Nez Pierce

Previously:

The Traveler left behind an Indian woman whom he had been living with.

Chapter 26

The next place my travels took me to was Idaho. In Idaho, I stayed with the Nez Perce. The Nez Perce were the smartest Indians I ever met. Those Indians were scholars. Most people I met in my travels were dumb, but I never met a dumb Nez Perce.

The Nez Perce lands stretched as far as you could see in every direction. They say all the people in the world could fit in the Nez Perce nation, and there would still be room for more.

They gathered more food than the whole world could eat. They gave me something they called a strawberry. It was the sweetest thing I ever ate in my life. I believe it must have been the manna that Moses and his gang ate in the desert.

Of course, the Nez Perce had a story about how strawberries came to be. Indians had a story about everything. According to the Nez Perce, when the first man was created and a mate was given to him, they lived together very happily for a time, but then began to quarrel, until at last the woman left her husband and started off toward the Sun land in the east.

The man followed alone and grieving, but the woman kept on steadily ahead and never looked behind, until the Creator took pity on him and asked him if he was still angry with his wife. He said he was not, and Creator then asked him if he would like to have her back again, to which he eagerly answered yes.

So Creator caused a patch of the finest ripe huckleberries to spring up along the path in front of the woman, but she passed by without paying any attention to them. Farther on he put a clump of blackberries, but these also she refused to notice. Other fruits, one, two, and three, and then some trees covered with beautiful red berries, were placed beside the path to tempt her, but she went on until suddenly she saw in front of her a patch of large ripe strawberries, the first ever known. She stooped to gather a few to eat, and as she picked them she chanced to turn her face to the west, and at once the memory of her husband came back to her and she found herself unable to go on. She sat down, but the longer she waited the stronger became her desire for her husband, and at last, she gathered a bunch of the finest berries and started back along the path to give them to him. He met her and spoke to her kindly and they went home together.

I liked this story. It made sense, and once I tasted a strawberry, I knew it came from the hand of God.

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An Indian named Wrapped in the Wind showed me the ways of the Nez Perce. He was a patient teacher and taught me things I didn't know about growing a garden. I wished Inga had met him. He knew things even she didn't know.

He told me that different plants grew better together than others. He knew about the seasons and told me the best time to plant right down to the day. He would watch the animals and knew when the time was right. We could have put him to good use on the farm.

Wrapped in the Wind was a poet. I couldn't understand any of his poems, but he had a way of saying them that sounded like they came from an angel.

To be continued . . .