Abenaki Valley

A Friendly Place

Because we were now in their territory, Yancy suggested Etu and Ezhno lead the way into the village. They loved the idea. We all followed closely behind them. Looking ahead, it looked as if we had a blue and red flag leading us. It was a perfect day—azure sky and dry air. We couldn’t have asked for better arrival weather. Just before we arrived at the village, we ran into some warriors coming back from a deer hunt. They recognized Etu and Ezhno and made a lot of their bright shirts and beautiful hunting knives.

It didn’t take long for the villagers to acknowledge our arrival. They appeared as glad to see us as we were to see them. Sooleawa was standing near a tree. When she spotted Anna, she ran and gave her a big hug. I could see they were talking about Anna’s marriage to Henry because a few seconds later she gave Henry a big hug. When I walked up to her, she said, “Hello stranger. You’ve gotten bigger.” Then she greeted me with a big hug.

As she stepped back, I remarked, “And you’ve grown taller, haven’t you?”

“Just a little,” she acknowledged, smiling and blushing. She looked so healthy and happy. She was becoming beautiful.

It was good to be back in the village. The chief greeted everyone and thanked Henry for the safe return of his two right–hand warriors. Henry thanked him for having let them go with us. Then he told the chief he would have been proud of the work they did for the family during the long hike.

The chief not only found wigwams for us to live in, but he also found one where we could store our packs. The wigwams needed some repair; therefore, after putting our packs away and before cleaning up, we began the task of bringing them up to standard.

Henry met with the chief while the rest of us kept busy and out of trouble. I watched Henry grab his bag before he headed into the chief’s wigwam. I wondered what gift he had brought with him this time to guarantee our stay during the winter. Sooleawa helped Anna decorate one of the wigwams for her and Henry to live in. Yancy and I focused on collecting firewood and building fire pits to cook meals. The others worked on finalizing the repairs to the wigwams. Before long we were in pretty good shape.

Henry suggested we all meet before supper and shared the following: First, the Abenaki chief was delighted we wanted to stay the winter. He was looking forward to trading furs for items the village needed. Second, he was hoping we would continue sharing with the villagers any smoked meat we wouldn’t need for ourselves during our stay. We all smiled because we knew the smoked meat would be our rent payments. Nothing is free. And third, we had been invited to join the villagers for supper and a welcome celebration. We were all pleased and headed to the creek to clean up and to prepare for a fun evening.

“Henry, what did you give the chief as a thank you gift?” I asked.

He grinned. “A steel nail file and perfume, but don’t you tell anyone else.”

I just shook my head. Henry continued to surprise me.

We had a wonderful evening with good food, much laughter, and entertainment. The warriors danced first; the women joined in later. What a celebration!

I shared a wigwam with Josh and Yancy, which made me feel like an adult. I was exhausted and ready for sleep, but before falling asleep I prayed quietly and thanked the Lord for a safe trip and a friendly place to spend the fall and winter.