to celebrate? The land was destroyed, the lodges were burning, and the bodies of friend and foe covered the ground in pieces and lifeless heaps.
“We have to leave this place,” said Blue Elk Man, now returned to human form, as he pulled an arrow out of his shoulder.
“Where will we go, father?”
“I don’t know, Little Grey Bear Boy. Mother Earth is beginning to flood. The rain of fire has upset the three rivers and the ground is drowning.”
Little Grey Bear Boy looked down at his feet and for the first time noticed the streams of water snaking across the ground, filling the great holes left by the Red-Eye’s curse.
“We sent the Nehiyawak up to the sundance grounds,” said Water Lily Woman.
“That is higher ground,” said Blue Elk Man. “It will have to do for now. Gather the injured and get them there. Find any who are capable and have them return to help the survivors.”
“Hiy, hiy!” said the two Grey-Eyes obediently. Their eyes met for a moment and Little Grey Bear Boy felt like he wanted to smile at Water Lily Woman, but he could not find the joy in his heart. He nodded instead and limped off to help the injured.
“Use the lodge poles to make a travois!” Little Grey Bear Boy yelled at some boys. “Take everything you can carry to the sundance grounds!”
“Tapwe, Uncle!” they yelled.
Little Grey Bear Boy was shocked to be called ‘uncle’ by boys not much younger than himself. He cleared his heart of pride and whispered his thanks to Kitchi Manitou for this blessing.
He went about the shattered village, barely able to remember where he was amidst the ruins. A familiar voice cried out from behind a great furrow of earth and clay.
Little Grey Bear Boy stopped as though held by deep roots at the sight of Brown Shield Man’s broken body. There were arrows, spearheads, and jagged coyote-teeth tears all over his bloody body. Flying Rabbit Boy knelt over him.
“My boy. I am so proud of you. You have given me great honour this day. You will make a fine husband for…”
“Please, Father!” Flying Rabbit Boy held Brown Shield Man in his arms. “Stay with me…” But Brown Shield Man of the Wolf clan, husband of Singing Doe, had begun the journey into the Great Mystery.
Little Grey Bear Boy fell to his knees at the sight of his broken clan.
“Somebody help me!”
Little Grey Bear Boy and Flying Rabbit Boy looked over to see Water Lily Woman trying to lift the lodge poles off the Marten lodge.
“The matriarch is still alive!” she called.
Little Grey Bear Boy got up and wiped the tears from his eyes. He dragged himself over, cradling his injured leg, to what was left of the Marten Lodge. Gliding Heron Woman lay on her stomach, her feet sticking out at odd angles, legs pinned by what was left of the Marten lodge. She was moaning in agony.
Flying Rabbit Boy sat on the ground nearby. “They have killed my father!” he choked.
“I am sorry,” said Little Grey Bear Boy.
“Be sorry for the Red-Eyes,” sputtered Flying Rabbit Boy. “They will know my vengeance in time.”
Flying Rabbit Boy got to his feet and came to help the Grey-Eyes lift the lodge poles off the matriarch. They managed to lift it enough for Water Lily Woman to drag the matriarch out.
“My legs!” cried Gliding Heron Woman.
“They are broken, Nookum,” said Water Lily Woman. “You boys make a travois, I will tend her wounds.”
The two boys used the poles and rope to make a travois to transport the old matriarch. When they finished, they looked across the ruins of the village and saw Blue Elk Man tying off Many Fish’s right leg, which was just a stump from the knee down.
“Let us get her to the sundance grounds,” said Little Grey Bear Boy but Water Lily Woman stopped him.
“You are in no condition to begin a journey. I will tend to your leg first.” She gathered some hides from the ruins of the Marten lodge and cut them into strips. She folded a length into a bandage and put the long strip into her mouth.
“This will hurt!” she said as she pulled the shard of rock out of Little Grey Bear Boy’s leg.
“Agghhh!” he screamed as Flying Rabbit Boy caught him as he fell over.
“You are going to be okay,” said Water Lily Woman with a shaky voice. She wrapped up the wound and tied it off.
“Thank you …” said Little Grey Bear Boy. He wanted to say so much more to her but could not find the words.
“You boys take her, now. She may be the only elder matriarch left in the village…” Little Grey Bear Boy and Flying Rabbit Boy looked at each other in surprise; they now realized the importance of their task. Without a word, they began dragging the travois with the old woman on it out of their destroyed village.
They looked about for Red-Eye warriors who may have lingered behind. The Grandfather Sun was beginning to climb Father Sky.
“Our nookum?” Flying Rabbit Boy asked.
“He killed her.”
Flying Rabbit Boy tripped but regained his balance quickly.
“Ohhh!” the delirious old woman moaned as the travois jumped. The boys said no more to each other and continued to the sundance grounds.
When they arrived, one of Blue Elk Man’s sisters came to help the matriarch. The people of Nisichawayasihk were sitting and lying about, cold and dazed. Children were crying and women were tending to the wounded or wailing for those who had passed on.
“My boy!” called White Willow Woman as she ran over and hugged him. “Thank Kitchi Manitou you are alive!”
“My brother!” said Yellow Hawk Girl as she joined them. “You saved me.”
“I thought you might have been captured before you made it here” said Little Grey Bear Boy.
“We managed to outrun the Red-Eye’s warriors in the dark.”
“I am afraid many others were not as fortunate,” said Flying Rabbit Boy.
“Drifting Butterfly Woman is coming,” said White Willow Woman. “You must tell her what you know.”
“What is happening?” asked Drifting Butter
fly Woman with wide eyes.
“The Red-Eyes have left,” said Little Grey Bear Boy. “But Nisichawayasihk will soon be no more. The rain of fire has upset the three rivers and the earth is flooding. We will not be able to go back.”
“I see,” said Drifting Butterfly Woman bravely. “Do you have any news of my husband?”
“He is alive,” said Flying Rabbit Boy, “but he…” Little Grey Bear Boy glanced quickly at his cousin and they both looked down.
“What is wrong?” Drifting Butterfly Woman asked.
“My love!” called a man’s voice from the forest. Drifting Butterfly Woman looked up to see Blue Elk Man half-carrying Many Fish. He smiled and waved at her as he hobbled on one leg toward her. She ran to him, soon joined by their children, who were all crying for his lost leg.
“Father. Should we return for the others?”
“There is no need, my boy,” answered Blue Elk Man. “These are all that remain of the people of Nisichawayasihk.”
There were not many left of the once proud village—children mostly. How could these few be all the people of Nisichawayasihk?
59
niyānanomitanaw kīkā-mitātahtosāp
“Who will speak for the Bear clan?” called Drifting Butterfly Woman.
Singing Doe, White Willow Woman, the three children, and Blue Elk Man were now all that remained of the Bear clan. The two women’s eyes met and neither was sure how to proceed without the elders.
“Singing Doe speaks for the Bear clan,” answered White Willow Woman.
“Very well. Please join us, Singing Doe. There are important matters to discuss.” The six women now representing their clans gathered around the travois on which rested the elder matriarch of the Marten clan. The women surveyed the situation reluctantly. Of the original village of more than one hundred, only around forty survived.
“I am told nothing remains of Nisichawayasihk,” began Drifting Butterfly Woman, “and even if something did remain, the danger would be too great to stay.”
