Keo was stretched out on the bedding in his pod. With his eyes closed he laid one of his arms over his face. His mind was spinning back to a time long ago when he still lived on Mother Earth…
The television only got two channels, but middle aged Keo kept it on for company anyway. He was sitting on the edge of his worn couch, drinking the last of his hot tea. He looked at the pictures hung on his wall. Some were of his children and others were of his Grandmothers and Grandfathers past. He often wondered what it was like to live in the times when his people were free. Free to live off the land and roam from mountain to valley.
The news on the TV was grim. Nuclear bombs were being launched on a country halfway across the world. It sickened his heart to know this moment had came. It all could have been prevented, if only man would have listened. As the broadcast moved to commercial, there was a knock at his open trailer door.
“Pop, it is time”, came the voice from outside on the stoop. Stepping into the trailer was a handsome young man, resembling Keo in every way. He came over to Keo and sat for a moment. “Father, we are ready to go. It is Operation Thunderbird time. We must leave immediately and head for the Black Hills.” His son’s voice was a flat tone.
“I know my son. My bundle is over there by the door. I am ready.”
They moved out of the trailer and into an old white ‘69 pick up truck. Attached to the hitch was a trailer with a beautiful painted horse loaded inside. As they moved on down the dirt road Keo peered into the passenger side mirror. He watched the reflection of his old white and blue worn down trailer disappear into the rolling hills of the Dakota plains.
Moving his eyes away from the side mirror and to the landscape, he told his son, “It is so beautiful, I hate to leave her.”
“I know, Pop, she is beautiful. We all feel her sorrow too.”
They moved onto the blacktop road and headed through the Badlands. The hills in the distant now stood like majestic spires painted hues of orange, red and deep purple from the sun’s last light of the day. Beyond the Badlands was the Black Hills. A sacred place for the Sioux People.
They came to a turn off at the foot of the Black Hills. The wooded area hid the road that only those who knew it was there could see it. Rumbling down the road in the truck, the son turned to Keo and spoke, “Pop, I just wanted to remind you how much I love you.”
Keo looked over at his son who was now purposely keeping his eye on the rough bumpy dirt road. With his left hand, Keo placed it on his son’s shoulder, “I love you too my boy! We will make it through all of this. The Creator has told me so.”
Upon those words they both made eye contact and broke out into big smiles and laughed. Soon they came to a stop at a clearing to the side of the road. There were a few other cars and trucks already parked, but no one was around. Quickly they unload the painted pony and moved to a trail that led deep into the woods.
They both took turns riding the horse through the trails. Spotting holes along side the trail, they knew the People were doing as instructed. There were many plants they wanted to take with them, so as each person started out on the trail to Thunderbird Operation, they chose a plant that called to them. There were even small saplings that were chosen for the journey.
The trail came to an end and the trees opened up to a clearing, where stood a huge spaceship built according to plan that was instructed through a grand vision given to the People. All kinds of people were milling around, with plants in hand, some with birds in cages, other with horses, dogs, sheep, pigs and even the mighty buffalo, all tethered to leashes.
As soon as Keo and his son were in the open, the scattered talk came to a low mummer, then silence. Keo looked around as he came down off the back of the painted pony. A soft smile came to his face as he recognized the faith these people came here with. They all looked to him for further directions to begin Thunderbird Operation.
The People had gathered from all directions, coming from many nations. They were the People who heard the instructions and were truly connected to the Earth. The ship had been completed this last spring after seven long tedious years of preparations.
Without saying a word, Keo grabbed his bundle and gently set it down upon the tender ground. Slowly he unwrapped the leather bindings and unfolded the buffalo hide to reveal a pipe bag among other essentials. Quietly and faithfully, he began to pull out the sage and the red bowl and pipe stem.
With the sage now trailing smoke streams up into the air, he bathed each piece in the vapors and then placed the stem into the mouth of the bowl, making the piece sacred. With great attention, he pinched bits of ceremonial tobacco and honored them to each direction before packing them into the bowl.
Once all sacred directions were recognized, Keo held the pipe up to the now darkening sky lit by stars. His first words were spoken, “Wakan Tanka, Tunkasila, Whopila, Whopila, Whopila, Whopila!” He then lit the prayer pipe. Stoking the pipe until it was completely gone of tobacco, Keo then moved to the opening of the ship.
One at a time the people moved to the door. Keo placed the stem end of the pipe upon each shoulder before the people entered the ship. With the exception of Keo, his son was the last to enter, moving backwards towards the ship, acting as a great warrior watching their backs, as he danced the dance to a prayer song in his head.
Keo gathered his bundle and before entering, he turned and looked one more time upon the Mother Earth. Kneeling down, Keo kissed the ground goodbye with great love and tenderness. He whispered lightly for her ears to hear, “One day, after your great healing, we will be privileged to return to your bosoms. Mitakuye Oyasin.”
Miraculously the ship lifted off and forced its way into the outer reaches of the stars. They left the ground undetected as if the ship was covered in one giant ghost dance shirt. Their instructions from that point was to gather all the satellites and space junk and create a space world to occupy until it was time to return home.
…Home. That was the all Keo could think about as he laid in his pod, reflecting about the time way back when. Underneath his bent arm covering his eyes, were streams of tears running down his cheeks. Tonight, his heart ached for home.
Chapter 24
Coming closer to Keith, the buffalo carried their weight with grace. They were so near, Keith was beginning to see the eyelashes on their dark fury faces. Over his shoulder he spotted a big oak tree. Readjusting his grip on the shaft, Keith pulled the spear back, poised to throw. The buffalo moved ever closer. In an instant he lowered the stick and turned for the tree. Sprinting fast with his heart racing even faster, Keith reached the strong oak and scrambled up to the higher branches.
About that time, the buffalo stampeded towards the tree. The vibrations of their hoofs could be felt in the great oak. Holding onto the branches tightly, Keith looked down and saw that he and the tree were surrounded by the big brown masses and clouds of dust that stirred from their feet. Some of the buffalo rubbed up against the tree and looked up at Keith, sniffing the air.
Taking a few deep breaths, Keith began to contemplate on his next move. Moving down a branch or two, but still in a safe distance, he began to study the wonderful animals. This herd developed from the pair that came from the Solar Star Base. Their hide looked tough and strong. Their noses where wet. One pair of big brown eyes looked up and locked with Keith’s. Holding the same even stare back at the big face, Keith felt a bonding with the beast. Keith felt as if the animal was picking him, so Keith decided to choose this one for the kill.
Pulling his spear back one more time, Keith positioned himself on the branch for the best shot he could get. With all his strength, he snapped the shaft forward and gave a sharp release. The spear pierced the hide and stuck! There was a great yelp! The brown eyes of the buffalo looked at Keith one more time before turning to run with the stick hanging out from his side. The other buffalos turned and stampeded away, again shaking the big oak tree and
the ground with their departure.
Sweat was beading down Keith’s face as he sat there dumbfounded. He watched the injured buffalo slow down his pace as he crested the rise of a hill. The other buffalo had moved on over the hill with their remarkable speed. Keeping his eyes on the lone buffalo, Keith hung to the branch waiting and watching. One more cry was heard from the animal then he fell to his side, faintly breathing.
With wonder written all over his face, Keith began to climb down from the tree. He moved quickly to the hill, but kept scouting for the other buffalos. Once he reached the animal, he could hear the wheezing of the buffalo’s breath. Looking beyond the hill, Keith saw the others had now moved on down into another valley below and were still moving away, leaving their brother buffalo behind.
Slowly, Keith moved to the injured animal’s side. With caution he looked over to his face. The brown eyes meet his. Keith could see he was suffering in pain. The buffalo’s chest heaved up and down slowly. Keith’s own eyes began to water. Taking a deep breath, Keith gripped the shaft of the spear and quickly yanked upwards. After pulling the bloody spear out, Keith held the shaft over his head and came down on the hide one more time. With one sharp blow, Keith pierced the heart this time and the buffalo let out a snort along with his last breath. The buffalo’s chest rose no more.
Keith let out a cry to the sky as he raised both his hands upwards. Looking back at the slain beast, he moved over to the head and fell to his knees. Pulling his own head down into the neck of the beast, Keith began to cry. He never knew how much it would hurt to take down such a beautiful animal. In the reflection of the moment in the tree, Keith began to understand the buffalo was offering himself when their eyes locked. He will never forget the look of pride, honor and the awesomeness that was in those big brown eyes.
Slowly, Keith stood up and wiped the tears from his own eyes with the back of his hands. Reaching behind him, he pulled out his knife from its’ sheath, secured at the back of his pants. Keith cut from the throat down to the belly and began to dress the animal. As he worked the hide and the meat, Keith spoke aloud, “Whopila Wakan Tanka and thank you Tunkasila for showing me the way!”
Soon he gathered some strong willow and made a travois in which to move larger amounts of meat back to the lodge.
Shell left the half covered shelter and moved to the river’s edge. She was in good spirits but was still anxious for Keith’s return. Standing over the water she looked at her reflection. Gently she stroked some tangles from her hair and slowly began to braid the strands. After a few minutes went by, Shell began to hear Keith calling her name in the distance, “Shell, I did it! Shell I got us meat for the winter! Shell!”
Turning she saw Keith coming towards her with his first load of meat upon the travois. His hands were stained with blood and so were his leggings and feet. Once he reached her at the river’s edge, he kissed her with excitement then moved to the water to wash the blood. As he stood in the stream, he talked, “Shell, I need to hurry back and finish cutting the rest of the meat. While I am gone I would like for you to start a big fire. We will be cooking all night, my love! We will have plenty of jerky and pemmican for the winter. The Creator blessed us well.”
Shell was dumbfounded. “Keith, the buffalo is such a big beast and there are so many of them, how did you bring one down?”
“With the spear and the help from the buffalo…..maybe some luck too. Like I said, Wakan Tanka was working with us on this one.”
Shell moved her face into a pleasing smile. She admired her companions bravery. Her heart filled with warmth and joy. Holding her belly, she spoke to the unborn child, “did you hear that little one, your daddy has brought you some strong medicine for food. We are very proud and thankful.”
Keith stopped washing his hands, long enough to look at Shell. She was beautiful with her swollen stomach. His heart was now filling with warmth and joy. A smiled spread across his face as he returned to cleaning the blood and spoke, “Well come on then my woman, we need fire!” He began to laugh!
Shell saw his joy and laughed with him.
So Keith finished bringing all the meat back in several trips and Shell had a good fire going. Keith began to work the hide onto a frame built from some willow. Meanwhile Shell cooked and cooked some more. It was sunrise the next morning, before they had all the cooking done. After some sleep they will jerky the meat, but before they went to bed they laid out a spirit plate of some food and said their prayers of thanks.
After they laid down and fell into the dream world, the wolf and her pups came and partook of the blessed food, then laid next to the smoldering fire and fell asleep too!