A New Tradition

Flaming Arrow, Little Wing and Dew Drop always loved to go out hunting or ice fishing with Strong Bow and Eagle’s Wing, their father and mother. As the snow began to dissipate, Eagle’s wing began to get the girls and herself bundled up to go out for the day’s hunt, as Strong Bow and Flaming arrow got the equipment ready. Going out to hunt or fish were regular occurrences among the tribe, but taking women and girls along was often frowned up by the other tribe members.

Today they were hoping they were going to be able to start fishing again as the lake was beginning to thaw and gave access to some of the fishing areas again. It has been a very hard winter, as the lake was covered by an eight inch layer of ice and there was not much game to hunt.

As the family made through the tribe lands, all of them heard the whispers and not so quiet words along the way.

”Those girls should be stayin at home making mukluks for this season and the next.” complained one of the tribeman’s wife as she tucked her baby into her papoose.

”They’re just going to get in the way. Hunting and fishing have no place for women ands girls.” scoffed a tribesman, readying his bull boat while his sons got weirs ready for the day.

”I wish we could go too! I hate styaing at home making blankets, dream catchers and jewelry for trade.” sighed twin girls, Red Petal and Blue Petal, simultaneously.

“Maybe one day you will. But for now, do not dishonor your parents by not performing your current duties.” said a soft voice behind the twins, making them jump and turn around.

They saw a short, older woman with waist length silver hair standing behind them. Quiet Storm was the mother of the chief. She had a brown blanket over her shoulders with tan and red geometric looking shapes on it. She had on brown buckskin mukluks under her ribbon skirt, its fringes blowing in the winter breeze. Her eyes glistened with pride and many years of experience. She winked at her son as his family passed her wigwam. Strong Bow bowed his head to her and his family followed.

As the family continued, tribesmen joined and a walked along side them. Some shook Strong Bow’s hand, others patted Flaming Arrow’s back or shoulder and still others walked over and waved at or bowed to Eagle’s Wing and Little Wing.

One tribesmen walked over to Dew Drop and ruffled her hair and said with a big friendly smile, “How many fish are you gonna catch today?”

Dew Drop slapped his hand away, glared at him and said with confidence, “More than you, I bet!”

The tribesman and some other members chuckled. He looked to Strong Bow and said, “Maybe you should have named your little one Fire Storm instead of Dew Drop!”

Strong Bow shook his head and smiled. Eagle’s Wing walked over and hugged Dew Drop, fixed her hair and said with softly, “Her name suits her just fine. Doesn’t it honey?” Dew Drop nodded, hugged her mom back and stuck her young out at the tribesman. He just laughed walked to the lake.

”No one will be laughing when one of those females cause an accident.“ said a voice off to the side. “They are bad luck and too weak to hunt or fish.”

Strong Bow stopped dead in his tracks as he and his son scanned the area with glaring eyes, searching for the person behind the voice. They stepped in the the direction the voice came from as Eagle’s Wing, Little Wing and Dew Drop retreated behind them.

“Who dares speak ill of my family?!” Strong Bow snarled.

A tall muscular man stepped forward with his hair in a man bun and the sides of his head shaved. He had a scowl on his face and the scars all over it made the look more intense. He had on a black bear skin coat, brown buckskin pants and black mukluks. His arms were folded across his chest and he stared intensely at father and son.

“You’ll do well to respect my mother and sisters, Raging Fire.” Flaming Arrow said, his arms at his sides, fists clenched and staring intently.

”Don’t talk to my father like that. You know he’s right!” yelled Running Bear, his daughter.

Flaming Arrow’s gave shifted to her, his eyes softened and he smiled. Running Bear met his gaze but she immediately looked away putting her hands on her cheeks as she could feel them heating up and reddening.

Strong Bow placed a hand on his son’s shoulder, jolting him out of his trance and said, “Continue making the preparations.“ Flaming Arrow nodded and turned to leave, but not before winking at Running Bear. She giggled and waved at him not realizing her father was angrily watching the exchange.

”Go back inside and finish mending the clothes and tending your brother!” yelled Raging Fire, startling her.

She stomped and turned to leave, almost knocking over her little brother who was tugging in their father’s pants. Raging Fire was so angry that he hadn’t even noticed it. His face immediately softened as he scooped up Little Foot into his arms. He placed his tiny hands on his father‘s cheeks and asked in confusion, “What’s wrong, papa?”

“Nothing, my sweet child.” He said to him lovingly. “Papa was just a little angry.”

”Well, don’t be.“ Little Foot said. “Mama wouldn’t like it.”

Raging Fire nodded and put his forehead on Little Foot’s. As he turned to leave, Eagle’s Wing stepped forward, placing a hand on her husband’s shoulder and said to Raging Fire,

“I’m sorry for what happened to your wife. It was no fault of her own and there was no way to predict or stop what happened. But we can’t let that stop us from living and creating new traditions to improve our lives. I hope you can see that soon.”

Strong Bow placed his hand on his wife’s, nodded and said, “Let’s go.”

Raging Fire shook his head, gave his son to his sister and kissed them both on their foreheads.

”Watch over him as I fish.” he said to Running Bear. She nodded and snuggled Little Foot as she took him back inside.

Everyone made their way to the lake shore and realized that there would be no need for the Bull Boats. The lake would take longer to thaw as it still had a thick layer of ice, but there were some pockets where fishing could still take place.

“Alright everyone.” Strong Bow started. “We will seperate into small groups or even pairs. We need to be careful so as not to have too much weight in one spot and break the ice.”

He scanned over the group and saw they were nodding in agreement. He continued,

”The ice on the west side of the lake is thinner than on the rest of the lake So I advise that we avoid that side until it thaws some more and we can use the boats again.”

Eagle’s Wing clapped her hands and addressed the group cheerily, “OK everyone. Find a place with your partners and lets get fishing!”

In the next moment, there was a cacophony of shuffling feet, dragging weirs, talking, laughter and ice picks chipping away at the ice. Everyone was enjoying the brisk winter air and hoping to have a successful catch.

As Flaming Arrow, Little Wing and Dew Drop set their weir in the lake hole they made, Little Wing stood up. Something didn’t feel right to her. She scanned over the lake, looking at each of the fishing groups enjoying themselves. In her scan of the lake, she spotted something that made her gasp. To the far west of the lake there was a lone fishermen crouched down near a fishing hole. She realized it was Raging Fire and waved frantically. Without warning, there was a deafening crack, so loud that it startled the birds and they took flight.

“Papa!” She yelled. “The ice on the west lake cracked and Raging Fire fell in!” Without thinking, she bolted towards him before her father could stop her.

”Little Wing, NO!” he yelled.

”Strong Bow, we have to get off of the lake and get everyone to safety!” Eagle’s Wing shouted as she picked up Dew Drop.

“Dad! The ice is breaking!” Flaming Arrow yelled, grabbing his father’s arm. He hadn’t noticed the big cracks forming on the lake, creeping towards his feet since he was watching Little Wing sprint the west side of the lake.

”Get everyone off of the lake NOW!” he said to Flaming Arrow who nodded and ran off. People frantically scrambled to get off of the lake before they fell in.

In the mayhem, Eagle’s Wing didn’t notice that Little Wing wasn’t in the group. Suddenly Dew Drops eyes widened and she pointed to the west saying, “Mama, look!” The color drained from her face as she saw her daughter dive into the frigid lake and her husband running towards her. She blinked here away the shock and yelled,

”Son! Quickly grab some blankets, ropes and spears and go help them! NOW!”

Flaming Arrow moved swiftly and ran to the west side of the lake with three others. As Eagle’s Wing watched in horror for what seemed like an eternity, Little Wing’s head came above the water, her arm wrapped around Raging Fire’s chest. His eyes were closed and his skin was discolored. Strong Bow, Flaming Arrow and the other tribesmen reached everything they could towards them and got them out of the water and after much effort, they were successful. Strong Bow wrapped his daughter in multiple blankets and carried her back to their wigwam. Eagle’s Wing ran after him with Dew Drop crying in her arms. Flaming Arrow and the other tribesmen put Raging Fire on a cot, wrapped him in blankets and carried him back to his home.

It took three weeks for Little Wing to recover and almost six for Raging Fire. During Little Wing’s recovery, Running Bear and Little Foot visited everyday, bringing food, helping to change frostbite bandages and making sure she was ok. And everyday she was awake, Little Wing asked if Raging Fire was doing better.

After making a full recovery, Little Wing did the same thing that Raging Fire’s children did, even after he was fully healed. One day when she was about to leave, Raging Fire stopped her and said,

”Wait. I have some thing for you.”

Little Wing was puzzled but she nodded and sat down.

He looked at Little wing and started to speak,

“I know I’ve not had the best opinions of the women in this tribe for such a long time. I based it on my stupid opinion and grief after the loss of my wife.“

Little wing looked at him with sympathy as Little foot crawled into her lap to snuggle and Running Bear sat beside her. She didn’t notice that her father, mother, brother and sister were there listening as well.

“You saved my life, giving me more time with my children. That is a debt I could never repay, but that I’m extremely grateful for.“ Tears welled up in the eyes of the man everyone thought to be a heartless monster.

“My wife made this with the intention of giving it to our daughter on the day of her wedding. However, Running Bear convinced me to give it to you as a token of my appreciation. Will you accept it?”

It was the most beautiful dream catcher she had ever seen. She could tell it was made with love and a lot of effort.

“Thank you. I will cherish this forever.” said Little Wing. Raging Fire smiled as his children hugged Little Wing before she left with her family to enjoy the rest of their day.