Delaney paused for a moment, as if recalling what he had been taught by these people. "His message was peaceful, and it spread to all the tribes. Then there came one from the Paviotso Indians in western Nevada, a prophet, Wodziwob, a man I'm told of commanding character and stature. His message too from the dream state was one of peace. He had many disciples, and Wovoka's father was one of them. It is only natural that Wovoka be the one to journey this night."
Delaney took a deep breath after his long explanation and turned his head to look at her. "This is not naive spirituality. This is older than all the churches and temples, all the religions from across either ocean, and in my time with these people I have come to respect it as the only source of balance that I know of. I have learned to listen." And then he smiled.
For the first time he smiled, really smiled… and Mairie felt something pop inside her heart, infusing her body with warmth. She tried to remember her plan of getting even, to recapture that feeling, yet all she could think of was how magical this night seemed. Dressed in an Indian costume, seated next to this man of mystery, she wondered exactly what was reality and illusion.
It truly felt as if she had traveled back in time.
"What are the words they are singing?" she whispered, watching the dancers slow even more and their voices lower until she had to strain to hear them.
Delaney waited until the repeated verse began again to translate.
Mother, oh come back
Mother, oh come back
Little brother calls, as he seeks thee
Weeping
Little brother calls, as he seeks thee
Weeping
Mother, oh come back
Saith the Father…
"What does it mean?" she asked, suddenly feeling sad.
Delaney smiled. "I suppose it depends on who is singing. It could be used to reconnect with those who have passed on to the spirit world before us, or it could mean, as I take it, that the Indian knows the earth is his mother and is calling out to Her to come back in peace, to restore abundance to the people as before the white man came."
Mairie saw that Wovoka was rousing, beginning to sit up. The others began to take their places, as when they had been eating. It was obvious that this young man had something of great importance to impart to his people, and she found herself as eager to hear him as his brothers and sisters. "You'll translate for me, won't you, Jack? I want to hear this."
He didn't answer and she turned her head slightly to look at him.
"That is the first time you have used my name," he said, gazing at her mouth, her cheeks, her eyes. "Yes, Mairie… I will translate."
It felt like a caress, as if he had actually touched her, and she sighed as they both turned their attention to the young man in the center of the tribe.
"He's saying… 'I journeyed to the land beyond where the sun sets and then I went to the spirit-land, where I saw the spirit encampment. I drew near and stood outside a spirit lodge. A spirit man came out, one of the rabbit robes, of us Paiutes, and he stood beside me. He spoke to me and said: "Behold, I give you something holy." Then he said, "Whence come you?" And I told him of us, of the Paiute in the land of the setting sun.
A murmur of approval spread through those seated in the wide circle, and Mairie felt herself being drawn into this story. She couldn't wait to hear what came next.
Delaney listened and repeated, “‘Then said the spirit man, "Go we together in a cloud, upward, to the Father." So we rose in a cloud to where there was another camp and a man and a woman, a husband and a wife, married in thoughts, body, and spirit, came forward. "I will speak with you now. Behold, I will tell you something for you to tell to all the people. Give this dance to all the different tribes of Indians. White people and Indians shall all dance together. But first they shall sing. There shall be no more fighting. No man shall kill another. If any man should be killed, it would be a grievous thing. No man shall lie. Love one another. Help one another. Hear me, for I will give you water to drink. Thus I tell you, this is why I have called you. My meaning, have you understood it?"
There was a pause.
“‘And I did. I understood.’“
Mairie let out her breath and was filled with awe. Wovoka was like Moses, coming down off the mount with instructions to live in peace. The man started speaking again and she turned to Delaney for the translation.
“‘In the spirit camp I have seen those who had died, and when I came homeward there came with me two spirit companions. These journeyed with me and will stay with me evermore. I hear their counsel, even now.’“
"Wow." The word escaped Mairie's lips as she looked at the remarkable man. He seemed so composed, so peaceful… as if he were in this world, yet not of it.
Everyone started talking at once and Mairie turned to Delaney. She was so excited she grabbed his arm.
"Questions are being asked," he said, looking down to her hand on his arm and smiled. "Wait, one is asking how they can be brothers to the white man, who won't listen to Spirit, who carries guns and destroys Mother Earth."
She watched as Wovoka seemed to go inward and listen. Finally he began his answer.
" It is true all men should love one another. It is true all men should live as brothers. Is it not we who do not thus? What others demand of us, should they not themselves give? Is it just to expect one friend to give all the friendship? We are glad to live with white men as brothers, but we ask that they expect not the brotherhood and the love to come from the Indian alone. The red man alone cannot continue into infinity to hold the source to Mother Earth. A prophecy handed down from tribe to tribe, from family to family, need not be fulfilled if the white man would open his heart. The white man has come to our land raping and plundering our Mother, and we try to defend her, yet the red man is outnumbered by this aggressive human. I have seen how this will continue like a plague upon the earth for generations upon generations until a deadly enemy overtakes them… a deadly enemy that they can not see, nor fight. As the white man continues to be a plague upon the land, so shall a plague remove him from it. White and red must be in balance, or a disease, an affliction, will teach respect for our Mother Earth. There is hope, for we have our white brother with us and he has brought us a messenger from the heavens who has come from the land of our tomorrows.’“
Mairie was reeling. She was aware of the attention of the tribe, yet her mind was almost shouting at her to pay attention. She grabbed Delaney's arm again and muttered, "I have to speak to him. Ask if I may speak."
"What will you say? You have such a message?"
"I have questions… I think I know what he is talking about." She felt her heart slamming into her rib cage, her pulse in her fingertips. "Listen, there is a plague in the land of your tomorrows, but it doesn't affect only the white man. It's called cancer. My brother has it, and he is dying. What Wovoka said about the white man and the red man can also be applied to this plague, the form of it my brother has. Leukemia."
He was shaking his head as if she were speaking in riddles.
"Okay, look… when my brother got sick, I researched this disease thoroughly, not wanting to accept the negative prognosis, so I know what I'm talking about here. We have white and red blood cells. Even if you don't understand, take my word for this. Red blood cells carry oxygen. The white blood cells are the defenders of the body against infection, but if the body starts producing too many white blood cells and they become aggressive, they destroy the red, and when there are not enough red blood cells to carry the oxygen that feeds the body, that keeps us alive, the person dies. The white has overdefended and killed off the red. Completely out of balance."
She was breathing heavily as she stared at him, desperately seeking to see understanding in his eyes.
"This is confusing. Are you talking about blood, or about the white man and the Indian? I don't think I understand."
"Both!" She was excited that he was at least thinking about it. "When Wovoka started talking about the ag
gressive white man and the red man holding the source to Mother Earth… it made such sense to me. This disease, this plague, could it be a symbol of when we become aggressive, when we overdefend and kill off the red man and lose their teachings? I listened and heard teachings tonight that could challenge established religions in its simple truth. Dance. Sing. No more fighting. No more wars. No more killing. No more lies. Help one another. Peace. What will happen when the Indian teachings are gone? Will we die because we won't have the food of life… the connection? It seems to me that the red man is holding our connection to the source. Mother Earth, a living organism."
"Mairie…" He almost breathed her name, as he continued to stare into her eyes. "What you say feels like truth, yet I am confused about the blood. What are these… these cells you speak of?"
She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "I can't explain science, especially biology, but take my word that your blood, my blood, everyone's blood contains them and they are so tiny they cannot be seen with the naked eye."
"They are spirit based? From the invisible world?"
She opened her eyes and held his intense gaze. "You know something… without a piece of powerful machinery, a microscope, you would have to say they are from an invisible world. When they're out of balance they create illness, and when the aggressiveness of the white against the red is way out of balance, in many cases… death. This is a plague, a real plague that has killed millions, and it's so small no one can see it with the eye, or successfully find the way to stop it. Just like in the Indian's prophecy." Their gaze intensified with a deep connection. "And my brother is dying, Jack, from this plague. I need to speak with Wovoka and ask if there is anything that can be done, if there is a cure. It's my brother, Jack. My brother…"
And then suddenly Mairie stopped speaking as the realization slammed into her that she was talking to him as if she believed he really was living in the past and that she came from the future. Where were the planes? Where was the city? The lights? Anything modern…?
Jack began speaking to Wovoka and Mairie had no more time to ponder this incredible situation as the two men conversed. She could see that Jack was having trouble explaining what she had told him, yet Wovoka kept nodding as though it made sense to him.
Turning to her, Jack said, "He asks what is your question."
She took a deep breath. "Ask him if he knows of a cure. Tell him I have come from the land of his tomorrows to seek his wisdom."
Wovoka listened to Jack and then seemed to meditate. After a few moments, he opened his eyes and looked directly at Mairie as he began speaking…
“‘I have seen the land of tomorrow and it is troubling. The Indian disappears until only a few are singing songs of the Father Sun and Sky and dancing to the rhythms of Mother Earth. Mother seems sick, ill-used, violated, forgotten… it pains my heart to envision our Mother raped, yet she is all wise and will find her own remedy, for she contains the cure. You ask about your brother and I tell you that Mother has the answer. It is here, growing from her womb, for would she not care for her children, even if they no longer recognize Her? Does the love of any mother cease? Her love is endless. There is a plant, an herb, growing at the sacred stones that would provide understanding of our Mother's concern and love. From this plant would come answers. However, my sister, I must also reveal that as this plague descends, I have seen that by man's greed and disrespect for his Mother he will have destroyed his own cure. For in your land of tomorrow it no longer could obtain the air and life from Father and Mother and has died away.’“
Mairie sat listening to every single word that Jack translated, taking each sound and meaning into her heart for another deeper translation. "So you are saying there is no cure? That because we've been so greedy, so forgetful of the earth, we've destroyed what we now need to stay alive?"
Wovoka smiled at her. Even though he appeared younger than her, he seemed like an older brother, one who was patient and loving. She thought of Bryan, and immediately her heart opened to this Indian. She trusted him.
“‘I am saying that in the land of tomorrow there is always hope. Our white brother knows this, yet is now fearful of even himself for in his heart of hearts he knows he must change. He has forgotten the many times he has walked this land and that he will walk it again and again, reaping what he has sown. He is his grandchildren's grandchildren, living his own errors of judgment. His heart must change. And only he can do that. Remember, you are not walking the land of tomorrow, my sister. You are walking this moment. And in this moment, there still grows the herb of understanding. It is there by the sacred stones of the ancients, for this moment is the conception of your tomorrow. In this now, the numbers of the white man are not enough to destroy this connection to the source. It is here now, not in your land of tomorrow.’“
Mairie's mind was spinning. It was as if he were speaking to her on a level that was familiar, trusting. It felt so right, everything he said. Part of her wanted to call it madness and another part calmly whispered that it was truth. Simple truth. Man had destroyed his connection to the earth. She wasn't an environmentalist, had even been a bit suspicious of their zealotry until she read that the seeds from a pine tree in the Pacific Northwest were being used to fight breast cancer. Did the earth contain the cure? Was Wovoka right? Was there a plant growing now by the petroglyphs that could provide some understanding into this plague? Was there hope for Bryan?
Her heart sang Yes!
She didn't care that it seemed naive to believe an Indian who appeared to be living in the past. Something, some inner guidance, told her to find that herb and bring it to her brother. Maybe this was why she had landed off course. Why she met Jack Delaney. Why he brought her here to this camp. Maybe she was meant to hear this tonight. It wasn't just desperation.
It was hope.
Chapter 5
How her heart changed so quickly. It amazed her.
She had started the evening wanting to get even, to make Jack pay for infuriating her and wound up being grateful for the opportunity to learn about a simple people who seemed to have a profound message. She felt shy, embarrassed by her arrogance, and thought she was the naive one among so many of wisdom. The Paiutes impressed her with their clear common sense and she felt privileged to have witnessed this evening. She knew, deep within, that had she not wandered off course, none of this would have happened. She was so excited to find Bryan and tell him this information. Soon she would see her brother… she simply had to believe that.
When Jack turned and asked her if she had any words of hope, any message for the people, Mairie took a deep breath as she saw his look of encouragement. It was almost as if they were no longer at odds with each other… more like a team now. United in hope.
She had already thought of the only truth she could impart to these people, who appeared to be caught in the past.
"Many generations of the Indian will suffer, yet in the land of tomorrow the Indian begins to receive the respect he should have always had. One day many tribes will own casinos, gaming establishments, and they will become rich, richer than the white men who come to play." She said her message was one of hope, and that it was very important the Indians continue to teach their children the balanced way so that in the land of their tomorrows, their children's great-grandchildren would be able to teach the white man. For many whites are finally open to hearing truth.
Even though she had spoken about suffering, everyone had seemed pleased with her words of eventual respect, even Jack. Wovoka claimed she was an honored traveler from another world and that the people were honored in return that she'd chosen them to hear her message. She didn't have the heart to contradict him, or take away the hope of these people.
Arrangements were made to gather the herb in the morning, and then she sat listening to the Indian songs of celebration. As the stars appeared to dance above her head, she realized that she was the one moving. She was traveling on this beautiful life-giving planet at astonishing speed through the un
iverse. Why had she never thought of this before? So many new thoughts were running through her mind. Not the least was seeing the earth as our ultimate Mother. That was a new concept for her. Once she had mourned the concreting of the world as just the loss of beauty and nature. Now she saw it as threatening our very lives. Most synthetic drugs were based on nature. Like aspirin from a willow tree. Gould it be that in trying to dominate the earth, we're actually creating an artificial means of destroying ourselves?
Where were these thoughts coming from?
Geez… she felt like a recruit for Greenpeace, or something.
Shaking her head, Mairie looked across the fire to Jack and saw that he was in animated conversation with the elders of the tribe. He had left her after the plans were made for a party to travel to the petroglyphs and bring back the plant. She'd stayed with the women and had listened to the singing—smiling, wondering, marveling… and thinking some pretty revolutionary thoughts. Soon her eyes became sleepy and the woman at her side motioned toward the lodges. Mairie smiled her thanks and withdrew from the circle.
Inside the lodge, she saw that a small fire had been lit. She looked up to the smoke hole and sighed. What an evening, and she still hadn't obtained Jack's promise to take her to the ranch after she received the herb. Somehow, she knew he would. She sat for what seemed like a half hour, thinking back on what had just happened. It was so powerful, yet so simple. Sing. Dance. Peace with the earth, and each other. Why was this so scary to the white man? Why had they tried to wipe out the Indian teachings? Knowing she was pondering questions far greater than her mind was ready to handle at the moment, Mairie reluctantly stood up to get undressed. It was then she realized her ankle felt so much better. She wondered what the Paiute woman had administered.
Anywhere You Are Page 8
