Pukawiss The Outcast by Jay Jordan Hawke

Author:Jay Jordan Hawke
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

LATER IN the day, after a group of tourists had left the Wisdom Lodge, Mokwa had a surprise in store for Joshua.

“Joshua, I have to go,” he explained. “I have to pick up some supplies for Gentle Eagle.”

“Who will staff this site?” Joshua asked, sounding concerned.

“You are ready to do it,” Mokwa responded confidently.

“Are you joking?” Joshua barked as his heart beat faster.

“Pukawiss, my brother, you can do this.”

“What if I forget the meaning of a word?” Joshua said, panicking.

“Then make something up,” Mokwa advised. “Who will know?”

“Well, what if I forget a myth I’m telling halfway through?” Joshua added, desperately trying to find another excuse.

“Calm down. You won’t forget anything,” Mokwa said, “and it doesn’t have to be exact. Just know the main point.”

“What if I forget the main point?”

“Oh my God, Joshua! I love you, bro, gotta go.” Mokwa ran off down the trail. He shouted back to Joshua, “You’ll do fine!”

Joshua sat down on a stump in front of the Wisdom Lodge, reviewing relevant Ojibwe words he could use for the tourists. Boozhoo, of course, was standard. Migwetch, he thought as his mind searched for other words. “Yeah, that’s a classic,” he murmured. Maybe some animal names too. Everyone likes animals.

Joshua also had to figure out which story to tell. Would he remember all the elements to the story he chose? After thinking about it for a bit, Joshua decided he would simply repeat the story of Nanaboozhoo and the Flood that Mokwa had told.

As he mentally reviewed the story, he heard a group of tourists coming up the trail. He immediately tensed up. Joshua stood up in front of the Wisdom Lodge and awaited their arrival. You can do this, Joshua told himself. Don’t panic.

There were three tourists, all adults, Joshua noted. Why couldn’t they be kids? I don’t know how to handle adults.

“Boozhoo!” Joshua said to the visitors as they entered the area. He had practically shouted it. Keep it down a bit, he chided himself. Sweat began to accumulate on his forehead.

“Boo what?” the first of the three visitors said back.

“Oh, it means hello,” Joshua informed them.

“So why didn’t you just say hello,” the tourist said rudely.

Joshua wasn’t expecting that. Mokwa had told him this would be easy. All the tourists he had seen so far went out of their way to be nice and open-minded. But these guys seemed different. Joshua sensed something was off about them right away. Whatever, Joshua thought. So I won’t use any Ojibwe words. He decided simply to continue.

“My name is Joshua, and I’ll be your guide today.”

“You mean our scout?” the man said jokingly as he made the quotation mark symbol with two of his fingers. The other two with him laughed.

“Sure, whatever,” Joshua responded, not knowing what to make of his comment. He brushed it off and continued.

“I’m going to teach you some Ojibwe myths today,” Joshua told them.

“So what kind of Indian name is Joshua anyway?” the third man asked.

“Well, it’s my English name,” Joshua responded.

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