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| It was spring and most of the lake still had ice on it. The river to the north had ice on it too, and from the north there came a man and his family. They had dogs that pulled a toboggan. They continued on the lake ice until they came to a small island that was near the western shore, and there they camped because it was getting dark. At the south end of the lake the ice had melted, and the river that flowed south was open water too. Up this river came a man who paddled a canoe. He had his family with him as well and they camped on the lake shore as soon as they came to the ice. Overland and from the west came a man who had no dogs. Instead, he had two women to pull his toboggan. They came to the lake that was frozen and because it was late in the day, he camped. The next day he planned to look along the shore for muskrat houses. It was the season for rats and he would trap them. That night the man from the north, who was a Chipewyan, got out his drum and sang the songs that were in his heart. He sang about his good life and about the warm, easy-living months ahead. About the same time the Cree who had come with his canoe got out his drum and started to sing about this new territory he had found. It was a good country and he thought he would like to stay at this place. He had fish in his canoe and it looked like there would be lots to eat in the warm spring weather that was to come. So he sang, "Kyass ceechie may u see" or "happy for a long time." At the same time the Beaver Indian from the west got his drum out of the pack and began his song. He was in good spirits as well. He had the meat of two beavers with him so they would eat well. His song was about good times because he had arrived back at a lake on which he had trapped many rats the last time he had come. Pretty soon, the ice would turn to water and they would take the eggs from the ducks' nests in the rushes. The lake was about a mile across and they were spaced about equal distances from each other. Pretty soon the Cree heard the sound of a strange drum from far across the lake. It was dark by that time so he couldn't go to see who was at the other camp. The drum had the sound of the old enemies, the Chipewyan. He thought about them and made sure the magazine of his rifle was full. Pretty soon the Beaver Indian heard the tom-tom of the Cree and he knew it was one of the tribe that was always trying to infringe on the land of the Beavers. He had had to drive the southern Indians away before and he felt it was his duty to do it again. He spent a wakeful night and he watched the ice as soon as it was light. The Chipewyan too, heard the sound of a strange drum from somewhere across the lake. He stopped singing and sat up all night in case someone came in the dark to kill him. As soon as it was even a little bit light, the Cree on the shore of the flowing river started across the ice toward the island that was far up on the west side. The Beaver man saw the Cree on the ice and followed him on the shore, but he was careful and kept to the bushes so he would not be seen. The Chipewyan was watching the shore because he thought his enemy would try to sneak up on him that way. He saw the Indian on the shore and he got behind some bushes on the island so the man on shore couldn't see him. As the man on the ice got closer he could see the back of the hunter on the island who was watching the Indian on the shore. It was an easy rifle shot from the island to where the man was moving along the shore. It was not far from the Cree to the island either. They were all within shooting distance of each other. The Chipewyan took aim at the Beaver man on the shore. The Beaver was at that moment raising his gun to shoot at the Cree and the Cree was looking down his gun barrel to train his sights on the man on the island. When they were sure they had their enemies covered by the beads on their front sights, each one pulled the trigger at the same time. There was a crashing roar as the retorts echoed to the shores. The distant crack from the gun on the ice the Beaver Indian never heard, because his body had been ripped by the bullet from the island. The man on the island slumped down to the ground, while at the same time the man on the ice got the leaden message sent by the Beaver. The women came out later and dragged the bodies of their men to a place of seclusion. They lamented their losses bitterly because without a hunter it is hard to live. The women shed tears on the stones they piled on the newly dead. When the Cree woman had laid the last stone, she loaded the canoe and turned the prow to the south. The Beaver women loaded their blankets and what was left of the meat and returned to the West, and the Chipewyan woman drove her dogs north the way she had come. * |