Traveling Upstream

The best way to learn a place

is to compare it to somewhere you know.

Here, we’re at the end of something,

and the beginning of something else entirely.

This place is a gift from Tarenhiawagen.

Upstream, the water boils with white froth. 

Downstream, the river slows and flattens,

swallowed in a green maw of low-lying forest.

Falling water thrums underneath my canoe.

Here, fish journey upstream to spawn

in the shallows of these rocks.

It is as far upstream as they are likely to go.

Whose Idea Was This?

Suddenly, a splash of water hit me in the back of the head, followed by John’s voice saying, “Jane, are you still with me? This trip was your idea.”

With the battle on, I returned the favor, shooting water at him sitting in the back of the birchbark canoe. This continued until we were both wet.

“Wahoo, I give up. That water is cold. I was only trying to get your attention.”

“Yes, it was my idea. I wanted to see the fall line. If we are going to stay in this place, I want to see what makes it different from where I am from.” I turned, put my paddle into the water, and pulled against the current. “You caught me daydreaming, thinking about what has gotten us here.” After a few strokes of the paddle, I turned and looked at John. “Must you leave for the hunt so soon after we have arrived?”

“You know I must. It is the hunting season. The village needs meat, and I must go with your brother… and do my part.”

Imminent Attack

“But, is it wise for all the men to be gone with an attack so imminent?”

“We have spoken on this before. An attack is not imminent. The English will come from the east. They will attack King Hancock’s town at Catechna before they reach us. Catechna must be their goal; it is the seat of our power. If they destroy us there, the war will be over. But, they won’t. Our warriors will be ready.”