Five Women

Five Women

Five women walked across the green grass, across the waters. They stopped at times to eat and drink. No others walked with them or crossed their way.

One day the women stopped, made shelter from pine branches.

White Feather, name sounds like ‘Kaloke’, spoke first. “We walked many moons. It is time to rest some suns.”

The four other women glanced at each other.

“You know best, Kaloke.” Grey Owl (Caxeropes) spoke softly, as was their way.

Black Wolf (Lokuilpt), No-Name-Yet, and Strong Branch (Mefiwasoti) bowed their heads. They had no need to disagree. Five women laid down five animal skins over pine branches. When the sky became as black as the bird that stole food, the Apsáalooke, they slept.

Mefiwasoti woke with the sun, then wandered to find food; perhaps to find a few berries or mushrooms. No-Name-Yet crawled on the ground, searching for a hole that might contain a small animal. Lokuilpt removed fire from a pouch. Soon it blazed in a stone ring.

Kaloke watched as the other women worked. She found their work pleasing. Kaloke gathered the animal hides, then threw them over bushes to dry. They would need them when the sun disappeared and the sky again became black as the Apsáalooke. She led the women on this journey. They had traveled far. But there were many suns and black skies yet to travel. This rest would be good.

The five women shared their lives as they shared their blood. Kaloke, mother of Caxeropes and Lokuilpt. Caxeropes was mother of No-Name-Yet. Mefiwasoti shared a mother with Kaloke.

They left other mothers and fathers and family members to journey to a new land. Wise men instructed them to travel far, as their dreams showed these women wandering to a land where unknown people lived. These unknown people they would have to befriend if they were to make their homes there. But not yet. Many suns were yet to shine.

Five women sat around the fire as the sun began to get lower in the sky. No-Name-Yet roasted small animals over fire, Mefiwasoti passed around the few berries found earlier. Kaloke drank from an animal skin, the stored water. Then she passed around the water.

“How many stones are left in your bag, Mefiwasoti?” asked Kaloke.

Mefiwasoti emptied a small skin bag into her lap. “I count both hands. That is how many stones are in the bag.”

Kaloke thought for a time. “We have both hands for suns and both hands for dark sky to travel until we get to the new land. The wise men gave us the stones for counting. We must abide by their wisdom. When we get to the last stone, we will stop in that land.”

All the women were silent. No one disagreed. They understood the wise men knew more than they. When the last stone was counted, they all agreed the wise men had seen in the sacred dream the new land. There the journey would end. There they would start their new lives.
The sky turned as black as Apsáalooke’s feathers. Bright spots of light dotted that sky. No-Name-Yet pointed to shapes, Átsé Etsoh, First Big One, and Hastiin Sik’aí’ií, Man with Feet Apart. “Now we follow these wise men on our journey. They will show us the path,” Kaloke stated. All five women gazed at the black sky overhead until they fell asleep on animal skins.

After a count of one hand of stones left the skin bag, a strange figure came into view. The women had not seen one like this since they left their homeland. A man walked toward them. He held up the hand of greeting. He spoke a tongue unlike their own, but with the smile of a friend.

Lokuilpt smiled in return as the man took her hand. The two walked into the forest together. Four women stood in an open field and waited. After a time, Lokuilpt came back to the waiting group.

“Is the man coming with us?” Kaloke needed to make plans for a possible extra person.

Lokuilpt shook her head. “He is just a traveler, as are we, and needed a woman. Just as I needed a man. He already moved down another path.”

“Very well. May the good spirit of all life be kind to this traveler on his journey, and be kind to us as we continue.” Kaloke bowed her head in a prayer.

All four other women joined her, heads bowed, silent prayers sent up to the good spirit.

Lokuilpt held in her heart the hope of new life to celebrate upon arrival at their new home.


W/C 772



This vignette is based on this premise:
It is now thought that all Native Americans have common DNA from six women.