The SealEaters, 20,000 BC

by Bonnye Matthews

  In the morning the discussions began again. They had remembered Urch’s telling them that these people reasoned until people could no longer give answers. They realized that giving the same answer over and over was of no avail. As time passed, fewer and fewer people participated. A few men went to hunt knowing their available meat was gone. There was no more soup.

  While the discussion continued that day, Urch had called the children and began to teach them the basic Hoomuhu language. Children, he discovered quickly, were easy to teach another language. He remembered his efforts to learn.

  Hunters returned with a horse and two large turtles. They butchered them and gave the meat to the women. The remains, since they didn’t have the ability to use the whole animal yet, went to the river. The meat roasted filling the air with promises of great taste, and in the distance it appeared a storm was on the way. Urch looked critically at the camp. There was enough elevation for them to be safe, even if it rained heavily. People would, he reasoned, not stay dry in the lean-tos. He did notice that the older boys were busily gathering pine boughs to put under the sleeping skins for the families. That should let water run under the sleeping skins not onto them. At least, he decided, the weather was warm enough for a drenching not to prove a problem.

  The meat was ready before the storm hit. They all took their portions and sat under the roof of their lean-to. Urch made a check to be sure the boats were tied adequately. All were fine. He took his food and went to his lean-to.

  “You know they’ll all do it,” Whug said between bites of horse.

  “I don’t know any such thing,” Urch replied watching a brown animal that he didn’t recognize on the bank on the other side of the river. It entered a hole in the side of the bank. He could see that it had lots of whiskers, a flexible body, and a fairly thick tail. Moments later another animal of the same type entered the same hole.

  The rain fell. It was a heavy rain. Lightning struck and thunder roared. The people hunkered down under their lean-tos. Water ran under the leantos which had been made hurriedly without a thought to rain. Urch wished momentarily that he was in his new home at Hoomuhu.

  As quickly as it began, the storm ended. People emerged from the leantos. Most had put their sleeping skins up on their shoulders when the rain fell to keep it dry. The air smelled so clean, they all noticed, and the colors in the afterlight were vibrant. Tree frogs began a rousing chorus. All seemed good.

  In the morning, the older people talked again and then went to see Urch.

  “It has been a long, hard decision to reach, but we have decided as a people we must stay together and we would like to move to Hoomuhu. The chief there has been very gracious to accept a group of this size. Will you please tell him, we would like to come?”

  “Yes, Father, I will be glad to do it. Do you mind if I take Cattu with me? I plan to take Kol as well, and, of course, the baby.”

  “Take Cattu. She will be thrilled.” Whug looked at Urch. He thought what a wonderful man his son had become.

  Urch found Kol and Cattu and asked them to accompany him to Hoomuhu. They would leave immediately. Cattu was so excited she could hardly contain herself. She would soon see her new home. It was wonderful!

  They reached Hoomuhu and to Urch’s surprise the tree looked wrong. Then, he realized, a whole huge limb was separated from the tree. He almost ran to find the chief. He found him standing in the gathering place. People were chopping into the limb to clear it from the grounds of the village.

  “Urch, how good to see you. Look what the storm brought us,” the chief said.

  “Is everyone safe?” Urch asked, not wanting any bad news.

  “Everyone is fine. We had some structure damage in a few homes, but all is well here. How about at your camp?”

  “All’s well there,” he replied. “Can I help?” Urch asked.

  “Not at the moment. The men have to cut the limb apart before it can be moved. Come sit with me and bring your family. Now who is this young woman?” he nodded toward Cattu.

  “She is my sister. Her name is Cattu. Cattu, say ‘Hello, Chief Backtament,’ just like I said it,” he told her.

  She did it perfectly in the chief’s language.

  The chief took her hand. He patted her shoulder and, looking at Urch, he said, “Isn’t it amazing how quickly they learn? Children should learn many languages while they are young.”

  They reached the gathering place and sat. Cattu took Aptuk by the hand and walked around the village ground where she could still be seen by Urch.

  “You have a message for me?” Chief Backtament asked.

  “Yes, Chief. Our people took two days to argue what they wanted. It’s been decided that all would like to come here to become Hoomuhu. Will you accept all of us?”

  “You know I will,” he said smiling. “I am so glad they want to remain all together. That is important for now and the future. They are invited to come and make lean-tos here, or to wait until their homes are made. There is no pressure. It might be easier on them to come now rather than wait. Men could hunt and help with the building.”

  “I will let them know. Chief, I go back now. I see you are busy, and I don’t need your time. I am so relieved that none were hurt when the limb fell. It frightened me when I saw it.”

  “Urch, I find it hard to believe that you were truly frightened.”

  “Chief, I suppose I should have said dismayed or worried.”

  “Don’t think on it. I was teasing you,” the chief touched his shoulder. “Go now and bring your people when you are ready.”

  “Don’t be surprised if we all arrive this afternoon.”

  “Urch, you are an amazing person. Nothing you do will surprise me.”

  Urch called Cattu and she came with Aptuk. The four of them returned back to the boat and headed to the camp.

  Later that afternoon, no surprise to the chief, the boats arrived at Hoomuhu. SealEaters tied the boats to trees along the bank of the river. They gathered their things and walked to the new home area. There were more homes there than when they first visited Hoomuhu.

  Urch put his things in his home. He laughed out loud when he discovered his alligator backpack and a small skin with bee’s wax on his sleeping place. Kol and Aptuk joined him inside the new home. He called to Whug, Amegulatuga, Nip, and Cattu. They would stay with him. Eventually, he decided, they’d build onto the side of their home so that Whug, Amegulatuga, Nip, and Cattu had an adjoining home. Realizing what was happening, all the rest of the people did as Urch had done. They filled the available homes so that none needed to make a lean-to. Families would move out to other homes as they were built.

  Just outside the home where At and Merlan were, Litmaq and Lefa looked out on the land. He embraced her. “There is no more need of Little Rabbit, my dear. You have become such a strong woman—a woman of whom I am so proud—and this is a far, far better place for us to live and bring children. I’ll call you nothing but Lefa now, for to me it means a woman who has conquered so much that life gives to fear. A woman of great strength. One with whom not to trifle.” They kissed.

  The SealEaters over time became Hoomuhu. They loved the warmer land, the variety of food, and the people with whom they had become one. They learned the ways of the Hoomuhu quickly; the language, not so quickly. They became strong in the new land.

  Urch took Kol as wife. They had eight children. Urch lived to the age of fifty-nine. Kol lived to the age of sixty-four. Wapa and Yotuimoa had twelve children. Wapa lived to the age of seventy. Yotuimoa lived to the age of sixty-five. Whug died at the age of seventy-five, so very proud of Urch and Oppermatu. He never learned what happened to Emuka, but something inside told him Emuka lived. Whug believed his people would continue through the ages, because of the move. Whug’s only regret was that his body in death would not lie with Gemu.

  Author To Reader

  I hope you enjoyed this look at how Solutreans might have arrived in what is now the United States of America during the Ice Age,
bringing their unique spear points with them. Over time, I speculate, those spear points would lead to the development of the Clovis Point. Solutrean’s sharing with indigenous people they found in their new land could have been the basis for the conundrum that is the Clovis Point.

  Bibliography

  Please note: This bibliography has not been updated since 2014. I have used my Facebook Author Page to share newly found information, which only lasts a couple of years on the Fb site. These entries, however, do reflect the majority of my research. Research for me is ongoing.

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