The Beothuk Saga Read online

  27

  The first snow that remained on the ground had fallen. The central fires in each mamateek were lit, and the women rose often during the night to tend them. The caribou hunters had prepared their snowshoes and were ready to set out. One night after dark the exploring group led by Whooch the Crow returned to the village. The men were exhausted and asked to be allowed to sleep before they recounted the tale of their discoveries.

  As soon as the sun rose, the entire village gathered in a small clearing in a sheltered part of the forest to hear the explorers’ story. But no sooner had Whooch begun to speak than the group led by Anin also returned to the village, and it was decided to let these travellers rest and to resume the assembly when the sun was at its highest point in the sky. When Anin entered his mamateek, the four women greeted him with shouts of happiness. Anin was surprised, but pleasantly so, and smiled while Woasut helped him remove his outer garment.

  Then Gudruide made him sit while she removed his caribou-skin leggings. At the same time, Gwenid lifted his long-sleeved shirt over his head and Della removed his dingiam, which left him completely naked. Somewhat disconcerted by this unaccustomed welcome, Anin asked the women what they thought they were doing.

  “The four wives of the first Chief of the Beothuk Nation,” said Woasut, “have missed their husband. They have been physically neglected since the beginning of the season of falling leaves, and now demand immediate compensation for their loss of the first Chief’s body.”

  So saying, Woasut threw herself upon Anin, with Gwenid and Gudruide following, and all three women began covering Anin’s body with rough caresses and gentle biting. They laughed heartily as they did so, and Della, who did not join in, nonetheless smiled as she watched them. Anin was smiling also, aware that the women were playing a sort of game with him. But he was also astonished at their behaviour, since until then they had seemed to him more reserved.

  “Do you not wish to join us?” Anin said to Della.

  Della looked at him and said she was content to see if there was anything left to eat when the three starving women had finished their meal. Then, also uncharacteristically, she laughed loudly. The three other women went on with their merrymaking, allowing one to take off her clothing while the other two occupied themselves with Anin. When all three were naked, they stood up and spoke simultaneously:

  “You will take all of us, one after the other, and you will not leave this mamateek until we are all satisfied.”

  Then Gudruide threw herself upon him, declaring herself first, while the others said they would wait their turns. Gwenid invited Della to disrobe, which she did. Anin realized that although the women were laughing, they were still quite serious. He told them he was not sure he was able to accommodate them, taken as he was by surprise and tired from his long journey; perhaps he lacked the strength or the desire to perform the act. The four women faced him and Woasut spoke for them all:

  “We have not had a man with us for more than three moons. We have worked hard to prepare for the season of cold and snow, and now that you are back you are telling us you might be too tired to think about our needs? You have four wives who want to couple with you, and we believe that you owe it to us to make the effort. We wish you to pay your respects to all four of us before the sun has gone from the sky.”

  The three other women emitted cries of agreement. Seeing that he had little choice in the matter, Anin gave in.

  “But help me a little, Woasut.”

  The young Beothuk leaned down and embraced Anin, caressing her husband as tenderly as she herself wished to be caressed. The other women retreated to another part of the mamateek and, covering themselves with caribou skins, awaited their turns. As they watched, Gwenid and Gudruide caressed young Ashwameet, much to her enjoyment. Although they had expressed their needs pleasantly, the four women were serious about the point they were making: they wanted the chief to realize that it was impossible for one man to keep four women completely satisfied, especially when he was away for such long periods of time. They had discussed this among themselves during Anin’s absence, and had determined to play the scene out to the end. It was vital to their plan to have their own opinions taken seriously. Woasut therefore took her time, keeping Anin inside her until she was completely satisfied, which was long after he had achieved his own pleasure. No sooner had he withdrawn from her than Gudruide threw herself upon him, kissing him and cajoling him, embracing his body until he was ready once more. She, too, took her time, and when she was finished with him Anin was limp with fatigue. He begged the others to give him time to recover; perhaps after the assembly. But Gwenid and Della both began caressing him together, coaxing his resolve to stiffen again, and soon the young Viking was satisfied. Then Della turned in appeal to Woasut and Gudruide: “Since there does not seem to be even a crumb left for me to eat, I suppose I must rely on you to help me out of my bad humour.” The women laughed and began to stroke Della tenderly.

  The assembly did not begin at the moment the sun reached its highest point in the sky. It could not begin without its chief, and at that moment the chief was busy. In fact, he remained busy until the following morning. During that time, a serious conversation took place in the mamateek of the first Chief of the Beothuk Nation. The women expressed their grievances, explaining that they wanted their own voices to be heard on the national council. They pointed out that although their tradition described the duties that a wife bore to her husband, it neglected to mention the duties of husbands towards their wives. They discussed the many agreements that must be made between spouses, and the absence of any directives by which those agreements could be reached. They also raised the question of the attraction that grows between women when they are neglected by their husbands, telling him of their own experiences during his absence. They explained to him how united the four of them were, and that they felt absolutely no remorse for their behaviour; they did not find anything reprehensible about it so long as they continued to respect their duties towards their husband.

  Anin was taken aback by this long conversation, which lasted well into the night. But he promised to think about the matters they raised, and to speak to them again when he had done so. When the two mothers had fed their babies, the four women and their chief finally went to sleep.

  28

  The assembly began as soon as the sun was at the highest point in its journey across the sky. The elder asked Whooch the Crow to start. Whooch told how his expedition had explored the regions of the high mountains and plateau country in the direction of cold. There were many trees, rich lands, small ponds, high waterfalls that tumbled into the sea, long arms of the sea that reached deep into the land between cliffs so high they had made him dizzy to look down from them. There were many advantageous places that gave a wide view of the sea, so that anyone approaching would be seen well in advance, but there were not many good hunting places except at this time of the season-cycle when the caribou migrated to the uplands to eat moss. It was a country well suited to anyone who loved nature, he said, but not for the establishment of new villages.

  Then it was Anin’s turn. He told about the expedition that crossed the forested parts of the island. He recounted how the two coasts of the island were joined by running water:

  “Between the rising and setting coasts,” he said, “there are large rivers and long lakes that would permit us to travel great distances in our tapatooks. We could cross from one coast to another in less than one moon, if we did not have to stop to hunt. Along the length of this crossing, there are caribou that dwell in the forest and do not migrate to the high country, as do the herds that live in the cold region. There are, of course, wolves that hunt in packs or families, but if our hunters are skilled the wolves will not rob us of meat. There are numerous places that would make excellent camps during the season of cold and snow. The forest is thick everywhere and provides perfect shelter from cold winds. There is much small game as well: rabbits, hares, beavers, otters, and martens. Some of the
rivers that run toward the rising-sun coast fall into deep bays when they reach the sea. And when we were passing a large lake at the very centre of the island, we came upon a Beothuk village, so there are other people living on this island. We did not come into contact with these people, because we did not want to be mistaken for Ashwans. But we saw many areas where wild fruit grew in great abundance in the forests and along the shores of the rivers and lakes. It would also be possible to gather shellfish and other sea creatures. In fact, the best plan would be to establish villages at the ends of the deep bays, where we would be able to keep an eye on the inland territories without being visible from the sea, so that we would not attract the attention of Ashwans or the Bouguishamesh. We could do this at the beginning of the season of new growth. With our present population, and our knowledge of how quickly our numbers have increased over the past generations, we could spread out over the whole island in fewer than five generations. That way we will be assured of keeping our island to ourselves, by preventing our enemies from coming and murdering us all in one attack. We must also ensure that the region we inhabit now remains inhabited. This is an ideal spot for guarding the sun-setting coast. How many of you are ready to establish villages on the sun-rising side?”

  Three-quarters of the men in the assembly raised their arms to signify their interest in Anin’s plan. Not a single woman raised hers. Anin sensed that the women had come to the assembly with their own plan. Had not Woasut told him that they wanted their own voice on the national council?

  “Are no women ready to establish their families on the sun-rising coast?” he asked.

  Woasut stood up and approached the chief of the Beothuks.

  “The women of the Beothuk Nation make up more than two-thirds of the population, if you include female children,” she said. “And yet, until this sun, they have never had any say in making the decisions that affect their lives and those of their children. They wish to be represented on the council of the Beothuk Nation. The five men who now make the decisions have nothing to fear from us. One woman on the council would represent the wishes of all women. We swarm like bees, and we would be consulted.”

  Her words were followed by a long silence, which was broken by the Living Memory, who cleared his throat before speaking in favour of the demand of the women, as he had promised:

  “If I may speak after Woasut,” he began. “It is true that Beothuk women have not until now taken part in the decisions of the assembly, but that is because not until now have they expressed an interest in getting mixed up in the business that has always been the concern of the men. But it is clear now that the women wish to have a voice, and I do not see how we can prevent them from having one. There is, however, a condition for taking part in the council. When the council meets, it makes decisions for the entire nation and in the nation’s name; it does not make decisions to please any one individual, or even one group within the nation. If the women accept that condition, I am prepared to accept a female to sit on the national council. I leave it to the other members of the council to express their own opinions.”

  The elder of the Otter Clan nodded his head. Whooch declared that he had no objection, and Berroïk said that he had been thinking about just such a move for a long time. Only Anin had not spoken. He stood up.

  “In truth, I do not have a choice in the matter,” he said. “I would be the only one to oppose the move. But I do fear that the women may be too emotional to make the kind of objective decisions that the council must make. However, as long as you accept the condition mentioned by the Living Memory, then I believe that you should be given a chance to prove that you can act objectively and practically. You will designate a representative to the council, and she will participate in the first assembly tomorrow morning. I have spoken.”

  The public assembly ended with Anin’s words. It remained only to elaborate on the plans for the nation’s migration towards the sun-rising coast. When they sat during the following sun, the six members of the national council of the Beothuks would establish these plans.

  The women of the three Beothuk clans held an immediate meeting to nominate their representative to the national council. The meeting continued into the night, since each person had the right to express her opinion as to what she expected from such a representative. To everyone’s surprise, the spokeswoman selected turned out to be Gudruide, the Viking, the foreigner. The young huntress Boubishat was chosen as her replacement if Gudruide was unable to attend a council assembly. Gudruide was greatly honoured to have been chosen, but she protested all the same that she was a foreigner and unfamiliar with all the customs of the Beothuk. The other women replied that she did not need to know everything because all she would be doing was relaying to the council the decisions reached by the women themselves, and if she was ever in doubt she had only to ask the others. They then spoke of the important points that Gudruide must bring to the next meeting. Then the meeting ended.

  Each woman returned to her mamateek. The young people sought out companions for the night. Robb, who had accompanied Anin on the expedition to the sun-rising coast, entered the Bear Clan mamateek and whispered a few words into Gwenid’s ear. Anin called to him:

  “Robb, it is time for you to find a companion in another clan. From now on, the four women in this mamateek are all my wives. Do you remember what you once told me? That when I have decided which woman is my favourite you would not consort with her? Well, I have decided that all four women are my favourites, even though Woasut will always be my first wife.”

  Robb moved away from Gwenid and lay down to sleep. Once again, thought Gwenid, she was to be frustrated in her desire for a man. The young huntress Boubishat was already asleep in the arms of Ashwameet, Red Ochre. When the sun rose, Robb gathered up his personal things and left the mamateek of the Bear Clan.

  29

  When the season of new growth arrived, the members of the Otter Clan left for the sun-rising coast. They were led by Whooch, and Robb went with them. He was now known as Drona the Hairy, and he took with him two wives from the Otter Clan, two sisters. He wanted to establish a family and to be firmly identified as a member of the Beothuk Nation.

  Anin appointed Berroïk to remain at the head of the Seal Clan and to maintain the village at the mouth of the river of gulls. Nonetheless, some members of the Seal Clan decided to join Anin and the Bear Clan to set up a village deep in the interior of the island.

  This is the story of how the two founding Addaboutik clans expanded to fill an island. This is how the Addaboutik established the great Beothuk Nation! This also tells the value of Living Memory to the heart of the people: it is through our Living Memory that future generations of Beothuk learn that they are eternal, that they will live forever.

  Anin and his four wives established a village on the large lake known from then on as Red Ochre Lake. Over a period of many season-cycles equal to twice the fingers on two hands, his wives produced a great number of offspring. Woasut met two of her cousins and five other Beothuk women who had escaped from the Ashwan massacre; these seven Beothuk became members of the Bear Clan.

  At the end of a period of twenty season-cycles, every important region of the island was occupied and patrolled by the Beothuk. My father, Kabik the Careful, took two other wives after the death of my mother, who was the young huntress Boubishat, as well as his own mother, and installed himself and his family on the Bay of Exploits, so named in honour of Anin, who had first met Woasut on this bay.

  Whenever a foreign ship anchored in a bay to provision itself with fresh water, the members of the Beothuk Nation demanded some form of compensation. The most coveted items were those made of metal: fish hooks, axe heads, knives, or sometimes just unformed pieces of iron that the Beothuk artisans, who had been taught by Drona the Hairy, would fashion into useful tools. The two swords and the axe that had belonged to the Vikings were carefully preserved and carried by Anin and Ashwameet, and were much in use. Anin’s four wives gave birth regularly. The young Scot
s woman, despite her preference for her own sex, brought four infants into the world, three males and a female. Woasut also had four more children after Buh-Bosha-Yesh. Gudruide gave birth to six children altogether, four of whom were males. As for Gwenid, the fires of desire burned so brightly within her that she brought forth no fewer than eleven young ones into the world. In the entire memory of the Beothuk and the Addaboutik, that is, in the entire history of our people, Anin’s family was the largest. All his children increased the Bear Clan in fewer than twenty season-cycles.