“My grandfather was a young boy when the first mining company signed the original treaty. They promised that if the Beothuk allowed them to drill at the far end of the planet undisturbed they would trade food and blankets with us, and never venture any further from that location.
“The first treaty was broken within a month, when more machines landed and deeper veins of these so-called precious stones were found. Our leaders approached the Outsiders again, demanding the mining company return to their area. They were promised it would be the last time, and offered crates of alcohol and chewing weed in return for their agreement.
“Even as the Outsiders broke their word to us again and again, we did not rise up. Until one fateful night when a small group of young men were sent out to scout a new settlement made by the white man deep in the heart of our territory. They were so eager to go, they left with no weapons or food. We call these the Ayawisgi, and to this day, we celebrate their bravery by sending our own young men into the wilderness,” Thasuka said, eyes shifting to Squawk.
“The Ayawisgi were captured by the white men, who tortured them for sport. Our people went to find their sons, and there was a great battle when we first showed our valor to your people. We have been at war ever since.” Thasuka fell silent and he stared into the fire for a long time, before saying, “I grew up hating the white man and killed as many of them as I could. My thirst for revenge drove me to raise my first son, Goyathlay, to ride with me into battle as soon as he was old enough to hold a weapon.
“The boy was careless, but I was too proud to see it. On the night I led my warriors into Seneca 6, I lost track of him. Our mission was to raid the supply houses, but he ran off into the homesteads and attacked a young deputy. He must have been mad with bloodlust.” Thasuka’s eyes rose to Jem’s and locked on him.
Jem froze in place, feeling the older man searching him for a reaction. Jem did his best to remain impassive and said, “So what happened to your son?”
“The deputy shot him through the chest as Goyathlay was trying to take his scalp. It does not matter. He died because of me. I failed to raise him to be anything other than a murderer.” Tears filled Thasuka Witko’s eyes as he spoke, but then he looked at Squawk and smiled. “Now, one of my other sons sits with the son of El-Aquila within the sacred circle. The Great Spirit is at work.”
The rest of the tribe nodded and murmured, their voices like a low rumble. Jem leaned forward and said, “Wait a second. The son of El-Aquila?”
The Chief made shapes with his hands to show a man riding on a wagon, coming across the wasteland. He continued to make shapes and act out the story when he said, “El-Aquila came to us with a carriage full of our dead and the tribe thought it was a trap. Hoka-Psice ordered everyone to hide, thinking that the white man had filled his wagon with patient fire. El-Aquila left the wagon and came into our camp on foot, unarmed, to show his bravery.
“Hoka-Psice asked him why a white man would come such a long way to return our people. He said that he had a son named ‘Jem’ and could not bear the idea of keeping any other man’s son from coming home.”
Jem opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. The smoke from the fire must have stung his eyes too keenly, because when he touched his cheek, his fingers came away wet.
“What El-Aquila could not have known is that the Beothuk believe a spirit is doomed to wander the world until it is laid to rest. We call them the wanagi, and they travel the desert searching for their home.” Thasuka Witko stopped speaking and looked away from Jem, giving him the chance to clean off his face and collect himself. All of the men seated around him did the same, keeping their eyes fixed on the ground until Jem was finished.
Thasuka Witko held out his hand and said, “Osceola, father of Lakhpia-sha, has asked to speak. I will translate for you.”
The same warrior who had shoved Jem out of the way to get to Ichabod stood up at the far end of the circle. His body was lined with taut muscles and scarred with lines that created strange diagrams in his chest. He spoke, and Thasuka Witko said, “Thasuka-Witko has told the white man of the sacred Ayawisgi rite where we send our young warriors into the wilderness.
“One week ago my son was sent off on his own Ayawisgi.” Osceola pointed at Squawk and said, “It was a great honor that he would join our Chief’s eldest, Haienwa’tha. But many of us were surprised when Mahpiya had a vision that told them to also take Haienwa’tha’s younger brother, Thathanka-Ska. I told the old man that Thathanka-Ska was too young, and would burden the older boys. He told me that it was the Great Spirit’s will.
“The Ayawisgi go with no food, no weapons, no means to make shelter. They must endure until the tribe comes to find them. Who among us does not remember their own trial? The suffering is forgotten and all you remember is the embrace of your fellow warriors upon your return.
“I have other suffering that cannot be forgotten. My father and brothers were murdered by the white man, and all of my life I have vowed to kill them wherever I find them. It has been this way since my great-grandfather was a little boy, and the great birds called the El-Aquila were so thick in the skies people thought they were storm clouds. Smoke from the white man’s machines destroyed their nests, and no one has seen an El-Aquila for many years.
“I thought it was Hoka-Psice’s joke to name the legendary white man El-Aquila. A white man who is peaceful and honorable to the Beothuk is like that great bird. Something many wish to exist, but will never see. When I heard the thunder of this white man’s guns and told you our sons were being attacked by the Outsiders and raced toward them, expecting a great battle where many would die. I could not believe my own eyes at what I saw instead.”
Osceola stopped speaking and unraveled a cord with his hands to display the fang of the werja that Jem had killed that dangled from it. He passed the necklace through the crowd to Thasuka-Witko, who inspected it and nodded, then passed it to the man next to him. The necklace was handed around that way until it reached Jem.
Osceola pointed at Jem and said, “On this day I, Osceola, tell you that this white man is my brother and under my protection. They say in the south there is a new bird faster and stronger than El-Aquila, and our medicine men tell us it is a great sign for the Beothuk. Tonight, I believe. They call this bird El-Halcon, and that is the name I give my new brother.”
All of the men sitting next to Jem clapped him on the back and spoke words that he did not understand, but sounded encouraging regardless. Thasuka-Witko lit his pipe and passed it to the man next to him, each of them putting their lips on the stem and sucking in the fragrant smoke that they then lifted their head and blew toward the heavens.
The pipe came to Jem and he put the stem in his mouth, tasting bitter sweetweed juice and he inhaled, filling his lungs with what felt like fiery embers of coal. He held it in as long as he could, then lifted his head and breathed it all out at once, watching the smoke change shapes in the air and conform to the pattern of the stars.
Thasuka Witko lifted his head to see Mahpiya emerge from the medicine tent. The old man wrapped both withered hands around his walking stick and waited. The Chief nodded and waved for Jem to come sit by his side.
“So where did you learn our language?” Jem said.
“Many of the Beothuk can speak like Whites, but it is not something we reveal often. We never want them to know that we can understand what they are saying if we are captured. Very few choose to actually make the words. They consider it to be a great disgrace.”