Ciscoe's Dance by Marion Hill

Author:Marion Hill
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Red Mango
Published: 2021-09-05T00:00:00+00:00

Delia arranged a meeting with the surviving members of the Nerdann tribe a few days later. There were only seventeen days before The Festival of Josette. We hoped this meeting would help us to remain at the festival and get the truth about Walter’s relationship to them.

The Nerdann tribe lived fifteen minutes southeast of the city. The designated area was granted years ago to the tribe in order to preserve their way of life. Walter Fuente’s arrival to this area brought many positive changes like the music, dance, and a city. However, there was a downside and the Nerdann tribe’s way of life got pushed out as the city grew. Raphael Reynolds had made that point numerous times with his speeches at the Wall of Walter’s Declaration. I agreed with him on that point but to declare that Walter Fuente stole the tribe’s music went too far.

A man named Hannar greeted us. He was one of the elders of the tribe and the person Delia contacted to arrange our meeting. Hannar was of medium-height, lean, and had reddish-brown skin. His hair was cut in a bowl shape and he had a clean-shaven face.

“Welcome, Ciscoe and Latisha,” Hannar said as he shook our hands. “We don’t get many visitors from the city. It’s nice to have some of the city folk come out to see us.”

We followed Hannar past several triangular-shaped, mud-built homes in the center of the designated area. I had learned in school these homes were first built in the city before the Bremen-style homes became popular. They looked half the size of a Bremen-style home but just as decorative on the outside.

“Why is it that you don’t get many visitors from the city?” Latisha asked.

Hannar stopped walking and faced us. “The city folk would like us to remain invisible. Help the businesses harvest the guanna stalks, brownberries, and corn. But stay on this land the great Walter Fuente gave us many years ago. And everything will be fine.”

“Walter wanted you to have this land in order to keep your traditions. Was he wrong to give you this land?” I asked.

“The great Walter Fuente was not wrong in giving our people this land. The city started growing with people,” Hannar explained. “Many of them came from his birth city of Terrance to the east. And quite a few of our people wanted to live in the city that he created from music and dance. He saw that our way of life would die out soon and felt responsible for it. His gift was an offering to offset it.”

“At least he acknowledged what was happening at the time and tried to make amends,” Latisha added.

“Yes, he did. And those of us who remain out here are appreciative of that gesture.”

Hannar’s explanation made me feel better about their relationship with Walter. His gift of this land might have seemed as a token to what his arrival in the area caused. He knew without the tribe’s contribution, Walter’s Grove could not have existed.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.