The Trees Remember

By Joyce L. Kieffer

In the previous two novels—The Trees Inspire and The Trees Endure, set in rural Pennsylvania from 1897 to 1903—Rebecca Wagner longs to be more than a farm girl. After becoming a trained nurse, she returns to the Juniata Valley eager to forge her own path as an independent woman—working for the town doctor, and in the primitive and hostile lumber camps in the Shade Mountains where she is threatened by man and beast.

In this final novel, Rebecca must decide whether to live her life as white woman or reveal her true lineage and face losing her quest to be the healer she has worked so hard to become. But her mixed race and the destruction of the forests in the nearby Shade Mountains undermine everything she believes in.

However, one thing does remain clear: Ben, the man Rebecca's has loved for many years has accepted her heritage and agrees to marry her in a secret Iroquois ceremony near the family farm. What they don't know is that their secret ceremony is no longer a secret. When they try to marry in the church the preacher calls off the wedding, claiming the council won't marry them because they participate in heathen ceremonies. In hopes of saving their reputation, they are quietly married by a justice of the peace.

Over the next year, Rebecca continues to work in the town doctor's office, but a growing number of men and women refuse to have her treat them. Soon her reputation as a nurse is threatened by those who accuse her of being a heathen. To make matters more difficult, when she travels to the dangerous lumber camps to take care of the "wood hicks," they won't allow her to touch them. When their rejections jeopardize her livelihood, Rebecca fears for her future.

More trouble ensues as Ben's buggy business is experiencing the same accusations from its customers, forcing him to try to find another way to support himself and his new wife. Tensions grow between them, along with the realization that the coming perils of winter will force them to leave the small cabin where they have been living deep in the mountains.

Soon violence against Rebecca's Iroquois mentor Back So Straight escalates. First the plants and herbs she stores in her cabin are burned. Then forest fires, clear cutting, and the erosion that takes with it small trees, shrubs, and plants, denude the mountainsides and fill the streams with silt. When her beloved dog is shot and killed, Back so Straight loses her only remaining link to her family. Finally, her cabin is burned to the ground, forcing her to live in a cave in the mountains. When a group of men try to rebuild her home, the church council refuses to permit them to finish. Despite her losses, Back So Straight continues to teach Rebecca about the plants and trees her ancestors used to heal for thousands of years. But now that the nearby mountains are ruined, they need to travel far into the neighboring mountains to find them.

While a lumber camp closes because the "wood hicks" develop consumption, and another when the horses suffer from disease, the only remaining camp is declining from over- harvesting. Rebecca's livelihood begins to disappear like the surrounding forests. Adding to her worries, Rebecca's father loses his hand in a lumber mill accident and becomes increasingly aware of his plight: a domineering wife, daughter and son whom he has alienated, land he cannot farm, and work he can no longer do.

The situation becomes particularly perilous after Rebecca gives birth to a long-awaited daughter. Now she must decide whether to reveal her heritage—realizing that if she does, she and those closest to her may be dangerously threatened by the truth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Oct 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667864204

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The Trees Remember

Copyright © 2022 by Joyce L. Kieffer

This book is a work of fiction. Although many names and places are historically accurate and gleaned from the author’s ancestors and own life experiences, any references to historical events, real people or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or any portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For permission, contact the author at [e-mail].

Print ISBN: 978-1-66786-419-8

eBook ISBN: 978-1-66786-420-4

Prayer of the Iroquois Used with permission: Plants of Power. Native American Ceremony and the Use of Sacred Plants by Alfred Savinelli, Native Voices, Summertown, TN. 2002.

Back Cover: Red Moon Used with permission by artist Paola Mangiacapra

Contents

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 28

CHAPTER 29

CHAPTER 30

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 33

CHAPTER 34

CHAPTER 35

CHAPTER 36

CHAPTER 37

CHAPTER 38

CHAPTER 39

CHAPTER 40

CHAPTER 41

CHAPTER 42

CHAPTER 43

CHAPTER 44

CHAPTER 45

CHAPTER 46

CHAPTER 47

CHAPTER 48

CHAPTER 49

CHAPTER 50

CHAPTER 51

CHAPTER 52

CHAPTER 53

CHAPTER 54

CHAPTER 55

CHAPTER 56

CHAPTER 57

CHAPTER 58

CHAPTER 59

CHAPTER 60

CHAPTER 61

CHAPTER 62

CHAPTER 63

CHAPTER 64

CHAPTER 65

CHAPTER 66

CHAPTER 67

CHAPTER 68

CHAPTER 69

Bibliography

Special Assistance

About the Author

More Books From The Author of The Trees Remember Trilogy

THE TREES REMEMBER

Book Three of The Trees Remember Trilogy

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO KEN, BETH AND LORI, WHO INSPIRED ME TO KEEP WRITING, HELPED ME ENDURE THE YEARS-LONG JOURNEY, AND ENCOURAGED ME TO REMEMBER WHO I AM.

Juniata County,

Pennsylvania,

Early Spring

1903

CHAPTER 1

The Indian woman swept her hand over the black ash that covered the once lush understory of the forests. In addition to three nearby mountains, half the Wagner timberland had been lost to the inferno that roared across the Shade Mountains surrounding the Juniata Valley.

Dead trees and decaying plants had provided ample fuel. But this fire was explosive. High winds, as well as thick piles of tree branches left on the ground when the land was timbered, added to the inferno. Wall after wall of flames, their tentacles reaching higher than the mountain peaks, devoured everything like hungry orange mouths. Finally, a driving late-March snow that turned to rain, along with a natural water barrier at Tennis Run, stopped the flames as they crept toward her granddaughter Rebecca’s cabin.

Back So Straight remembered the fires set by her ancestors to clear patches of forest so the seeds already in the ground would metamorphose into shrubs and fast- growing herbaceous plants that would attract birds and small mammals. But this forest fire was not set to draw wildlife or plant seed-sustaining crops: corn, beans and squash. Evil forces of greed and competition took away the trees and plants. Gone were the food and nesting places of animals and birds. And sources of precious herbs, bark and leaves she had trained her granddaughter to use as medicine.

Raising her eyes toward the horizon, she watched Rebecca ride through dead stags on the summit of the mountain. Her granddaughter looked small, hunched low on her horse, despite her usually tall, straight, muscular frame.

The young woman had been troubled ever since Back So Straight told her about her Iroquois heritage. The Indian woman had promised Rebecca’s dying mother she would someday tell the truth. But will the truth set Rebecca free or hold her captive like the sprawling, woody, feeder roots that anchor a tree when strong winds threaten?

CHAPTER 2

As Rebecca wound her way on horseback to her cabin hidden deep in the mountains of Juniata County, Pennsylvania, she struggled with the realization that her life had changed in ways she could only begin to imagine. All her life she thought she was like everyone else in the small town of McAlisterville. But she wasn’t.

While she was recovering from a brutal assault, her mentor—Back So Straight, an Iroquois woman—told her a secret she had been hiding for over twenty years. The man she thought was her father—the man who raised her—wasn’t the man married to her mother. Her real father was an Indian.

So much made sense now. Her black hair and tanned skin. Why she was taller than every other young woman she knew. Why Back So Straight had lived all these years on the edge of the farm and taught her to use plants and trees to heal people. The close relationship between her mother Jane and this mysterious woman.

She let the reins of her horse fall slack, not caring where the animal carried her. It didn’t matter that she had graduated from the Johns Hopkins Hospital Training School for Nurses, or that she had become the independent, savvy woman she always hoped to be. Or that she worked in the rough, primitive lumber camps where she nursed men with gruesome injuries, or in the town doctor’s office treating every imaginable illness and accident to befall people whose closest hospital was a seven-hour ride by horseback.

A breeze still carried the acrid smell of burned-out trees and debris left smoldering for days after the firestorm raged through several nearby mountains that had been clear cut just months before. And half the Wagner virgin forestland.

Gone was the overstory. Towering hemlock and white pine. Chestnut, oak, birch, maple, hickory, elm. And dozens more species. And the gentle understory. Witch Hazel. Redbud. Holly. Dogwood. Also gone were vines, saplings, shrubs, herbs. And the wildlife they sheltered and fed.

The young woman’s mind spun like a fern blowing and twirling in the wind. So much of her beliefs about herself and her family were built on lies. Rebecca felt the weight of their deception—like a tree holding up another half-fallen neighbor, bending under the strain.

Her horse paused by a large boulder and whinnied. The echo reverberated off the gray-black stone covered with spongy green lichens and dotted with small ferns that grew like feathers on a hat. Rebecca turned and saw a rider approach from below. She felt a flush in her cheeks and neck.

Ben Siebert. What’s he doing here on the mountain? The man she once loved and thought she would marry maneuvered his horse up the mountain.

The last time she saw Ben she revealed what Back So Straight told her just months before. He pretended to be nonplussed about her being half Indian, but his familiar way of clenching his jaw when he was upset said otherwise. How could he possibly know how he felt when she barely grasped the implications of being mixed race?

Ben guided his horse beside her. But there was something tentative about the way he stopped before he got too close. Rebecca, stop. I’ve been looking for you—thought I’d find you at your cabin.

Hello. It’s good to see you, Ben, Rebecca said in a shaky, halting voice. I’m going there now. Want… to come along? She held her breath, afraid he’d answer no and she’d be disappointed, but wanting to believe otherwise. Just the familiar sound of his voice, the way he pronounced every syllable clearly—made her smile inside.

I suppose so. I haven’t been there in a long time. Not since your brother and his friend Jake finished building it.

I know. Is it a year… or more?

When he didn’t answer, she just nodded and led the way to the top of the mountain until they reached the lean-to. They dismounted and walked to the three-sided log structure. A chipmunk scampered into a hole under the bottom log.

Ben narrowed his eyes and ran his hand over the logs. I didn’t know you built a lean-to. Looks good. Lots of dry firewood and space for a few horses.

My brother made sure there’d be plenty of room… but I’m the only one coming up here now. He and Jake are busy trying to make a living , but once in a while Back So Straight visits me to harvest plants. However, since the fire, we have to travel farther to find them.

I’m sorry about the forest fire, but I was relieved when I heard at least some of the Wagner timber was spared—and your cabin. He shifted his weight to face her. I guess everyone knows where this place is now, since Gunther Drupp was found dead below the waterfall. I’m sorry he… hurt you.

Rebecca’s hands clutched her stomach at the sound of Gunther’s name. I’d like to believe all that’s behind me now. Let the gossipers say what they want. She pulled at an imaginary thread on her sleeve and threw it away.

I should have come to see you sooner, Rebecca, but I was still a bit unsteady after your… friend from Baltimore punched me in the gut.

I didn’t expect you to. Rebecca thought back to that day and how she helped nurse him back to health after the injury to his spleen. How did we get into this mess, anyway, Ben? So many mistakes. So much anger and betrayal. I’m guilty of lying to you about Christopher. When he came to McAlisterville to see me, I tried to be honest, but I’m afraid it was too late. Now I don’t blame you for not trusting me… or even liking me. She took a deep breath, trying to blink back tears that had been forming since he said the word sorry.

I’m not entirely blameless, either. Maybe if I hadn’t pressured you to quit nursing school, things would have turned out differently. He cleared his throat and paused as if searching for words. But I’m still trying to forgive you. It’s forgetting that’s harder. I’m not sure I can ever completely do that.

She stood completely still, his words comforting and confusing her at the same time. Ben, I’m so sorry, too. She squeezed her eyes shut but when she opened them tears spilled down her cheeks and dripped from her chin. Every loss… every betrayal… every disappointment came spilling out like a torrent of water running down the naked mountainside after a rainstorm, carrying with it the debris left behind from clear cutting the trees. And the debris of shame and guilt.

She turned away and hid her face in her hands. When her sobs quieted, he gave her his handkerchief. She cried again into the white cloth, inhaling the smell of leather and soap, just like she did when they danced together the first time they met.

They walked over to the cabin and sat down on the edge of the porch. A Black-capped chickadee landed nearby and picked up an ant. The bird hopped closer, seemingly unafraid. Even when Ben spoke it didn’t fly away. Look at that bird. I remember chickadees are your favorite.

Rebecca was grateful for the distraction and touched by his kindness. Not just now, but all those innocent times lost to her lies and longing for something better. But it didn’t work. Nothing made up for her loss of self-respect—and the trust of the man she once loved. And now there was the secret about her heritage. Was she going to live another lie? No one knew she was half Indian except Back So Straight and Ben. But, despite his kindness, even he seemed unsure, looking at her with searching eyes.

You never told me why you were trying to find me. It’s not like you to wonder around in the woods, said Rebecca.

Truthfully, I was worried about you.

Why?

The fire. I stopped in at Doc Headings to ask about you. He said your horse was always gone when you weren’t taking care of patients. I guessed you were probably at your cabin if it hadn’t been destroyed.

He’s right. I have a lot of thinking to do— plus there’s nowhere else for me to go for advice except to Back So Straight. And she’s not who I believed she was. Thought she was my friend, not my grandmother. But neither am I who I thought I was. Everything I believed about myself is wrong.

Not everything. You’re still you.

No, I’m not. All my life I believed I was Pennsylvania Dutch. A white girl whose father and mother were white. People like them. Farmers. Neighbors we went to school and church with.

Another chickadee swooped over their heads, causing them to duck their heads. A welcome diversion. But only a temporary one.

Through the years, I’ve heard some of them gossip about Back So Straight. Shunned her. Called her squaw. I hated when they did that.

But your family didn’t. They allowed her to live on your property.

That’s true. And it always puzzled me. But my mother and Back So Straight always changed the subject when I asked about her.

Maybe they wanted to wait until you were old enough to know the truth.

Whatever their reason was, I’m still unsure I really wanted to know the truth. Would you?

I…. I… don’t know. I can’t imagine how shocking it must be to be told you’re not who you believed you were.

I thought I had learned to know myself well. But I really don’t. Now I must make a choice. Do I tell people I’m half Indian? Or go on living as though I’m white? Even though women aren’t treated as equals, when you’re white you’re still privileged compared to anyone who isn’t.

CHAPTER 3

At least now there was some sort of peace between them. Before they left the mountain, Rebecca and Ben agreed to meet again. But once Rebecca reached Dr. Headings office where she lived in a spare room, the unrest she felt came back with a vengeance. After putting her horse in the stable behind the building, she walked along Main Street West. Her steps felt heavy.

Something was switching in her mind. She watched people furtively, wondering how they would react if they knew the truth. Would they call her a squaw like they did her grandmother? Refuse to have her touch them?

The further she walked, she found herself looking down. But why did she feel compelled to do so? After all, everyone thought she was a white woman. One of them. Sure, her skin was a little darker than most people in the Juniata Valley, but not as dark as her grandmother’s.

Is this how her Indian father felt when he went anywhere he mixed with white people? Guarded? Inferior? Was he angry or bitter because of the way he was treated?

If she decided to reveal her mixed race, whom should she tell? Elwood— the man who believed he was her father? Her mentor—Dr. Headings for whom she worked the past year and a half? How about her best friends Maggie and Lilly? They came from privileged families… lived in Philadelphia… went to college… had summer mansions west of McAlisterville… and had colored servants.

And what about her patients? Neighbors? People at church? Most were good people who didn’t know anyone of a different race. But she heard them talk about the colored servants who worked in the Eastman and North mansions outside town. Stared at them when they were working out in the yards or fields. Pointed fingers. Whispered insults. Or didn’t care whomever heard their biting remarks.

If she had children, would they be taken away and forced to be educated at one of the Indian boarding schools? Her grandmother cried when she told Rebecca about a cousin’s eleven-year-old daughter who had been taken to the Carlisle Indian School, stripped of her heritage and forced her to be educated to live in white society. Cut her hair. Made her wear a uniform. Forbid her to speak her language. Gave her a new name. Taught her white man’s religion. And another child in Back So Straight’s village who was taken to Canada where he never returned. He was only six years old when he died of consumption.

Or would their children be spared since they would only be part Indian? Could she risk losing her children and everything she had worked so hard to accomplish?

Never. She would move to a big city. Maybe Philadelphia. Ask Maggie and Lilly, her wealthy friends, to help her. And what about Ben? Would he still care about her, even as a friend?

There were more questions than answers. Before she could make any decisions, Rebecca needed to learn more about her heritage. Back So Straight had told her some things about her people. Who they were. What they believed. How they lived. Their traditions. But it wasn’t enough. Maybe if she knew more about her father and what it was like to live as an Indian she wouldn’t feel as lost. Or unsure where she belonged. And maybe Ben would agree to learn too. But first they had to learn who they were together again.

They met as often as they could over the next few months, talking about how they once thought they would plan a future together… before Rebecca betrayed him… before he met Emma, the woman he thought he would marry. They peeled back the memories… the hurt… the misunderstandings that had resulted in so much pain.

Sometimes they went to picnic groves and sat on benches under the trees, or strolled along the wooded paths they once walked before Rebecca left to study nursing. Each time they talked, the truth about their feelings for each other bubbled up like soap suds in a dishpan. And washed away another layer of dirt from their skin. Dirt that hid their regrets.

But left were the raw places where new skin needed to grow. Like forgiveness. Trust. And just as importantly, a reckoning with the reality that Rebecca was a woman of mixed race.

Maybe Rebecca’s mother and Back So Straight were right. If they had told her she was part Iroquois before she found independence and had learned how to cope with the challenges most women faced growing into their own, she may have collapsed under the weight of the burden. And perhaps Ben wouldn’t have been able to even consider accepting her as non-white.

She remembered Back So Straight saying, All things in the fullness of time.

CHAPTER 4

Back So Straight sat at the table, her face calm and eyes looking directly at the two young people seated in front of her. I realize you have many questions. I will tell you what I know, but this will take many moons. Let me begin with this: the true name of my nation—and now Rebecca’s—is Haudenosaunee, which means People of the Longhouse. White men named us Iroquois. They also called us Indians. But the people had already named themselves as the five nations, Ongwe Hanwe, which means people surpassing all others.

Rebecca’s eyes grew wide with curiosity. Back So Straight, why are you telling me this now after all these years?

When you were younger and trying to find your purpose, there was no time. I asked your mother if she wanted to tell you, but she always said to wait until you were older. She was not willing to risk telling you out of fear you would be angry and disappointed in her. But time slipped by… first you were too young… then you went away to school, and then she became ill.

A guilty feeling spread its tentacles across Rebecca’s mind like poison ivy vines winding their way around a tree. Hadn’t she kept secrets from her mother… a lover… a pregnancy… miscarriage? But if she had told me I may have—

No, my child. You needed to find your way among your own people where many women are treated as servants and property. We wanted you to grow strong in hopes that you would find your own truths. I believe you have finally done this, and now you are ready to find the truths of your Haudenosaunee heritage.

Pretending to look at the garden in the distance, but she seeing nothing but uncertainty ahead, Rebecca considered Back So Straight’s words. Find her own truth: she must accept what is now, not what may have been. Her mother only wanted to protect her.

Ben interrupted her thoughts. Before we go any further, how do I fit into all of this?

It is good you are also willing to learn. But please listen carefully. In my tribe and most others, men are chiefs. However, their female line of decent determines who will rise up as a leader. This insures both share power equally. Rebecca would be following in the footsteps of her mother and father. Since her parents are both dead, if you and Rebecca chose to be together, you must create your own equality. Men and women have separate duties, but they are equal in importance.

A frown spread across Ben’s forehead. What do you mean, create our own equality?

In the white man’s view, women are subservient, made to obey and listen to their husbands. This creates an imbalance of power and vulnerability for women. When one holds all the power, there is temptation to dominate. In the Haudenosaunee way, the balance of power is protected.

Rebecca nodded. I’ve observed this whenever when I take care of women. Some husbands demand total obedience from their wives. I found bruises and broken bones that did not match the reason they gave for their injury. Other times women would not look at me when I asked them how they are doing. Some have many children despite heavy workload and no help or relief from their husbands. Rebecca glanced tentatively at Ben who appeared to be listening, but his jaw was set.

I—I wasn’t raised like that. I would never hurt Rebecca or any other woman.

Back So Straight turned to Ben. This I believe. But there are many ways to dominate and hurt. Some people say harsh things and criticize. These wounds are invisible, but they are equally as dangerous. Do not fall into the temptation to ridicule and say unkind things, especially around other people.

But… I’m a man… and I may make mistakes.

The Iroquois woman did an unusual thing; she patted Ben on the shoulder. You have spoken wisely.

His jaw relaxed but he took on a slight frown. I have to admit all this talk about tribes and power is overwhelming. But I have a feeling there’s more, isn’t there?

Yes, I have much to teach you—should you and Rebecca want to lean more.

Ben shrugged his shoulders and looked sideways at Rebecca. But she had her eyes glued on her grandmother, whose face softened into a pensive look.

My granddaughter, you are still getting used to finding out about your mixed race. You will have many important decisions to make. The most important one is whether to reveal your true heritage or live as a white woman. And Ben— whether you can accept Rebecca as half-white. But now we must stop and allow our spirits to calm.

She emptied red teaberries into a kettle and placed it on the woodstove where small orange embers still glowed from the morning fire. Ben got up and stretched his arms above his head. The little room was quiet except for the chip-bur of a scarlet tanager in the treetop outside the window. A breeze blew through the doorway to the open window, creating a pleasant pause from the intensity of the conversation.

Rebecca retrieved three mugs from the shelf over the dry sink and placed them on the table, along with a small saucer of raw honey, just like she had done hundreds of times before. Soon the sweet smell of teaberry tea wafted into the air.

Have you ever tasted teaberry tea? asked Rebecca, breaking the silence between her and Ben.

Can’t say that I have.

You’re in for a treat. But let it cool first so the flavor can linger in your mouth.

As they sat waiting for the tea to cool, Back So Straight said, Now that we have quieted our spirits, I will tell you more about Haudenosaunee society.

Without pausing to wait for a response, she continued. When making decisions that affect their people, leaders are encouraged to remember seven generation in the past and consider seven generations in the future. Rebecca, should you decide to tell Gary, as your half-brother he may choose to belong to your tribe. Regardless of his decision, you are part of the Haudenosaunee Nation—people of the longhouse. You must uphold this tradition regardless. Your children must be taught the ways of their people. And their children and grandchildren and so on.

If we have children. Rebecca’s breath caught in her throat. They would be one-quarter Iroquois Indian—the third generation in Haudenosaunee society. One thing she knew for sure: she would never allow them to go to an Indian boarding school. She’d hide them away somewhere if it ever came to that.

She was just beginning to understand the importance of carrying on the traditions of her ancestors and their reverence for the land in which they lived. But would she be strong enough to honor her heritage and explain to her children why they needed to preserve the forests so that their heirs would have access to plants and trees? She hoped so.

But the largest question remained: if she revealed her heritage, would she be accepted? What about Ben? By their families? What about her patients and Ben’s customers? Neighbors and friends?

As if reading her mind, Back So Straight interrupted her thoughts. There is much to consider. Rejection. Prejudice. Although many years have passed since our people were at war, a great divide still exists between European whites and the people who were here long before whites arrived on Turtle Island.

The frown above Ben’s eyes deepened. What’s Turtle Island?

Our name for North America. When the whites arrived, they immediately built forts, fences and divided land into parcels they owned. But to us, land belongs to everyone. Yes, we claimed hunting, trapping and fishing rights for a time, but when the animals and plants became scarce, we moved to another place to allow the land to heal. We did not need to accumulate wealth or property. Our needs were simple and completely tied to the blessings the land gave us. We did not strip the land of trees and plants because to do so would insult them. To foul the water or insult the land were considered grave acts.

Rebecca hung her head, not knowing how to respond. She felt ashamed. But there was something else: ambivalence. She hated the destruction of the forests, and yet she was being paid to take care of the very men who were responsible for the tree’s demise. And didn’t her father and his neighbors have a right to earn a living?

As if Back So Straight read her mind, she held up her hand and said, Do not blame yourself or your families for what has been done to the land. But do what you can to change hearts and minds— to choose to replenish what they can. My people now live on reservations in the north. They have been relegated to live in one place where hunting and fishing is allowed, but the animals are quickly being depleted, as are the plants. So we must adjust and find ways to live differently. Our needs are easily satiated because we do not make great demands for what you call wealth.

I never learned any of this in our history classes, Ben argued. But I did learn that Indians fought against each other… and did brutal things to their enemies. They scalped people and sometimes took them and white people as prisoners to work as slaves. And tortured them. What about that part of your heritage?

These things are true. But not all tribes and people did this. Remember, we are five nations just as there are different nations on the earth now. All people have violent histories, including the Europeans, and are capable of great evil. When one nation tries to conquer another, the stronger one kills and dominates. There are no nations, tribes, or groups of people who are wholly peaceful. Including yours.

Ben looked at her with wide eyes. Just thirty-eight years ago the four-year civil war ended. He knew stories of brothers fighting against brothers, sons against fathers. Burning. Looting. Rape. White people willing to die to defend their beliefs— fighting a brutal war against those who disagreed. He gave a slow nod as if acknowledging the truth of what Back So Straight just said. I guess you’re right.

Sensing his discomfort, Rebecca took his hand. I think Ben and I should come back another time and have you teach us more about my heritage and the decisions we have to make. But before we go, is here anything you may have left out should we decide to be together? Rebecca avoided the word marry, although she hoped Ben would someday find it in him to love her again.

"Again, according to Haudenosaunee society, once