THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

How Flaker Became a Priest and a Medicine Man

The winter was long and stormy. Wild animals found little food. Herds of horses and reindeer went to the lowland forests. Game was scarce on the wooded hills. Few horses or reindeer were seen near the caves. The trails were filled with snow and everything seemed to tell of the coming of a famine.

The people ate the frozen meat that was left near the caves, and when they found they could get no more they began to pray to their gods. “O, Big Bear,” they prayed, “send us thine aid. Help us now or we die. Drive the horses and reindeer out of thy caverns. Send them back to our hunting grounds.”

When the first rumor of famine came, Fleetfoot took down his drum. And he set out over the hills to call a meeting of the brotherhood.

At the first sound of the drumbeat, the people knew what it meant. Everybody felt a gleam of hope. The young men passed the signal along and fresh courage came to the hearts of the people in the neighboring clans.

Buckling their hunger-straps around them, the young men started at Fleetfoot’s call. They met near the Bison clan’s cave. There they told of the heavy snowstorms and the disappearance of the herds. They told of the beginnings of famine and considered ways of finding food. Some said, “Let us leave the old hunting grounds for our elders. Let us take wives and go to far away lands.”

Others said, “No, let us dwell together and let each clan keep its own hunting ground.”

“But how can we dwell together,” said one, “when there is not food enough for all?”

The silence which followed the young man’s question showed that no one could reply. It was then that Fleetfoot turned to Flaker and asked him to speak what was in his mind. And Flaker arose, and turning his eyes toward the heavens, he raised his baton, whereupon all the young men were silent. Then he turned to the young men and said, “The gods will surely provide food for the hungry Cave-men.”

“But the people need food and game is scarce,” said one of the brave young men. “How can we prevent the famine? How can we make the gods understand?”

“Remember the Big Bear,” said Flaker. “He heard our prayer when we made his likeness on stone. Let us make likenesses of the animals. The gods will then understand our prayers and send many herds to our hunting grounds.”

Saying this, Flaker picked up a flint point and a flat piece of stone and quickly engraved two herds of wild horses. The young men believed in the power of magic. And when they saw Flaker engraving the herds, they believed the wild horses would come. And so they all tried to make the likeness of an animal they wished to hunt.

When they had made offerings to the gods, the young men were ready to go out to hunt. Flaker stayed at the cave, but it was he who directed them in the right way. He remembered all that the Cave-men had said about the reindeer and the wild horses. And so when they started Flaker said, “Follow the trail to the dense forests.”

It so happened that just as the young men were starting to hunt, the herds were coming back from the forests. And so the young men had great success, and soon all the Cave-men had plenty of food.

When the young men returned to their homes, they had strange stories to tell. They said that Flaker had brought back the herds by his wonderful magic. They showed the engravings they had made and told of their magical power.

And so wherever stories of Fleetfoot’s bravery went, stories of Flaker’s magic were told. And just as Fleetfoot worked to learn all the arts of the hunter, so Flaker worked to learn the arts which made him both a priest and a medicine man.

Flaker listened to all the stories that were told by the best hunters. He questioned them eagerly and learned many things which the hunters themselves soon forgot. He learned the haunts of the wild animals in the various seasons. He knew where to look for the best feeding grounds and the places of shelter from storms.

And so when the fame of Flaker was noised about among all the clans, people came from near and from far to make gifts and to get his advice.

THINGS TO DO

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