The Porcupine Year (15 page)

Authors: Louise Erdrich

BOOK: The Porcupine Year

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Omakayas was still for a long time. Then she said, “I will always miss her. I owe her my life. But saving me was not the reason I loved her. I loved herâ¦because I loved her.”

That night, Omakayas lay outside and looked long at the stars. She held Old Tallow's spirit bundle. She felt Old Tallow's hard arms holding her when she was very small. Her sorrow was too great for weeping. It was larger than tears. For the suffering of the noble old woman who had loved Omakayas better than her dogs was a mysterious thing. The pain and degradation had made Old Tallow stronger, but also kind to the helpless. Old Tallow had been just. She had known exactly how long to live. When her life would count the most, she freely gave it. She was proof, in her love, of a love greater than we know. For how, in that heart treated worse than a dog's, had the capacity for such deep kindness grown?

Across from Omakayas's woman lodge, there was a beautiful island, a perfect hump of stone big enough for only a pine tree or two. As Omakayas held her spirit bundle on the second day of her fast, she thought she saw someone moving on the island. It was the wind, it was a woman, a bear woman. Old Tallow. Perhaps she saw someone out there, perhaps she did not. As soon as the year was finished, Omakayas decided, she would place Old Tallow's spirit bundle on that island. That would be Old Tallow's island, and Omakayas would think of it as a sacred resting place for her spirit every time she saw it.

That day, Nokomis told Omakayas many things about what life would be like as a woman. She told her that she could not step over streams, guns, or the clothing of men. She told her that for one year she could not eat berries all summer.

“I can't go a whole summer without berries!” said Omakayas.

Nokomis smiled at her. “You'll survive. We all do. After that, you'll live a long time and so will your children.”

Nokomis told her how a woman loves a man and how a man loves a woman. She told her how her babies would be born, and how to take care of them after they
were born. She told Omakayas that she must always remain in full possession of her senses and never drink the ishkodewaaboo, or whiskey, that the traders used to steal the minds of the Anishinabeg. She told her how to read the sky and how to cook stews from lichen and roots. She told her how to predict bad weather, visitors, sickness. She told her how to hunt an animal in her dreams. Many of the things Nokomis talked about, they'd already done together, so they also made plans. They would trade for seeds to plant a garden. They would replenish their store of medicines.

“And we will live here,” said Omakayas, “won't we? For a long time to come?”

Nothing would ever take the place of her original home, but Omakayas also loved this place. She loved this lake with its magical islands, each so different, and now there was one that would contain Old Tallow's spirit. She loved the mist and rocks, the reefs with their hordes of pelicans, the dark pines with the vast nests of eagles in their branches.

“Yes, we will live here,” said Nokomis, “and I'll make certain that you know everything that I know. Let's make something for every member of your family. It's important that you give them gifts, too.”

“I still have these,” said Omakayas, smiling.

From the striker pack at her waist, she took the bark packet of quills that she had pulled from her brother's
nose and face almost twelve moons ago. Omakayas had promised to make something for him, and now she smiled thoughtfully as she sorted the quills, remembering all that had happened in that year of danger and love, sacrifice and surpriseâthat porcupine year.

AUTHOR'S NOTE ON THE OJIBWE LANGUAGE

Obijbwemowin was originally a spoken, not written, language, and for that reason spellings are often idiosyncratic. There are also many, many dialects in use. To make the Obijbwemowin in the text easier to read, I have sometimes used phonetic spellings. I apologize to the reader for any mistakes and refer those who would like to encounter the language in depth to
A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe
, edited by John D. Nichols and Earl Nyholm; to the
Oshkaabewis Native Journal
, edited by Anton Treuer; and to the curriculum developed by Dennis Jones at the University of Minnesota.

GLOSSARY AND PRONUNCIATION GUIDE OF OJIBWE TERMS

aadizookaan
(ahd-zoh-kahn): a traditional story that often helps explain how to live as an Ojibwe

aadizookaanag
(ahd-zoh-khan-ahg): the plural form of aadizookaan

akiwenzii
(ah-kee-wayn-zee): an old man

ambe
(ahm-bay): come on!

amik
(ah-mik): beaver

amikwag
(ah-mik-wag): the plural form of amik

Anishinabe
(AH-nish-in-AH-bay): the original name for the Ojibwe or Chippewa people, a Native American group who originated in and live mainly in the northern North American woodlands. There are currently Ojibwe reservations in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ontario, Manitoba, Montana, and Saskatchewan

Anishinabeg
(AH-nish-in-AH-bayg): the plural form of Anishinabe

asiniig
(ah-sin-ig): the plural form of asin, meaning stone

baakwaanatig
(bahk-wahn-ah-tig): staghorn sumac

bagizowim
(bug-i-zo-wim): mugwort

bekaa
(bay-kah): wait

bizindaan
(bih-zin-dahn): listen (note: “stand quietly” would be biz
aa
nâ¦.)

boozhoo
(boo-SHOE): an Ojibwe greeting invoking the great teacher of the Ojibwe, Nanabozho

Bwaanag
(BWAHN-ug): the Dakota and Lakota people, another Native tribe, whose reservations spread across the Great Plains

Bwaan-akiing
(Bwahn-ah-keeng): the land of the Dakota and Lakota people

chimookoman
(chi-MOOK-oh-man): word meaning “big knife,” used to describe a white person or non-Indian

chimookomanag
(chi-MOOK-oh-man-ug): the plural form of chimookoman

daga
(dah-gah): please

dagasana
(dah-gah-sah-na): an especially polite please

dagwaaging
(dah-GWAG-ing): fall

Deydey
(DAY-day): Daddy

gaag
(gahg): porcupine

gaawiin
(gah-WEEN): no

gaye niin
(guy-ay-niin): me too

geget
(GEH-geht): surely, or for emphasis, truly or really

gego
(gay-go): exclamation meaning “stop that”

gigawaabamin
(gih-gah-WAH-bah-min): I will see you

giiwedin
(gee-way-din): north

giizhawenimin
(gih-zha-WAY-nih-min): I love you

gijigijigaaneshiinh
(gih-jih-gih-jih-gah-nay-shee): chickadee

Gizhe Manidoo
(Gih-zhay Man-ih-do): the great, kind spirit

hiyn
(high-n): exclamation of sympathy or chagrin, meaning “that's too bad”

howah
(HOW-ah): a sound of approval

indiy
(in-die): the hind quarters of a person; also used in the plural form, indiyan (in-die-yawn)

ishkodewaaboo
(ish-KODAY-wah-boo): alcohol

izhaadah
(iz-yah-dah): let's go

jiibayag
(gee-by-ug): ghost

kinnikinnick
(kin-ik-ih-nik): a mixture of smoking materials

majaan
(mah-jahn): go away!

makak
(mah-KUK): a container of birchbark folded and often stitched together with basswood fiber. Ojibwe people use these containers today, especially for traditional feasts

makakoon
(mah-kah-koon): the plural form of makak

makizin
(MAH-kah-zin): footwear usually made of tanned moose hide or deerskin, often trimmed with beads and/or fur

makizinan
(MAH-kah-zin-ahn): plural form of makizin

Manidoog
(mah-nih-doog): gods, spirits

manoomin
(mah-NOH-min): wild rice; the word means “the good seed”

memegwesi
(may-may-gway-see): little person

memegwesiwag
(may-may-gway-see-wug): the plural form of memegwesi

mewinzha
(may-wih-zha): a long time ago

miigwech
(mee-gwetch): thank you

minopogwad ina
(min-oh-poh-gwud in-ah): does it taste good?

Nanabozho
(nan-ah-boh-ZHO): the great teacher of the Ojibwe, who used his comical human side to teach lessons, often through hilarious mistakes

n'dawnis
(in-DAH-nis): my daughter