Free Grey Eyes by Frank Christopher Busch Page A

disk.
    â€œWe would ask the nookumis and moosumis of the Spiritual World to show us the way ahead and to reveal the name of our newest member,” Standing Sun Woman prayed. “I would ask the singers to sing the tree song.”
    The beaver and the buffalo looked towards the northern doorway a moment and then nodded their heads in unison. The Crane clan singers took up the drum beat as their clan mother had requested. The smoky white disk began to swirl faster and expanded, enveloping the beaver and the buffalo. The participants of the sweat lodge were treated to a strange assortment of visions that could not immediately be interpreted.
    A burst of light flashed and the ceiling of the sweat lodge became the night sky. A shooting star streaked across the sky in a downward arch, disappearing somewhere low on the horizon.
    The white light flashed again and the scene became a marshland in the summer. There, a pair of white cranes walked together.
    Another flash and the floor of the sweat lodge became an aerial view of a Nehiyawak village. It was as though the participants were sitting upon a cloud high in the sky looking down. Two eagles circled the village and then shrieked and dove at the people below. The people ducked for cover and fled into their lodges to hide.
    Another white flash and they were in a thicket where a red fox was trotting along with a snake in its mouth. The snake’s head writhed from side to side and its body grew larger and larger. It struck the back of the fox’s neck with its venomous fangs. The fox took a few steps, fell down, and was swallowed by the snake.
    The light flashed again and those in the sweat lodge now appeared to be under water in a pond. From the southern doorway two grey turtles swam overhead, the first turtle larger than the second.
    Another flash and the participants appeared to be near a mountain where a large grizzly bear was limping towards the mountain with one of its front paws up off the ground.
    Next, they were back in the forest where sad-faced people were walking, carrying sacks and pouches and looking backwards from time to time, their eyes streaming with tears.
    Another brilliant flash of white light and they were back in the sweat lodge, the disk of smoky white light swirling above the grandfather rocks again as the song ended.
    â€œThank you my ancestors for this vision,” said Standing Sun Woman. “All my relations.”
    â€œ Tapwe !” everyone in the lodge yelled at once.
    â€œWe have honoured all of creation and all of the teachings of the four directions,” prayed Painted Turtle Man. “We would now ask for this child’s name to be revealed to us.”
    Painted Turtle Man splashed water over the rocks seven times, the steam hitting the participants gently in waves. The smoky white disk began to swirl again and grow dark. The lodge began to reverberate with an unseen energy as something began to emerge from the dark swirl. It appeared to be the head and the shoulders of a warrior with his eyes closed. Many of the men murmured their approval of what they thought was to be interpreted as a strong warrior name. The spectral warrior breathed deeply and all of the people inside the lodge were face to face with him, regardless of their position or perspective.
    Slowly the warrior’s eyelids began to rise, revealing in his irises the colour of blood. Some of the younger participants screamed in horror at the image of a cackling Red-Eye, sworn enemy of the people of Nisichawayasihk and servant of evil. This image of the enemy seemed to be a bad omen, an omen of death. Suddenly the baby in Singing Doe’s arms began to cry fast and loud.
    â€œDo not fear!” yelled Painted Turtle Man as the participants began to panic. “You are safe within the womb of our Mother Earth!”
    Out of the cries of the newborn emerged a small grey bear cub which roared and scratched at the ground in mock combat. The Red-Eyed warrior