“The man opened his eyes and saw the round head of an ant sticking out of a small hole. The ant was signaling for him to join her.

“‘I can’t, I’m too big,’ he murmured between his chattering teeth.

“‘If you really want to come,’ she answered, ‘I will make you my size and you can take shelter in my house.’ The man just lowered his eyes because he couldn’t talk anymore, he was so stiff with cold.

“Suddenly he found that he was no bigger than a grain of sand. The ant was carrying him on her back into her tree, where she looked after him and kept him warm and safe.

“Little by little the man recovered. The ant told him how she had seen him from her house and hurried down to help him. ‘In this life we are all equal,’ she said, ‘and we must help one another and share everything that the creator has given us so generously.’ Then she showed him around the old tree. He passed more ants than there were stars in the sky. They were all working together and sharing the chores. The long passages were dry and warm, and he felt comfortable and safe. It was a new feeling for him. He recognized the rich smell of cedar.

“The man didn’t know how long he had been living with the ants, but one day he saw hunters in the distance turning toward the island. He said goodbye to the ant and thanked her for her generosity. Then he regained his human shape and went to meet the hunters.

“They were surprised to find him alive and in good health. They made a fire and boiled water for tea, and the man told them his amazing story. The men listened closely. From time to time they looked up at the old cedar full of holes. They thought the man’s story was full of good sense and decided that once again the real truths in life could be found in stories.”

• • •

Poné finishes and turns toward the altar, but the two officials from the ministry are no longer there. They have gathered up their papers and slipped away. Only the missionary stands there, waiting for everything to be over.

The chapel slowly empties as the sun is about to disappear behind the mountain on the other side of the lake.

Manie says nothing. She knows it’s up to the men to speak. But right now the men are feeling useless and powerless because they are no longer able to look after their families.

Manie doesn’t say anything, but she’s thinking. And slowly an idea makes its way into her heart and begins to grow until it takes over her whole being.

She starts to think about all the things she has heard. The whites cutting down trees in the hunting grounds, floating logs on the rivers. The children, the promise of the nation, being taken away and shut up in residential schools where they are forbidden to speak their own language. And now the government wants to build permanent houses and keep us stuck on a small piece of land.