S.O.S

Susquehaana River of the Susquehannok

The Sacrifice of the Serpent Part One 

They were high in the hills below the Grand Teton mountains, standing at a river that feeds the Platte. They had traveled from Nebraska, over to northern Utah, and then up the west side of the mountains to the Snake river, and back.

They gazed now, up at the beauty of the mountains in the distance, preparing for what would come next.

The three brothers enter into a sweat. They are praying for their sister that is outside, drugged with herbs, and huddled in a ball beside a big rock.

They had traveled long and hard seeking refuge; seeking assistance and seeking help, for their beloved sister. The conflicts of the white man had stolen the people that carried their much needed wisdom.

The wisdom was technically still with the people, but was trapped inside of ghosts that hid in sacred articles of their faith. It was no longer available to the peoples; Of the Raven, Of the Rock, Of the Sun, or Of the River. For the brutal killing off of all of their men, women, and children, had forced peace in a time of war, in order to seal the wisdom for future generations.

In the hand made lodge, put together with leather, and sewn with buffalo sinew, now sit the three men, mourning for their sister, and planning for her passing.

She is very ill. She would wail and threaten people. She had tried to kill a village Chief back in Nebraska; it was as if she was channeling the war and the suffering that was everywhere.

It was decided that the eldest would do the deed, and the other two brothers would fall to their knees in grief.

They come out of the sweat lodge, and begin to prepare a board to tie her limp, half-conscious body to, with rope made from grasses.

They had been preparing for days: sweating, chanting, fasting, singing, dancing, and making rope. As the two brothers tie her body to the board, dressed in a sacred ceremonial dress, the eldest prays over his blade.

They then stand at the river’s edge, over a place where there is current, and a bit of a fall. On either side of the sister, now tied gently but firmly to her board, are the two younger brothers. They say one final prayer, and the eldest embraces the half awake body of his beloved sister.

He slits her throat and clutches her dying body, while hugging the board which is weighted with stones, and his sister to his chest, and they fall together into the river.

As the eldest brother and the girl fall, they plunge into the rushes of the river, and the two younger brothers fall hard on their knees. They wail in desperate grief and sadness.

The water is colored with the blood of the young woman. The eldest brother gasps for breath, and her body bobs to the surface, her face to the sky, then floats on down the river.

The eldest brother finds the shore, and joins his brothers, but he is unable to make sound come from his throat. Instead he prays to the Great River Serpent that his soul and that of his sister and brothers will be at peace.

The sun is setting, and as the blood clears from the flowing waters, a deep ichor pink fills the sky, reflecting off of the clouds.

It seems that the earth, her trees, and her animals have become quiet, and in the background, beyond the noise of the wailing brothers, silence fills the land…

All that can be heard are the cries, both verbal and non-verbal, of three very, very saddened men, and the whisper from the Serpent as he takes the sister into his merciful jaws.

The Sacrifice of the Serpent Part Two

Her body floats on down the river, and the men let go of her with much grief, shame, rage and devastation in their hearts. 

But the herbs slowed her bleeding, and the slice below her jaw is not fatal.

She floats, in and out of consciousness and is praying. Eventually she washes up, almost dead, on some shore. 

Soon a man came upon her. He was drawn to her. He knew her face. He told himself that he knew of her. She was so familiar and beautiful to him.

He was a white man and his name was Paul. He and his fellow travelers, unbound her body, and slowly nursed her back to health. Before they untied her, and pulled her onto land, Paul stuffed a small cross in a handkerchief into her hand. She gripped it slightly, not knowing fully what it was, and still it brought her strength.

The men introduced her to the Lord, immediately, and dressed her in white women’s clothing. Paul fell in love with her native beauty, and soon she became his wife. They settled nearby, as they found land that they could dig for fresh water beneath the earth and soil, and that they could till for farming their foreign grains. As her wounds healed, she developed a new faith, and adopted a completely foreign way of life. She bore Paul several children that lived and several that did not survive childbirth. The last she gave birth to, her final child, became her only living girl. She loved this child like nothing she had ever known. Complete beautiful and pure love. She was her jewel.

Time passed and eventually the oldest brother, who was in line to become a chief, heard news of an Indian woman who had birthed children. He knew they were near where they had sent their sister to rest down river, and his knowing spoke of her life after death. When he finally found the settlement, he negotiated with Paul for his sister’s freedom. 

Somewhere in her heart, she did not want to leave. She had loved Paul. But she was not happy. She had a name now, however and valued her literacy greatly. Her white family had bought her healing and wellness that she had never known. She loved her eldest brother immensely, and when he saw her, he could not let her stay.

The peaceable interaction soon became heated, and then violent. They spared the settlement, but not the children of mixed blood. They tore the young girl child from the sister’s heart, and put her to death as well. Paul, in fear for the entire settlement, surrendered, and allowed the eldest brother to leave with his brother warriors and his sister. 

Somewhere in her heart she knew knew that women must accept that men will do what they will do. She loved her brother unconditionally, and accepted returning to her people. She actively grieved leaving a man she had grown to love very much, her dead family, and her slaughtered children.

Later, returned to her esteemed role of the sister of a Chief, she was accepted and loved by her people once again. She had learned how to manage her visions, moods, and tempests. Still, she mostly kept to herself. She valued privacy, time spent in prayer, and this along with herbal medicines helped her manage her loss and her grief, as well as feel and act in peace. 

Her brother, now a Chief, came to his sister one day in the future, and explained what and who she must forgive. 

Even though her brother felt remorse for the death of her white brethren, at the time he and his brothers acted as his people would have expected a warrior chief to act in a time of great tension, conflict and war with white men.

Though she loved her brother immensely, and she would give her life for him, as well as her other brothers, she told him that she would not forgive him. The loss of her daughter, her baby child, was too great of void. She chose to be honest, though it hurt to break the heart of her beloved brother for the second, and last, time.

In time all was truly forgiven, though much time and prayer went by before this could be done. Also, over time her people would learn that conflict with a people that were insensitively invading and settling their lands was not black and white. It was this very compassion and flexibility of spiritual law that would ultimately tear the fabric of both family and tribe.

The Sacrifice of The Serpent Part Three

Remembering her life, the sister, Eve (A christian name chosen by her; in full Evelyn), recalls the first letters she wrote on a page, while being instructed by Paul’s brother Daniel, a minister, writer, and book enthusiast. She lay in the bed, now dressed in a conforming black dress, and wearing typical boots from that time. Daniel was trying to get her to speak her name, for she had had not spoken to these men for the first three months of her care. On the wall was an alphabet, and Dan, the name he asked her to refer to him by, had gone through the English letters many times over, carefully sounding out the many vibrations of each sound in English. Part of the reason she was not speaking, was that she was still dealing with a bad fever, and her body was also mending the huge gash under her mandible. She picks up an ink pen, and first writes a J, though the sound is more of a sh. Very slowly she adds letter after letter, finally spelling Jesh ua Kan. Dan soon concludes that this is the name of her people, and not really her name. Even through all his prodding, he never succeeds in finding out her name, so after more learning, she eventually picks what she thinks is a complicated name, the name of Evelyn. This makes Dan happy, because of its very Christian connotation.

They called her Eve, and in the first year, Paul and Eve have a Christian marriage, and proceed to try and bear children. In Eve’s own spiritual law, it is illegal to birth Native spirits to any white man. She knows she is breaking the law. She also believes that she exclusively is capable of birthing only Native spirits. Before she has been in the small settlement two years, which at this point consists only of the two brothers and herself, she has three failed attempts at making a healthy baby. Her first female native spirit child lives only twelve months. The situation just gets worse. The second child, is premature, also a female native spirit, and only lives six days. The third baby girl and native spirit, is stillborn. All three infants, Eve buries inside the fence outside her window, and she prays and mourns over their beds every morning and every night at half-light.

After three failed attempts of bearing children with his new wife, Paul leaves. He is an explorer, a mapper, and agriculturist. He wishes to learn all he can about this new land. The first exploration takes one and a quarter years. Meanwhile, Eve and Dan work hard as a team to grow food, build, and work on their camp (the recovered Eve shares her knowledge of many things with Dan). In the winter months, which were very harsh, they spend many hours by the fire reading, writing, and laughing. Dan felt very sad in his heart for Eve, because he knows deeply that she may have never laughed before. God plays a role in her mental wellness, but the conviviality, the stories in the form of beautiful books that Dan treasured very much, and that he had brought with him, dazzle Eve. She especially soaks up the literacy, and this is prominent in fueling Eve’s heart and Spirit into transforming her chronic disposition into the bright person Dan’s God intended her to be.

Still, while mourning the spirits of her babies, she longs greatly her past and her traditions. 

When Paul finally returns with his maps and his stories, Eve spends three very happy years with him. In all this time they occasionally have time for pleasure and love making, and she begins to take root in her new life with her husband.

She does not forget her gifts or her beloved brothers, and she speaks to her eldest brother, who is now near to becoming Chief, on the winds often. Her other older brother, is an apprentice Spirit healer, and guards her always. He knew that her life was not to fail that day by the river, which was why he did not “do the deed”, which was a failure of his sacred duty to his tribe and people. Not only would his heart not allow it, his vision had shown him another way. 

This was a potential contention between spirit healer and the young chief, but the young chief to be had much wisdom, as well. Still, the middle brother, peacekeeper, had his skilled and sacred duty to keep peace among his people. He was always there when passionate tensions arose between the soon to be Chief and Spirit healer.

Eve makes a fatal decision one day, to welcome a native boy spirit into her womb. This choice was influenced by the grief for her lost babies, her love for Paul, and the silent distance that was growing every passing hour between her and her people.

She soon gives birth to a boy at the end of the three year honeymoon with Paul, and the boy has a “weak” leg. When the boy is six months, Paul leaves again. This event of Paul leaving, closely marks the seventh anniversary of her rebirth in the river. In all the three years she spent with Paul, she experiences no new unsuccessful births.

At eight years, Evelyn Jesh-ua-Kan, as they have come to refer to her, overtly breaks her tribe’s law, by telling her older brother (in spirit language on the wind) about the white boy with a Native spirit, and pulls the matriarch card. She confesses openly how her living son is a white man’s spirit now. Dan had urged her to adopt this belief, knowing she still struggled greatly with conflicting concepts of her people and his people. She loves her only boy, and owns her decision. He is one and a half, fairly healthy, and she is confident that he will survive. She also has begun to value her new literacy greatly. The Chief withholds his response. He is grateful to feel her spirit on the wind, trusts his Sister. But he does not feel in any fashion that what is happening is good. He goes to now Spirit healer, to face this matter in sweat.

Much time passes, and when her boy is seven and a half, Paul returns once again. The reunion is happy, though lost time has caused emotional and spiritual distance between Eve and Paul. She feels great distances of her Native peoples, and of the land she remembers as home.

They soon try again to birth a healthy child. Eve gives birth to a boy. As the boy grows, he has what they all agree is a whiney disposition. He cries all the time, it seems, and does not take to chores or work at all. At this time, Eve Sister knows that neither of her boys are white spirits. She does not discuss this with Daniel, and she fears for her children’s unhappiness. Often the second child is allowed to wander in Nature. Eve hopes that he will learn to connect to a power spirit on and of his own, and tells her child many stories, deep from her past. From being shamed often by Daniel and Paul, the older child with the disabled leg, turns hard, and often frowns. He is clearly unhappy. The children never learn to play together properly, and they remain separate most of the time, except on Sunday dinner, and other important occasions.

Most of the time, their father is absent. Daniel spends the majority of his time teaching both Eve, and Paul’s sons. Around this time, a couple white families join their settlement. They are hard working good people from Pennsylvania, and they take on the majority of the work and the farming. Eve is now writing cursive well, and during these times of schooling, Eve does her best to foster a family kinship between the boys, and with their Uncle.

After Paul has been gone, this time for two years, Dan and Eve make a child. This time she is a very healthy and pink little girl, (also a white and non-native spirit). Dan has made a good impression on Eve throughout the years. In a way, they were very much eachother’s teachers. Dan listened to, and respected Eve as a woman. Now, he has has been her teacher of both Christian concepts, literacy, friendship and platonic love. Learning, reading, and writing with her two sons, Dan becomes increasingly patient and kind, despite their many challenges.

Eventually, Paul returns to his and his brother’s settlement after a long absence. The white-spirit-girl, now named Amanda, is four - the amount of time of Paul’s absence was six years. Paul has done well, and intends for this pat journey to be his last excursion away from his family. Eve feels estranged from Paul because of the length of his absence. Paul greets his brother and accepts and smiles upon Amanda. Being still married, Eve is “returned” to Paul, and he impregnates her one final time.

Eve gives Amanda the name for “J(sh)ewel” in Sheshuakan, as she has learned to write it. Now her eldest boy is 14, and her younger boy 6. Amanda, her jewel, is four.

Back home, the eldest brother is missing his sister’s voice on the wind, and he becomes restless. He is unhappy with her decision to birth a white spirit, and he is preparing for his ceremony to rise to Chief. He goes to his now Spirit Healer brother, and asks for him to find Sister. They cannot call on her name, because at home, she never took a name, as her inner turmoil was great all her life. Sister’s gift was truly psychic awareness. She had vowed to never speak the tribe’s name to a white man, and the new Chief could sense someone who knew, and possibly where they were, and the only way this could be, was if his Sister, whom he had confirmed was alive from Spirit Healer’s sharing with him his vision and knowledge, had somehow spoken the words.

The three brother’s come together one last time in solitude to pray over Sister.

Eve becomes pregnant with Paul’s child. But she is also not happy. Their connection is lost. Dan retreats his love from her as well. She clings to her daughter, but even finds sadness there, because she does not recognize her people in her daughter’s face. Sister feels lost.

She goes to a river to pray. She explains she needs to bleed alone. She gets as much distance as she can from the white camp, and calls for her brothers. Her prayer is heard, loud and clear, and the three brothers make a plan. They are not completely sure what to expect, but that is the role of the Spirit Healer. It is all in the details for him. He knows that there are three, maybe four children. He even knows there are two native spirits trapped inside white bodies, and both are suffering greatly.

The plan is to approach the white camp in total peace. They get off of their horses and walk into the territory. They keep all weapons carefully concealed.

When they arrive at the camp, the eldest brother Chief and Paul talk. Paul says no, they cannot take his wife. Dan and Eve are told to hide in the cabin, and the two boys are off somewhere playing nearby. Eve hugs her jewel close to her chest. She begins to pray. She says goodby to her child and her buried babies. She hopes that Amanda will get to live. She then steps out of the cabin against Daniel’s wishes, and begins to walk toward her brothers and the horses. They have brought two elderly horses with them that once “belonged” to Sister.

The new Sjeshwuan` Chief then spies Sister, and he cannot control his strong and beautiful emotions. He tries to keep the “conversation” going with Paul.

Quickly, the heat rises. The Chief has to make a decision. He looks to Spirit Healer, and they communicate what must be said, without words.

The agreement is that the children must die, but they will spare the two white men and most other people, if possible. The action is swift and artful. Paul and Dan are in complete panic, and it becomes a scene.

First move, Chief swoops up Sister Eve onto his horse, and she holds a bundle with her original sacred dress under her arm. He whistles for her two horses, and they are gone in moments.

The two younger brothers, Peacemaker and Spirit Healer, take care of the rest.

They soon will catch up with the Chief. First, Spirit Healer finds Amanda/Jewel in the bushes, and rides off with her. He gives her a merciful death, and a sacred burial. While he is off doing this, Peacemaker is charged with dealing with the two sons. He takes care of the 14 year old with the weak leg. He cannot find the six year old boy, who has spent the majority of his mature life wandering in the woods nearby. He hears both his brother’s voices on the wind, and makes a decision to give up on the boy, the only living native spirit in the white man’s seed. This sensitive boy, nursed upon his mothers traditions, survives, and later, successfully makes it to manhood.

Swiftly, like it never happened, they are all gone. They take a secure route over hilly land. They all promise to never ever return to “that place”. Eve, does not take any writing with her, just the original small cross that was placed in her hand by the river, and a larger one to bury with the baby inside of her.

It is all very natural. Three days into the journey, Paul’s third son, four months along, is let go due to natural grief. She bundles him in a small blanket, places the second cross upon him, and leaves.

At the end of their journey, now home, Sister Eve takes the small elk carved cross from her neck and tucks it away in a tiny basket. She then builds a fire, and continues to weep. She weeps for the sadness of her broken marriage, and deep joy for the returning to her home and her family.

But she does not not feel the pain of her lost Jewel. Not for a long time yet.

FIN