Cedar Woman (36 page)

“
Tunkasila
W
a
kan
T
a
nk
a
,
²³
please
he
a
r
m
e.
This
is
One
F
e
ather.
I

ask
t
h
at you
h
a
v
e
p
ity
o
n us, as we
are
p
itif
u
l
and
s
m
all a
n
d weak.”

T
h
e
h
e
at in
t
h
e sweat lodge was b
u
il
d
in
g
.
Mary po
u
red
water, c
o
llected
in
a
bu
c
k
et
which
sat
to
h
er
r
i
gh
t,
o
n
to
t
h
e
h
eated
sto
n
es, causi
n
g
a b
ur
st
of
s
t
ea
m
.
Nex
t
,
s
h
e
sp
r
in
k
l
ed
l
av
end
er
t
o
help
t
h
e occ
u
p
a
nts
rel
a
x.
Ma
ry t
h
e
n
i
n
st
r
u
ct
e
d
e
v
er
y
one
t
o
s
e
nd
a p
e
r
s
onal appeal.

Nellie
b
o
wed
h
e
r
h
ead
and
b
rea
t
h
ed
a fer
v
e
n
t
p
lea f
o
r
Peter’s healing. As
s
h
e
prayed,
sc
e
n
es
fl
e
w
through
h
e
r
m
i
nd
like
a
nosta
l
g
ic sli
d
e
show.
Peter,
c
o
m
i
n
g
up
t
h
e
g
ra
v
el
road
to
their
front
gate,
his
face lit with
a s
m
il
e
.
He’s
a
l
w
a
ys
smili
n
g
s
he
tho
u
g
h
t
t
o
h
e
rs
elf.

Mary
and
Pet
e
r
walk
i
ng
i
n
from the
fields,
happy,
gazing
into
each oth
e
r’s
e
y
e
s
.
Lena,
r
u
n
n
i
n
g
up
to
her
fat
h
e
r
a
n
d
le
a
p
i
n
g
i
n
to
his
ar
m
s. Nellie supressed
a
sob
and
co
n
ti
nu
e
d
h
e
r
p
rayers.

Dea
n
’s
m
ind
was
a
wh
i
rlw
i
nd
o
f
t
h
o
ug
h
t:
Peter,
li
k
e
a b
r
oth
e
r, work
i
n
g
in
t
h
e
fiel
d
s alo
n
g s
i
d
e
h
is e
m
p
l
o
y
er/frie
n
d.
Mary and Nellie
at t
h
e
sin
k
,
laug
h
in
g
,
was
h
i
ng
d
is
h
es
after
t
h
ey’d
s
h
ared
a
m
eal
in
t
h
e

su
m
m
er
kitchen
o
f
t
h
e
old
f
a
r
m
-ho
u
se.
L
e
na,
cli
m
bing
i
n
to
his
lap
an
d

wr
ap
p
in
g
h
er
c
h
il
d
is
h
a
r
m
s
a
r
o
un
d
h
i
s
neck. “I
l
ove
you,
Uncle
De
a
n
.”
Le
n
a
ro
c
k
e
d
u
p
o
n
h
e
r
bu
tt
o
c
k
s
,
h
e
r
pr
aye
r
re
p
eati
n
g
o
v
e
r
a
n
d
o
v
e
r
: “Please
save
Ate.
Please s
a
ve
Ate.”

M
e
m
o
ries
of his
sp
a
rkl
i
ng e
y
es,
his
lifti
n
g
h
e
r
i
n
to his ar
m
s
and sw
in
gi
n
g her i
n
to
t
h
e
ai
r
,
la
u
gh
i
n
g
,

“
You
a
r
e
a
bi
r
d
,
m
y little
on
e
.”

Pictures
flew t
h
r
o
ug
h
her
m
ind
–
A
t
e
te
a
chi
n
g
her
ho
w
to
fish, wal
k
ing
d
o
wn t
h
e
l
o
ng
d
irt
roa
d
s
surroun
d
ing
May
Hill,
lif
t
i
n
g
h
e
r
to
t
h
e
c
o
u
n
te
r
o
f
t
h
e
g
e
n
e
ral
sto
re
a
n
d
h
an
d
in
g
h
er
a
n
o
r
an
g
e
p
o
p.