A Sister and Her Brother

Once an entire village decided to leave their traditional place because they could no longer find enough game to hunt or food to gather. It hadn’t rained in months, and even the small wild plants and herbs they used for medicine were beginning to dry up and die. So the people took down all their teepees and gathered all their belongings and began to trek down the road that led away from the village. A sister and her little brother had been playing in the forest near the village and had no idea that the people were departing for a new land. When they returned to the village there were no teepees to be seen. There were no people around. Only some sullen smoke was rising from the ashes of a few dying fires.

The children could see the dust rising from the many feet of the tribe as they walked down the road and they could see the people deep in the distance moving farther and farther away. The sister began to run after the people, and the little brother tried to keep up as best he could. The sister came upon a lodge pole laying in the road and called out to the people that they were leaving behind the central pole of the main lodge, but no one stopped. No one even turned around.

The sister began running as fast as she could and called out to her father asking why he would leave his own children behind. The father did not stop; he did not even turn around. She called out to her mother asking: “Are we not your children?” Without even turning around, the mother answered: “Never mind, you are not my children.”

Still the sister kept on running hard until she noticed that her little brother was falling far behind. Realizing that her brother was too small too keep up, she decided that she did not want to leave him behind all by himself. The sister turned back and took the hand of her brother and the two of them began to trek back to the place of the only home they had ever known. As they walked back they came upon the lodge pole. They struggled but managed to carry it all the way back to the village and placed it at the center once again, even though there was no teepee to go with it.

Now they were alone in the deserted village. They had no belongings and nothing to eat. They were afraid to be exposed in the center of the village, so the sister led her little brother to a thicket where he could forage for berries while she began to devise a shelter of sticks and leaves. From then on they lived in their improvised shelter at the edge of the deserted village that once teemed with families and food and tribal life. They ate roots and berries and managed to stay alive. After a time they ceased being children and grew into young people.

The sister was always looking out to the world and watching whatever came into their area. She watched for each opportunity that appeared before them and she sought to improve their lives in every way. The brother had a different view of things. He would sit with his head hanging down and his eyes cast at the ground or looking somewhere deep inside himself. He was old enough to feel ashamed of living alone with his sister in the deserted village. His thoughts were heavy and he turned away from the world around him.

One day, the sister was looking out in her usual manner when she saw an entire herd of elk crossing the plain that extended out beyond the village. She called to her brother saying: “Brother, look at the vision that has been given to us today. Look at the tribe of elk as they parade through the world with their strange and elegant antlers and their graceful way of moving. Little brother, look up!” The brother did not look, but only answered with his head still hanging down: “Sister, it will bring us no good if I look at those elk beings.” But, the sister insisted that it was a sight that must be seen. Reluctantly, the brother lifted his head and gazed upon the herd of elk that now was in full sight before the children in the deserted village. As soon as the brother’s gaze fell upon the elk they all fell down dead right in their tracks.

After that, the brother returned to hanging his head and staring down. Meanwhile, the sister began to walk amongst the herd of elk that now lay strewn all over the prairie ground. She remembered how the people had hunted and stripped down elk in the past, so she began to skin the elk and dress them down for food. It was hard work and she said: “I wish they were all skinned and cut the way it used to be when all the people were here.” Strange to tell, but no sooner had she wished for it than it was done and all the elk were skinned and dressed down. She remembered how it looked when all the teepees were standing in the old village with their wrappings of tanned elk hides shining golden in the light of the sun. She remembered how all the meat used be in strips hanging on great frames and curing in the sun. she said “I wish that all these skins were tanned and that all the meat were drying in the sun the way it used to be when all the people were here and everything was beautiful and the village was alive.” No sooner did she express that wish than the skins were all tanned and the meat was stripped out and hanging on frames and drying in the warmth of the sun.

The sister set to work and found enough poles to make a teepee frame with the old lodge pole left by the people at the center. She stretched the newly tanned hides over the frame and left an opening, and soon enough the sister and her brother had a proper teepee to dwell in and they had plenty of meat to eat and began to live there in a better way. They grew healthier and stronger and rested better in their new teepee at the center of the old village.

As time went by, the sister continued to look out into the world and watch out for everything, while the brother continued to sit with his head down and his eyes aimed at things below or inside himself. One day, as the sister was observing what went on in the world around them, she saw a herd of buffalo approaching from across the plain beyond the village. She could feel the Earth responding as if it were a drum being played by the hooves of the powerful herd. She called out to her brother saying: “Brother lift up your head and look upon the great sight that the world has given to us to day.” But the brother continued to sit with his head hanging down. “Brother look up,” the sister insisted. When he lifted his head and let his gaze fall upon the buffalo beings, they all fell down dead, right in their tracks.

The brother put his head back down and looked into whatever depths were before him. Meanwhile, the sister began to walk amongst the corpses of the buffalo spread all over the ground beyond the village. She remembered how it had been in the past when all the people had beautiful buffalo robes to keep them warm. She remembered how it looked when all the racks were filled with buffalo meat stripped out and curing in the sun. She said: “I wish it could be the way it was when all the people were here and everyone had warm buffalo robes, and buffalo meat was curing on the frames before the teepees, and there was plenty for everyone to eat.” No sooner did she say it than it happened and all the meat was stripped and hanging on racks and they had beautiful buffalo robes to keep them warm. The sister and brother were living in a good way and growing healthier in this world.

One day as the sister was looking out on the world she saw a huge, dark raven flying over the site of the old village. She called out to the bird saying: “Raven, I know you are a messenger bird that can fly between one realm and another. Here, take this piece of buffalo meat and fly it to the new camp of our tribe. Please drop it into the center of their new place and tell them that there is plenty to eat at the original site of the village.”

The raven was willing to carry the message and flew straight to the faraway camp. He flew over the new camp and could see where all the young people were gathered around and playing the wheel game. Raven dropped the meat right into the center of the game and spoke out: “Back at the site of the old village there is meat and plenty to eat!”

Now it happened that times had become difficult for the people. They had expected to find greener pastures and a better way of living than at the old site. They had bet everything on that. Yet they were unable to find the abundance they desired and thought they deserved. Instead of feasting they found a famine and they had gone days without any real food when raven dropped the meat amidst them. As a result, the young people began to fight over the single piece of meat, forgetting that they were all in this life together.

Eventually, someone grabbed the meat and took it to the Elders who were talking over the causes for the hard times everyone was suffering from. The tale was told of how raven flew over, dropped the meat, and the message of plenty to eat in the old village. The Elders considered the situation and decided to send a scouting party back to the old site. The scouts set forth and despite their hunger arrived at the place of the old village. They saw the fine lodge of the sister and brother surrounded by racks of meat curing in the breeze. With great speed they returned to the tribe and told the Elders what they had observed.

The Elders and chiefs held another meeting and concluded that since everyone was starving they would all make the trek back to the original site of the village in order to find a way to survive. The people hurried to take down the lodges and pack up all their belongings. Soon, they abandoned the new camp and began the long trek back along the route they had taken when they were sure that they would find abundance and satisfaction in a new place. As their moccasins began to raise the dust of the road, only wisps of smoke and ashes remained of the new place they had settled in.

After traveling along with their fears and hungers, the tribe reached the outskirts of the old village and stopped. They gazed with wonder upon the fine lodge and with hunger upon the meat curing on the racks all around. Despite their great hunger they were not sure what to do or how to approach the splendid lodge. They had no idea who had raised such beautiful things in their old site. Then, the parents of the sister recognized her as she stepped out through the flap of the lodge. The father called out to her: “My daughter, my daughter don’t you recognize that your father has returned to you?” “Stay where you are,” said the daughter firmly. “You are not my father or you would not have left me like the lodge pole you left on the ground.” The mother of the girl called out to her: “My daughter, my daughter, do you not recognize your own mother?”

“Perhaps if you turn around and walk away I might recognize if you are my mother or not,” said the sister. “When I called out you refused to turn around and only threw words over your shoulder, saying that I was not your daughter.” Then all those people became very quiet. They sat down there outside the circle of the lodge of the sister and brother. They had no idea what to do or say.

After a while, the sister seemed to change her mind. She called the people to come closer. When they did so, they could smell the meat nearby. They all waited with full attention. The sister called to her brother who was sitting quietly near her. “Brother look at the amazing sight which the world has brought to us today.” The brother was in his usual posture, sitting with his head bowed down and his eyes downcast as well. He did not lift his head or look in the direction that his sister indicated.

Once again, the sister spoke to her brother: “Little brother, you must look upon the sight of all the people who have come here to visit us today.” The brother did not look, he said: “Sister, you know what happens when I gaze at things. I do not wish to look upon these people. I don’t want to act as I have in the past.” Again the sister spoke, once again asking her brother to lift his head and gaze upon the beings who came to them on this day. “Brother, gaze upon those people who abandoned us when were young and helpless.”

Maybe because it was his sister who had refused to leave him behind on the terrible day when they were abandoned by everyone else, or maybe because he wanted to see those he had known when he was small, or maybe because the third time is a charm—whatever the reason, the brother lifted his head to look. No sooner did he gaze upon them than they all fell down dead, right there on the spot, on the ground where they had left the sister and brother unprotected and uncared for in this world.

All was quiet at that moment in the old village that used to hum with the lives of so many people. No one moved. The brother just sat and stared at the devastation that came from the intensity of his stare that originated in the depths of his soul. After a time, the sister began to walk amongst the bodies of all those people who were lying silent on the ground around them. She spoke out saying: “I wish that all those who have love in their hearts, who can seek forgiveness and forgive others, may all of them rise up and enter life again. May those who have love in them come back into this life and live here with us and help us to make the village over again.”

Then the sister said: “May they remember what happens when they abandon their children for something they can’t even see. May the people never forget what happens when they leave their children behind.”

Adapted by Christopher Henrikson for Street Poets Inc.