The Raindancers

The Raindancers

by Enole Bellegarde
The Raindancers

The Raindancers

by Enole Bellegarde

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Overview

These stories are a collection of moral stories intertwined with the beliefs, culture, customs, ceremonies, and traditional ways of our family. We have blood and tribal connections to the Cree, Saulteaux, and Assiniboine people. Equay, my kokum, told stories of her childhood, her nine-year stay in the Blue Mission residential school, and abusive marriages. She hoped that this book would help others who have lost the teachers/elders in their families. She wanted the old ways and all the information documented and preserved for the generations to come. She was a strong believer in putting away our addictions and following the old ways and teachings from her father, Raindancer. The Indian way is the harder way to follow, but it would pave our way back home to Creator.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781546218142
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Publication date: 03/29/2018
Pages: 134
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.31(d)

About the Author

Enole Bellegarde lives in a small city in Canada with her five children. She was raised by her biological grandmother who gifted her with these stories from her ancestors. This book has been in the works for approximately 13 years. This is her first publication.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

NOKUM

Equay's grandmother's name was Willow. Willow was in a relationship with a man who died at a young age. She had two babies from this first man, both girls, and she named them Nokum and Bella. Nokum, which means "my grandmother" in the Cree language, was the older of the two girls. Nokum barely remembered her biological father, who died when she was just a young girl, but Nokum said that most of the memories she had of him were good ones. He died when Nokum was three years old. She remembers during his death that she had his head on her lap and she was looking for any dirt or leaves that may have gotten stuck in his hair. She didn't even know that he was no longer alive, so she kept picking through his hair. Nokum was Equay's mother, and she told these stories to Equay many times over the years. Nokum lived to be approximately one hundred years old and died in 1969 on the Assiniboine reservation, which I call Horses First Nation. It was also the tribe that Equay married into. This is the same reservation where my biological father and other family members were born. Although my family originally came from Raindancer First Nation, we were able to live on Horses First Nation because of the marriage between Equay and her second husband, Standing Watch by the Lake.

When Nokum was around four years old and Bella was about two, Willow was involved with a man named One Heart. One Heart was very mean to the two girls, often hitting them, yelling at them, and doing other cruel things to them every day when he thought that Willow was not around or not looking out for the girls. Willow did little to stop him from hurting the girls, but it is unclear why she chose not to stand up to this man. Perhaps he was mean to her as well, but Equay said that Nokum did not tell her many stories in which Willow was hit or yelled at by One Heart. Most of his anger was directed toward the two young girls, with Willow sometimes complicit in the abuse by pretending to be busy cooking or cleaning. She would come to help the girls only after One Heart had left, allowing them some fun activities, such as playing outside when he was gone hunting or feeding them the food he did not allow the girls to eat while he was at home in their teepee.

When Willow cooked meals, she would throw the girls' food at them while they were sitting on the floor of the teepee. Nokum said they felt like dogs, being thrown leftover food to stay alive, and it hurt the girls' feelings that their own mother would treat them this way in front of One Heart. Yet she treated them well when he was away. It confused them, and they were not sure whether it would be "good" Mother or "bad" Mother each day. If One Heart left the teepee to go hunting, they knew that Willow would be "good" Mother that day. They loved the days when One Heart was gone; these were the times they enjoyed spending with their mother, without the bad man around to tell Willow how to treat the girls.

One Heart did seem to love animals though. He owned a few hunting dogs, some puppies, and a bear cub. He treated the animals as if they were his children, ten times better than he treated the girls. Nokum guessed that Willow and One Heart had been together for a few years before he died. As Nokum remembers it, they resided at Porcupine Quills First Nation — the farthest back Equay could trace our family history — located in North Central Canada, near the place now called the Carrot River. This was the reservation, or tribe, where our family originated, although Nokum eventually left that reservation, living, and marrying on a different reservation farther south, near Raindancer First Nation.

One winter day, One Heart seemed meaner than ever, relentlessly picking on the two girls. They were both small girls with long, dark brown hair. They both had large eyes and were shy and quiet because they did not want to get hurt by their mother's new husband. One Heart would wake them up by taking the stick used for the fire and poking them in the feet while they were still sleeping. There was no reason for the girls to wake up at that time, but One Heart liked to pick on them. He would also kick them out of the teepee when he was in a bad mood. One winter night, he kicked them out of the teepee and told them to "get lost."

The two little girls didn't know what to do, so they hugged each other and cried until Willow threw some blankets outside so they could warm themselves. They had no choice but to sleep beside the teepee with the dogs. This probably kept them alive, as the dogs slept very close to them and kept them warm throughout the cold winter night. That night, Nokum had a dream that Willow came out of the teepee with a big, warm, fluffy white blanket. She smiled at the girls and said, "Go to sleep. This blanket will keep you warm throughout the night." Nokum smiled at Willow and went to sleep. When the girls awoke in the morning, they were startled to find that the dogs were still snuggled close to them, and they were covered with an inch of snow. But the little girls remained safe and alive that night. The warm bodies of the dogs and some tattered and torn blankets were all they needed.

There was another incident one spring time. The snow was melting, and the weather was starting to warm up. Nokum was around six years old, and Bella was four. One Heart had been his usual mean self for the past few days, and the girls were looking forward to having some peace and quiet that day after he had gone out hunting. He must have left early because he did not poke the girls in the feet that morning, and they must have slept a little later than usual. When they woke up, Willow was cooking rolled oats — a grain that grows in Canada abundantly. It is light in weight before it is cooked, but it keeps the body full for most of the day. The oats were on the fire, and she seemed to be in good spirits. The girls finished cleaning the teepee, and Willow told them that they could play outside while she worked on picking some berries nearby where they were camped. She did not want to go too far, as she knew that One Heart would come back at any time and start being mean to the girls again. The girls were content in their own little safe world when suddenly they looked up and saw One Heart walking up to them quickly. He had a walking stick and his special hunting dog — a dog he treated well because it was a good hunter. It was well fed and cherished by One Heart because it killed other animals for food. It was a special hunting dog loyal only to his owner.

This dog was not kept near the girls but farther in the bushes, where only One Heart could touch, feed, and play with it. The dog had a piece of leather that One Heart had tied around the dog's neck, so he would not lose him. The dog had gone with One Heart that morning when suddenly, before the girls had a chance to run or scream, One Heart lightly hit the dog with his walking stick, and the dog came running up to Nokum and started biting her. Both girls were crying and screaming, and this seemed to anger the dog more. The dog started biting Nokum on the face and wouldn't let go once he got his teeth into her skin. Nokum started to feel numb, as though she were falling into a deep, dark hole and would not land anytime soon. Finally, the dog stopped biting her and lay dead beside her. Apparently, Willow had heard the girls screaming and she ran into the teepee, grabbed the shotgun, and shot the dog while he was attacking Nokum. Willow was screaming at One Heart, "Enough, enough, enough of this!"

One Heart and Willow did not talk much during the next few days, as One Heart was sad about his special hunting dog, and Willow had to tend to Nokum's bite wounds. Nokum said she thought she would surely die from the dog bites, as she could not even get up to eat or play. She said that she felt sick during those days and was surprised when she started to feel alive again. She thought that things were going to change for the better after Willow had stood up for the girls by shooting the dog, but this just seemed to pull One Heart and Willow closer — so close that the couple thought they could not have the girls around anymore. The girls caused too much anger in One Heart's mind and made him act this way. Willow did not agree in her heart, but she was a lonely woman who thought she needed another man in her life. She had not mourned the loss of her first husband. She had not given herself time to heal before she got involved with One Heart. Willow did not even really like One Heart, but he was the only man willing to accept her then and there with two young girls to look after.

One day the girls woke up to Willow packing some food in a couple of gunny sacks. She put some bannock-a flat round type of bread, dried meat, berries, and muskrat food. Muskrat food is also called "rat root," which has medicinal qualities, usually put into boiled water as a tea and can be used for personal protection and for its health benefits. She then told the girls to put on their cleanest dresses, socks, sweaters, and moccasins. The girls were unsure of what was going on, but they were happy to be going somewhere with their mother and One Heart. They travelled for approximately four days and nights at a slow pace. One Heart seemed to be looking for something, but the girls were not clear what he was looking for. The girls thought that they had finally become a "family" and that One Heart was now taking them on one of his hunting trips because his hunting dog was now dead. Nokum's heart was filled with quiet joy, and she couldn't stop smiling inside. When Bella would catch her eye, she would look over at her little sister and smile, and they would both smile and look away quickly, as they did not want this to end. It was too good to be true.

After four days of walking, their mother and One Heart picked a camp near a beautiful river; Equay believed that this was the Carrot River in Saskatchewan, Canada. One Heart built a teepee, while Willow began making a fire and put a small but strong stick over the camp fire. She then put some berries in a little pot to warm up for them. She told the girls to go find some water to drink but to take their time doing so, as there was no hurry to eat. The girls grabbed each other's hands and happily went down to the lake to find the cleanest and clearest water that they could. They stopped for a while when they saw a little frog. Many frogs live in and around water here in Canada; the frogs do not bite and are usually scared of people, so they will jump away to safety before people start touching and playing with them. They began chasing the frog around. They also started picking flowers, and the two happy little girls lost track of time that they were gone. Nokum finally remembered that they had been sent to get some water, but by the time they returned to the teepee it was near sundown and the night was starting to cool down. They looked around for Willow and One Heart, and both saw that the fire had died out. The little pot was still beside the fire, and their mother and stepfather were nowhere to be seen. The girls were confused but just thought that their mother would be back soon, and they would just wait until she returned. The girls hoped that One Heart would not come back with their mother too, so they ate the berries that Willow had warmed up for them in the little pot, and then they got their blankets ready by making a little makeshift bed in the teepee to sleep in for the night.

The girls kept waiting and waiting for Willow and One Heart to return, but they never did. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. The girls ate what little food they had and lived on lake water and whatever wild food and berries they could find. All day they would look around the area for food, and in the evenings, they would settle inside the teepee, tell stories, and sing songs. Nokum was sure that this was it; this was the life that she and Bella were going to have now. She gave up on the hope that her mother would return for them and thought that Willow had chosen to live somewhere else with One Heart. It was good that Willow had taught Nokum all the things she needed to know, such as finding food, building a fire, warming the tea and berries, and keeping warm at night. This helped the little girls live alone without any parents or grandparents around. In our family and in our tribe, if the mother or both parents were not able to care for the baby or children, the children would go to the grandparents or any other close relative who was able to care for them. In Nokum's family, there were no other living relatives; they were all dead due to several reasons, including the weather and sickness.

One evening, she felt very sad. She did not want Bella to know how scared and sad she was, so she cried quietly before she went to sleep that night, with Bella sleeping beside her. Nokum woke up in the middle of the night when she heard noises in the trees outside the teepee. She was scared — so scared, in fact, that she was afraid to breathe in the cool night air. She heard a horse walking around the teepee, and it sounded as if the horse was eating leaves or something from the trees around the teepee.

Nokum was so scared that all she could do was lay there and listen. The horse seemed to be right there beside the teepee, and she was even more afraid of who might be riding the horse. Daylight was approaching when the noises finally stopped. The horse seemed to have fallen asleep, so she shook Bella and whispered, "Wake up. Let's go and look for somewhere to pee." As there were no western toilets back in those days, our family members would use a designated area nearby, making sure that area was only used for that purpose. When they would leave, they would bury their body waste, such as urine and feces, and they would ensure that it would not be used as a cooking or sleeping area by another family who would camp there. "I needed to go to pee so badly all night, but I didn't want to wake you up," Bella said. Both girls slipped on their sweaters and moccasins and headed out of the teepee. Nokum looked around the teepee.

The trees and plants were covered with the morning dew, and it was still damp outside, as if there had been a light rainfall during the night, but the sun was shining brightly. She saw no horse, no footprints, and no branches broken on the ground. Everything seemed to be as it had been last night. Nokum was very surprised but did not say anything to Bella, as she did not want her to fear what she had heard the night before. Nokum believed that it was the spirit of the horse that had come to visit the girls that night. She believes that the horse was one of her spirit guides that came to let Nokum know that things were going to be okay.

A few days later, a stranger came to their camp. He was an older man with missing teeth, and the girls were startled when they saw him. He walked about ten feet away from them, and the girls started crying, holding onto each other for safety. They were not sure who this man was or what he wanted, and all they could do was stand there frozen with fear. The only man they had ever known was One Heart, and he was extremely mean to them, so why would this man be any different?

The man started talking in the Cree language. "Don't cry. I'll be right back. I'm going to get my wife. Don't cry. Don't go anywhere. Wait for me. Don't cry. I'll bring my wife and I'll be right back." The girls' fears lessened somewhat. It had been a long time since they had any other contact with people, and they were more hopeful than scared at this point. They waited for what seemed like hours, when suddenly they heard noises in the bushes. They looked at each other, grabbed each other, and waited until the couple came closer. The woman looked at the two little girls with uncombed hair and dirty faces, their dresses tattered and torn, their moccasins looking as if they had seen better days, and she could see that their faces were stained with tears. The woman's heart melted, and she tried her hardest not to cry. She needed the girls to trust her, so she smiled.

The woman was smiling at the girls, and as she spoke the girls felt all their fear leave them. She had the softest voice they ever heard. She continued, "Don't be scared. We are not going to hurt you. Don't be scared. Come with us. We will feed you. Don't be scared ..." The little girls were not scared at all after this woman talked to them.

(Continues…)


Excerpted from "The Raindancers"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Enole Bellegarde.
Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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