The Beothuk Saga Page 17

  One night, the Portuguese sailor expressed his confidence that his people would return to the island, because the market for slaves in Europe was a lucrative one for those who could supply it. He gave her this information as a warning, and Iwish passed it along to all the members of her clan and then to all the other clans on the island of the Red Men.

  Then the sun came when Iwish was informed by a paddler that the two Portuguese ships that had taken fifty-seven of her clan members prisoner the previous warm season had returned to the bay next to that of the Seal Clan, and that the guardians were preparing to attack the sailors as soon as they landed to fill their water barrels. Iwish ordered everyone in the village to prepare themselves, and sent a hundred extra guardians to increase the strength of the Beothuk defending the island against the invaders. As quietly and quickly as possible, the word was passed throughout the village, and everyone set to work, the men, women, and even the children. First, small sticks were sharpened until they were as sharp as knives, and then stuck into the ground or set into the trunks of trees so that they would tear at the flesh of anyone who brushed against them. If the village was attacked at night, as it had been the last time, these little sentries would alert the villagers to impending danger.

  Meanwhile, the defence system was put into action under the direction of Camtac the Speaker. From their hiding places above the bay, guardians watched as four large rowboats were lowered from the ships, each one loaded with empty water barrels. They continued to watch as the rowboats made their way towards the brook at the head of the bay. Each rowboat contained six rowers and two sailors armed with muskets. If each rower was also armed, there would be thirty-two armed men to attack.

  Camtac went to each of his archers and told him that he must take aim at a particular sailor and release his arrow, and then rush down to the shore with his spear in case the arrow failed to find its mark.

  The archers picked their targets and each one placed himself in the best position from which to achieve his objective. When the rowboats landed, the sixteen barrels were rolled to the brook one at a time; two men remained at the boats, muskets at the ready, while the other sailors made their way to the creek, each with musket in hand.

  When Camtac gave the signal, thirty-two arrows were released at the same time, and thirty of the Portuguese sailors fell, dead before they touched the earth. The two sailors waiting at the boat were immediately rushed. One of them had time to raise his weapon and fire at the attackers before he was hacked to pieces, along with his companion. The shot, however, alerted the sailors in the large ships, who could be seen shouting and gesticulating on the decks. The Beothuk warriors launched their tapatooks and began paddling furiously towards the Portuguese ships. In preparation, they had tied birchbark and dried moss to a quantity of arrows and placed these in the tapatooks; now they set fire to these arrows with burning sticks, and sent a volley of flaming torches into the ships’ rigging and onto those areas on the decks where they could see piles of flammable materials. Soon both Portuguese ships were in flames, and sailors were jumping into the water or desperately lowering the ships’ boats in order to escape. Both captains began shouting orders in Portuguese, and to some effect, since their crews could be seen to be grouping for a rush towards solid ground. The guardians waited for them in their tapatooks, which were light and much more manoeuvrable than the rowboats. There was some musket fire from the ships, and several of the Beothuk, those who had not heeded the plan to strike and retreat swiftly, were killed, making their fearlessness also the cause of their deaths, and making themselves dangerous to their companions.

  As soon as the sailors stepped onto dry land they were attacked by the guardians sent by Iwish. There followed a veritable massacre: the Portuguese were slaughtered mercilessly down to the last man. The enraged Beothuk sought revenge for the fifty-seven clan members who had been taken prisoner during the previous season of new growth. They took many heads, including that of Captain Côrte Real, and these were distributed among the Beothuk villages throughout the island. The bearers of the heads were careful to avoid the sharpened sticks that had been placed around each village. They knew how and where such weapons were placed, and everyone was mindful of where not to step. That night there was a great feast, and the dancing in celebration of the Beothuk victory over the Portuguese invaders lasted until the rising of the sun. But there were many families that did not share in the rejoicing, because they were mourning the loss of those who had been killed defending the island of the Red Men.

  Iwish was angry that nothing had been saved from the two ships. There had certainly been tools on board that would have been valuable to the Beothuk: axes, sailcloth, metal implements of various kinds. The Beothuk had no use for Portuguese heads. What a waste! But her anger merely told the guardians that she was a woman, and therefore never satisfied, and that all the victories in the world would count as nothing in her eyes. Only Camtac was content with his reception after the great battle. Iwish led him to her mamateek and, after making him a gift of her short sword, gave herself to him to show her gratitude for his victory over the foreign invaders. In this, however, he had to obey her wishes, even in the matter of performing his duty as a man. The clan chief knew exactly what she wanted and how she wanted it. She it was who took the initiative, who climbed on top of Camtac rather than letting him mount her. She perched upon him, her back turned to his face, so that he felt he was simply being used by her for her own satisfaction, that he was nothing to her but an implement of pleasure, not a mate participating in an act of mutual enjoyment. He was humiliated by this, but at the same time realized that he must speak to no one of his humiliation, for fear of being publicly ridiculed. If others found out how he was being used by Iwish, he would lose the status of being her favourite, and therefore would lose his influence in Beothuk society. He must keep absolutely silent about his amorous adventure.

  Was he the only man benefiting from the clan chief’s favours, or was he simply one among many others? If the latter, then he was not the only one to know that men, to her, were nothing but accessories in her bed, not there to dominate her but simply to serve her physical needs! He would try to find out, so that he could learn more about her ways and also so that he would not make a false step within the Appawet Clan. Since her husband had been taken by the Portuguese, this woman had lived solely for the five children the three wives had had together. Rather than take a new husband, she satisfied her sexual needs with the young and vigorous guardians under her command. It was very difficult for a guardian to refuse her, since she was such a determined woman with a strong personality. Camtac was lost in thought, and Iwish looked at him from the corner of her eye.

  “Did I not give you pleasure?” she asked him.

  “Yes, but I do not feel that I have conquered you.”

  “Conquered me?” Iwish turned and looked Camtac straight in the eye. “For longer than anyone can remember,” she said, “men have taken their own satisfaction without ever asking their women whether the act had given them pleasure or not. Do you not think that it is time for such things to be reversed?”

  Camtac held her eyes and spoke his mind.

  “For myself, I do not see why I should be blamed for the faults of men who have lived before me. I was under the impression that you wanted to thank me for saving the island from the invaders, not punish me for something that is not of my doing. I am not responsible for the conduct of my ancestors. I am the victor over the Portuguese, not their victim. I would have been able to give you as much pleasure as you have given yourself, perhaps even more, if you had given me the chance instead of thinking only of yourself. You have shown much disrespect for me, and a lack of confidence in my abilities and character. I am not proud of my accomplishments now, and not happy about our relationship.”

  Iwish replaced her dingiam and made to leave the mamateek.

  “There is not now and there has never been a relationship between you and me,” she said angrily. “I have been please
d by you and that is all that matters to me. The next time I wish to be pleased, I will look elsewhere. You are free to find another woman who will be more impressed by your masculine pride, and more attentive to your masculine happiness.”

  Camtac was thoughtful for the rest of that night. According to tradition … But what use was it to think about tradition? Were not the events of today the traditions of tomorrow? Perhaps things are never the same for long? What good were past experiences? Could they be used to determine the actions of tomorrow? Would that make them part of a tradition? Perhaps that was the use to which his experience with Iwish could be put: to teach him that that was the path things would always take, and to help him warn the next generation so that they would not suffer from illusions, or be as wounded by their experiences as they might otherwise be. At the very least, he must not allow himself to believe that all relationships were like this one, otherwise there would be no point in continuing to live. Surely there were other ways for men and women to live; all women could not be as domineering as Iwish.

  Such were the thoughts that occupied Camtac’s spirit as he sat on Iwish’s bed, in the mamateek of the chief of the Seal Clan. In all Beothuk memory, this was the first time that a woman had acted like a man without incurring the respect of the others of her clan. Was she perhaps a man of the female sex? Then why did she not choose females for her sexual partners? Since she did not, did that mean that men were more able than women to give her satisfaction? With these thoughts plaguing him, Camtac left the mamateek of Iwish for the last time.

  But he remained thoughtful for several suns afterwards. Iwish was a very beautiful woman. She was also much more experienced than he was, and that was not always a bad thing. She was tall and strongly built, with large breasts, soft skin, and a pleasantly proportioned body despite having given birth to two children. She wore her dingiam at all times, and a short skirt open at both sides that revealed her thighs. Her moccasins had leggings, made from the legs of caribou, that protected her from branches and sharp rocks, of which there were many in the forest and along the coastline of their land. Her skin was dark, like that of the ancient Addaboutik from which she was descended, and the hair on her head was dark red, almost black. She was taller than Camtac, and he was at least a head taller than the Portuguese sailor.

  Iwish had lived more than thirty season-cycles, but she was still beautiful enough to fill the dreams of the young warriors of the Beothuk Nation. There was not a male member of the Appawet clan, young or old, who had not at one time or another imagined himself sharing a mamateek with her. It was the women who began whispering about her faults. Since she had become chief, the prestige of the female guardians had decreased steadily, while that of her private, elite corps of males had risen to eclipse them. The women no longer felt they were vital to the defence of the nation. At the same time, Iwish declared that the male population had sufficiently increased that it was now of paramount importance to protect the females, who were the reproducers of the Beothuk people. Discontent at this turn of events continued to rise. The women felt they were held in less esteem, and many of the men continued to chafe at the idea of being ruled by a woman. Consciously or not, many clan members began to look for reasons to discredit Iwish in the eyes of the men who were still loyal to her, for a way to overcome the obvious physical attraction she held for them.

  33

  But the suns that passed under the rule of Iwish, the Seal Clan chief, were happy and peaceful. A sense of security replaced the uncertainty that had preceded and immediately followed her election as the leader of the guardians. Every day she was told the number of foreign ships that prowled about the island; she knew that there were more than a hundred of them, from several foreign lands, some to catch fish and others to hunt seals. There were Basques who came for the whales in the northern passage, towards the land of the Sho-Undamung, also known as Innu or Montagnais, who were friends of the French, or Malouins. There were also Portuguese, Spanish, and English vessels everywhere. By now the guardians of the nation could recognize the country of origin of these ships by the flags that flew from their sterns. The Portuguese sailor had taught them the colours and insignia of each nation. They also knew that they need only keep watch on the rising-sun coastline to assure themselves that they were not about to be invaded. The Malouins fished well to the northwest, but took on fresh water only on the north coast of the passage to the land of the Sho-Undamung, their allies. These observations were confirmed by the Portuguese sailor.

  After nearly two season-cycles had passed, Iwish was informed that two more Portuguese ships had arrived off the coast, and that they seemed to be searching for the ships of Gaspar de Côrte Real. Their sailors watched the shoreline constantly from the decks. Iwish doubled the guard and assigned extra guardians to watch the village during the night, in case of a surprise attack. Around the village, workers sharpened more sticks and placed them along the creek beds, for added protection. The bays were constantly patrolled by tapatooks, so that no movement from the foreign ships would go unnoticed. One night, they saw two Portuguese ships drop anchor at the mouth of a small brook near the island where the Beothuk cut their hardwood.

  Iwish ordered the guardians to attack the ships, but to return to the brook immediately after the initial raid. Camtac was still in charge of the largest group of guardians, and he knew exactly what to do and how to go about it. As soon as night fell, the tapatooks left the creek and, entering the bay, circled around the two Portuguese ships in the darkness. Before long they saw a large rowboat filled with sailors make its way from the ships towards the hardwood island. Five tapatooks silently followed, and when they came within range the guardians let loose a hail of arrows into the Portuguese rowboat. They were so close that they could hear the sailors cursing; many of them were hit before the rowboat even reached the shore. When the sailors tumbled out onto dry land, they turned and fired their muskets into the darkness, but the Beothuk warriors were shielded by the night, and none was hit. More rowboats were lowered from the main ships, but by the time these reached the island the Beothuk had disappeared, vanished into thin air, as Iwish had instructed. When the sun rose the next morning, twelve sailors lay stretched out on the beach, killed by the arrows and hunting spears of the invisible Beothuk raiding party. The surviving sailors gathered driftwood and began to prepare their food, but as soon as they lit the fire a fresh volley of arrows killed a dozen more. Once again they fired their muskets blindly, this time into the thick woods, in the hope of hitting the ghostly Savages. Once again, no one was hit. When the sun had mounted high in the sky, the sailors on the island watched as fifty or more Beothuk tapatooks left the creek opposite and headed towards the two Portuguese ships, firing flaming arrows into the sails and rigging as soon as they were close. They saw hundreds of Beothuk warriors climb up the ropes hanging over the sides of the ships. There followed a horrific battle; terrible screams could be heard coming from the burning vessels. The sailors launched their boats and rowed furiously to the aid of their countrymen, but by the time they reached the ships the Beothuk once again were gone. The Red Men lost twenty guardians, but the Portuguese losses were at least three times that many.

  The Portuguese captain was Miguel de Côrte Real, the brother of Gaspar. He ordered all his men to arm themselves and attack the Savages in force. But no sooner had his men reached shore than half of them were levelled by a single flight of arrows, and the other half immediately turned and rowed back to the Portuguese ships, which were still burning. Côrte Real could do nothing but raise the anchors and let the ships drift towards land. They soon beached on the sandy shore, and the sailors worked to put out the flames lit by the Beothuk torch-arrows. But they suffered more losses in doing so, since the Beothuk guardians took advantage of the diversion to launch their tapatooks and shoot at the sailors lined up along the shore like so many ducks as they passed buckets of water to fight the fire. Côrte Real fired cannons at the Savages, but managed to overturn only one tapatook, and al
l five guardians from it were rescued by their fellows. Then, as at a signal, all the Beothuk disappeared. The Portuguese thought they had been frightened off by the cannons. But that night, the Red Men descended again upon the beached Portuguese vessels. This time they climbed aboard and quickly killed all the remaining Portuguese. The head of Miguel de Côrte Real, like that of his brother before him, was severed from its body and exhibited in all the Beothuk villages for almost an entire moon, until worms began to wriggle from its eye sockets. This time the tools from both ships were salvaged and distributed among the Beothuk villages. The unburned sails were cut up and used to make new mamateeks and to wrap up provisions for the coming cold season. Iwish was satisfied with the result of the battle. The Portuguese would now know what to expect, even though not one member of their expedition had survived to tell the tale of the massacre. When the guardians had set fire to the two ships, they released the Portuguese sailor who had been their prisoner for almost three season-cycles. He was given a tapatook and a paddle and told to carry the news of the great battle to the foreign fishing boats that were waiting at the periphery of the Red Men’s island, and to tell the foreigners that the Red Men would defend themselves without mercy from any future Portuguese invasion.