The Fugitives

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THIS is long ago in the history of Anishinabek, the name we call ourselves. You all are familiar with Ojibway, or Chippewa. But like the private name one is called within his family, Anishinabek is the name we use among ourselves. This is long ago, before Cherry City, before any outsiders arrived at all, near to the time when the Original Man was lowered to earth to name everything and begin our history.

The great trickster Nanabozho always was looking for ways to make fools of humans and beasts, to show how foolish they truly were underneath what they showed to the world. He always was looking, but he never had to look very hard. One day, he was seated at the edge of a village with his friend Elk, watching two old women who lived in wigwams next to each other talking happily as they worked side by side. Elk remarked, “They say those two never fight.” And Nanabozho, who’d been daydreaming about the fishing he would do later after Elk had returned to the woods, suddenly was very alert. “Never?” he asked. “Never,” said Elk. And it was true. The two women had known each other their entire lives, and their like-mindedness was legendary. They’d never argued, never disagreed about anything, and this was unusual, especially for women. Elk continued, “They’ve never fought about men. They’ve never fought about work. They’ve never fought about their children. They’ve never fought over which of them was smarter, or prettier.” Nanabozho shook his head. “That’s very unusual, especially for women,” he said. “Never, you say?” “Never,” said Elk. “I’ll bet I can get them to fight,” said Nanabozho. “I’d like to see you try,” said Elk. So Nanabozho got up and dusted himself off.

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