Chapter 6: Green Corn Festival
The village was becoming restful as the Sun Spirit went down below the horizon. But soon the village was awakened again as the war party returned to the village with all its warriors and its liberated members. The party went to the plaza square, where a fire was soon built. A few of the braves started beating on the drums. Soon the whole village was there, dancing to the beats of the drums and tambourines. Waving Willow had a warm greeting for Wolf Eyes.
The tales of the rescue were told and listened to with great interest. The story of the village of Nunnimingo was told, and of the bones and the restless, un-avenged spirits of the dead. The scalps were displayed and carried by dancers around the fire. Food was brought and, first, fed to all the survivors and the liberated. Then some braves picked up Wolf Eyes and Wounded Eagle and carried them up, high above their heads, as they danced around the fire. They put them down at the place of honor to sit with the chief. Red Talon hung the scalps on the pole of one of the shelters at the square.
Later the chief gathered some of the elders and interested parties. He took them, along with the liberated people, to the council house. There they decided where the liberated would spend their first night in the village. Tranquil Lady would go home with her son Wounded Eagle, and the rest were dispersed throughout the village.
It was early morning before the celebration broke up, and the people started to make their way back to their houses. Wolf Eyes and Waving Willow left the dance arm in arm. The children were following along, behind them.
Red Talon was with the boys Loot and Fire Cub, and as he walked back to his sister’s house, he got a smile from Three Baskets. He thought she was the prettiest maiden in the forest, and his heart belonged to her. He had to talk to his sister to find out about her. Was she available? It had been too long since a maiden had made his heart jump.
The new morning was late in coming, and when it did come, it was accompanied by storm clouds. There was a steady, slow rain and a few claps of thunder. It may be that something had displeased the Great Spirit, and the thunder showed his displeasure. But the rain was a welcomed sight, because it was much needed by the corn.
The corn was almost ready for picking, and after this rain, it would be. Then the village would celebrate the coming of the New Year with the Festival of the Busk. It meant the Green Corn Festival.
Wolf Eyes noticed that the men were through building the new corncrib. It now had walls, a floor and a roof. It was sealed, top and bottom, with a mortar of straw and mud. There was a tiny door made that was not yet hung. The whole structure sat six feet off of the ground on poles that were coated with bear grease to keep the field rats from getting the corn and other commodities that would be stored in it.
While it was raining, most everyone stayed in his or her house. They used the time to tell stories, do crafts and visit. Red Talon was visiting with Waving Willow and Wolf Eyes.
Red Talon said, “Sister, did you find out for me about Three Baskets?”
Waving Willow answered, “What was I suppose to find out, Red Talon?”
Wolf Eyes looked up from his work, interested in the conversation. Waving Willow was at work, making a dress from deer hide.
Red Talon smiled, “You know, what is her status, is she married or widowed or free to wed?”
Waving Willow looked down at her work and acted like she did not hear.
“Waving Willow, I guess you did not ask for me – you want me to be an old bachelor and never have a true love. I will just go away and be a hermit, and then I would not have to suffer a wounded heart.”
Waving Willow looked up and said, “Three Baskets is interested in you, and she is free and never been wed.”
Red Talon’s look went from disappointment to utter surprise, and then he jumped up from his crossed legged position at the post and started dancing around the room. He danced over to Waving Willow and gave her a big hug. He danced to Little Quail, who was smiling at his antics. He picked her up and threw her up in the air and then caught her. He hugged her tight and danced around the fire with her. He let her down gently and then went out the door and danced toward the square, in the rain. He was last seen dancing toward the gate to the palisade.
Wolf Eyes looked at Waving Willow and said, “There goes a happy shilombish” (spirit).
Waving Willow said, “They are two happy shilombishes.”
The next day the morning had begun with a bright sunrise. The sun had dried out the field, and the women began to pick the corn. They would go down the rows with their baskets, feeling of the ear first to see if it was mature, and if it was, they would pull it from the stalk.
When the basket was full, they would bring it to an area in front of the corncrib where the new ears of corn would be put on the ground for sorting. The ears were sorted for size and quality. The best ears would go into the corncrib first. The ears that were put in first would be the last to be used in the next year. Some corn was selected to eat right away. This corn would be boiled and eaten right off the cob. The corn that was put into the crib would be stacked in rows to make the best use of the space available. They not only put corn in the crib, but also beans and other storable food items. The door of the crib was sealed shut each time that they finished taking something out of it. This was the best means of preserving food that they had.
The chief and the aliktce started to prepare for the Festival of the Busk. This festival brought in the New Year, and all the tribes celebrated it. It was a time to thank the Great Spirit for the new yields of vegetables and food that would see them through the winter. If the Great Spirit were pleased, they would pass the winter without too much starvation. It was a time of renewal, where bad deals and bad feelings could be corrected, and new deals could be made. For instance, if a man had an agreement with another man that did not work out, the agreement could be altered, so that both men could be satisfied with the outcome. If a marriage had gone bad, it could be annulled at the Festival of the Busk. If marriages were good, they were renewed. So this was a very good time for them, and it was a festival that was seated into their way of life.
Wolf Eyes, Red Talon and all the braves that were not on sentry duty went out to hunt the white pigeons. They would go out in parties of four or five braves armed with blowguns and darts and small bows and arrows with bird points. They would sneak up on the birds, or either find a spot and lie in wait for them to land in nearby trees. Then the braves would raise the blowgun to their mouth and blow, sharply. With a dart they could bring down a bird usually without disturbing the next bird to it. Usually, they would make multiple kills.
Wolf Eyes, Loot, Fire Cub and Red Talon were hunting together. It was still early in the morning. They all had blowguns with darts. They found a slight gully that was a stream in the wet season, but now it was a dry bed full of leaves. There was a growth of briars in the gully, but it was not too thick. A grove of popular trees was on the opposite side of this gully. So the braves could put their feet downhill and lean back against the bank, lying on their backs. They would be facing up, looking into the tree branches. They stayed like this for a while, waiting for the flock to move their way. It wasn’t long before the flock decided to move. The flock was heavy – maybe two hundred birds. They all took off like they had one mind and landed the same way. They were in trees that were about fifty yards from the hunters.
“What do you think?” whispered Fire Cub to Red Talon.
Red Talon said, “Maybe they will come this way, and maybe they won’t. You just have to be patient.”
Loot said, “We could try to move under them.”
Wolf Eyes said, “Better to wait – let them come to us. If we move we may spook them, and then they will be watching for us. Our surprise will be gone.”
So they waited about an hour, and during that time the flock moved ten times. Their patience paid off, for then the flock lit in the trees right above them, and they blew darts until they ran out of them.
The hunters got up from their gully. They stretched their legs and began to pick up the birds. They would put them in a sack made from a deer hide. When they found all the birds, they had about thirty-five. A good day, so they headed back to the village.
They took the birds to Waving Willow, and she exclaimed how good they had done. She took the birds and plucked all the large feathers from the wings and tails. The feathers were solid white. The feathers would be used in the Green Corn Ceremony later that day. Some of the feathers were sent to the chief and the aliktce.
The birds were given to Loot. Loot cut the heads off with his hatchet and then dropped them into a pot of boiling water. The birds were not left in the hot water too long before they were taken out with some long handled tongs, and the feathers were removed by Three Baskets. When the birds were plucked, they were returned to another pot, where they were washed and then gutted by Grazing Fawn. When the birds were prepared, they were wrapped in corn shucks and put into containers that would hold them until the time came for them to be roasted.
This same scenario was happening all over the village. Everybody was in preparation for the festival. After the pigeons were cleaned and packed away, the whole area around the houses, inside and out, was cleaned. All fires were extinguished, and the ashes removed from the hearths, ovens and fire pits.
Specified people who were chosen by the chief to take part in the main ceremony dressed for the occasion. They dressed all in white, whatever they wore. The men had white breechcloths. They had duck skin headdresses with the white feathers adorning the crest. They carried long, cane staffs with the tips ordained with white feathers. The women had white dresses that covered them from the waist down, and their hair was done up in a ball on the top of their heads, with streaming ribbons of white that came down from several directions.
The people who were eligible to attend were the village men and women, elders, and warriors who had gained high respect for their feats on the battlefield. These people took their places in the square.
Wolf Eyes and Wounded Eagle were there in attendance. They sat in a pavilion that was to the east of the fire space, with other braves who had distinguished records.
There was a pavilion that was for the chief and his court and a few elders that were close to him. Another pavilion was there for the rest of the elders. For a time, these were the only people that were allowed to participate in the festival.
The ceremony was started with fasting and dancing around the sacred fire space. They had not yet lit the new fire. The aliktce was performing prayers to the Great Spirit, with the singing and dancing in thanksgiving for the bountiful crop that he had sent to them. Then six elder men and six elder women got up and danced, singing as they went around the sacred fire space. The sacred fire space was made from two intersecting lines of dry wood that met to form a cross.
At the end of this dance the aliktce relit the sacred fire for this year. This began the New Year. And now the other people in the village could join the celebration. There was more singing and dancing, followed by everyone going to the creek for a bath. After the fire had burned for a while, the chief handed out embers for the women to use in lighting their hearth fires. Now they began to cook and to prepare the great feast.
Waving Willow and her group began to roast the pigeons. And it was a great time, with much laughter, singing and dancing. The braves ate pigeon until they could not hold any more. The pipe was smoked, and beverages were consumed. Everyone wished good wishes for the New Year. They would say, “Ayukpa himita afummi, Ayukpa himita afummi.”
And so the New Year began, and with the New Year there were other new things. Three Baskets designated that tomorrow morning would be the time for Red Talon to come by her house. This had both the households of Waving Willow and Grazing Fawn in a gleeful mood. Even Grazing Fawn’s old mother was excited.
That night Red Talon had much trouble sleeping. He felt like he needed to get up and run, not away, but just to expend some energy. He did not doze off until the wee hours of the morning. So when the birds started singing that morning he was still asleep. Wolf Eyes woke him, got him to his feet and took him to the creek. The cold water revived him, and he was ready to go.
Three Baskets got up and prepared a bowl of grits, which she placed by her doorway. Red Talon, feeling nervous, had Waving Willow pull unwanted hairs from his head, using tweezers made from mussel shells. He then dressed in a fine robe of feathers and made himself look presentable.
Then, with everyone watching, he made his way to next door where the bowl of grits was waiting. Red Talon picked up the bowl of grits and began to eat, and he ate until they were gone. Three Baskets came to the door with a smile and took the bowl back. This officially started the courtship between Three Baskets and Red Talon.
Later that month Red Talon, with the help of Wolf Eyes, started building a house for Three Baskets. He had picked out a spot not far from Waving Willow’s house. This house would be a winter house, because that is what they would need first.
Red Talon got Wolf Eyes to help him. They began by driving a stake in the ground where they wanted the center to be. They had a length of sinew to measure the radius of the house floor. They drove stakes around in the circle that was to be the outside wall of the house. They began digging the inside of the circle down about three feet until it was all level. Posts were set in the ground on the outside of the circle to brace the wall panels. The tops of the posts were spanned by poles, from one post to another, to form the top of the walls. A tall post was set in the center of the house, and from the top of this to the top of the outside post were lashed poles that would form the roof rafters. The side panels were made from popular boards that had been split thinly and woven together to form solid panels. These panels were lashed to the outside posts. Split cedar was used to make the roof shingles. All the inside walls and the roof were then coated with mud and grass mixture to form tight seals, so that no wind would come through. A mound of dirt was piled against the outside walls to help shed the water away as it ran off of the roof. There was a hearth built in the middle of the house for heating and cooking. Beds were made about three feet high and strapped to the inside walls. There was a small doorway that faced south.
The house was completed in about two months, and Three Baskets was very pleased.
Red Talon had killed a deer and brought it to her, and she had butchered it and dried the meat. She was working on the hide, tanning it out. Also, she had been working with Waving Willow, making clothes and other household items.
Three Baskets, with the help of Waving Willow, made pottery. She had made a bowl for making the lye and a container to catch it in. She had big pots for cooking stews and boiling food. She had water and storage containers.
The community was good about the housewarming. Three Baskets had almost nothing when she came from Nunnimingo, but now she was almost ready to start housekeeping.
Red Talon’s love for Three Baskets was without end. He loved her more each day, just for the little things and ways that she had. He noticed the way she would hold her head at a certain angle when she really wanted an answer to a question, the way she flipped her hand when she talked, the way she laughed when she made a mistake and the way she looked at him in the morning light. There were a thousand different things that attracted him to her. They were things that only she had, and no one else could do them quite like her.
Wolf Eyes said to Waving Willow, “I think they will be very happy together, they work very hard to make their life together good.”
“Yes, I know they do. You can tell that Red Talon really loves her.”
“And you can tell that Three Baskets really loves him,” he said.
“Yes, and together they will make lots of little Chickasaws.”
“Do you really think so?” he said, with a look from the corner of his eye.
“Of course they will, just like we are,” she said, with her head turned sideways and looking at him from the corner of
her eye.
“We are?” he questioned. “We are?”
She sat there in front of him, looking coy. A smile came to his face. “How long will it be?” he asked.
“About four moons. The baby is moving inside me already,” she said.
He took his hand and touched the side of her face. “Waving Willow, you are beautiful and I adore you.”
Wolf Eyes said in a loud voice, “He will be the bravest hunter, or she will be the prettiest maid, whichever it is I don‘t care.”
And so it was decided between the two couples that year, as winter was coming, that the two young families would look out for each other. Three Baskets became a sister to Waving Willow and Wolf Eyes, just as Red Talon was a brother to both of them.
The wedding of Three Baskets and Red Talon was a simple ceremony held in the presence of friends, the chief and elders of the village. Red Talon took an ear of corn and broke it in two and gave her half. She took a loaf of cornbread, broke it in two and gave him half. With this simple gesture they were considered married, and they lived happily in the winter house.