The SealEaters, 20,000 BC Read online

  Early risers were beginning their day. A melodious birdsong welcomed the warmth of the sun as it rose over the mountains in the east bringing warmth and light. The bird scratched its head and left.

  Returning to his hut from the forest At noticed Egorgo standing beside the path. She was not supposed to be near the men’s path into the forest. That was their private place. He signed for her to leave. She snubbed him.

  Egorgo was considered exotic. Her sexually attractive appearance arrested most of the men. She had dark brown hair and very dark eyebrows that looked like raven wings to At. Egorgo’s skin was exceptionally pale, and she had piercing sky blue eyes. Her full lips seemed to have been stained by red berries, but he knew better. Her lip color was natural. Egorgo stood there with her hips uneven stroking her thigh, looking at him at one time seeming to issue an invitation and the next seeming to display defiance. To At the message was unclear and totally unacceptable. Signing at her to move to an area not reserved for men, he was appalled to see that she continued to remain in place.

  At wondered whether she mocked him. Finally, he cared less about her motivation and more about her defiance. With a sharp spring in his step, he grabbed her and wrestled her to the ground to gain a hold on her arms to pin them behind her. Egorgo’s strength surprised At. He grabbed the closest limb on the ground he could find and with his knee in her back to hold her down, he pulled the excess branches from the limb and struck her severely with it. He did so repeatedly. In the struggle her head bumped his jaw, sending searing pain. He did not let her go, despite his pain. Her screams awakened any who remained in the black.

  Then, At held her arms behind her and shoved her toward Reg’s hut. At found Afte-ba, Reg’s son, and shoved the girl to the ground at his feet. At signed what had happened. Afte-ba was horrified. Reg would have drowned her for doing that, and he told her so.

  Egorgo spat out, “My father is . . . NOT . . . here!”

  Afte-ba slapped her across the mouth.

  She glared at him.

  Afte-ba slapped her harder multiple times to the point that she fell to the ground and wept. “I hope that finally brought the message through to her. Thank you, At. As we all know, she has been somewhat of a problem. She needs a husband but nobody wants her—for obvious reasons.”

  “I leave now,” At signed.

  “You’re a good man. Sorry about Vaima. My father is another problem.”

  At turned and looked at Afte-ba with sad eyes. He signed. “Speak gently of your father. He is your father.”

  Admonished, Afte-ba said, “Thank you, At. I do sometimes need reminding.”

  At smiled sadly, turned, and left for his place under the canopy of his hut.

  Waywap came from the hut and saw her daughter curled up on the ground. She knew what had occurred.

  “Daughter,” Waywap said. “You disappoint me. You bring shame upon our family. If you continue, someone will drown you. Don’t think just because Reg is your father you’re safe somehow. What you do is the fecal waste of fools.”

  Egorgo was in pain. She heard her mother, but she did not respond either in word or deed. She continued to lie there unmoving.

  Afte-ba looked at his mother. Then, he said, “Egorgo, arise—now! Go inside the hut and do not leave it for three days. If you disobey, I will drown you.”

  Egorgo pushed herself up to a sitting position. Her face was bright red. She made no further movement, so Afte-ba jerked her to her feet.

  “Do you understand what I just told you?” he demanded glaring at her.

  Egorgo nodded affirmative.

  “Then, go in there. I don’t wish to see you,” he said shoving her into the hut. Waywap followed the girl into the hut to clean the cuts on her skin. There were many.

  Egorgo was struggling internally. Her brother had never treated her so badly. She wanted to have him hug her to make it all go away, as he had done in the past when her father punished her. Though it didn’t show, she was frightened. She was certain her brother was deadly serious. She thought, her father wasn’t really gone. He’d just reappeared in Afte-ba. Egorgo stumbled her way to the hut and her sleeping place. She lay down there, thinking of having to stay there for three days.

  Egorgo’s incident was no secret. Everyone at the Cove heard it. They couldn’t hear what At signed, but everyone knew Egorgo. Anyone age ten or over knew that Egorgo was very provocative. At was not someone to provoke. As the morning turned to high sun, people moved about. Many wondered where Whug had gone and when he’d return.

  By early afternoon Whug, Oppermatu, Litmaq, and Lefa exited the forest far to the east and instantly the SealEaters saw them. All were curious. It would be bad manners to rush up to inquire where Litmaq and Lefa had been, but all were aflame with curiosity. Lefa stopped at Mongwire’s hut, her home. Litmaq went to At’s hut to put his spears into their place and unload his travel gear.

  Whug found Amoroz gathering wood at the forest edge.

  “Chief,” Amoroz called, “I would like to speak with you.”

  “And I with you,” Whug replied.

  “You, first,” Amoroz said with deference.

  “In Reg’s absence I think it time to correct some injustices we’ve been permitting. I think that men should take wives, and that the women should have the right of refusal restored. SealEaters should no longer require our approval to take wives.”

  Amoroz stared at Whug without showing any emotion at all. Bags under his eyes were prominent. They floated over dark shadows. He was thinking through what Whug proposed. Finally, he replied, “I agree.”

  “After we eat this evening?” Whug asked.

  Amoroz nodded.

  Whug went to At’s hut. He told him the same thing, and At agreed. Whug obtained agreement from Forth as well. Reg and Mongwire were both on the voyage; there was never a substitute for an elder.

  Not one elder nor Oppermatu, Litmaq, or Lefa divulged any of the information that would be given that evening. Yet, everyone knew there would be an important elders meeting after the evening meal, and all were fascinated because all the SealEaters had been invited to attend, not just the elders. Egorgo was devastated to have to remain in the family hut.

  While Whug canvassed the elders, Litmaq and Lefa walked together from the Cove south to the big rocks that stood in deep water. Out of sight of the SealEaters, they embraced for a long time. They knew their lives and the lives of their people were about to make a significant change, thanks to an opportunity during a voyage in search of a new land.

  Returning to the Cove from their walk, Litmaq asked, “Did you know that once women had the right of refusal?”

  “No. I never heard of such a thing. The Chief made it sound like the terrible sickness made it possible for the elders to remove our rights. I wonder whether there were others they could restore.”

  “I wouldn’t push for a lot of change immediately,” Litmaq said quickly.

  “Believe me, I’m quite content for the moment. Do you suppose somehow the elders blame us for the terrible sickness?”

  “That would not make sense, Little Rabbit.”

  “When did making sense enter into what SealEaters do?” Lefa partly teased.

  Litmaq laughed and swatted at Lefa as he’d swat at a bug. The two went toward the waterfall where they sometimes bathed. They wanted to bathe after being in the forest for so long. They also wanted to honor the meeting with cleanliness and clothing that gave a serious demeanor.

  The evening meeting began with much solemnity. The people gathered quietly and sat waiting silently with great expectation.

  Whug stood before them all. He cleared his throat. “SealEaters, for some time now, I think we have irritated, if not angered, the gods.”

  People looked from one to another with some fear. What could they have done to displease the gods? they wondered.

  “Long ago, there was a time of a terrible sickness. No one knows what caused the terrible sickness. People coughed and became very hot. They ache
d awfully so that some had difficulty walking. Many had trouble keeping either food or water in their bellies. People coughed up ugly, bloody mucous. The SealEaters scattered. It was a sickness that one person could give to another. After much time, we came back together, and clearly the sickness had passed.”

  Whug looked around. There were so few people who knew of that time. He wondered how many heard this for the first time.

  “Many of us lost a wife or a husband and children to the terrible sickness. It was a time to pull the SealEaters back together. Unfortunately, many who had lost a husband had no interest in continuing to live, especially if the terrible sickness took their children also. A man would seek a wife and she would use her right of refusal, because she still grieved for her lost husband. It made rebuilding the SealEaters almost impossible. So the elders withdrew the right of refusal for women. Women were furious, but, elders ruled, so it had to be. We were not thinking well at that time, and we set no limit on the time of the withdrawal of the right. Also, at that time we decided that men could take a wife only with the approval of all the elders. We did not anticipate the situation we’ve experienced with Reg. We just decided that to make a rule to permit a man to take a wife, all elders must concur. It seemed reasonable at the time. We could not have predicted Reg would become what he has become. For those of you who are young—Reg wasn’t always like he is now.”

  Whug let that settle in. Clearly many people had never heard this history.

  “I now ask the elders to restore the woman’s right of refusal. Do all agree?”

  Whug said, “Amoroz?”

  Amoroz said, “Yes.”

  Whug said, “Forth?”

  Forth said, “Yes.”

  Whug said, “At?”

  At signed, “Yes.”

  “And I agree,” Whug exclaimed.

  The SealEaters were very quiet but looked meaningfully at each other as if in shock.

  “Second,” Whug continued, “It is so easy during times that are tough to take away the rights of our people. Another right that was removed is that of men taking a wife without approval of all elders. That is absurd and abnormal. Look at nature! Elders, I now ask whether you agree to remove elder approval from a man taking a wife?”

  “Amoroz, what do you say?”

  “I agree.”

  “Forth,” Whug said, “What do you say?”

  “I agree, a man should not require our approval to take a wife.”

  “At,” Whug continued, “What do you say?”

  “I agree, that requirement is absurd and abnormal. I readily agree to remove the need for approval by the elders for a man to take a wife.”

  “And so do I,” Whug said.

  By this time the SealEaters were still deadly silent but looking from person to person, as if they had not heard correctly. They were bewildered.

  “Now, SealEaters, I plan to add some requirements. Before you ask a woman to be your wife, I want to see that you’ve built a hut and have set up some provisions. I want to talk to each pair, so that I am confident that the woman has been freely able to use her right of refusal.”

  “Finally, I want from the elders another change. We have used the rule of drowning to reduce strife and to control behaviors. I think we have gone beyond what is reasonable. I want the elders to have to approve without a single dissent any proposed drowning. I do not mean to be lax in our punishment of unacceptable behavior, but I do intend to keep people from being drowned by differences in the heat of the moment. This rule covers all SealEaters. Accepting this rule means no one can independently decide to drown another without the concurrence of all elders. There are many ways to punish those who behave badly. Ending one’s life should be the last consideration, not the first.”

  “Amoroz, do you agree?”

  “Yes.”

  “Forth, do you agree?”

  “Yes.”

  “At, do you agree?”

  “Yes.”

  “And so do I.” Whug continued, “That is all. Do not ask a woman to be your wife until you have built your huts and provisioned them.”

  Left at home alone, Egorgo still could hear. She knew that Afte-ba’s threat to drown her now was worthless. She felt emboldened.

  As if he sensed what might happen, Afte-ba quickly went to the hut and stood over the girl. “Just in case you think the drowning rule sets you free, Egorgo, let me make this clear. Did you hear there are other methods of punishment that are useful before someone requests the right to drown someone? This I tell you: disobey me, and I will break your legs. Do you understand?”

  Egorgo’s emboldened spirit disappeared and she shrank back, fully cowered.

  “I understand, Afte-ba. I will obey you, as if you were our father.”

  “You had better obey me better than that. You did not obey our father well.”

  “I will obey you.” She pulled the sleeping skin up to her neck.

  Afte-ba left the hut to gather and discuss the event with others, leaving Egorgo to seethe under her covers.

  The Cove was alive with excited talk.

  Contrary to what they’d been told, Momomu walked over to Belah, one of Reg’s daughters, who was carrying water to Reg’s hut. He offered to carry the water bladder and whispered to her, “I want you for my wife. I’ll be a good husband. Will you be my wife?”

  Belah, who genuinely liked Momomu, whispered back, “You’re supposed to build the hut before you ask, but, yes. I want you for my husband. I’ll refuse any other who asks. You will build the hut quickly?”

  “As quickly as possible! I awaken early. I’ll be searching for wood before the sun is totally risen.”

  Belah smiled. Momomu wasn’t the best looking, the brightest, or even gifted with a great sense of humor, but he had what she wanted—a steadfastness and loyalty that she could count on for the rest of her days. He was truthful, gentle, and kind. He would consider her and her wishes.

  Momomu carried the water bladder all the way to Reg’s hut. There was a hole near the top of the water bladder. On a piece of wood from which the hut was constructed, Momomu found the protrusion that had been a tree limb. He hooked the hole at the top of the bladder over the protrusion. He’d seen it hooked there when he had come to Reg’s hut one day. Belah was surprised he’d noticed.

  Emu, Amoroz and Fluga’s son, and Tink, Reg’s oldest daughter, at some distance from each other kept gazing at one another, smiling until they felt their unused smile muscles cry out in discomfort.

  Whug climbed up on the large log from which Urch had spoken to all of them the day before. He watched the SealEaters experience their new freedom. He savored all of it. He had done what was right. As he looked to the sky, his chest raised in praise of the gods for showing him what needed to be done. The sun’s warmth on his chest affirmed for him that Father Sky approved.

  Within a few days twelve new huts stood where there had been nothing but land. One of them was in the forest at its edge. Why Momomu would choose the forest edge for a hut, Whug had no idea. The hut was good sized and Belah seemed delighted with it. The shape was different from the other SealEaters’ huts where downfall wood was stood on end leaning into other pieces of approximately the same size. The top was vined or tied with leather strips to provide stability while shorter pieces were added to the exterior to fill the gaps. Mosses and grasses would be stuffed into the gaps and eventually the entire structure would be mudded inside and outside. Momomu built his structure using six trees that formed a four sided base for the structure. He and Belah took smaller fallen trees and tied them from tree to tree horizontally. They added vertical small trees once branches were removed to the horizontal pieces. They collected bundles of grasses from the lowlands beyond the first hills and tied them starting at the bottom of the crosspieces. There was no cover from above. Then, Momomu climbed up the structure and tied a crosspiece to the trees growing in the ground. The crosspiece was a good arm’s length higher than all the other sides. The crosspiece was also larger.
At one point he had to ask for assistance from Begalit to secure the crosspiece. Once the new crosspiece was well secured, he and Begalit stood on the crosspiece even jumping a bit to try to dislodge it. It was secure. Momomu began to lay smaller downfallen trees from the upper crosspieces to the top edge of the structure on the other side. Tree roots held the new pieces to the uppermost crosspiece. Eventually only the tallest side above the top part of the building remained open. The rest was closed with bundle after bundle of grasses.

  Suddenly Whug could see what Momomu was building. The hut had one side taller than the others and there was a top covering that sloped so that rain and snow would slide off. The SealEaters had never conceived of a separate roof. They built cone shaped huts of logs. This building was amazing to all who watched the construction. What was also amazing is that the SealEaters had considered Momomu slow of understanding, not clever at all. Yet, he had built a home for Belah and his family for the future that was spacious and had an opening for light. A good sized hunter could walk around in the home without hitting his head. A home unlike any that had ever been seen. For days on end, Belah carried skins of beach sand to establish the floor of the structure.

  Whug walked over to Momomu and put his hand on the young man’s shoulder. “You have done an amazing thing here, Momomu. How did you arrive at this unique plan?”

  “I guess, Chief, you could say I dreamed it while I was awake.”

  “You what?” Whug asked.

  “Sometimes, when I sit and stare off into the distance, I can relax my thoughts. When that happens, I see things that could be but aren’t. It opens a world to me that is not here, but could be. Do you understand?”