San Francisco State University - Franciscan Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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The girl excused herself and went home all aglow with the glamour of Luster. Surely he would be a remarkable man, and how important 'twoud be to be the mate of a wall scratcher. Truly the world had myriad delights these days. How sad it would have been to be born in grand- mother's time, the time the storyteller always called The Time of Many Travels . In those days the tribe had been able only to hunt and eat and travel wearily from one clump of trees or one river bed to another. When they had found the Plenty River with its abundance of game and friendly hills with some caves already dug, they had settled down for good. Now they had fire and plenty to eat without much effort so they could have excitement and luxuries. Maybe Luster should start by fol- lowin Chut for a while. She should have asked him. If this T 0 9: lf 9 if 5 i l9,.LH gs. U1 is lll f i' The seasons rolled on and the girl Femma became of the age when she could bear young. llfany hunters who had no woman yet looked at her very thoroughly, but she didn't invite them to taste her rabbit stew or anything, as was customary, because she had her eyes full of Luster. He was a little cranky these days as Ohna, with more years on her body now, could not hunt nor work so well. Some days the meal she fixed was little more than a pickmeup and Luster grumbled. Why don't you hunt some for her? Femma asked in her innocence. Luster glared at her. Sometimes I wonder why I bother with you. You have such a tiny understanding of things. First remember l have long fingers and I am a wall scratcher. Yes, she admitted meekly, but -- the tribe didn't vote for you to succeed Chut when he died of the gout. What do I care for that? His wall scratchings were vulgar and done for show. Sometimes he even scratched something others asked to see instead of what he saw himself. .lust for food and skins! Well, but you were just complaining about the food. ' Yes, but don't you see I can't lower myself and wall scratch just for a full belly. I have long fingers. I am Luster. I see visions none else can see as clear, and I share these visions with the whole world. Ilow else could the commoners realize the beauty of life unless they looked upon my wall scratchings? 15

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V....5 F l l r l P l l F r i . F L e , H- ,--v--.-1-.- Luster crawled and teethed and walked and learned to speak as other children do but was never made to perform the Running and Leaping Rites when he was eight nor the Bringing-in-of-the-Squirrel when he was ten nor any of the other usual ceremonies that marked the years of other boys' lives. One day Femma, a little girl from the next cave, came over to Luster and after duly admiring and exclaiming over his long fingers, very crude- ly asked him about this strange breaking of custom. Luster was kind and patient with her ignorance and explained it to her thus, You see, I have long fingers. I know, she agreed, but how can you learn to bring meat for your home or to run from the grizzly if you do not join in the rites. You could be agile like the rest. And Luster flushed as her eyes traveled over his pale smooth body. You are only a girl. What could you know about such things, he reproved, then relenting at her downcast face confided, I have visions more beautiful than any in the tribe can see and I will share them with the world. Oh, Luster, how wonderfull Will you share them by beating the drums for Ceremony Days or are you going to learn to tell the tribal stories? ' Even better, he boasted. A wall scratcher'? Yes, Already I can scratch better bison than Chut does in the big cave. She looked around fearfully. Don't say that out loud. Chut has charms and hunts not for the meat he eats. Why, all he does is wall scratch. - I know. And that's what l'll do too, only better than Chut or his follower or even the redheaded one from the tribe across the river. I never saw any of his scratchings, Femma admitted and Luster patted her hand pityingly. Ohna puffed into the cave then, her back bent with the day's catch. Luster politely moved his feet so she wouldn't trip and watched her unload the rabbits and squirrels she had killed. ff MXJHE I Ng T fx f y,,, . :E ,je Q ,'2 'v'ib XX me , ., W I f ,N elif' :K ' it 1 1' . W f'!Lm.J.+.,gQQ lin! W- X I4

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i I I I F l l Well, that's true of course, but-- Of course it's true. And it's harder work than any hunter does. Sometimes I just lie and think for many settings of the sun to begin to get the scratchings clear in my head. Then there are the technical prob- lems to consider. She was impressed. What's 'technical'7 Well, I know you can't even begin to understand, but it's the way the flint cuts into the rock, the way sometimes a cloud will obscure light so l can't see it right, or perhaps the rock is soft in spots spoils the whole outline. ' Oh dear, she sympathized, like when a hunter's bow breaks he loses his game, lt's worse than that. He's only hunting game! But surely it's just as bad for him and what he's trying to do. He must feed his family, mustn't he? CKYGS-if, the and and And you must scratch the wall and if it's spoiled you've lost your game, too, haven't you? Oh, women and their tongues. Yes, in a way I guess you might say it's almost the same thing, but of course the technical end of it is the easiest. And you just showed me how difficult! That's all right. You're not such a bad little Notmotheryetf' Femma flushed and left. In the meantime the tribe that had the redheaded wall scratcher be- gan to kill much game and spoiled the catch of many of the hunters of this tribe. The women made many arrows for their hunters and dug their caves back in deeper. From one Moon Full to the next the two tribes fought and finally the tribe with the redheaded wall scratcher left Plenty River altogether and even the Storyteller couldn't tell where they went because after Plenty River and the Big Plain You Can't See Across, everyone knew the world ended and the whole tribe must have stepped right off into Place Without Sun. ln the ceremony of rejoicing that followed the vanquishing of the other people, this tribe learned of another ceremony to be. Luster, the long fingered one, was taking a mate. It was Femma the girl to whom he had talked so often, and all the other girls envied her and some of the young hunters grumbled a bit among themselves, but of course, they were just jealous of him. The girl was very happyfand ar- ranged the sea-shells on the ledge in her new cave with real pride. I6 Luce ,..,. acetate, as at