Hunt

Hunt

by Sirrocco

Background: The land of Waugansuksi in the late 1800s stretches along the furthest northeast coastline of Lake Michigan. It is a conglomeration of towns, small villages, and an incredible wilderness. The people, too, are a combination. These are the Odawas and the European Americans making inroads onto Native land. Monsters, human and otherwise, share the land with them. There is little enough American law in this remote area of Northern Michigan. What there is cannot cope with what they cannot see. The ancient Odawa, however, have their own way of dealing with the evil around them. The Bear Clan is responsible for the healing duties of the People. Their dual role is policing the tribe. Quaquay is an enigma even to her own People. She is born at a time that is doubly fortuitous. Donet's comet is visible in the sky while an eclipse is taking place. The ground of her birth, and her mother's death, is sacred to the People. The child, Maconse, is destined to be the greatest policewoman of her Clan. To do so, she must fight the specter of a great Manitou who enters her dream world and haunts her life. Each Clan uses its gifts to train the girl for the battle that must come between the woman and the spirit. The death of Maconse in this battle gives birth to Quaquay, the greatest of the Bear Clan's police force. It also brings a way for the culture of the People to survive the destructive American forces pressing against it. White on the outside, Red on the inside, the culture hides beneath the façade of 'civilization'. Quaquay lives within the disguise of meek Mary Martha Small Bear, the care taker of the rectory and the Catholic Priest who lives there. Using both sides of this duality, the powerful young policewoman haunts and hunts the forest, bringing the monsters within the land to justice. Few people know that Quaquay exists. Fewer still know who she is. Her loving father and the sister-wife of her mother raised her and know her. Their choice in the battle to save their way of life is to flee to Manitoulin Island. Her beloved husband knows her and supports her, but he, too, has chosen a different path of survival.


About Author:

"A story has come to visit you." I read this sentence in a book written by Lynn Andrews and took it into my heart. Many stories visit me. This is because I am a grandmother, a mother, a wife, a sister, a friend, a storyteller, a teacher, and an Elder in my community. One of my greatest passions and joys is to pass these stories on in whatever shape they, or I, happen to take. Some of these visitors in my life come from my ancestors and the genealogical research I do. It takes a lot of shovelling to pick those gems out and paste them on a chart, but the faces of my future make the effort worthwhile. Some of my guests refuse to stay put, and fly out at every opportunity to entertain, amuse, and teach the world of people around me. Some of the callers simply sit with my spirit for awhile and let me dream with them until I am refreshed. Stories are my life. The most intimate of them come from my heart and the imagination it fuels. These chatter in many different tongues: action, adventure, comedy, erotica, fantasy, historical, horror, poetry, and some friends who bring less fluent communication. The art of writing and drawing both wanted a chance at telling these stories. At ten years old, writing won. "Song of Flame" is one of dozens of books I have written down. It is one of three that has been published. I live in a small town---a small town. This is why I choose to use a pen name: women with my social responsibilities do not write books like "Song of Flame". Or read them.