(( I did not...Mentally give birth to Nodin so I am praying to God, the Creator, The Great Spirit, the Gods of Roleplaying, and the Glitter Gods that I do a decent job of presenting him. And the langue I have used is Micmaw. This language actually is located along the west coast around Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. I have chosen to use it, as it may have been the first language that foreigners heard. (There is not evidence to prove it, but Canada was first 'discovered' by the Vikings who named Canada, Vinland so it's just my own theory) If you want to learn more about the language, go to en/index-canada-east you can find more info about other Native (Canadian) languages there.
This is a gift for my friend, Niccole and her Nodin, Happy Birthday! ))
~Enjoy~
Willow opened her eyes to be greeted by the darkness of night. Her stomach cramped violently and she moaned loudly. She pushed herself up with her elbows and looked to see her stomach at its largest. She was expecting.
Kanata mumbled as he slowly started to wake up. He turned over to look at her with his violet eyes.
"nkij? (My Mother) Is something wrong with mijua'ji'j (Baby)?"
Willow was about to answer when her stomach seized once more. She rubbed her belly in circles to ease the pain.
"Nijan (My child) Go fetch kisikwi'sk (old women) for me. Hurry!"
Kanata nodded before crawling off the bed and ran out.
Willow leaned back and waited. It didn't take long for the elder and a few other women to arrive.
"Breath Willow," The women softly murmured as she knelt beside Willow and carefully laid her hands onto the pregnant women's stomach.
Time seemed to pass by in years when in reality it was seconds. Willow had given birth before but every time felt new and foreign. Soon her cries were accompanied by a smaller cry.
"l'pa'tuj! Willow you have a beautiful healthy boy!"
The women around her smiled as they looked form willow to the small boy in the elder's arms. Willow smiled as she pushed herself up so the women could remove the old bloodied up blanket and quickly give her a clean one. Once that task was finished, Willow laid back down and held out her arms to take her child.
Once the child was placed in her arms, Willow smiled and placed a kiss on his forehead. Smiling, Willow began to sing a lullaby which quieted the baby boy immediately. The women around her smiled as a few of them left to return to their husbands and own children.
Willow sang her song happily as Kanata came and laid beside her to look at the small child. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep when willow sang.
Soon, Willow ended her song and laid down holding her child close to her chest.
Nodin clung to his mother's side as she glared at the pale ones. He and his mother didn't like them, the pale ones attacked them with no reason. He looked down to his older brother who held his wooden spear up. Nodin, unsure of what to do, glared at the man.
Sadly, he didn't get the response he hoped for.
The tall man with light hair that stood up strangely laughed and spoke in their strange tongue, "Sikke en sød og fjollet barn (What a cute and silly child)"
Disheartened, Nolin's eyes teared up and he turned away from the men and pushed his head against willow's chest and quietly cried. He then felt his mother, Willow, comforting him as she growled at the pale men.
"I want you to leave, you cannot take this land nor attack us!" Willow snarled in their language, her words broken, but her message went across well.
"Du angreb os først! (You attack us first)" The man counter argued, "Vi ønsker at handle. Vi er ikke onde (We are not evil. We wish to trade!)"
Kanata, had enough and waved his spear in order to chase them away.
The other pale male, shorter in height and with violet eyes, cried out, "Nok! Vi vil forlade. (Enough! We will leave!)"
Kanata looked back to see what to do.
Willow studied the men a moment before looking to Kanata and slowly indicated for him to return to her side. Her eyes narrowed at the pale men and she told them to leave, to take their dead and injured, take some food for their journey and to not return, or they would defend themselves again.
Both the man nodded in agreement and turned to leave with the smaller male turning back to them a moment before smiling and saying, "farvel! (Good-bye)"
Nodin sniffed and looked at his brother and then his mother, "Are they gone yet?"
Willow looked down and rubbed his head, turning form the image of a fierce and blood-thirsty warrior to a calm mother. "They are on their way now. They can't hurt us now."
Smiling, Nodin nodded and relaxed in his mother's arms.
Nodin looked to be about the age of 10 when he met them.
He was away from the others in order to follow his dream to find the animal that had called out to him. His feet made no sound as he crept along the stream. The night before he had a dream that he walked along this same path to find a deer that gracefully offered its life for the people, at the eagles call
After that dream, he told His mother and siblings that he was going to bring them their meal. His brother, Kanata, was investigating along the sea for signs of strange canoes. Nodin was unsure of what to feel about those. So he wasted little time on thinking about it.
After a few minutes of going along the stream he saw it. The deer from his dream, crossing his path. Nodin lowered himself and drew his bow. He watched as the deer slowly crossed the stream and looked at him. Eyes meet for a brief time, before the deer lowered its gaze.
Nodin knocked his arrow as he raised his arms, he pulled the string back and aimed. Breathing in a moment, he waited, aimed and once he let the arrow loose, he could hear the eagle calling its young ones close by.
Once the arrow found its target, Nodin smiled and quickly jogged to the downed animal pulling out his knife just in case the arrow wasn't true. He didn't want the majestic animal to suffer. Knelling beside the creature, he saw that the mark was true.
Smiling, the animal had died instantly and felt no pain. Nodin lowered his head, closed his eyes and laid his hands on the animals head. He thanked the animal for giving its life for the people. He quietly sang an honoring song and once he finished, He pulled the arrow out of the animal and lifted the animal onto his shoulders. He started on his way home with a smile on his face.
His family and friends would eat well!
He returned home to see his mother chasing his younger sister* Lanya (Lane-Ya) around who was giggling and smiling as she evaded her mother's arms again and again.
"Lanya, are you evading mother so you can get your feet dirty?" Nodin called with a laugh as he placed the deer down carefully.
Lanya stopped running and smiled before finally being caught by their mother.
"Nodin!" She called happily, "Food!"
"Yes, little anì:tas (Skunk) I have brought food for us." Nodin said with confidence. He smiled as he presented the deer.
"Wonderful, Nodin. Could you take Lanya and keep her entertained, she wants you to play with her."
"Of course mother," Nodin said as he stepped closer to take Lanya. "Come-on little mink, let's go see if the other kids want to play."
Lanya cheered as Nodin carried her to visit with the other girls. They played games, He give them piggy back rides and they laughed until it was time for dinner.
They gathered around and shared in their wealth. Their drummers sang and preformed their feast song there were smiles around and no one went hungry. Nodin always made sure that the women had their share and that the elders were taken care of before they told stories and taught the children about life and their roles in protecting the land. The evening ended as they younger children yawned and went to bed. Everyone went to bed with smiles and a full belly because of the deer Nodin had brought home.
It took a while to get Lanya calm enough to sleep but it was soon done and Nodin was able to relax as he laid their blanket over her.
"Nodin?"
Looking back at his mother Nodin answered her, "Yes?"
Willow looked slightly uncomfortable when she asked him to meet her outside by the edge of the camp.
Worried, Nodin frowned and agreed to meet his mother once he was sure that Lanya would not wake up and that one of the other mothers could keep an eye of her. He didn't really need to ask, as everyone helped with raising the young, but he wanted to make sure that he respected the women, as they gave birth to live and without them, they would crumble and die.
Once he was sure that everything was fine, he walked out and quietly searched for his mother. He found her after a moment. She was sitting against the trunk of a tree, a few small bats clinging to her sides, and one on the end of her braid. Her eyes were closed and she was content.
Nodin, carefully sat down close by and made no sound as he didn't want to disturb either of them. A few minutes passed by and the bats slowly made their departure in search of their meal.
"Mother? What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"
Willow sighed and undid her braid slowly while she spoke.
"Something is changing, my son. And I cannot tell if it is for good or bad. Kanata came by and told me that he talked to the 'Pale ones'. They came with gifts and they are different. Their words not like before. He said they could be trusted and we welcomed them. I must go and see for myself it they can be trusted. I need you to watch over Lanya and the others here."
Nodin was unsure of what to feel, the pale ones had been evil before, but he knew change was possible. But he didn't like his mother leaving, without him to protect her. "Me watching over our people here is given, I will always protect them, but why must you go?"
"You know that I have traveled across this land since the beginning of time? I have not yet completed that journey. I do not know when I will return, but I will come back."
Nodin nodded with a tear in his eye. "I do not want you to leave…."
Willow tried to smile but instead opened her arms for Nodin. "Shall I sing you a lullaby?"
Nodin nodded and wiped away a tear as he moved closer and let his mother hold him close as she took a moment to think. She smiled and rubbed his head and began to sing.
"Cante waste hoksila ake istima
Hanhepi ki waste
Cante waste hoksila ake istima
Hanhepi ki waste
(Good-hearted boy, go back to sleep
The night is good ((Song link~ watch?v=uEpQjM96zG4 ))
Nodin listened and his tears slowed and he soon found himself to be asleep. He dreamt of he and his family staying together happy forever.
Willow soon finished her song and kissed his brow before carefully laying him down so she could leave. "I'm sorry my sweet, I will return soon."
Soon the moon fell and the sun came, lighting the world in orange tinged light. Nodin woke up and looked around for his mother. He couldn't see her. "Mom?"
"Nodin!"
Lanya? Nodin looked back towards the village and saw Lanya standing outside calling for him. Knowing that he needed to look after her he got up and went to her side.
"Nodin? Where is mom?"
"Mom had to go somewhere, but she'll be back before you know it."
"Okay… Can you give me a piggyback ride?"
With a smile, Nodin nodded and give her one. From then on, if you saw Nodin, you knew Lanya was right behind him, and vice-versa. They had always been close and Nodin, being the young man that he was, and as a warrior, watched over her like a hawk. She physically neared his age quickly and she was beautiful. Nodin was starting to have a tough time keeping the boys in check. It didn't help that she was wanting to go off with her people.
Call him over-protective, but he didn't want her to leave him. Their mother had yet to return and she promised that she would be back but so far…
"I will still come back and visit you every month, it's not that far." Lanya argued.
Nodin sighed, "You're still too young."
"No I'm n-Mom!"
Nodin frowned and turned. He smiled at the sight. His mother was walking towards them with their brother Kanata by her side. The two of them smiled and cheered at their mothers return. Once willow and Kanata saw them, they smiled and started to run. Nodin and Lanya did the same. They hugged and smiled, and had a few tears of happiness. Stories were exchanged as they enjoyed their reunion. Stories of what happened, how their hunts went, who Lanya wanted more independence and how she had the attention of nearly every boy there.
Willow's and Kanata's varied as they told of the pale one, 'the French' (and their goofy hats!) and their travels. Willow commented on Kanata's enjoyment of their company and language.
Nodin asked Kanata many questions that night and the other gladly answered them all. Kanata loved having attention as he feared being left behind. Lanya had many questions as well. She went back and forth from Kanata to their mother. Until Lanya fell asleep in Willow's lap. Once that happened, they all decided that it was time for sleep.
Soon, Nodin met these French men. One had long blonde hair tied back with a large hat and a big puffy feather. The other short hair, emerald eyes, and giant caterpillars trapped above his eyes. Oh my, he thought, those were his eyebrows.
The two men approached Nodin with care.
He should have sent them back.
Instead he let himself call them friends. They laughed together, drank together and sang together. Until He found his sister, Lanya dead, wrapped in a blanket that had been gifted to her by the Englishman. He tried to warn Kanata about them, but Canada had gone with the Frenchmen on their giant canoe. Nodin was alone, as they established a 'government'.
The only one left was his mother.
But that was not to last.
The government wanted to civilize the people. And how else to do so, then to take the children away from their parents?
Willow bathed her son and slowly poured ceder water over his head as she scrubbed his hair. She did this slowly and methodically, as if she could delay time. She didn't tell him. How could she? She had promised him that she would never leave him again. Her current lover came out with a plate of some salmon and bread. He put it on the table and went back in, knowing that he was not needed at the time.
Willow put on a smile, "There, all clean."
Nodin turned to his mother and smiled a toothy grin.
She grabbed the towel as Nodin stood up to be embraced in both his mother's love and in the towel to dry. Once he was dry, and dressed and the tub put away, Willow took the brush to his long hair.
Sitting patiently, Nodin ate some of the salmon while his hair was braided. He was proud of it's length and with how soft it was. Some of the white girls thought it was 'gay' and 'filthy' but he didn't care. All that mattered to him was that it was a symbol of his culture.
Willow entwined a couple of feathers at the end of the braid when she finished. That was when the red old truck appeared. She frowned, remembering the threat from the 'Indian agent' about her being arrested if she resisted. She often wondered what her other son Canada, would say if he know about how his government's representative disrespected her. She nearly crushed his head into a rock!
Willow helped Nodin get dressed as she thought over her next few words. She couldn't stay much longer, the years slowly started to bring her along. Her once night-graced hair now showed strands of white. Once Nodin was dressed she told him to wait for her as she stepped into the house to say good-bye to her lover.
They kissed each other good-bye and Willow grabbed her bag filled with a weeks' worth of dried salmon and bannock. It was time.
Willow returned to Nodin and took his hand. They walked down to the river near their home. The river traveled between their home and the town close by. It was about a 4 day trip, and willow wanted to spend the last few days with Nodin, before they both had to go. One to learn how to be a good little Indian, the other into uncertainty. They pushed their canoe out and climbed in, careful not to tip.
They paddled along, making small talk and told stories, ate their bannock and salmon. They would camp along the edge of the river during the night and canoed during the day. During the last day they had together Willow called out to her son.
"Nodin?"
Nodin layed his paddle on his lap and looked back to his mother as she paddled alone, "Yes Mother?"
Willow looked down a moment and back at him. "Nodin, I know that this is something that you don't want to do, but I want you to be a good boy and learn to get along with the others. But I also want you to remebr who you are."
"Mother, im not going to forget who I am, I'm just going for a few years and then I'll be home with you again."
Willow smiled and for the first time in her life, she lied to him, "I know, but I'll still worry."
Satisfied with her answer, Nodin continued to paddle till the reached the town where they docked and sate along the outskirts, they meet with 3 other kids who were going with Nodin. In their best clothes, the kids cried and clung to their mothers who calmed them down, telling them that it was a good thing for them to go. They would get to learn more things that they couldn't teach them.
Willow ached, she wished she could tell them. But instead, she kept her silence and sat down with Nodin and held him. She sang him a lullaby and he fell asleep, excepting to say good-bye.
"I'm sorry Nodin, please grow up strong and remember, you will always rise from a fall. The eagle will guide you once he touches the moon. I wish I could protect you and your siblings forever but, I can't stay. It's your time now, make it a good and successful one." She said quietly, praying that the wind might carry it in its breath to whisper to him whenever he needed it.
They waited for a few minutes until the agent came by with his red beat up truck. Not wanting to wake her son up, she cradled him in her arms and gently laid him down. One of the young girls sat down and moved so Willow could lay Nodin's head on her lap. Smiling with thanks, willow kissed Nodins hand and waved to the other kids.
Is it cruel of her to not tell them to run? Nothing she could do would work. She tried to talk to the government, to Canada, to anyone. But it was all the same.
"It will be good for you."
"You will learn how to be civilized."
But they didn't feel was she did. The tears, the screams, the desperate pleas for help. They couldn't understand her fear.
They didn't understand how hurt her pride was to know that she, a proud leader, was disappearing. That she could no longer protect her people, her own children. All she could do was pray that she had taught her children enough, so that they could be strong even in times of trouble. She couldn't stay.
She could no longer feel the cool tundra air, nor could she feel the prairie ground, or anything. She was slowly becoming numb.
Realizing that she had spaced out and the agent left with the children, Willow was standing there alone.
Needing to find solitude, Willow walked. And walked, and walked. Her feet hurt, and she soon found herself looking at Canada's house. He had gone pale and no longer looked like her. She sat down and sang quietly to herself. The wind picked up as she neared the end of the song. It was time for her to go.
Starting to walk once more, Willow felt her body becoming lighter. She wanted to see the beginning of the end before she passed one more time. She hoped it would help her to know that there was nothing she could have done and that maybe things would become better.
Nearing her destination Willow grew tired. Unable to finish, Willow laid down and felt herself becoming a part of the earth. Her skin becoming a part of the ground, her hair turning into flowers, her eyes to the stars, her breath became the wind. She would remain a part of the world, and she hoped she could guide it well.
~Many years later~
Nodin refused to cry. He had lost the ability to cry a long time ago. He was angry but he did his best to work things out between everything. He was the representative to Ontario now. He had to act professional. Most people would call him arrogant and sarcastic but in reality, He was polite and a great person, he was respectful to women no matter the age, he helped those he could.
Today he was walking along. He heard the trees gossiping to themselves and they refused to share with him.
The only word he heard was 'Willow'. He wasn't sure if they were talking about his mother or about an actual willow tree. When he tried to get more, the trees became silent and refused to share. Sighing, Nodin walked and hummed his favourite lullaby to himself. No one was around to call him a baby. A few minutes later he heard something.
It sounded like someone was struggling. He followed the sound that got louder and changed into screams, till he found the source.
What he saw enraged him. A women trapped on her back fighting to knock off the man on top of her. Eyes red with rage, Nodin ran forward and punched the man who flew off of the women. He waited for the fallen male to try and do something.
The man chose to run. He started to crawl away, but Nodin decided he needed a lesson.
"You ever touch a women with her consent again and this will look like child's play." Nodin snarled as he stomped on the man's arm snapping it in half.
"Now leave!"
The man clumsily worked his way up to run, shouting questionable threats to the both of them. Nodin turned to the women who was slowly sitting up, as if she was just waking up and couldn't remember how to control her limbs. He stepped forward slowly and knelt down.
He made note of her appreance, skin darkened by mud and twigs, hair tangled and sporting a few leave. She shook slightly as of cold and when she pushed her hair to the side, golden brown eyes meet brown.
"Nkij?" Nodin said hesitantly, the language not wanting to roll off his tongue like it used to.
Willow blinked and tried to speak a couple of times before coughing, dying was tough work, and it wasn't pleasant. She pointed to her mouth and Nodin got the message.
Nodin, glad to have brought his small backpack, removed it and searched for his water bottle. He removed the cap and handed it to his mother.
Taking the bottle, Willow held it to her mouth and took deep gulps.
Nodin waited while she drank. Once she finished he had to ask.
"Where were you?"
"Everywhere. You just couldn't see me… "
Nodin felt so many emotions battling each other. Anger, sadness, betrayal, confusion, joy.
"I missed you my little l'mu'j (Dog, there is no word for wolf so do was the nest best one)
Tears began to fall from Nodins eyes. He tried to tell her that he missed her, but he couldn't make the words form. But could he forgive her so quickly?
He would. He loved his mother and he knew how bad it got for their people. He knew the pain that he went through as his people died and lost nearly all of their culture and identity. It would have been worse for Willow, as she was their mother. She would have felt the pain of more.
Willow's heart broke, she hated to see children, especially her own. Starting to cry, Willow shook and leaned towards nodin to hold. The two hugged each other and cried. They cried for what was lost. But once the tears dried, they both knew that was still strong, that it could never be severed.
The bond between a mother and her child is one of the strongest, they both knew that they would never leave each other again.
~Judge a nation's progress by its treatment of its women~ Unknown
Author notes
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
*Lanya (Lane-Ya) is a made up name and she represents the Huron people, she is made-up character, I would look into the history and culture before making an OC for her, not that I am but yeah... I may or may not do a explination/author not if i get enough feedback in this, I do make a few refrences about diffrenet things and I use hisotry (Not 100% accurat, more of a quick go through of Canadian (Kanata) history.)
Feel free to ask me any questions about this and please leave a nice review to help me improve, Thanks!
I used Viking Denmark, and I used Danish (Google translate)
I hope that you enjoyed this and any grammar mistakes are minimal and do not disrupt your reading too much…
Also, I will be updating my other stories in a couple of days.
Until next time Meow~