High Country

At the river, she snapped the thinner branches from the willow trees that grew there. After the bark was removed and boiled in water, the tea would help with the pain of the man's injuries.

Sinopa filled the bucket with water and then started back to the cabin with the roots and sticks. As she walked, she thought about what had happened and how she felt.

She had surprised the grizzly as he was eating his recent deer kill. Sinopa had tried to tell the bear that she wouldn't take his food, but he was angry at being interrupted. He had reared up and roared, then started toward her. Only because the large tree was close was she able to avoid his long claws.

It seemed as if he became more angry when she kept the tree between them. Many times he had tried to race around it and strike her down with a blow from his powerful front paw, but she'd been too quick for him. When she picked up the section of fallen branch and poked it in his face, he seemed angrier still.

Sinopa knew it was only a matter of time before she became tired. Once she was tired, she'd be slower, and eventually, the grizzly would catch her. He would kill her and she would join the deer carcass as part of his food cache. As she dodged the swipes of his paws, she prayed to his spirit to leave her alone, but he did not listen. Sinopa was certain that was because she'd dishonored the village.

The Hudson's Bay trader had taken a liking to her, and had given her a beautiful wool blanket. She did not know such soft cloth existed before that time, and was very pleased. The trader had smiled and said words she didn't understand. When she gave him a questioning look, he'd spoken to another trader. That trader looked at her and said, "il dit que tu es belle".

Sinopa's father had learned enough French from other traders to be able to make trades in the language along with the aid of hand signs. Sinopa had listened to her father and traders speak to each other in the strange language and by asking her father what was said, had slowly began to understand some of the words. She had been embarrassed by the words "il dit que tu es belle". She didn't understand them all, but she understood the words for "says" and "beautiful".

The traders stayed near their village for several months. If they were not trading, they drew strange pictures on sheets of what looked like white deerskin but were much thinner and stiffer. They called the material paper and drew on it with a goose quill dipped in black liquid.

Sinopa had been fascinated by the pictures and had spent as much time as her chores would allow in watching the men draw them. The trader who spoke words she couldn't understand seemed interested in explaining them. He would point to a line on his drawing that looked to Sinopa like the rattlesnake crawling across the ground, and then point to the river by their campsite. He would then say "river".

When she understood what "river" meant, he went on to point to other things and tell her his words for them. Over the course of time, Sinopa had learned enough English to make herself understood and to understand some of what the man said. She also found herself liking this white man who had given her the blanket. When he touched her one day, she felt a thrill race through her body.

Her mother had told her of such a feeling. It was a feeling of wanting to couple with a man. Sinopa knew doing so with a white man was forbidden, but if she felt so warm and tingly from his touch, why was it so?

After that, the white trader had touched her more often, and Sinopa had felt the same thrill race through her body. One day when the trader who spoke French was out hunting, the white trader had enticed her into his tent. There, he had touched her breast and smiled when Sinopa had closed her eyes at the feeling. That touch was followed by a touch to her firm hip and Sinopa had sighed again.

She didn't resist when he lifted her dress over her head, and when he began fondling her naked body, she became so aroused she didn't want to stop him. He had pierced her body with his a little later, and though the piercing had caused pain, the other feelings it caused made Sinopa's mind reel.

The next afternoon, she'd gone back to the trader's camp. She wanted to feel those feelings again. When she got there, the tents were gone.

Sinopa returned to her village and was met by her mother. Her mother was frowning and holding the sleeping mat Sinopa used.

Her mother pointed the a few drops of blood on the sleeping mat.

"It is not your moon time, yet you bleed. What have you done, Sinopa?"

Sinopa thought her mother would understand, and told her about coupling with the white trader. Her mother stared at her for a short while, then threw the sleeping mat at her.

"Be gone, my daughter who is no longer my daughter. You have shamed your family and shamed yourself, but I can not bring myself to let you stay and be punished. Take what is yours and go from this village and do not return."

With that, her mother had turned and walked away, but not before Sinopa saw the tears in her eyes.

She'd been wandering since that spring, living on what she could find and sleeping in the forks of trees so the bears and other hunting animals wouldn't harm her. Earlier in the week, she'd passed by a cabin next to a river and thought it might belong to the white trader. She'd waited, hidden by the trees, until a man came out. To her dismay, he wasn't the trader. He was a trapper, the same kind of trapper her people had tried so hard to drive away from their land.

When she saw the grizzly bear, she believed he was a spirit sent by the Sun God to kill her as punishment for her sins. She was not ready to die and had tried to keep him from doing that. When she heard the blast of the white man's rifle, she thought he must be a helper sent by Naapi to drive the bear away.

When the bear attacked the white man, Sinopa believed she was witnessing a battle waged by surrogates for the two gods. It also looked to her as if the "helper" was being defeated. She had drawn her knife from her belt, run and jumped on the back of the grizzly, and stabbed and slashed at his neck until she saw the blood spurting from the wounds. A few seconds later the grizzly had collapsed on top of the white man.

When Sinopa saw the man closer, she realized he was the man from the cabin. Though his left wrist was crushed and his head was bleeding, he still breathed. Sinopa thought about leaving him to die, but then thought just because he was a white trapper didn't mean Naapi hadn't sent him to help her. If Naapi had, helping the man might atone for part of her sin.

Sinopa knew she would never be able to roll the bear off the man. Bears at this time of year were fat and heavy. They had eaten almost constantly since spring in preparation for sleeping over the winter as Naapi had told them to. She also knew the man was a large man and she would never be able to carry him. It was then she remembered the two horses in the corral beside the man's house.

The cabin wasn't far away, so Sinopa ran the distance and then brought back the black mare and a length of rope she'd found in the shelter inside the pen. She'd tied one end of the rope around the mare's neck and the other around the bear's legs, and then started to lead the mare away.

It was obvious to Sinopa the mare was afraid of the bear. She'd had to keep talking to the mare to keep her calm and close enough to tie the rope to the bear's legs. When she pulled on the mare's halter, the mare dug in her hind hooves and tried to run away. Sinopa kept her hold on the halter and talked to the mare some more, but didn't stop her until the bear was a good distance from the man. Then, she tied the mare to a tree and untied the end of the rope from the bear's leg.

The man was still bleeding when she led the mare back to where he lay. Sinopa knew if she didn't get him someplace where she could care for him properly, he would probably die. There was no time to build a sled or travois. Instead, Sinopa worked the rope under the man's arms and over his chest and tied the rope into a loop that would also hold up his head.

It was easy for the mare to pull the man back to the cabin, though Sinopa worried the short trip might hurt him more. As it was, he slid over the ground on his back and his fur coat protected him from the ground and the underbrush. She'd taken off the rope and put the mare back into the corral, and was sitting beside the man and examining his wounds when he woke up.

It was because she didn't know his language she spoke to him in French. Most of the trappers and traders who came to this area spoke at least some French. When he replied in English, Sinopa had tried hard to remember the English words the English trapper had taught her.

When she opened the door to the cabin, Sinopa saw the man looking at the blood on his hand and wrist. She quickly walked to the bed.

"No touch. I clean."

Daniel was a little taken aback by the tone of her voice. It was more like a command than a request. He'd found out what he wanted to know, though. There were deep cuts in his scalp that were still bleeding a little. He'd also looked at his left wrist. He could see the bones in one place and the rest was mashed and bloody. When he tried to move it, he had to hold back the cry of pain.

He sat on the bed and watched as the woman poured water into his cooking pot and then sat the pot near the glowing coals. From time to time, she put a finger in the water, to gauge the temperature he figured. After one such test, she stood and walked to the bed.

"Have bowl?"

Daniel pointed to the small table he'd built from scraps left from the cabin door. The woman walked to the table and picked up the wooden bowl, then went back to the fire. Daniel saw her put something into the bowl and then fill the bowl with water from the pot.

She brought the bowl to the bed, and then used her knife to slice a strip from one of the deerskins that covered Daniel's bed. After dipping the strip of deerskin into the bowl, she began carefully cleaning his wrist. When Daniel winced, her voice was soft and caring.

"Not move. Root water make spirits go away. Soon good."

When the woman finished with his wrist, she moved to his head and Daniel winced again. The woman didn't say anything this time. She just wiped at the cuts to blot up the blood and then rinsed the strip of deerskin in the bowl.

It took her longer with his scalp, and it was more painful. By the time she finished, Daniel had tears in his eyes. The woman saw this and patted him on the shoulder.

"Over now. Need hat...no...need cover."

She sliced another, wider strip from the deerskin and trimmed the ends to form straps. She put the strip over Daniel's head and tied the straps under his chin. Daniel saw her smile and figured she was happy with the results. He wasn't happy because his wrist and his arm hurt. His wrist hurt more when the woman took a pine spit from his firewood, cut a wide strap and a narrow one from his bed cover and bound his wrist to the pine split.

The woman then stood up and took the bowl to the door of the cabin, pushed it open a little, and threw the contents outside. She went back to the fire then and started peeling the bark from the branches she'd brought inside. Once she had a small pile, she put the bark into the bowl and then partially filled the bowl with steaming water from the pot. A few minutes later, she brought the bowl back to the bed.

"Drink. Hurt go away."

She held the cup to Daniel's lips. He sipped at the liquid and then made a face.

The woman smiled again.

"Taste bad. Do good. Drink."

Daniel managed to drink the bowl of tea after several attempts and grimaces. The woman took the bowl from him and then pushed gently on his chest.

"Sleep. I go bring bear."

Daniel didn't know how long he slept. He'd fallen asleep a few minutes after she left the cabin. The pain had gone away a little by the time he recognized the neigh of the black mare. A few minutes later, the woman came back into the cabin. She smiled when she saw him laying down.

"Sleep good. Heal fast. I go skin bear."

When the woman came back, she was dragging the hide of the grizzly. She dropped it in front of the fire, then went back outside. She came back through the door carrying a large piece of meat. She looked at Daniel.

"Need eat. Bear taste good. Make strong. I cook."

The bear meat did taste good and Daniel was starving. The woman looked on as he ate, and then smiled.

"You eat good. You heal fast. Now, sleep."

Daniel reclined on his bed and watched as the woman began fleshing the grizzly hide.

For a week, Daniel lay on his cot, let her clean and bind his wounds, ate when she fixed something, and slept the rest of the time. At night, Sinopa slept on the floor of the cabin in front of the fire. By the end of the week, his wrist still hurt when he moved it, but his head had stopped hurting. The woman wouldn't let him feel his head, but when she cleaned it, he saw her nod.

"Heal good. Soon, no cover."

"What about my wrist", he asked and pointed to the deerskin she'd with which she'd wrapped it.

The woman shook her head.

"Heal good. No move yet."

As she bound his wrist to the pine split again, Daniel asked her name. He had used sign language to some extent with other Indians, and started the conversation that way.

He pointed to his chest.

"I am called Daniel"

Then he pointed to the woman.

"What is your name, woman?"

The woman looked at him for a moment, then smiled.

"Me Sinopa."

"Salish?"

She shook her head.

"Piegan. No Piegan now".

"Not Piegan now?"

Sinopa shook her head and frowned.

"Hudson Bay man do like man with wife to me. Mother say no daughter now. Mother say go away."

"So, they made you leave? Where were you going?"

Sinopa looked at Daniel and shook her head.

"Not know words."

Daniel pointed at Sinopa, then used his fingers to imitate legs walking, and finally opened his hands.

Sinopa understood.

"Not know, just walk."

Daniel pointed at the roof and swept his arm in an arc.

"How long have you been walking?"

Sinopa touched her fingers with her thumb, then held up five.

"This moons."

"Five months? How did you survive?"

As soon as Daniel said it he knew she didn't understand him. He pointed to Sinopa again, then at his open mouth, made the motion of chewing, and then held out his hands again.

Sinopa smiled.

"Hungry you? I go cook."

Daniel waved his hand, then pointed at Sinopa again.

"Not me...you".

Sinopa smiled.

"Find plants. Kill bird and rabbit with stick."

Daniel put his hands together and laid his cheek on them.

"Where did you sleep?"

"Climb tree. Bear no get."

Daniel shook his head. He knew how difficult it was to survive in the mountains. Even with his horses and his cabin with a fire, surviving could be hard. It only took being caught outside in a blizzard or as Sinopa had discovered, meeting a grizzly on a kill to fail in that effort.

"You're a brave woman, Sinopa."

She gave him the same look that said she didn't understand. Daniel tried again.

"You kill bear. You are strong woman."

Sinopa laughed.

"You kill bear. Bear take long time die. Sinopa help die fast, not kill."

Daniel then asked the question he'd thought about since he woke up outside his cabin.

"Sinopa, why did you take care of me?"

She didn't understand again, so Daniel pointed to his wrist and head, then pointed at Sinopa, and then imitated the washing motions Sinopa had made. Then he opened his hands and said "Why".

Sinopas face was solemn.

"Me think Naapi send you help me. He not like me let you die. He not help again."

"Who is Naapi? Your father?"

"Naapi father all things."

"Ah. Now I understand. He's your God."

Daniel pointed at Sinopa, then imitated walking with his fingers again, and then opened his hands.

"Where will you go now?"

Sinopa smiled.

"Naapi want me stay so you well."

Sinopa washed his injuries each day and roasted more of the bear until the scavengers of the night had taken most of the carcass. When Daniel had explained to her about his cache by using sign language and the few words she understood, Sinopa used the ladder to climb up and bring down a haunch of venison. After that, she roasted or boiled venison for their meals. Daniel ate and slept for the first week. After that, he stayed awake and watched Sinopa.

When she had skinned the bear, Sinopa had brought the hide into the cabin. When she wasn't washing his wounds or cooking, she sat on the floor and scraped the flesh side of the hide with the back of her knife. Daniel understood this. He'd done the same thing with beaver and other fur hides. If any meat or fat was left on them, they'd rot and be worthless.

Over the next few days, Daniel watched Sinopa tan the bear's hide. He'd learned the process on his first expedition. The hide was first washed and then a paste made from water and the brain of the animal was worked into the inside of the hide. The hide was rolled up to allow the mixture to soak in for a day and then the process was repeated until the hide would no longer absorb the mixture. The hide was smoked over a low fire and then worked over a log until it was soft and supple. Daniel used the same method to tan hides to make leather for his clothing and blankets for his bed.

While he watched Sinopa, Daniel tried to teach her more English. Since the cabin was small, Sinopa did most of the tanning process beside the bed. As she worked, Daniel would point to things or mimic her actions and then tell her the words in English.

Sinopa proved to be a quick learner. Daniel didn't have to use sign language quite as much because she began to understand more of the words he used. After a week, she began pointing to things and asking him for the English words. When Daniel said the word, Sinopa would repeat it several times and then look up and grin.

Words for things were easy for Daniel to teach her. Words for actions were more difficult because there was no object to point to. He taught her "who" by pointing to himself and then looking at her. When she didn't answer, he pointed to her, said "who" and then "Sinopa". Her eyes lit up when she understood. She pointed at Daniel and said "who". Daniel said "Daniel". Then she pointed at the bed and said "who". Daniel shook his head.

"What, not who. Who is just for people. What is for things."

Sinopa appeared to think for a few moments, then pointed at the bed and said "what". Daniel grinned.

"Bed, this is a bed".

Sinopa then pointed at him and said "who". Daniel grinned again.

"Daniel".

After that, when Sinopa wanted to know the English word for something, she'd point at it and say "what". Daniel would give her the word. Sinopa would repeat it several times and then smile at him.

It was two weeks later that Sinopa took the deerskin wrap off his head and carefully examined the wounds. Daniel felt her parting his long hair as she looked at each claw mark. Then she looked at him and smiled.

"All well. No cover now."

She unwrapped his wrist then and did the same careful inspection. The scars Daniel had seen before were slowly lightening to a darker pink than the rest of his skin, but the bite mark had healed. Sinopa looked at Daniel.

"All well. Move little."

Daniel tried to flex his wrist. There was some pain, but he could bend his wrist a little. Sinopa smiled.

"Move little all time. Make better."

The next day, Sinopa brought Daniel a strip of roasted venison in the morning, then filled his cooking pot with water, put in a large chunk of venison, and sat it close to the coals. While he ate, she tried to tell him something, but Daniel was having trouble understanding her. She had started by holding up her right hand and one finger of her left.