The Land We Dreamed: Poems

The First Hunters

3 The First Hunters Where they lived it was cold. There were storms. All was frozen. Even the sea had a mighty desire to freeze. They dreamed of milder lands full of great elk and herds of the giant buffalo. Generations went east, they went south over the snowy plain, over the frozen sea, over the hard slippery water. Of these people the freest were the hunters, the purest were the hunters. They did not build houses together. They followed the animals. They found the mighty path made by elk larger 4 than four deer. They found the path beaten down by great buffalo whose horns grew from their mouths, long curving moons. The hunters followed this road south, stopping at salt places where all the animals came and the hunting was always good. They followed the trail and hunted the salt springs until they came to a beautiful river. Crossing the river they found a place with great trees shading rolling hills of grass and tall stands of cane. The animals had never been hunted. The animals were many. 5 Buffalo traveled in large herds. It was easy to kill them for meat and robes. Deer started but did not run far. Bears grumbled and stood up like men to stare. The hunting was good. The living was good. The sun always shone. The deer and buffalo loved the clacking cane. The people were happy. The children’s bellies were always full. The women smiled. The hunters talked among themselves. They smoked and talked some more. They poked at the fire with sticks. Let us stop here, they said. Let us live here, near the animals. This 6 is the land we dreamed. This is the land Manito made for us. ...