To the side of their longhouse, his mother, Wolf Woman, was pounding corn in a mortar not far from the group of playing children. She lifted her chin, beckoning him toward her.

Okwaho walked across the village center to sit next to her. Neither of them spoke. He leaned back against the stockade wall and listened. The drumbeat sound of the corn being pounded was soothing, like that of a song so old, it could no longer be translated into human speech. She stopped to pour out the finely ground corn from the mortar into a bowl. Okwaho poured more kernels of corn into the mortar and his mother began using the pestle again.

When the last of the corn had been pounded, she wiped her hands on her dress and sat down next to him.

“How did things come to be this way?” Okwaho asked.

“It has happened before,” Wolf Woman replied.

chapter five

MESSENGERS

Okwaho’s mother began the story called “The Twins.”

“Long ago,” his mother said, “Teharonhia:wako, The one Who Grasps the Sky with Both Hands, the right-handed twin, the Good-Minded One, sent a messenger to give instructions to the first human beings. Hoh?”

“Henh,” Okwaho replied, showing he was truly listening.

“Those instructions were not hard. That first messenger explained that all we human beings needed to do was remember to always give thanks. To help us do this, we were taught the words to be spoken before all others. With those words, we could carefully greet and thank all parts of Creation before beginning any important task. Although many seem to have forgotten this—such as Atatarho—we must remember those words.”

“Henh,” Okwaho said.

Wolf Woman nodded and then began to speak those Thanksgiving words.

“We greet and thank our Mother, the Earth, the one who gave birth to us and who cares for all life.

“We greet and thank the waters, the rivers and streams, the lakes, and the water that flows through our own bodies.

“We greet and thank the trees, especially the maple, who is the leader of all the trees and is the first to give us a harvest in the form of its sweet sap.

“We greet and thank all of the plants that teach us and allow us to use their roots and stems, their leaves and flowers, as medicine.

“We greet and thank the Three Sisters, those who sustain us by providing us with food, the Corn, the Beans, the Squash . . .”

•   •   •

His mother, her eyes raised as she spoke, continued through the list of all the gifts of life, acknowledging the animals, the birds, the winds, the Moon, the Sun, the Stars. Okwaho nodded again and again. It always calmed his insides, made his breath slow and even. His heart felt a little less burdened by care and anger as he heard the Thanksgiving words spoken.