Stephen Zimmer - Dream of Legends

Even worse, the Wizard that Deganawida’s own name was derived from had not yet appeared, despite a promise made so many ages ago. After setting up the first Grand Council, and teaching the Great Law, the Wizard named Deganawida had departed from the view of the tribal peoples. He had not left before giving a promise to the Five Tribes; that he would return if the peace should ever fail. All that the tribes had to do was call out his name in the midst of a gathering storm.

“Deganawida, from whom I received my own name, I call out to you, as the Five Realms, and the Great Law, may soon fall into darkest night,” Deganawida suddenly said aloud. “The peace has never been more threatened. We cannot survive what is coming. We need you to return to us in this terrible hour.”

Debris crunched and snapped under the multitude of steps from the tribal people proceeding forward just ahead of him. His ears sifted out the low sounds of conversation, carried on the breezes that swayed the branches of the surrounding trees.

If he had expected something profound to happen at that moment, as he was the very one that had inherited the traditional place honoring the Wizard Deganawida on the Grand Council, he was to be sorely disappointed. As he continued forward, drawing closer to the refugees, everything stayed as it was, with no sounds or sights of anything unusual.

A spark of anger lit his spirit aflame.

“Deganawida! The peace is failing, and you promised to return to us in our desperate hour! Can you not hear us?” Deganawida said, a little louder, his voice taking on a hint of accusation.

Deganawida wished bitterly that he were a Wizard, one of the legendary immortals who could do something extraordinary in the momentous hour. Yet he was just a man, even if he had acquired a few exceptional talents and skills over the course of his long life.

But even as a man, he wished that he could gain some sign from the One Spirit. Whether a great vision, or a small symbol, he just wished that he could see even the slightest glimmer of light within all the suffocating darkness shrouding his people and lands.

Though he had seen nothing in the way of signs, he did not lash out at the One Spirit in anger, as some tended to do under trying circumstances. He knew that in the mortal world, for reasons that he could not fathom, tragedy and fortune fell like rain upon all humankind; the wicked and the innocent alike.

It was one aspect of life that he had chosen to simply accept, lest he kindle resentments at the terrible plight of humans. The matter of the current threat, enveloping each and every surviving tribal member, nonetheless battered Deganawida’s conscience relentlessly.

The tormenting thoughts were abated for a moment, as Deganawida was distracted from his reflections. A warrior came trotting into sight, from the trees ahead. Deganawida welcomed the diversion, as it kept him from dwelling upon the abyss that they were all being shoved towards.

The warrior was a young Onan, from a village on the northernmost edges of the tribe’s territory. His eyes did not hide the anxiety present within him, though his face mustered a smile, as he lowered his eyes in respect to Deganawida.

“Deganawida, I have been sent to ask you to come, and eat. A bear has been brought down, a bear of great size and strength, larger than any that the ones that hunted it have ever seen,” the warrior informed him, with an undercurrent of enthusiasm. “Scouts came across the tracks of this bear as they found better paths to the south. They were fresh tracks, and it did not take long for the hunting party to find the creature. None were hurt when they took the great beast. No greater quarry could have been discovered. All see this as a great blessing, and all ask that you come and eat of this great bounty.”

Deganawida smiled at the young warrior. In the face of all their ongoing trials and hardships, the suffering exiles wanted him to indulge in a meal, of a kind cherished in their culture. In better times, the meat of a bear held great significance within the tribes, often used in sacred ceremonies.

Bear meat was a cause of celebration, which was a feeling that seemed so very far removed from Deganawida’s heart at the moment. Yet he could not deny the fact that his stomach felt otherwise regarding the prospect of consuming bear meat. He had partaken of quite enough corn meal, even sweetened as it was with the syrup made from the boiled sap of the maple tree.

Only that afternoon, as he had opened up a bark container to withdraw a small portion of dried fish, he had inwardly lamented that the tribes could not soothe their hardships with the gifts of their own lands. They were being forcibly prevented from harvesting the abundant eel and salmon that made their visits to the rivers of the tribal lands every spring.

The tribes had been reduced to scraping up whatever they could find along the sorrowful trail. It just so happened that they had discovered a bear on that pathway.

“All know that you would not wish to partake of a meal such as this, at a time like this. Yet all insist that you accept this gift. You need your strength too, Deganawida,” the warrior said in a gentle tone, when the sachem did not respond immediately.

“I do not wish to take this meat. Distribute it to the others, who need its sustenance more than I do,” Deganawida said evenly.

“They knew that you would ask this, and have said that none will eat, if you do not. They will leave this meat behind, untouched, if none of it passes the lips of Deganawida,” the warrior responded, a little more firmly.

“That would be a very foolish thing to do,” Deganawida said. “You have acquired meat that can feed many, and bring strength to a multitude of weary limbs and hearts.”

“Then all will make a fool’s choice,” the warrior replied somberly.

Deganawida placed a hand on the upper left arm of the warrior, and looked the young man in the eyes. He knew that even if his people were under the worst of famines, they were stubborn enough of will to walk away, and leave the meat of ten bears to waste, if they were determined on a certain course.

“I will accept. But only if this meal is shared with the oldest, and those that are struggling the most. They must share in this meal, if I am to take part in it. That which is not eaten, distribute among as many as you can, for whatever uses can be made of what remains,” Deganawida replied. “This is what I ask, in return for accepting this gift.”

Deganawida knew that many would benefit beyond the food itself. As the tribal practice was with all types of prey, whether deer, beavers, bear, or anything else, uses were found for all manner of bodily elements.

Coating the skin with bear grease helped to keep bothersome insects away in warmer weather. The skins of bears made for wondrous fur blankets. Little to nothing of the kill would be wasted, and Deganawida wanted to make certain that all gifts from the animal were put to use, for those that needed them the most during such a time of great necessity.

The warrior nodded, his dark eyes holding Deganawida’s gaze without blinking. “Yes, Deganawida. It shall be as you ask.”

“Then I will forgo cornmeal and dried fish this night, and accept this generous gift from my Onan brothers and sisters,” Deganawida answered, nodding to the warrior.

As he walked with the warrior towards the promised meal, he realized that for a few precious moments, his growing feeling of despondency had been lifted. The unexpected development of the bear meat, and the offering of it to him by his fellow Onan, was, he abruptly recognized, a sign. It was something for him to hold onto during his tremendous ordeal, a glimmering beacon of the purest light; an enduring radiance that was not consumed by the ravenous darkness surrounding it.