The SealEaters, 20,000 BC

by Bonnye Matthews

  The two were more careful than they had ever been while stalking the camels. All at once they stood fully up and let their spears fly. They ran in with the second spear to thrust before the animal recovered from the shock. They managed to kill both camels. Begalit lifted the largest one to his shoulders and picked up his spears. Lowat did the same. They returned to their camp overburdened.

  The SealEaters greeted them with two big fires. They had cut many sticks for each person to roast his or her meat. The hunters took the camels to the river and made quick work of sharing the meat. Women and men took over the reduction of the meat to portions that would cook quickly on the cooking sticks. To the SealEaters it was a feast.

  That night brought a clear sky. After eating, people crawled into their sleeping skins. Many went black immediately. Some lingered grateful that they had their feet on land, not cramped beneath them in a boat.

  At the long ago cache site, Wapa made the turn to row along the coast. People in the two boats saw land.

  “Let’s stop here for the night,” Forth said,

  “No!” Wapa snapped. He did not want his father to leave for the land.

  They kept rowing through the night, as if they were still far out at sea. Wapa was near enough to Yotuimoa not to want to waste one moment. Forth sat back rowing in silence.

  After being at the new site for eight days, a dugout from upstream stopped at the camp.

  “Urch! Wapa! You are here with your people?” Cannta shouted out, walking toward the group with Micuit.

  Urch came running.

  “Cannta!” Urch said, hugging his friend.

  The two began to converse in Cannta’s language, while the SealEaters watched in disbelief that Urch knew the language of the other man.

  “Wapa? Where is he?” Cannta asked in the language of Hoomuhu.

  “His boat and some others separated from us in a storm. We wait here to see whether he comes late. I did not want to worry Yotuimoa unnecessarily.”

  “I understand. You made it with so many people. All these people crossed the eastern sea?”

  Urch nodded.

  “It is so good to see you, my friend,” Urch said sincerely. He was glad to be where he considered it home. “How is Chief Backtament?”

  “He is well. He is eager to see you.”

  “You knew we were here?”

  “Utteal was coming back from hunting and noticed the fire. We hoped it was you.”

  “Who else?”

  “That’s why we came, to be certain it was you.”

  “You’ll eat with us tonight?” Urch invited them nodding at them both.

  “Of course, but then we’ll head back home. Micuit’s wife is likely to have given birth before we arrive back.”

  “Come, let’s have you fed quickly.”

  Urch went to lead them to the food when he noticed two small boats coming up the river. He strained his eyes trying to discover who was in the boats, but it was very difficult. When they rowed close enough, Urch could see Wapa. He’d hardly known Wapa when they arrived the first time in this land. Now, he almost felt as if Wapa were a son.

  “Wapa!” he shouted, waving.

  “We made it, Urch!” Wapa shouted back in the SealEater language. He jumped from the boat leaving it for others to pull to the shore. “Cannta, Micuit, how are you?” Wapa asked in the Hoomuhu language, hugging Cannta and then Micuit.

  The SealEaters watched and listened as Urch and Wapa would shift between languages depending on the target of their words.

  “We both do well,” Micuit replied.

  “They’re staying?” he asked Urch.

  “For the evening meal only,” Urch said in the language of the SealEaters.

  “You leave tonight?” Wapa asked Cannta in the language of the Hoomuhu.

  Cannta nodded, “We must.”

  “May I accompany you?” Wapa asked eager to see Yotuimoa.

  “Of course, she is eager to see you, too.” Cannta laughed at Wapa’s eagerness.

  While Urch led Cannta and Micuit to the food, Wapa ran to the creek and bathed thoroughly. As soon as he finished, he joined the SealEaters for food. He ate quickly until satiated, but all he wanted was to leave for his wife.

  Cannta and Micuit ate quickly as well. Soon the three of them were heading for Hoomuhu.

  After the people departed, Urch gathered the older adults so he could explain some of the realities of the area.

  “We are different from the Hoomuhu. Let me explain. See this bone that someone dropped here? The Hoomuhu would not permit that to happen. Never is any food dropped on their village ground. They take great care how the place looks and for good reason. Dropped food draws creatures you might not want in your village. It is a risk for injury. Someone who steps on a bone can have a terrible pus-filled mess on his foot, as some of you have had. They carefully throw things like that in a pit they dig outside the village. When the pit becomes too full, they bury it and dig another pit.”

  “There are no people there like Reg who are unkind to other people. They don’t permit unkindness to others.”

  “They do not have elders as we do. They have a chief. His name is Chief Backtament. He is wise. I like him very much. When he says something, it is the rule. Nobody violates his rules.”

  “We have choices. SealEaters can build our village here and go on as we have. SealEaters can become Hoomuhu. SealEaters can go elsewhere. I will make a personal choice. I intend to live with the Hoomuhu as Wapa will. We have come to care a lot for them. They took us in when we arrived here, not understanding this land and its demands at all. They taught us. Do you have questions?”

  “Why would you choose to live there apart from us?” Afte-ba asked.

  “You have asked the wrong question. I do not reject you. I choose them. I have seen how people live when they work together for good. I respect these people for many, many reasons. I prefer what I’ve seen there to anywhere else I’ve ever lived.”

  “Urch, I have a question. What’s the purpose of keeping the living place free from what will be thrown away?” Emu asked.

  “If you eat meat that has sat out too long, what happens?”

  “It can make you sick,” Emu replied.

  “If you step on a sharp piece of bone with meat attached or fat attached, and it goes into your skin, do you think that is different from eating it?”

  Everyone looked at him.

  “I would tell you, it’s no different. Both can make you sick. Their village is beautiful because they take good care of it. Now, I will also say that the way they take care of their village applies to the way they are with each other. They take it easy with each other. You don’t see a lot of people assuming they know what another is thinking. They don’t assume all are like they are. Their assumptions are based on long study. They ask, if they don’t know and need to know. They are reasoning people. They do not talk about others behind their backs. It’s just a different and good place.”

  “Do people never argue there?” Oppermatu asked.

  “They disagree, certainly, but they talk about the differences and where they agree to see how they can come together. They are required to listen carefully to the other’s view and to ask questions and answer questions about their own. Questions can become very probing and make one think. You first learn you have a problem when they ask questions, and you cannot answer reasonably because you haven’t considered your view adequately. They have a goal to live in harmony.”

  “If we went there, what would we do with our elders?” Morg asked.

  “I’m not certain I understand your question? Are you asking whether we’d drown our elders?”

  “Oh, Urch, you know that’s not what I meant. I mean we’d have a chief, so what would become of our elders?”

  “Nothing would become of our elders. They would be people even as they are now, but they would not have power over us. The Hoomuhu chief would have that power.”

  “One person?” Amoroz asked.

/>   “Yes, one person. I have seen corruption among our SealEater elders. I have seen no corruption in this chief. It is the individuals who rule who make a difference, not the structure. Structure is but a framework as for a house. It’s the people who make it good or bad. They could have a corrupt chief, and we could have a more perfect group of elders. We’ve had what we’ve had. They have what they have. I would change. You may choose what you wish to do.”

  “What if some of us want to do one thing while the others want something different?” Whug asked.

  “You are free to choose. As I am free to choose and already have chosen, you may choose where you wish to live and whom you want for leadership.”

  “We have never met these people. How can we choose?” At asked.

  “I will take groups of ten each to visit the Hoomuhu. You can see them and talk to them for yourselves. Then, you make up your minds. I don’t wish to take all of you at one time. There is a language difference, and it could become confusing.”

  “When will you take the first ten?” Oppermatu asked.

  “Tomorrow is a good day,” Urch replied.

  “I would like to be among tomorrow’s ten,” Oppermatu said.

  “So be it,” Urch said.

  “I, too,” Momomu said.

  Before Urch could rise to his feet, he had the ten visitors for the next day.

  The next day the first group of visitors gathered in two boats and rowed carefully upriver, for the boats were a bit overloaded. Urch asked Kol to join him to see the village. Children were not invited on trips, since children would not be making the decision where they’d live.

  As they rounded the curve near the village, people came quickly to the river bank to help with the boats and greet the new people. They led the visitors to the central area where they ate in the evening. Urch walked fast to embrace the chief. He called the visitors and they went to meet Chief Backtament. Urch introduced each one. The greeting was formal. Urch translated the chief’s words. The chief welcomed them. He told of his village and showed how they ate together. He pointed out their houses and the houses they built for any who chose to come there to live. He said that they’d build more houses if there were others who needed them. His people were as yet unsure how many would choose to come. He encouraged them to look at the houses and to enter the ones designed for newcomers. He told them two were already taken: one for Urch and one for Wapa. He pointed out which was which. Urch wanted to laugh. The chief knew him well. His home would catch a breeze on a hot day. He told them to tour with Urch to learn where the privies were and the place for discards of food or other things. He suggested they walk a short distance on the local paths with Urch, who could tell them where the paths went. He told them if there were a need for anything, just to ask someone. He freed them to wander about.

  As they walked towards the new homes, Oppermatu asked Urch, “How did the chief know you’d want to live here?”

  “The chief and I learned to know one another well while we were here. I told you he was a wise man. While he talks or listens he observes. Rarely does anything escape his gaze. Information sticks to him like the glued sinew that wraps the spear point to the shaft. He is a good man.”

  Urch reached the home made for him. He walked into it, taking Kol by the hand. He felt strange with Kol after all the time apart. They didn’t know each other at all. Nevertheless, she had his child. He needed to spend time with her. She looked inside the airy home. Never had she seen any place as lovely, and to think a single family would live in such a place gave her much to think on. They did not know how to construct places like this.

  They went back outside. The visitors were dumbstruck. After all the travel, this place was even better, they thought, than Urch had described. They could imagine living in such a place. The chief was a very special man—that was clear. Each one felt jolted by the chief’s eye contact, perceiving that he could somehow peer into their spirit. It would be hard to try to conceal truth from one such as he.

  They took the paths and walked some distance on each one. They did visit the privy which each used while there. They visited the throw away place. They walked past the heron rookery. When they returned to the village, they saw Wapa with Yotuimoa. He introduced them to his wife. The people did notice that there was a slower approach to everything in this place. Their speech was slower, and their walking was slower.

  When they returned to the gathering place, the chief asked Urch what the people thought.

  “They are duly impressed, Chief. One thing that a few people noticed is that the Hoomuhu are slower of speech than we are and you walk slower. We tend to talk faster and hurry about.”

  “If you go to visit those people who live near the ice sheet, you’ll find they speak faster and hurry more. It is a thing of the environment. Where it is hot and humid, speech and movement is slower; where cold and dry, people speak fast and walk fast. It’s not custom or anything people plan. It just happens based, I think, on temperature.”

  “Chief, I didn’t realize you had traveled so far.”

  “I was expected to become chief when I was young. My father had been chief. There is much to being a chief, Urch. You need to be able to see with reason to understand. Too often people see without reason, and they make a quick un-studied decision. They base decisions on assumptions that have no foundation, as if by taking a boat to the grass land, expecting it to float. When a chief makes a decision, that decision can affect a lot of people for a long time. He must reason well and consider all the effects of his decision or risk imperiling his people. An immediate decision that is not reasoned is more likely to hurt the people than help them. That would be unacceptable. Consequently, potential future chiefs are not taught that this or that decision is good or bad. We are taught to think. There must be planning long in advance of creating a chief. We are made to travel, so we can see that others do not think like we do. We can learn from them and they can learn from us. It works when both sides have minds that will listen to the other. When the minds are closed or there are interferences because of hidden desires, there is nothing but chaos. Chaos is good for nothing. When being taught to become a chief, we are taught all the things others are taught, but we spend more time with the wisest of our people and learn from other peoples and experience. It is our way. We try to bring the very best to our people.”

  “I never heard you say so many words—ever, Chief,” Urch said smiling.

  “Urch, you have had some of the training of which I speak. You had it from your three crossings. You had it from your exploring places you never saw. You have been blessed with a view of life few have. You have learned well, for your knowledge hasn’t made you arrogant but rather humble, the basic substance of human wisdom.”

  Food was served and the people began to gather. For some time the chief and Urch stood watching them fill bowls, take their food to a certain place they liked, and sit with family to eat. The visitors gathered as a group within the group around Wapa, because he could tell them what they were going to eat, and because he could translate. Finally, the group was seated and they ate. Never in their lives had they had food that was so tasty. Many had to be shown how to eat the crayfish. They were amazed. Each one on this trip wanted to live in this land. They could understand now why Urch and Wapa chose it.

  After they ate, the visitors climbed back into the boat and rowed back to the campsite. It was late when they returned. They put the boats away and met those on shore to talk about their visit. The people who had remained at the campsite could not believe the way those who visited described the place. Twelve more people were on the list to go in the morning. No more trips would be needed.

  As the second group of people left, the chief told Urch to let them know how many more, if any, places needed to be built. If there were more, they would begin immediately. Urch thanked him and the second group of visitors returned to the camp.

  In the morning, the children reverted to their subdued boat behavior. They heard th
eir parents and other older people argue, sometimes quite heatedly, over where they would live. Children were content where they were. They didn’t understand the difficulty some adults were having. Urch could hear some words flying off into the air. He was grateful that he had no decision to make. He’d made his before he left to help with the migration. Words kept flying:

  “If you could dream a place, it wouldn’t be any better.”

  “We all need to stick together.”

  “We’ve given up our land. Must we give up all we’ve known?”

  “Will we ever return to the Cove?”

  “The chief is nice, but I like our elders just fine.”

  “Those homes are wonderful!”

  “I’d rather stay right here!”

  “I hurt for my children growing up in a foreign land with foreign ways.”

  “We’re the foreigners!”

  “I plan to go there. It would be utter stupidity to turn them down.”

  “Their food is fantastic!”

  “You talk as if they’re different from us.”

  “Wapa looks so happy.”

  “We’d have to learn their language.”

  “What’s wrong with our language?”

  “I’m too hot.”

  The comments went on all day and into the evening. There were women who decided rather than to listen to the heated arguments that erupted from time to time, they would gather what food they could and prepare the evening meal. They didn’t have a lot of food from the days before, so much of what they gathered was greens as a soup starter. They discovered wild chives, which they cut and carried back to add to the soup. They made a soup of the greens with all the bits of meat that remained. When it was ready, they called to the group. The adults became quiet and moved to take food. They decided it would be good to go black before anyone reached a decision of this magnitude.