Incidentals

by Kathy Knudsen1

Every episode has both major and minor characters and sometimes there is more to a minor character than meets the eye. Each Chapter will be about one such character. Not all chapters will fall in the same order as the series episodes, and likely one or two episodes will be skipped over (i.e. Return to Devil's Hole because I never watch that one).

30. Chapter 30

Indian (From the Clementine Ingredient)

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"What happened to the mountain that use to be over there" Ted Thompson asked the Indian he passed on the road to Santa Marta.

"Maybe the white man stole it, like he stole everything else."

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There's a funny thing about white men, they have a very poor sense of direction. In fact, everything about the white man is pretty much very poor. A lot of examples come to mind, like the fact that they load twenty pounds of leather and wood on the backs of their horses, cinch it tight to the animal's underbelly, then wonder why the Indian's horses with just a blanket between the horse and the man, can out run the white man every time.

They also have a very strange concept about ownership, like anyone can own a piece of the earth. And they barter with something they call money, which is nothing more than pieces of paper with pictures and numbers on them. How can paper be of any value.

They build their homes from logs so they cannot pack up and follow the buffalo, and the homes that do move, travel on wooden wheels that break and get stuck in the mud, and a fire cannot be built inside because the home is made of wood and would burn.

The food the white man eats is another mystery to my people. They add a handful of little white granules to sweeten almost everything like breads and hot drinks, and make something they call candy. It must be very strong and bad medicine because the old ones often have no teeth because these granules cause their teeth to rot and fall out.

And their clothes are thin and tear. The hides of deer and bear keep a person dry and warm and moccasins let a person walk silently in the forest. But the clothes of these pale skinned people require layers to keep them warm, and boots, with their heavy heels and soles announce their presence by cracking twigs and crumbling dry leaves beneath their feet.

The arrogance of these people astound me so it came as no surprise that stranger just expected a mountain to appear because that is where he remembered it. He expects the earth to serve him. But man and earth share a give and take relationship. If you cut a tree, you plant another. If you kill an animal, you apologize to its spirit, and you make use of every part so that nothing goes to waste.

These white people, whose skin burns in the sun and shivers in the cold, and do not count coup in battle, are foolish in their ways. The Indian respects his enemy, but the white man does not.

This, will one day be their downfall.