Free Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival by Velma Wallis

samething, we both know that we can survive. We have proven that much to ourselves. Now we must put aside our pride long enough to remember that they are suffering. If not for the adults, then for the children. Could you forget your own grandson?”
    Ch’idzigyaak knew her friend was right, as usual. No, she could not be so selfish as to let her grandson go hungry when she had so much food to eat. The men waited patiently as the two women whispered between themselves.
    Sa’ was not through talking, for she knew that Ch’idzigyaak still harbored fear about what was happening and needed confidence to face the future. “They do not know we have done well for ourselves,” she said. “But tomorrow in the daylight they will see, and then we will know if what they say is true. But remember this, my friend. If they do the same to us again, we will survive. And if they truly mean what they say, then maybe we will always be a reminder to them in harder times ahead.”
    Ch’idzigyaak nodded in agreement. For amoment, seeing these members of the band, she felt her old fears and forgot her renewed strength. She looked at her friend with great fondness. Sa’ always seemed to know the right thing to say.
    In the shelter that night, the two women and the guide exchanged stories while the younger men sat in respectful and attentive silence. The old man told all that had happened after The People left the two women behind. He spoke of the ones who had died. Most were children. Unshed tears glistened in the old women’s eyes as they listened, for they had loved some of these people, and the children were among their favorites. The women could not bear to think of how much the children might have suffered before they died so young and so cruelly.
    After Daagoo finished his story, Sa’ told him how they survived. The men sat with mixed emotions. The story she told sounded unbelievable, yet the women’s very presence was evidence of its truth. Sa’ did not mind the look of awe she saw in the men’s faces. She continuedtelling her story as she looked back into the eventful year she and Ch’idzigyaak had shared. When she ended her story by telling them of their many food caches, their visitors’ eyes became alert.
    “When we heard your voice the first time, we knew we could trust you. We also knew that since you were able to find us in the night that it would take little time for you to find our food caches, too. That is why I am telling you now. We know you mean us no harm.” Sa’ spoke directly to Daagoo. “But what of The People? If they can do such a thing as leave us behind, then they will have no feelings about taking what is ours. They will think of us again as weak and old with no need for our large caches. I do not blame them now for what they have done to us, for my friend and I know what hunger can do to a person. But we have worked hard for what we have, and though we knew it would be too much for us to eat during the winter, we stored it anyway. Maybe it was because we thought this might happen.” Sa’ paused to consider her words carefully. Then she added, “We will share with The People, but they must not become greedy and try to take our food, for we will fight to our deaths for what is ours.”
    The men sat in silence listening to Sa’ speak in a strong and passionate voice. Then she laid down their terms: “You will stay at the old camp. We do not wish to see anyone else but you,” Sa’ motioned to Daagoo, “and the chief. We will give you food, and we hope The People will eat sparingly in knowledge of harder times to come. This is all we can do for you.”
    The guide nodded in acknowledgment and said in a quiet voice, “I will return with this message to the chief.”
    After they said all that had to be said, the women invited the men to sleep on one side of the shelter. For the first time in a long time, the women felt themselves relax. In those long months they feared many things. Now their visions of