Omakayas was still for a long time. Then she said, “I will always miss her. I owe her my life. But saving me was not the reason I loved her. I loved her…because I loved her.”
That night, Omakayas lay outside and looked long at the stars. She held Old Tallow’s spirit bundle. She felt Old Tallow’s hard arms holding her when she was very small. Her sorrow was too great for weeping. It was larger than tears. For the suffering of the noble old woman who had loved Omakayas better than her dogs was a mysterious thing. The pain and degradation had made Old Tallow stronger, but also kind to the helpless. Old Tallow had been just. She had known exactly how long to live. When her life would count the most, she freely gave it. She was proof, in her love, of a love greater than we know. For how, in that heart treated worse than a dog’s, had the capacity for such deep kindness grown?
Across from Omakayas’s woman lodge, there was a beautiful island, a perfect hump of stone big enough for only a pine tree or two. As Omakayas held her spirit bundle on the second day of her fast, she thought she saw someone moving on the island. It was the wind, it was a woman, a bear woman. Old Tallow. Perhaps she saw someone out there, perhaps she did not. As soon as the year was finished, Omakayas decided, she would place Old Tallow’s spirit bundle on that island. That would be Old Tallow’s island, and Omakayas would think of it as a sacred resting place for her spirit every time she saw it.
That day, Nokomis told Omakayas many things about what life would be like as a woman. She told her that she could not step over streams, guns, or the clothing of men. She told her that for one year she could not eat berries all summer.
“I can’t go a whole summer without berries!” said Omakayas.
Nokomis smiled at her. “You’ll survive. We all do. After that, you’ll live a long time and so will your children.”
Nokomis told her how a woman loves a man and how a man loves a woman. She told her how her babies would be born, and how to take care of them after they were born. She told Omakayas that she must always remain in full possession of her senses and never drink the ishkodewaaboo, or whiskey, that the traders used to steal the minds of the Anishinabeg. She told her how to read the sky and how to cook stews from lichen and roots. She told her how to predict bad weather, visitors, sickness. She told her how to hunt an animal in her dreams. Many of the things Nokomis talked about, they’d already done together, so they also made plans. They would trade for seeds to plant a garden. They would replenish their store of medicines.
“And we will live here,” said Omakayas, “won’t we? For a long time to come?”
Nothing would ever take the place of her original home, but Omakayas also loved this place. She loved this lake with its magical islands, each so different, and now there was one that would contain Old Tallow’s spirit. She loved the mist and rocks, the reefs with their hordes of pelicans, the dark pines with the vast nests of eagles in their branches.
“Yes, we will live here,” said Nokomis, “and I’ll make certain that you know everything that I know. Let’s make something for every member of your family. It’s important that you give them gifts, too.”
“I still have these,” said Omakayas, smiling.
From the striker pack at her waist, she took the bark packet of quills that she had pulled from her brother’s nose and face almost twelve moons ago. Omakayas had promised to make something for him, and now she smiled thoughtfully as she sorted the quills, remembering all that had happened in that year of danger and love, sacrifice and surprise—that porcupine year.
AUTHOR’S NOTE ON THE OJIBWE LANGUAGE
Obijbwemowin was originally a spoken, not written, language, and for that reason spellings are often idiosyncratic. There are also many, many dialects in use. To make the Obijbwemowin in the text easier to read, I have sometimes used phonetic spellings. I apologize to the reader for any mistakes and refer those who would like to encounter the language in depth to A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe, edited by John D. Nichols and Earl Nyholm; to the Oshkaabewis Native Journal, edited by Anton Treuer; and to the curriculum developed by Dennis Jones at the University of Minnesota.
GLOSSARY AND PRONUNCIATION GUIDE OF OJIBWE TERMS
aadizookaan (ahd-zoh-kahn): a traditional story that often helps explain how to live as an Ojibwe
aadizookaanag (ahd-zoh-khan-ahg): the plural form of aadizookaan
akiwenzii (ah-kee-wayn-zee): an old man
ambe (ahm-bay): come on!
amik (ah-mik): beaver
amikwag (ah-mik-wag): the plural form of amik
Anishinabe (AH-nish-in-AH-bay): the original name for the Ojibwe or Chippewa people, a Native American group who originated in and live mainly in the northern North American woodlands. There are currently Ojibwe reservations in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ontario, Manitoba, Montana, and Saskatchewan
Anishinabeg (AH-nish-in-AH-bayg): the plural form of Anishinabe
asiniig (ah-sin-ig): the plural form of asin, meaning stone
baakwaanatig (bahk-wahn-ah-tig): staghorn sumac
bagizowim (bug-i-zo-wim): mugwort
bekaa (bay-kah): wait
bizindaan (bih-zin-dahn): listen (note: “stand quietly” would be bizaan….)
boozhoo (boo-SHOE): an Ojibwe greeting invoking the great teacher of the Ojibwe, Nanabozho
Bwaanag (BWAHN-ug): the Dakota and Lakota people, another Native tribe, whose reservations spread across the Great Plains
Bwaan-akiing (Bwahn-ah-keeng): the land of the Dakota and Lakota people
chimookoman (chi-MOOK-oh-man): word meaning “big knife,” used to describe a white person or non-Indian
chimookomanag (chi-MOOK-oh-man-ug): the plural form of chimookoman
daga (dah-gah): please
dagasana (dah-gah-sah-na): an especially polite please
dagwaaging (dah-GWAG-ing): fall
Deydey (DAY-day): Daddy
gaag (gahg): porcupine
gaawiin (gah-WEEN): no
gaye niin (guy-ay-niin): me too
geget (GEH-geht): surely, or for emphasis, truly or really
gego (gay-go): exclamation meaning “stop that”
gigawaabamin (gih-gah-WAH-bah-min): I will see you
giiwedin (gee-way-din): north
giizhawenimin (gih-zha-WAY-nih-min): I love you
gijigijigaaneshiinh (gih-jih-gih-jih-gah-nay-shee): chickadee
Gizhe Manidoo (Gih-zhay Man-ih-do): the great, kind spirit
hiyn (high-n): exclamation of sympathy or chagrin, meaning “that’s too bad”
howah (HOW-ah): a sound of approval
indiy (in-die): the hind quarters of a person; also used in the plural form, indiyan (in-die-yawn)
ishkodewaaboo (ish-KODAY-wah-boo): alcohol
izhaadah (iz-yah-dah): let’s go
jiibayag (gee-by-ug): ghost
kinnikinnick (kin-ik-ih-nik): a mixture of smoking materials
majaan (mah-jahn): go away!
makak (mah-KUK): a container of birchbark folded and often stitched together with basswood fiber. Ojibwe people use these containers today, especially for traditional feasts
makakoon (mah-kah-koon): the plural form of makak
makizin (MAH-kah-zin): footwear usually made of tanned moose hide or deerskin, often trimmed with beads and/or fur
makizinan (MAH-kah-zin-ahn): plural form of makizin
Manidoog (mah-nih-doog): gods, spirits
manoomin (mah-NOH-min): wild rice; the word means “the good seed”
memegwesi (may-may-gway-see): little person
memegwesiwag (may-may-gway-see-wug): the plural form of memegwesi
mewinzha (may-wih-zha): a long time ago
miigwech (mee-gwetch): thank you
minopogwad ina (min-oh-poh-gwud in-ah): does it taste good?
Nanabozho (nan-ah-boh-ZHO): the great teacher of the Ojibwe, who used his comical human side to teach lessons, often through hilarious mistakes
n’dawnis (in-DAH-nis): my daughter<
br />
nimikwenimaa (nee-mik-wayn-ih-mah): I am pleased
nimishoomis (nih-mih-shoo-mis): my grandfather
ninaabemish (nin-ah-baym): my husband (with teasing affection)
nindinawemaganidok (nin-din-ah-way-mah-gahn-ih-doke): my relatives
Nokomis (no-KOH-mis): grandmother
Nookoo (noo-koo): shortened version of Nokomis
omiimii (oh-mee-mee): mourning dove
saa (sah): a polite addition to speech
waabashkiki (wah-bash-kih-kih): swampland
waabooz (WAH-booz): rabbit
waaboozoog (WAH-booz-oog): the plural form of waabooz
weyweeb (way-weeb): hurry up!
weyass (wee-yass): meat
wigwam (WIHG-wahm): a birchbark house
wiikenh (wee-kayh): sweet flag
wiindigoo (WIN-di-goo): a giant monster of Ojibwe teachings, often made of ice and associated with the starvation and danger of deep winter
wiishkobi-mashkosi (weesh-koh-bee-mash-koh-see): sweetgrass
zagimeg (zah-gee-mayg): mosquitoes
A FEW BOOK NOTES
An Ojibwe friend of mine named Delia, from Manitoulin Island, once had a porcupine for a pet. She told me that the little fellow liked to drink coffee and milk from a cup that it held in its paws. Nevertheless, I would not recommend taking a porcupine home for a pet. I would suggest an innocuous and harmless creature like a guinea pig, or at prickliest, a hedgehog.
There were several routes into the fur country of what is now northern Minnesota. Hoping to meet trading partners or other close members of the family, Omakayas’s family decided to enter that wealth of lakes via what is now the St. Louis River.
The story that Deydey tells about his father was taken from Grace Lee Nute’s book The Voyageur. In a haunting vignette, she writes “the laughable tale” of a half-breed boy who seeks his father just as Deydey sought his own, among the fur traders and French voyageurs who so often made liaisons with Native women. That long-ago boy was greeted with derisive laughter when he stepped up to his father to identify himself. I could not forget how that boy must have felt, and imagined that his wounded pride gave a fierce and unforgiving cast to his soul.
Conflict and war between the Ojibwe and the Dakota for hunting territory marked the time this book takes place, but there were also surprising acts of peace and friendship, which presaged the good relationship between the two groups today.
I was struck by an incident recounted in Being Dakota: Tales & Traditions of the Sisseton & Wahpeton by Amos E. Oneroad and Alanson B. Skinner. The meeting between the Wahpeton Dakota warrior Running-walker and the Ojibwe warrior Jingling-cloud concludes this way: “The Ojibway chief gave his best horse to Running-walker and a lot of mococs of rice and maple sugar. Then the Sioux and Ojibway mingled giving presents and the Ojibway were brought into camp where they were told where to pitch their tents. That evening, Running-walker invited all the Ojibway to his lodge, while Jingling-cloud singed a deer whole and made the ‘chief dish’ for them.”
The two warriors then thanked each other and declared that they considered themselves each half Dakota and half Ojibwe.
So the fellowship with which the members of Omakayas’s family are greeted by the Bwaanag, or Dakota, was historical fact.
Old Tallow is based on a short missionary journal description of an Ojibwe woman who lived near Red Cliff. May her dog-loving warrior spirit never die!
Omakayas’s family ends up together in Lake of the Woods, which is a mysterious and beautiful place indeed. The next book will be set there in the late 1860s, when Omakayas is the mother of twins who get into trouble even more often than their uncle Quill.
I would like to thank my mother, Rita Gourneau Erdrich, for helping me along the trail, as well as my daughters, Persia, Pallas, Aza, and Kiizh. I would also like to thank my editor, Tara Weikum, and Elizabeth Hall for her own work and her support of other writers.
About the Author
LOUISE ERDRICH lives with her family and their dogs in Minnesota. Ms. Erdrich is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. She grew up in North Dakota and is of German-American and Chippewa descent. She is the author of many critically acclaimed and New York Times best-selling novels for adults, including LOVE MEDICINE, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award, and her latest novel THE PLAGUE OF DOVES, also published by HarperCollins.
THE PORCUPINE YEAR continues the story that began with THE BIRCHBARK HOUSE, a National Book Award finalist, and THE GAME OF SILENCE, winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, and was inspired when Ms. Erdrich and her mother, Rita Gourneau Erdrich, were researching their own family history. You can visit her online at www.louiseerdrichbooks.com.
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ALSO BY LOUISE ERDRICH
FOR CHILDREN
The Birchbark House
Grandmother’s Pigeon
ILLUSTRATED BY JIM LAMARCHE
The Range Eternal
ILLUSTRATED BY STEVE JOHNSON AND LOU FANCHER
The Game of Silence
NOVELS
Love Medicine
The Beet Queen
Tracks
The Bingo Palace
Tales of Burning Love
The Antelope Wife
The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse
The Master Butchers Singing Club
Four Souls
The Painted Drum
The Plague of Doves
WITH MICHAEL DORRIS
The Crown of Columbus
POETRY
Jacklight
Baptism of Desire
Original Fire
NONFICTION
The Blue Jay’s Dance
Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country
Credits
Jacket art © by Louise Erdrich
Copyright
THE PORCUPINE YEAR. Copyright © 2008 by Louise Erdrich. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub © Edition JULY 2008 ISBN: 9780061972591
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Louise Erdrich, The Porcupine Year
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