“You have hurt my feelings. I will live with you no longer,” First Woman said. Then she turned her face to the east and walked away.

First Man was immediately sorry. But he could not stop her. He followed her to apologize, but he could not catch up to her. So he looked around for help. He looked up to the sky to Une’lahun’ne, the Sun, who is the oldest and wisest of all the women.

“Great One,” First Man said to the Sun, “help me.”

Sun saw that First Man truly was sorry and so she decided to help him. She shone down on the earth in front of First Woman to make huckleberries grow in her path. But First Woman did not stop. The Sun made blackberries grow and serviceberries, but First Woman just kept walking. It was not until Sun made strawberries, which spread across the ground in front of her, that First Woman paused. Those berries smelled sweet and each was the shape of a heart. As soon as First Woman tasted them, she remembered her husband and she could go no farther. She turned her face back to the west. She began to gather some of those berries to share with him.

So it was that First Man was finally able to catch up to her.

“I am sorry,” he said.

“Have some of these,” First Woman replied.

So it is that ever since then the first berries to ripen every year are the strawberries. And when we pick them, they remind us of the importance of being kind to one another . . . and of the strength of women.

Among our people, it is the women who are the heads of our households. They are the owners of the house. Every child belongs to his or her mother’s clan. When a man marries, he goes to live in his wife’s house among the people of her clan. If her husband does not behave properly, a woman can end their marriage. Then her husband must leave her house and go home to his mother. That is why my father had to leave when his marriage to my mother was ended.

In so many ways, our women have always been at the head of our people. None of our leaders could ever take office without the approval of the women. It is true that some things have changed since the coming of the Aniyonega. The Beloved Woman no longer sits in council next to the chief, but the power of our women is still great.