The Legend of Two Old Women by Velma Wallis, Alaskan Author

I admire those who follow the history of their ancestors, and, especially, pass down legends, stories to encourage the youth of specific cultures. After reading The Legend of Two Old Women, I wanted to learn about their present lives, so I found several videos that I enjoyed, and am sharing for your possible interest as well.

The air stretched tight, quiet and cold over the vast land. Tall spruce branches hung heavily laden with snow, awaiting distant spring winds. The frosted willows seemed to tremble in the freezing temperatures. Far off in this seemingly dismal land were bands of people dressed in furs and animal skins, huddled close to small campfires. Their weather-burnt faces were stricken with looks of hopelessness as they faced starvation, and the future held little promise of better days. 

These nomads were The People of the arctic region of Alaska, always on the move in search of food. Where the caribou and other migrating animals roamed, The People followed. But the deep cold of winter presented special problems. The moose, their favorite source of food, took refuge from the penetrating cold by staying in one place, and were difficult to find. Smaller, more accessible animals such as rabbits and tree squirrels could not sustain a large band such as this one. And during the cold spells, even the smaller animals either disappeared in hiding or were thinned by predators, man and animal alike. 

So during this unusually bitter chill in the late fall, the land seemed void of life as the cold hovered menacingly. During the cold, hunting required more energy than at other times. Thus, the hunters were fed first, as it was their skills on which The People depended. 

Yet, with so many to feed, what food they had was depleted quickly. Despite their best efforts, many of the women and children suffered from malnutrition, and some would die of starvation. 

In this particular band were two old women cared for by The People for many years. The older woman’s name was Ch’idzigyaak, for she reminded her parents of a chickadee bird when she was born. The other woman’s name was Sa’, meaning “star,” because at the time of her birth her mother had been looking at the fall night sky, concentrating on the distant stars to take her mind away from the painful labor contractions. 

The chief would instruct the younger men to set up shelters for these two old women each time the band arrived at a new campsite, and to provide them with wood and water. The younger women pulled the two elder women’s possessions from one camp to the next and, in turn, the old women tanned animal skins for those who helped them. The arrangement worked well. However, the two old women shared  a character flaw unusual for people of those times. Constantly they complained of aches and pains, and they carried walking sticks to attest to their handicaps. Surprisingly, the others seemed not to mind, despite having been taught from the days of their childhood that weakness was not tolerated among the inhabitants of this harsh motherland. Yet, no one reprimanded the two women, and they continued to travel with the stronger ones—until one fateful day.

On that day, something more than the cold hung in the air as The People gathered around their few flickering fires and listened to the chief. He was a man who stood almost a head taller than the other men. From within the folds of his parka ruff he spoke about the cold, hard days they were to expect and of what each would have to contribute if they were to survive the winter. 

Then, in a loud, clear voice he made a sudden announcement: “The council and I have arrived at a decision.” The chief paused as if to find the strength to voice his next words. “We are going to have to leave the old ones behind.”

~~~

Velma Wallis, an Alaskan writer from the Athabascan people, has been writing the legends handed by her ancestors and has received wide attention. I was honored to learn of her heritage...and, as an older woman, not yet as old as the Two Old Women, I gained a new perspective--perhaps, even hope, as I read their stories.

Is the legend totally true? To me it is irrelevant. It is clear that whoever the first woman or women who shared their story, wanted to make sure that change in custom needed to be made... just as some authors now write to bring about change in today's world. 

The Athabasca people were nomadic, moving as the weather changed, trying to keep alive by going where basic needs could be met. But some winters became so bad that death came on the winds, pushing the group to pick up and move again.

The two old women were old, but they still provided for The People by tanning animal skins in trade for support by others. But the arrangements for the two women slowed the others down. Even the daughter of one of them had voted to leave them. Custom had been established, still the daughter and grandson were devastated they had to choose and the mother was heartbroken at their betrayal. Of course, both women felt they were providing support and should have been allowed to continue...

This is the story of those two elders, as they watched The People walk away, leaving them with minimal support, assuming they would die soon...

“We are going to prove them wrong! The People. And death!” 
She shook her head, motioning into the air. “Yes, it awaits us, this death. 
Ready to grab us the moment we show our weak spots. 
I fear this kind of death more than any suffering you and I will go through.
 If we are going to die anyway, let us die trying!”
~~~

The book has small drawings to complement the story, while the writing is lyrically presented as gifted natural storytellers present. This is a book of despair, but courage that can only be found when a human is forced to deal with the reality that exists at any given time. 

Most of us will never know or comprehend this type of suffering and hunger, and fear as death walks behind, waiting. Yet, the stark reality of many of our ancestors shows us what we can really do if it is demanded. Even today, as we no longer fear the dangers historically faced, many of our elders, our older generation fear of hunger, fear of lack of medical support, homelessness...still exists!

Two Old Women is recognition of the strength of women, in particular. We are able to recognize and learn from the legends of former women, and men, who have worked to learn from the past and establish what will be our present and future. It is important to remember the past, see what happened, and move on from there..."if we are going to die anyway, let us die trying!"

Don't pass up this opportunity to read about Two Old Women... Highly recommended...

GABixlerReviews

Velma Wallis' career as a bestselling author may have been destined from the start, but it most likely would have seemed improbable - if not fantastical - to her as a young girl growing up in a remote Alaskan village.
Velma Wallis' personal odyssey began in Fort Yukon, Alaska, a location accessible only by riverboat, airplane, snowmobile or dogsled. Having dropped out of school at the age of 13 in order to care for her siblings in the wake of their father's death, Wallis passed her high school equivalency test - earning her GED - and then surprised friends and relatives by choosing to move into an old trapping cabin 12 miles from Fort Yukon.
For almost a dozen years, she survived on what she gathered from hunting, fishing and trapping - a daring and strikingly independent lifestyle during which she struggled to define her personal identity.
In fact, it seems difficult to separate Velma Wallis from the imagery of hardship and the mere pursuit of survival itself - which is actually the underlying theme of her first and widely successful effort as a writer, Two Old Women.
Inspired by an old Athabaskan legend passed on by Wallis' mother, Two Old Women follows Sa' and Ch'idzigyaak as they struggle to coexist with an unrelenting Nature as well as conquer extreme old age after being abandoned by their own tribe for fear that the two elders would cripple any chance of surviving the harsh winter. Determined to live and so disprove the tribe's belief that they lack social worth, the two women discover strength and self-confidence they never knew they possessed.
In this regard, it seems possible to read Two Old Women as a kind of metaphor for Wallis' own childhood and role as a once emerging - but now accomplished - writer whose legendary tale has sold 1.5 million copies and been translated into 17 languages worldwide.

It should come as remarkable, then, that Two Old Women is widely considered to be a word-of-mouth bestseller - what many have called a "publishing phenomenon" - gaining in popularity as mothers, daughters, teachers and mentors share the native wisdom of Sa' and Ch'idzigyaak amongst themselves.

Composed on an antiquated typewriter, the aspiring author's retelling of the Athabaskan legend seemed infused with magic from the beginning. Even so, the question of whether Wallis' work would actually be put in print was complicated by a lack of financial resources on the part of her publisher Epicenter Press, which was still in its infancy at the time of Wallis' submission.

But in spite of such a formidable challenge, a group of University of Alaska students taught by Lael Morgan - co-founder of Epicenter Press along with Kent Sturgis - started a grass roots effort intended to raise enough money to publish the manuscript. Since that time, Wallis has written two additional books - Bird Girl and the Man Who Followed the Sun and also Raising Ourselves.

The now middle-aged author currently divides her time between Fort Yukon and Fairbanks along with her three daughters. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including both the 1993 Western States Book Award and the 1994 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award for Two Old Women as well as the 2003 Before Columbus Foundation Award for Raising Ourselves.

Deranged by Nora I. Jamiesoon Speaks Deeply to the Hearts and Souls of Women...

Coyotes

 http://www.norajamieson.com/writings/coyotes/

The coyotes came over the southern

ridge this morning

Howling their presence into the cold, dry air

We are here

On the perimeter of your

Domesticated life

Such boldness in broad daylight

A curse or a blessing

A call or a warning

Some blessings come wrapped in fear

We’ll teach you the boldness required

to announce your presence

On the perimeter of your own life.

~~~

Anna is descended from an embittered female lineage. Women who traveled across oceans in a ruthless migration, running from poverty, leaving the land they loved and called home, leaving families never to see them again. Women descended from those accused and damned as witches, tortured and burned, witnessed by their daughters who would one day have daughters of their own. To whom they would impart fear and repression and self-hatred along with mother's mile, Mothers who would be confused by feelings of love and hatred for their children and wonder at the now invisible root of such evil. A poisonous brew erased from memory, simmered and reduced in a burnt ask of compressed hatred, igniting and flaming out of control. And existing alongside love.

Her ancestors, women torn. Better to forget. Better to burn the pictures.

Anna winces, suspecting that her passionate love for the past, her need for family, for roots, was the match to her mother's bitter harvest, illuminating a life too painful to rekindle...

...She stalks out of the woods, her finger jabbing the air, and yelling aloud to the surrounding trees, "If forgiveness is part of redemption, I am doomed...

~~~

Deranged

By Nora I. Jamieson

Many years ago, as I was establishing myself as an independent career woman,I purchased the book, Women Who Run With the Wolves... I had started it but never finished. My older sister saw the book and criticized, "You'd better watch what type of books you are reading..."

At that time I was still intimidated by family, by elders. I've since learned that each of us must become true to our own 

self--whatever that might turn out to be...

Nora Jamieson has written a spiritual book as well. It's title is even more intriguing to me--Deranged... While we rarely hear that word actually used, most of us would say it means the same as crazy, mad, insane...

But does it? During the entire book, whenever, a woman asked herself whether she was deranged, I paused, wondering what she was really thinking. So I looked it up and found another definition... 

to upset the arrangement, order, or operation of; unsettle; disorder

For me, this was a much more far-reaching definition that hit home...Women's lives are often upset, unsettled, become disordered...Right? Would you agree? 

Some would say Anna is a toughened
woman, strong spirited, raw boned, the
lines of grief imprinted on her face.
But right now she is perplexed and not
a little frightened...
Anna leans down to look into the
shadowed cave just under the boulder's
lip where she's tried to bury the urn
of ashes. The earth refuses it. She's
been trying to bury it for two days...
Staring at the urn, she thinks how she
wants to be done with this, to be done
with the carrying of this sorrowful
burden like a bad penny keeps
returning...
~~~

Deranged brings readers three stories: Reckoning, The Looking Back Woman of Scantic Gap, and The Taxidermist's Daughter.

The three women whose lives are explored in this book may be familiar to some readers. To others, it will be totally...weird... There are several similarities...they have an affinity for animals that surround where they live...there is also some type of background story about an ancestor that is now important to the individual.

Especially when each of them starts looking inward at their own thoughts, their lives and how they relate to others...

I have always been such a person and considered the phrase, "Know Thyself" as one of the key points to guide me in life. Do you think it important? In reading Deranged, readers will automatically be compelled to consider the words of the author, considering what they would do in each situation. I found myself attuned to the first woman's story, Reckoning. She finds herself in a supernatural situation where she has been left with the task by her now dead mother, to bury the urn of ashes of her father. But the earth rejects the urn. It is back on the surface the next morning, or, in the last situation, it is thrown at her back as she walks away and hits her!

She has become like coyote, sitting on the margins, the hedgerows, waiting and watching before moving. And then quick, quick, out and back again. Not giving up on life, but not quite putting herself at the center either, lest it be a trap, poisoned meat...

Anna at 60 is trying to figure out what had happened in her parents' life that leaves her, now, struggling to bury her father. She was unable to forgive her mother who had destroyed all the family pictures, leaving her with an emptiness she wonders if she can fill. But then finds a picture of her mother's husband in the urn...when he was young, with her alone...before the children...Why were ancestors deleted from their lives?

And then the story of the coyote who is poisoned...She finds one of her goats killed next. Was it in retaliation? Do the coyote mourn their dead? She knew she loved her goats and felt the loss of her own. Did even coyote feel the love and loss of their own as well?

"My name is Louise."
My words traveled a distance of
some fourteen years, and they
entered her, I could see, like a
homecoming. She started to
rise and come to me, but I put
up my hand. She sat.
"You gave me to my father."
A flush rose on my mother's
face. I continued, "It's not such
a bad thing to be seen as a gift.
It is a beautiful thing in a way.
And you couldn't have any way
of knowing that I wasn't yours
to give. But I am telling you
now. I am taking myself back
from both of you. And I release
you from any guilt you might
carry about me.
I felt as though the words I spoke
were Louise's words, that I was
hearing them as freshly as my
mother was hearing them. It is
curious how another truer self
can live in us without our
knowledge...
~~~

There is a mystic quality of both the writing and the stories being told. Each presents a different woman, a different longing for what their life is supposed to mean. The last one, The Taxidermist's Daughter is deep and disturbing, although it is not surprising. When Louise was born, her father wanted a son and her mother allowed Louise to be called Lou and be taught as if he were the son that would carry on the family business--to become a taxidermist...

When, on her birthday, her father presented her with a new knife, but accidentally called her Louise, it was the beginning... Lou had died but what happened to Louise? She started by forgiving her mother...

Only later to be saved by a Raven...

Each of the women's stories is so unique and revelatory, that readers will think that each of the characters are different people, drawn from the experiences of those known by the author. And, they might have first come to thought in some way like that since the author is a counselor. But is the mysticism and magic totally fantasy? Or is there really some connection to our ancestors, to the animals around us, to the past and what it was meant to teach us, that we have lost in today's society? 

The Looking Back Woman helps us ponder that question...

My name is Sophie Carson and I am a looking back woman. I live in Santic Gap in the place of the long river, the place where there is a breach of the north-south ledge below the moving water. The place where the water suddenly drops sixty feet, foaming, carrying the force of its descent downstream. It is the place just before change, when the old is done and new is coming...

If we vanish from our dead, how will they find us? If we live entirely with a mind pointed toward progress, how will the people, the land that knows us, claim us? I see that more clearly than ever now. All my life I've wanted to be known. It has taken different misguided shapes through the years but it is all rooted back to a deep and primal longing to be possessed by and to belong to land, to clan, to the wild. Yet we live in a time and in a world to which we do not belong, a world that is so far flung from itself that it seems even Isis cannot collect the dismembered pieces. I have stayed at the Gap, going round and round trying to make of my body a portal through which my dead can enter and lay claim to me. And the future, too. I am perhaps a living smoke signal, or a light flashed on a mirror. Sometimes I ask, What is the point? My heart answers, It is what's been given you.

Some things are worth standing by and if we don't find that thing in our lives, that thing given to us to stand by no matter what, no matter the fashion, the trends, we will be lost. And that is hell. Which is what we're in. A hell of our own making, at whose center we stand...

It used to be true for all my bloods that the old women were the backbone of the community, the way mountains are the backbone of the land. As long as that was true, things would go well enough. Promises kept, rituals enacted, memory fed. But now the young and untested are held forth as hope and the way, a flimsy proportion to my mind. Now it's the ones who scale the mountain, who change the course of the river, who prevail--no longer the mountain , no longer the river, those beings of beauty and power.

As you can imagine, I refuse.

~~~

There is reference to Native American Tribes and to the time when women were burned as witches, but there really isn't, in my opinion, a definite source of the spiritual guidance in this book. But if you take it as a whole, you will definitely see the connection between humans, animals...all sorts of nature... Have we grown so far away from what we learned as our ancestors lived and taught us. Have we missed something by getting caught up in the hustle-bustle world we now live in. What I can tell you is that whether or not you find new answers for yourself or not, you will, I believe, experience a type of rejuvenation, a period of time for yourself, in thinking of yourself, your life and how you feel about that life. It's a compelling read and I highly recommend you check it out for your consideration!

GABixlerReviews

Nora L. Jamieson lives in northwestern Connecticut where she writes, counsels women, and unsuccessfully tracks coyote. She lives with her spouse, Allan G. Johnson, their soulful dog, Roxie, and the sorrowful and joyful memory of four beloved goats and three dogs. Visit her website at www.norajamieson.com

The Search for Sunlei - Second Great Novel in The Legend of Tyoga Weathersby! Wow!

What troubles you brother?" he asked.
Without averting his eyes from the western horizon, Tyoga said, "Nearly five years ago I trekked with Chief Blue Coat of the Mattaponi to Middletown--Williamsburg, they call it now--to meet with Lord Governor Nott of Virginia. Nott told us that the British wanted to take the village of Mattaponi to create a new port for the crown. He told the chief and me that if the Mattaponi would not sell the land, then the British army would take the village by force. Chief Blue Coat refused to sign the land over to the British and vowed to fight to the last man to preserve the land of his ancestors."
"Chief Blue Coat answered wisely, Ty," Tes Qua chimed in, "It is the duty of the chief to protect the land that sustains his people. There was nothing else he could have done."
"I know, Tes. He did the right thing," Tyoga refocused his gaze to the pack at his knees. "But there is more. I shared a plan with Governor Nott that I knew he could not refuse to consider. But I never imagined that my plan would one day make its way before the kind and be approved by the British Parliament."
Tyoga shook his head in disbelief as the words brought into stark relief the implausible reality that had come to pass. "I preyed upon the weakness of a little man hiding under a powdered wig and created the mess that brings us together this day."
"You had no way of knowing the future, my brother," Tes Qua offered. "Your plan saved the Mattaponi. And it was the Mattaponi who saved your life. Besides," he continued, "it is a good plan. It will put an end to the merciless rule of Chief Quisquis and rid the Ohio Valley of the French. That Sunlei has been caught up in the affair is a cruel twist that no one could have foreseen."

~~~

The Search for Sunlei:

The Legend of Tyoga Weathersby

By H. L. Grandin

When Sunlei and Tyoga had their last time together, there was talk about Sunlei being able to meet a young brave. Neither knew at that time that Sunlei was already to have a child--Tyoga's... Indeed it was Wahaya-Wacon who had played with him and guided and protected him while he explored the forests. He was with him more than Sunlei and early on Sunlei knew that he, too, had the Knowing, just as his father, Tyoga.

Tyoga knew nothing of his son, however. He had two children with Trinity Jane and had become a wealthy man. But it was the type of small village, on land that had been given to him by the chief after the negotiations were over, that he established which had everybody full of respect for him. Many black men became freemen who were quick to build their own businesses, including a blacksmith. His manager over all that he had, was the first man he had "purchased" and freed at the same time and was there by his side from then on.

When Tyoga heard the howl, he immediately thought of his close friend... soon he was  running up to greet him while Tes Qua Ta Wa came behind. He had come for a reason; one that began to haunt him as soon as he heard Tes Qua' story. He confessed to Tes Qua that when he had first reached Mattaponi, the tribe there welcomed him immediately, saying that it was to save them that he had come. Everyone rejoiced that Tyoga was there, He had no idea what the issue was, but quickly promised to help if he could... And so it was that Tyoga did indeed save the lands that belonged to the Tribe. But in his enthusiasm and vast knowledge of the politics even then early in America, he had made a suggestion that would not only save the land, but could potentially rid the country of a hated enemy. He didn't think it could hurt, but he never thought that it would one day cause great danger to Sunlei!

When Sunlei had been prepared to wed, she had shown not only the beauty that had drawn many men to want her, but she had the love of all of her people for the type of woman she had become. Even after she had been relocated, she had been cherished by those who came to know her. But there was always someone who was prepared to fight for her. She had been taken! Now she was in the hands of the very chief, who Tyoga had once plotted the English against!

There really was no choice in Tyoga's mind. He would join Tes Qua and go to free her. Even though Trinity Jane tried to dissuade him, declaring "Your home is here..."                                 

Tyoga knew that he would be away from Trinity Jane and his children for longer than he wished to admit. With winter setting in, he had spent the previous two days making sure that his family would be well provided for in his absence. All of his Cherokee brothers and sisters who had accompanied Tes Qua across the mountains agreed to stay with Trinity Jane and his children while he was away. Coyote, Pains His Shirt Red, Dancing Mouse, and Morning Sky were anxious to stay in the relative warmth of tidewater Virginia to avoid the frigid cold of the Appalachian winter. That they were able to help to put Tyoga's mind at ease while he was away searching for Sunlei was an added charge that they were more than willing to accommodate. Even absent their generosity, Tyoga would have had little to worry about.
Twin Oaks had grown into the largest and most prosperous plantation in colonial America. Tyoga and Trinity had become so valuable to both the tribes of Tidewater Virginia and the representatives of the British Crown that their family was protected from harm by both factions with equal devotion. Tyoga had grown up as a living bridge linking the white settlers of Appalachia with the tribes of the Native American woodland cultures. Because of the Weathersby's  long-standing relationship with the Ani-Unwiya, Tyoga was fluent in Tsalagie, the language of the Cherokee...

~~~

They were soon on their way. Brister was supposed to only go so far, to help take supplies back to the Tribe, but, somehow, somewhere, he kept springing up to help. Of course, Wahaya was there, sometimes hiding, sometimes right with them. It didn't take long for them to find a problem to help solve. The first was at Chiswell's Pass... They heard many muskets firing and started running...

It was there that Tes Qua watched Tyoga first change..

"What if the whites are French...? Brister asked.

Tyoga did not reply. Tes Qua could see that the hazel hue was draining from his friend's eyes. The amber glow that made his pupils sizzle with a feral sting presaged the unbridled impulse to respond without restraint. The spirit of Wahaya-Wacon was filling Tyoga's soul. Soon there would be very little of Tyoga left. The cry came from the top of the ridge. The howl was urgent and demanding. It filled the valley below and careened off of the granite peaks of the Warrior Ridge. Before Tes Qua could say another word, Tyoga took off down the slope at full speed.

!!!

By the time it was over, friends were dead and Tyoga held Standing Bird in his arms. She was in great pain, but managed to tell him to warn the British that they were marching into a trap and if they weren't warned, they would be walking into a trap. Indeed, this news was all over the territory, except perhaps for the knowledge of the British. They decided to split up with Tes Qua going to tell the British and Brister supposedly on his way home...

As the two brothers left, they exchanged tokens of their friendship in case they didn't meet again...

As Tyoga moved on he was to make a major enemy when he discovered that the French, Iroquois and a merchant had tied up all of the trade and was paying very low prices for furs and other items... Tyoga told him he'd be back to ensure it stopped. That was a mistake... But for whom?

Just as the move by the British was known, so, too, did everybody know about Tyoga's trip to save Sunlei... They were waiting for him... and even though Wahaya invariably was able to pull together a pack of wolves and a few men joined with Tyoga, it became more and more difficult to get Sunlei.. Calls to the ancestors were made... 

But for Tyoga, if he was to get Sunlei and also another from their tribe, he would continue to change...

Change until nobody could have recognized him.

But would he be able to come back???

Throughout this story, Tyoga is a very introspective man, trying to understand where he fit? Who he was to be? While traveling on to Sunlei, he had stopped at his parents home and had been chastised by his mother as only a mother can. But she did not really know her son any more and had not been privy to his confusion and search.  He had once thought he loved Sunlei above all others, but had never told her he loved her. Nor did he tell the other woman who had come to him one night seeking their connection... Nor did he tell Trinity Jane as she told him she loved him, as he walked out the door, saying nothing in response.

Was he even capable of love or was his life to be that of an animal, living on instinct alone?
Then, amazingly, the sudden, unimaginable happens and Tyoga loses what semblance of self he had. Should he leave everybody and turn to Wyhaya for his sole companionship???

I became completely caught up in this story, thoughts flowing through my mind... So I started asking questions and that discussion with the author will appear tomorrow...

All of us from time to time comes to a crossroad of which direction to follow in our lives. Tyoga had gifts presented to him, whether they were to help or hinder him was not part of the bargain. He received one gift from his father--The Awakening. Another from a wolf whose life he saved, only to become a part of him...

Highly recommended! There is much to learn about our world, our history...and ourselves, if we are willing to listen, wait...and discover... Wow! What a great story!

GABixlerReviews

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