Owl Eyes Saves Her People as told by Tamarack Song Aneen (Greetings) and welcome to the guardian-warrior training camp. Today your hair was burnt and your face was smudged with charcoal, as a ritual leaving behind of your old life and fancies. Beginning tomorrow your life will be your people's and your fancies will be their well-being. Tonight you may rest, as the coming dawn will begin your training with your elder guardian sisters and brothers. Now, as the night fire begins to wane, this person who is speaking would like to give you a story that you can take with you into your dreamtime. There your dreamself might give you the spirit of the story, so that when you wake up in the morning your spirit may be dancing within the Spirit of the Guardian. Come with me now as we journey back to the time when all the people lived as one. The four-leggeds and six-leggeds and wingeds, along with us two-leggeds, would lodge and hunt and eat together. In this time there was a hunter of the two-leggeds named Eshkawanak (Spike Horn) and a hunter of the four-leggeds, a Wolf, named Keenzhig-a-gookookoo'o (Owl Eyes). She was called Keenzhig for short, and she was given her name because she had the gift of sensing things that were beyond the sight of others. Eshkawanak got his name from his preference for making arrowheads out of the tips of antlers. One day in the Moon of the Unfurling Leaves, Eshkawanak and Keenzhig decided to go hunting. They had been friends for a long time. Some of their earliest memories were of sitting together around the fire in the winter lodge and listening to the elders' stories of a land they had heard about long ago when they were children. This land was said to be over the mountains, and strange trees and animals were supposed to dwell there. Some of them were rumored to grow great in size—much larger than any in their land. The elders would describe in frightful detail one huge hairy creature they called Misabe. Is it any surprise that the two adventurers would want to go there and hunt? Excitement ran high as Keenzhig and Eshkawanak crossed the high passes and prepared to descend into the far valleys. Around their evening campfires they would retell the stories they knew so well—the stories that lured them on this expedition. As they followed the Elk trail down the last foothill into the magnificent forest below, their eyes grew wide with wonder! At last they were experiencing what they had for so long only heard about. Walking amidst the towering ancient trees, they were filled with the rapture that the Elders said any person who was blessed to find their way there could not help but feel. At the same time Keenzhig felt uneasy. She sensed danger. "Something very unfamiliar to me—something big—lurks nearby," she cautiously whispered. "I sense it—I can feel it!" With her last words a chill crawled up Eshkawanak's spine. He was drawn to look up at the massive tree they were walking under. "Look," he said to his companion, "those great cracks up in the tree, they must be from a lightning strike." Keenzhig's gaze followed his. "I ...don't...think...so...," she stammered in a voice barely audible and dripping with fear. "I...believe...those...are claw marks." Just then the great tree rumbled as though it were alive! The once-courageous pair looked at each other in wide-eyed terror! Through their minds flashed images of the giant brooding Misabe creatures who stalked the stories of their childhood. Back then the stories gave them frightful dreams and made a simple walk in the dark a haunting adventure. As they grew older they seemed to forget about the scary parts and dwelled more on the allure of the magical faraway places. Even though Keenzhig and Eshkawanak were now young adults, they never lost their childlike sense of adventure and curiosity for the unknown. These hallmarks of childhood stayed with native people all their lives.. However at this very moment they could not appreciate that fact. All of the suspenseful moments in the middle of a story and all of the petrifying nightmares that followed came rushing back in one great wave! They could only feel one thing—the overwhelming desire to be away from that ghostly place and back home with friendly people gathered around a warm fire. No sooner had they turned back around and they were shaken by a tremendous roar coming from the belly of the tree. In a flash the two were dashing out of the forest and back up the Elk trail they had just descended! It was too late. They were not fast enough—they could not be fast enough. The angry snorting and wild crashing through the brush grew louder and louder and ever more furious. A fear that bordered on panic tore at their hearts. Crossing the mountains was a four day journey and they knew they did not have that kind of time to return across them. Not near that kind of time. From their guardian training they realized that even with the help of the Spirit Wind in their lungs, it would still take them a full day and night to reach the safety of their camp. "Run ahead," shouted Keenzhig, "I will hold the Terrible One off so you can gain some distance, and then I will catch up with you." This made sense to both of them because Keenzhig, being a four-legged, was the faster runner. She was also swift and effective at close combat. At the same time they feared that—based on what they heard rapidly gaining on them—Keenzhig would stand little chance of slowing the creature down. "No," retorted Eshkawanak, "We will stand and face Misabe together." As noble as that sounded, they each knew in their hearts that two would probably fare no barely better than one against such a savage demon. Keenzhig slowed down and shouted ahead to her companion, "Run! Run on the Spirit Wind!" as she turned around to face their nemesis. She chomped at his shins and dodged out of the way an instant before the long, wicked claws that ringed his massive paw would have shredded her. Her reflexes were quick and she was swift of foot, which helped her make an impressive stand against the violent mound of flesh and fury that towered above her. Her Wolf kin would have been mightily proud of her! And yet the bruin, Misabe, had stamina that Keenzhig could not match. She gradually tired from the tremendous leaps she had to take in order to avoid the reach of his long arms and gnashing fangs. One time she did not spring back quite far enough and a claw ripped her across the back. She tumbled backward and rolled off the trail and down into the brush. Being out of sight, the ill-tempered beast paid her no more mind. With a couple of great breaths he renewed his energy and rumbled up the trail in pursuit of Eshkawanak. Keenzhig's gash stung with the fresh, sharp pain of a newly-inflicted injury. She instinctively turned to lick the wound and saw that it was not so deep, so she forced herself to get up. She knew what she had to do. Being faster than the monster, she would race ahead of him to check on her dear friend and encourage him on, and then she would turn around again to slow the beast. She did this a second and a third time, each time returning to Eshkawanak more drained and bloodied. On the forth return both she and Eshkawanak were so utterly depleted that they had to struggle to find the breath to talk. Their muscles burned and they barely had any will left to go on. Pitying his beleaguered friend, Eshkawanak turned to her and said, "This time I will stand with you!" An overwhelming sense of gratitude and admiration brought wetness to Keenzhig's eyes. And yet it did not deter her—she knew the guardian way, she knew what she is being called to do. She summoned up that last reserve of energy that every creature has within him, straightened herself up, and felt herself swell with strength and resolve. This is how she addressed Eshkawanak, "My friend, we are now close to our home lodges. I will stall the Great Misabe this last time so that you can make it to our people and warn them of his coming. The elders, women and children will be able to reach safety and the guardians will then be able to bring the Great One down, because he grows tired and weak along with us. After I stall him this last time, I will again race ahead and join with you and our fellow guardians in vanquishing him!" Full of anguish and already feeling defeated, Eshkawanak replied with faint voice and feeble energy, "You alone have already performed a feat that two of us could hardly have done. If you go back and face Misabe I fear that I will never see you again. And I am sure that and I cannot go on. My legs have no feeling and my lungs burn as though they were afire. Let us lay here and offer ourselves to the Mighty One, for he has earned the feast of our flesh and the power of our spirits." Keenzhig responded in a solemn voice, "To offer ourselves to Misabe is to also offer him our people. We are warriors—the guardians of our people. As long as we breathe it is our privilege and our imperative to serve them. Eshkawanak, hear me well! In honor of our guardian fellowship and for the love of our people I ask that you go down to that pond you see there below us and do as you have seen me do—stir up the bottom to make the water muddy and then drink. The small plant and animal relations who live in the muck will give you the strength to reach our people." Eshkawanak did as his sister guardian requested and reached his people just in time for them to prepare for the coming of Misabe. The guardians subdued him and all the people came back together to hold a great feast in honor of that fearless guardian of the magical land over the mountains. His flesh gave fire to all who partook of it and his pelt was made into a lush robe which the elders wrapped around themselves when they told stories in the long dark nights of the White Season. Keenzhig never did return. She is remembered as an unequaled guardian of her people and to this day she is honored in story. When those who dream of someday serving as guardians hear the story of Keenzhig, they hunger for the privilege of walking in her footsteps. Origin Johnny Rock, my storytelling friend, first told me the tale of Owl Eyes. He believed that it came originally from a California people who may have been part of the acorn-gathering culture. I liked the story because it was potent with guardian-warrior spirit and it resonated with my own calling to the guardian way. The story felt so comfortable to me that if Johnny had not given me its origin I could have taken it to be from my own culture. To the basic story I added elements that would help the guardian way come alive to an audience that may not be very familiar with it. The stereotypical warrior—an incomplete and fanciful approximation of the guardian—is all that most civilized people know of the guardian way. Story can bring worlds together that once seemed too far away to know each other. My wish is that this story be a bridge.