Sacajawea Read Free

in a bundle and put his newly made arrowheads into a skin bag. He left his tepee, shrugging a wordless greeting to Fragrant Herbs, who was adding pine pitch to make her fire hotter, and looked around his quiet village, then up to the tall trees, and to the hills. He breathed deeply. “The air smells as if the Season for Gathering Nuts is almost over. We should strike thetepees within three suns and move toward buffalo country and more safety for the winter.”
    Fragrant Herbs stirred the fire to a fresh blaze. “I had hoped we could stay here long enough to gather the grass seeds,” she said without looking up. “Our son’s thought was good.”
    “Oh, woman, sometimes men and boys have thoughts that do not fit a hunter of meat. The People need the buffalo hunts to keep them together. Plucking tiny grass seeds will do nothing but stick in our teeth.”
    “I was thinking,” Fragrant Herbs said, looking at the face of her man, “that if our food supply could be increased a little, our people would not grow so weak during the winter. Then there would be no end to our abilities to repel the Blackfeet or even the Sioux that come for our horses early in spring. Instead of being weak like our Ute cousins, our braves will retrieve the horses and bring distinction to themselves.”
    “A woman is not made for thinking so much,” shrugged Chief No Retreat.
    Fragrant Herbs had no sooner uttered her words than she became aware of a disturbing thought. With the assurance of food all year, what would be the impact upon the People? They knew the balance between life and death. An unending supply of food would disturb this balance. There would be more old ones to help with the lodge work. Then they would have more time to tend to the babies, or for cooking or sewing or sitting in the sun doing nothing but visiting. Fragrant Herbs thought a shift in the balance toward a life of ease and laughter would be something good. “Perhaps we could have more feasts, with dancing and games. The winter cold would be more bearable. We could laugh at the howling winds if there were no belly growlings.”
    Chief No Retreat looked closer into the face of his woman. “Oh, most loved woman, your words run deep, deep.” Confused that a woman could have such thoughts, he ducked back into the skin tepee and rumpled the matted heads of his children, waking them to the brightness of the sunshine, before he ducked out the flap back to the side of his squaw. He watched her broad smile. She was a delicate woman with long black hair combed into two smooth braids. She was also a womanwith strong character and outspoken opinion. So he was not surprised when she asked, “Why is too much ease a bad thing?” But it was a new thought to him and he was not prepared to answer right away.
    Flustered, he stared at the fire a moment. “If enough grass seed can be collected to ease the hurt of winter’s hunger, that cannot be bad for the People. It will make them laugh at the blizzards. That is good. But so much seed is needed. You cannot collect enough. It will be like trying to store water in a torn buffalo bladder— never enough to go around. You know how it is with meat. The more we have, the more is eaten. The People would grow soft and fat and lazy.” Even as he spoke he wondered what had really made the people of the circle of stones disappear. Their life had been altered by some force unknown to him. Perhaps the people of the stone circle made life too easy for themselves and in their softness were slaughtered by their enemies. Perhaps they were forced to move on by their greed for more food. He thought of his own father and his father before him doing what was expected to keep the People together. To visualize fathers farther back in time was difficult. Who were the ancient ones of the stone circle? Did their blood run with his blood? At this moment he changed a little, he was humbled. And when his woman gave him a flat, hard biscuit made from freshly