Saving a Cache of Fish

Chapter 5

Soon winter was gone and the two old women spent more time hunting game. They feasted on the feisty little squirrels that bolted from tree to tree and on the flocks of willow grouse that seemed to be everywhere. The women made nets and traps to catch muskrats.

The spring days brought little time to talk or reflect on the past as the women kept busy catching muskrats and beavers. They smoke-dried them for preservation. Still, the women felt vulnerable. The area was full of animal life now, and they felt in time other people might come.

They talked about what they should do, and in time they agreed they should move to a place less desirable. A place with lots of mosquitoes. They packed all they had and began the trek to the hiding place.

The two women tried to hide any hints of their presence. They spent the remaining days of spring trying to make their camp more hospitable. They put up their shelters, and dug a whole for their cache of dried meat. The mosquitoes were everywhere! They hung cloth around their faces and covered their skin with muskrat grease to repel the flying pests.

The women made fish traps to catch fish. In time, a bear began helping himself to the fish the women stored. This worried them, but they reached an unusual agreement. They carried the fish guts far from camp where the greedy bear could laze about and eat at his leisure.

Too soon, the women noticed that summer was dwindling. About this time, the salmon began finding their way up the little creek. The bear disappeared from the area. The women were frugal, and they preserved many inside parts of the fish for other uses. Salmon intestines could be used to hold water and the skin was used as bags.

All this work kept them so busy they were up from early morning until late at night, and before they knew it, the short Arctic summer passed, and fall crept upon them. When the season changed, the women retired from fishing and hauled their large supply back to the hidden camp. There they found a new problem.

They had collected so much fish that there was no place to store it. Eventually, the women made standing caches for the fish, and placed bundles of thorns and brush to discourage animals from bothering the fish. Animals kept away.

One day, with summer and hunting finished, Sa wondered what was behind the hill. She took her spear and bow and the arrows, and announced that she would visit the hill. Chi disapproved.

Sa felt light-hearted for the first time in years. The day was beautiful. When she reached the top of the hill, she gasped in surprise. Before her lay patches of cranberries. Sa dropped to her knees and began stuffing them into her mouth. She relished the taste A movement nearby made her freeze instantly. Slowly she looked up but relaxed when she saw it was only a bull moose.

Then she remembered that this time of year a bull moose could be the most fearful animal on four legs. Sa imagined the delectable taste of moose meat during the long winter months ahead. She reached for her bow and arrow. The moose turned and ran. Sa’ followed but it kept running away from her. Finally Sa quit. “If only I were forty years younger, I might have caught him.”

It was late when Sa returned to camp where her friend kept watch by a large campfire. Chi’ had worried about Sa and was relieved to see she was safe. After a few days they went back to the hill to gather cranberries. The nights became chillier, reminding the women that there was no time to waste in gathering their wood supply.

They piled wood high around their cache and shelter. They collected wood until snowflakes started to fall. One morning they woke up to a land covered in snow. They spent more time inside their shelter by the warm fire. Their days seemed easier now that they were prepared.

They had a daily routine of collecting wood, checking rabbit snares, and melting snow for water. Now that they had nothing else to do, they began thinking. They felt it was taboo to think of those who abandoned them but now they could not help it. They tried to keep busy but they felt a great loneliness.