“Where were you?”
“Well, I decided to take a run on the beach.”
“You? Run?” queried May.
“I took the caddy for a run on the beach but she kind of sunk in the sand.”
“Sam, you’re losing it,” said Jim. “That caddy weighs a ton.”
“I had to get Bear to pull me out.”
“Looks like he pulled the caddy over you,” said Anita sarcastically.
Ray and Simon totally lost the laughter they’d been trying to politely stifle.
“Sam, you’ve been a city boy for too long. You need Indian re-training,” giggled May.
“Get your sandy arse in there and eat your dinner,” scolded China, wacking Sam on his bum with the broom.
Sam joined in the general laughter with good nature. One more story to tell around the campfire.
~ ~
Two days later all was ready for the Thunder Ceremony. The community hall was crammed with about 600 villagers and the chatter was deafening. China sat down at the head table and looked around for Sam. She saw him near the door with Marisa and Anita, and they didn’t look very happy. Sam sat next to China and whispered in her ear.
“The head-dress has been stolen.”
“Oh, Sam, that’s awful! What are you going to do?”
“Right now, I can do nothing.”
“Jesus, Sam, that head-dress was an artifact! How could Marisa have been so careless?”
“It was probably her son who stole it. The two of them have been bleeding my grandparents dry for years.”
Once again China marveled at the Grimshaw way of ignoring everything. The grandparents, blind, deaf and crippled, needed care and they sort of adopted Marisa who needed a house and things to steal to support her drinking habit and the worse habits of her son. It was an arrangement everyone seemed pleased with since neither Sam nor his mother showed any inclination of taking care of them. It was a matter of pride in the native community that the old ones were highly respected and that the family took care of them instead of a nursing home. China was dubious of the care that a lot of the old people received.
Bear was the Master of Ceremonies and he welcomed the Chiefs of the various clans. They didn’t all attend but that was normal. There were sometimes bitter rivalries between the clans and in the old days, disagreements often ended in death. Nowadays the trouble that couldn’t be arbitrated by the Band Council, or circle sentencing, was soon resolved by the RCMP and white man’s law.
Each Chief brought with him a chunk of Migmatite, the local stone that was used only for special ceremonies. The stones were placed reverently in front of Sam as a sign of approval of his new leadership. Later Sam would build a Migmatite Monument in front of his house to signify that a Chief lived there. Prayers were then said in the Grimshaw language by Auntie Susan Crow and the feast commenced.
Soon after the soup was served, China looked towards the entrance and saw three Chiefs and several village elders, led by Dan Black, enter the community hall. China immediately felt trouble but everyone else seemed to be more interested in the clam soup.
China spoke urgently to Sam.
“Sam, it looks like trouble just entered the room.”
Bear and Anita overheard China and looked towards the entrance.
“Bear, get over there and see what they want,” ordered Anita.
Bear marched over to the entrance and consulted angrily with Dan Black. By now everyone was looking towards the entrance and the heat in the community hall went up about ten degrees. He then came back to the head table leaving Dan Black and his entourage by the door.
“Sam,” said Bear. “I told them they can’t interrupt the meal, but they’re coming in after and they’ve got a few things to say.”
China didn’t hear what Sam and his mother discussed during the meal. She was just amazed that Sam kept eating between comments to Anita and Bear. However, she could sense his agitation as his face got redder and redder and he started to sweat. China couldn’t eat at
“Well, I decided to take a run on the beach.”
“You? Run?” queried May.
“I took the caddy for a run on the beach but she kind of sunk in the sand.”
“Sam, you’re losing it,” said Jim. “That caddy weighs a ton.”
“I had to get Bear to pull me out.”
“Looks like he pulled the caddy over you,” said Anita sarcastically.
Ray and Simon totally lost the laughter they’d been trying to politely stifle.
“Sam, you’ve been a city boy for too long. You need Indian re-training,” giggled May.
“Get your sandy arse in there and eat your dinner,” scolded China, wacking Sam on his bum with the broom.
Sam joined in the general laughter with good nature. One more story to tell around the campfire.
~ ~
Two days later all was ready for the Thunder Ceremony. The community hall was crammed with about 600 villagers and the chatter was deafening. China sat down at the head table and looked around for Sam. She saw him near the door with Marisa and Anita, and they didn’t look very happy. Sam sat next to China and whispered in her ear.
“The head-dress has been stolen.”
“Oh, Sam, that’s awful! What are you going to do?”
“Right now, I can do nothing.”
“Jesus, Sam, that head-dress was an artifact! How could Marisa have been so careless?”
“It was probably her son who stole it. The two of them have been bleeding my grandparents dry for years.”
Once again China marveled at the Grimshaw way of ignoring everything. The grandparents, blind, deaf and crippled, needed care and they sort of adopted Marisa who needed a house and things to steal to support her drinking habit and the worse habits of her son. It was an arrangement everyone seemed pleased with since neither Sam nor his mother showed any inclination of taking care of them. It was a matter of pride in the native community that the old ones were highly respected and that the family took care of them instead of a nursing home. China was dubious of the care that a lot of the old people received.
Bear was the Master of Ceremonies and he welcomed the Chiefs of the various clans. They didn’t all attend but that was normal. There were sometimes bitter rivalries between the clans and in the old days, disagreements often ended in death. Nowadays the trouble that couldn’t be arbitrated by the Band Council, or circle sentencing, was soon resolved by the RCMP and white man’s law.
Each Chief brought with him a chunk of Migmatite, the local stone that was used only for special ceremonies. The stones were placed reverently in front of Sam as a sign of approval of his new leadership. Later Sam would build a Migmatite Monument in front of his house to signify that a Chief lived there. Prayers were then said in the Grimshaw language by Auntie Susan Crow and the feast commenced.
Soon after the soup was served, China looked towards the entrance and saw three Chiefs and several village elders, led by Dan Black, enter the community hall. China immediately felt trouble but everyone else seemed to be more interested in the clam soup.
China spoke urgently to Sam.
“Sam, it looks like trouble just entered the room.”
Bear and Anita overheard China and looked towards the entrance.
“Bear, get over there and see what they want,” ordered Anita.
Bear marched over to the entrance and consulted angrily with Dan Black. By now everyone was looking towards the entrance and the heat in the community hall went up about ten degrees. He then came back to the head table leaving Dan Black and his entourage by the door.
“Sam,” said Bear. “I told them they can’t interrupt the meal, but they’re coming in after and they’ve got a few things to say.”
China didn’t hear what Sam and his mother discussed during the meal. She was just amazed that Sam kept eating between comments to Anita and Bear. However, she could sense his agitation as his face got redder and redder and he started to sweat. China couldn’t eat at
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