FACING SUNRIZE
CHAPTER 1, page 4
In the teepee Peaciwawla lay perfectly still. She wanted to hear more of their conversation. Omwanaku stroked Lali's head gently. Gongi massaged Lali's hands. They called to her, but Lali didn't answer. She was glad she could torment them like this. She loved getting the better of her Grandmother. It was her way of getting even. Lali always thought that Gongi had driven her mother away because her grandmother was so bossy and mean. Lali had even said so on occasion. But now she just pretended to be unconscious, and continued to lay very still.
Omwanaku knew Lali was faking unconsciousness because he could see her in his mind's eye hiding behind her fluttering eye lids. She was just being a mischievous brat. But he said nothing. Instead he got up to Gongi's surprise.
"What are you going to do Brother?" she said anxiously. "We have to revive her" "I'll be right back Gongi," he replied. "Don't worry now, I can help her." With that he left the teepee. Gongi continued to sit beside Lali wiping the sweat from her forehead. It was noon now and the teepee was getting pretty warm. But Lali didn't move. Instead she waited. She wanted to see what her great uncle was up to.
Soon Omwanaku returned. In his hands he carried the stone head carving and the owl feather. He had a little rattle with him too. This he shook to make a rhythmic sound that he made, all about Lali's little body.
"Get your drum old woman," he commanded. "We have work to do. Your granddaughter is possessed by the spirit of her mother, and her mother went mad. But we can save Lali still. Start beating your drum."
Gongi pulled the little drum out and began to beat on it while Omwanaku shook the rattle, chanting in an ancient language neither Gongi nor Lali knew. He held the owl feather and stone head fragment to the four winds and the six directions. He called on his ancestors and teachers for assistance. The monotony of it all put Lali to sleep. Omwanaku lifted Lali's limp body onto the great grizzly bearskin rug while Gongi continued to beat the drum quietly. Lali sighed deeply and fell into a deep trance.
Sittingjing-gongala sat in the corner waiting, listening...and in the softly shaded textures of the lodge, one could see tears glisten in the corners of the old woman's eyes. She looked sadly at Lali. Why had she alienated Leula,and now Lali. Why was this happening again? Gongi continued to beat the drum while Omwanaku went round and round Lali's little body, shaking the little rattle, and chanting steadily.
Gongi was a patient woman. She had lived long enough to prove the wisdom of the Ancestor's teachings. Though she was old, her mind was quick and alert. She always went for a brisk walk in the early morning to gather herbs while burning cedar bough, making her morning prayers. She knew if she just kept praying and performing her ritual duty, things would change for the better. She would gather grasses and leaves for weaving baskets, and seldom come home without a bowl of berries. But she was not as strong as she had been in her youth. The stiffness didn't leave her back as quickly now, as it did when she was young. Her hands too were numb, and she found it hard to have the patience with Lali she had had with her own children. She wept often for her grand-daughter. She prayed that Lali would grow up to love and follow the ancestral path. But the child was strong willed and she too had little patience with her grandmother. Her grandmother didn't understand what it was to be a child anymore. She was already set in her ways. So Lali would just run away into the forest when the old woman called for her to do her chores. And Lali wasn't getting any better. Something had to change.
Please go to Chapter 2, page1