Ehnita
The sun is setting, as I come from work; the moon will soon rise but, I would never see her. All I would see would be the ugly buildings through the window of mine. As I walk home, I think about what my Akenistén would say if she could see me now. She would probably frown in disapproval at the disconnect from our culture, our way, the Onkwehonwehnéha. My Akenistén died many seasons ago and my Rake'níha died many more before that, and that was only after we moved here. Even though we were away from our people Akenistén, tried to keep our ancestry alive. I honestly didn't care much about it , Because it doesn't matter here, no one recognized it as something; besides I didn't have the time to focus on the past . I have more important things to worry about. My brother Karahkwa is ill of the same thing that killed mother, I can't lose him; he is now the only thing I have. He is my sun and my sun is setting and soon it would be night .The moon then will be alone forever in a starless night sky. I didn't finish my last year of high school because of Karahkwa's illness and now I work in order to pay for medication. Akenistén would have probably disowned me for giving Karahkwa. Medication, he himself if he had enough strength he would refuse to take it, because like Akenistén he cared about the native way, our way. I walk past the lot that is filled with stinking smelly garbage , or at least I imagined it to be the pile of garbage that I was so used to passing .But , When I looked at it again , my feet stopped moving , my eyes widened, my heart skipped a beat . It was not filled with garbage but, with people talking, laughing and working. Not only was that it filled with plants, nature, and life. The green of the vines of tomatoes, still damp from water, sparkled like emeralds. The beans grew twisting and turning among themselves brought a smile to my face. The smiles of the people ,as they fell out of reality and into their own small community .Some people traded food , while other people traded stories ;So much like the life my Akenistén told me I should be living .There was so much to seen and heard . As I was staring at this I thought of mother and brother and my people. My staring caught the attention a little Asian girl, who told me I could plant something If I liked, that this place was for everyone. 'Even for people like me?' I thought, 'people without a place'. When I went home, I took care of Karahkwa only to realize he was getting worse and I had no money to take him to the doctor again .I remember sitting at on the floor in the corner of the flat , hands over my face thinking over and over that I was going to lose my little brother born and hour and half after I was. What would I do if I lost him? He is my reason for living . What was a moon with not sun, what was a Ying without a Yang? The next day on a whim I bought a packet of corn seeds, the gold of my people and went to the garden begun planting. Perhaps, with each seed I put in the ground I would bring back the past, my mother's dream and my brother's wish. Perhaps. I stood up and stared at my work , and thought to myself I wouldn't know If a tried . Before leaving with a promise of return I sent a prayer to Onatah in hopes these seed would grow and thrive.
Words
Words - Onatah – the name of a fertility goddess / goddess of corn
Karahkwa- sun Ehnita - moon
Onkwehonwehnéha The native way
Akenistén- mother (my )
Rake'níha- father (my )
An: I am sorry if I butchered the language or the culture ,I don't mean to offend .
References
"American Indian" Names That Don't Have The Meaning They're Supposed To." "Native American" Names That Don't Have The Meaning They're Supposed To. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Mohawk/Phrases." - Wikibooks, Open Books for an Open World. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.