Salt Read Free

ribbons. Salt? asks Mink.
    Father scowls and says, When I was a boy, we walked
    to the salt licks , or our Shawnee friends brought
    salt when they came to visit. I don’t like
    to buy it from the traders.
    Mink is quiet.
    We have to have salt—
    without it, we get sick when we work
    in the hot sun. But she understands. We’ll get salt
    next time, she says. A blackbird flies past.
    Aya, niihka, I say. Hello, friend.

JAMES
    Anikwa comes up the trail with his family. I haven’t seen him since Isaac
    killed the bullfrog—is he mad? At me? Hello, I say. He answers, Aya … niihka .
    He names the pelts he’s carrying. Paapankamwa (fox). Amehkwa (beaver).
    And others—too many words to remember. I carry a basket for his grandma,
    and she smiles and calls me myaamiinse —that means “Miami child.” This basket
    is full of maple sugar, and she always has a little extra. While they’re trading,
    Anikwa plays a tune on a willow whistle. Could I make one? I point to the whistle
    and take out my knife. We go find a willow tree, and Anikwa shows me how
    to cut a stick at an angle, make a notch through the bark, and tap the stick all over
    so the bark comes loose and slips right off. After I slice off a piece of wood
    to make a mouthpiece, he helps me cut another notch and slide the bark back on.
    I put the whistle to my mouth and blow—it works! The sound it makes is lower
    than Anikwa’s. He plays fast, and I play slow; soft, loud, then soft again.
    We sound so good, two yellow birds stop to listen and sing along with us.

ANIKWA
    When we
    walk into the trading post
    playing our whistles, they’ve finished
    with their trading. Grandma saved
    some maple sugar, and gives
    us each a big piece
    (a tiny piece
    for baby Molly). James’s father
    gives us each a stick of licorice candy—
    it tastes like flowers and honey mixed together,
    and I suck on mine as we start home. So does Toontwa.
    But Rain Bird puts hers in her pocket without even tasting it!
    She’s never done that before. What’s wrong with her?
    Mink glances a quick question at Grandma,
    who raises her eyebrows for a second
    as they both look at my sister.
    A quiet smile crosses
    Rain Bird’s face,
    like a bird
    landing on a branch,
    then flying off again. I notice something
    for the first time—some people might think Rain Bird
    has a pretty face. This smile makes her
    look older.

JAMES
    Ma gives Molly a hard crust to chew—she has two new teeth, ready
    to pop through. Play with her, will you, James? She’s so fussy, you’re
    the only one who can make her smile. I let her pull my hair—she likes that,
    but the trouble is, she’s getting stronger and it hurts! I wiggle my toes
    in the new moccasins Ma got for me today—she knits wool socks to trade
    for moccasins Mink makes. They’ve done that all my life. Ma says to Pa,
    The trading seemed fair today . He doesn’t answer right away. Yes, he finally
    says. Then: The President and Governor have asked me to try to sell more goods
    to the Miami than they can afford, to deliberately get them into debt. Ma says,
    We don’t go into debt ourselves. It would be wrong to encourage others to do so.
    Pa explains, We’d get paid next time they sign a treaty. If they sell some
    of their land, the government will pay off their debt as part of the agreement.
    At first it sounds fair, but then I think about it more. If they sell their land,
    where will they hunt and pick berries and plant corn? Where will they live?

ANIKWA
    I figured out why
    Rain Bird hid her licorice candy.
    We’re all playing tossball when I notice
    Kwaahkwa’s mouth is stained black,
    different from makiinkweemina
    stains. Rain Bird gave
    her licorice
    to Kwaahkwa! Why would
    she do that? I try to act like I don’t
    notice, but Toontwa sees it too, and he can’t
    swallow his laughter. I toss the ball to him to make him stop
    laughing