Excerpt
“Holy sweet Jesus.” Ula realized she’d shouted and clamped a hand over her
mouth. She looked at Yamka in amazement and Yamka smiled happiness at her.
Ari spent the long evenings carving a large block of red cedar with a flint blade.
He made an inlaid hnefatafl game board, similar to the one on which he’d played
with Captain Hjálmar. He dug through the snow by the lake bed and collected black
and white pebbles for playing pieces and before the winter was over, Ari taught Ailan
the Norse tactical game, King’s Table.
Bjorn used a flint knife to whittle small animals out of wood and tried to teach
Keallach and Ailan his skill with only little success. Both Brothers usually succeeded
until one slip of the blade removed a leg or a head from his carving. Keallach also
managed to slice a finger and had to be content to sit and watch Bjorn carve for more
than a month of long days and nights.
Every morning, all winter long, Fire Maker walked the short distance to the lakefront
bundled in furs. There he stripped and took his daily plunge into the icy water.
He said it made him strong and healthy and enabled him to endure the bitter cold.
Following breakfast, he either made snowshoes or went back out to set up traplines
in the woods. He brought in beaver and mink and otter for food and skins and
showed Finten and others how to cure the pelts.
Father Finten was not creative with his hands. He hated the carvings Bjorn and
Ari made, calling them graven images. He shunned the cold and only went outside
out of absolute necessity. But Finten did seem to be able to sit for hours, eyes closed,
in contemplation and silent prayer. The Brothers obeyed his calls to community
prayer only out of habit and a sense of obligation to their religious vows. They always
escaped at the earliest opportunity, seldom remaining to meditate, sighing and
groaning through his lengthy homilies.
When a blizzard raged outside the cave, everyone gathered around the fire and
Fire Maker shared stories of life in the Mandan Nation. He never spoke of the gods
during daylight hours but only after dark because a man would go blind if he spoke
of the gods in daylight.
“When buffalo are close, and we have decided to make a run, each hunter takes a
bow and quiver of arrows and heads out into the grassland, followed by women who
will cut up the animals and bring the meat and hides back to camp. They bring long
poles and tie them together near the bottom. The women load the furs and meat
across the bottom where the poles join and pull the load so that it does not drag on
the ground. When two women pull together, that is much easier than carrying it on
their backs. Sometimes they bring the dogs to carry heavy loads of animal skins but
never the meat. The dogs always know they will be fed well when they return.”
Ari asked, “When the dogs go with the hunters, does anyone remain in camp?
What about the old people, and who looks after small children?”
“The women remaining in camp have much to do. They dry meat, tan robes, sew
moccasins, and prepare the food.”
“There must be a great feast when the hunters return.” Ailan was always thinking
of food and cooking big meals.
“There are many feasts when hunting has been good. A man who gives a feast tells
his wives to cook the best food they have. When the feast is ready, he goes outside his
lodge and shouts each guest’s name three times, telling that person to come and eat.
