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Chapter One
Two rebelsIn ancient times, in a land where the sun shone day and night in summer, then disqtpeared for much of the deathly cold winter, lived the Gwich'in. These Indians inhabited the flatlands surrounding the mighty river they called the Yuukon, south of the long stretch of mountains that spread from one end of the country to the other. To the north, beyond these peaks, along the coast of the northern sea, lived the Ch'eekwaii, the Eskimos who were their enemies.
Both peoples hunted the caribou that migrated in great herds across the vast landscape, every year traveling through the mountains from their wintering place to their calving grounds along the coast. Sometimes, in following these animals, the Ch'eekwaii and the Gwich'in crossed into one another's hunting grounds, violating boundaries they had been taught to respect. Eventually repeated trespassing and bloody reprisals created hatred between the two peoples.
In these times, in different bands ofthe Gwich'in, lived two Indian children, a boy and a girl, two rebels who went beyond the ordinary.
The boy was a handsome child, his long black hair braided around a face softened by youth. Except for his average height and lean, muscular body, he had little in common with his peers. Gwich'in boys were taught to enjoy hunting and competition, for they would be the strength of their people when they became men. Yet this boy was not interested in hunting, wrestling, or running games. He was a loner.
He was named Daagoo, in honor of a bird, the ptarmigan. The Gwich'in people revered the animals that roamed the land, and they wanted their children to emulatethe strength and skills of the animals they admired, such as the ptarmigan. To help their children become surefooted like the bird, many parents wove porcupine quills, naturally dyed with plants, into patterns of small ptarmigan feet on their children's moccasins.
Daagoo's parents went one step further by giving their son a name that meant ptarmigan. In time the boy became not only sure on foot, but as flighty as the bird itself, always running off to explore the lakes, sloughs, creeks, and rivers scattered throughout the flatlands.
When in camp, the curious boy spent his time asking many troublesome questions. One particular question brought amusement to the faces of many elders. Daagoo wanted to know what happened to the sun in winter, when it seemed to retreat into the south, rising less high in the sky each day until it disappeared below the horizon.
To satisfy the child, the elders told him about the Land of the Sun, a warm country to the south where the sun shone all year long. It was said that a group of Gwich'in people had journeyed there many years ago. Some of them reached the Land of the Sun, while others turned back, afraid of entering unknown territory.
One elderly man said that his great-grandfather had been one of those who returned to the north. The elder described the ancient route to the Land of the Sun, passed on to him by his great-grandfather, and drew a map for little Ptarmigan in the dirt. Delighted, Daagoo copied the map onto a piece of tanned moose skin that his mother had given to him.
When Daagoo questioned other adults about this fabled land, or showed them his map, often they only frowned at him, for most people did not take such legends seriously. But Daagoo had complete faith in the legend. One day, the small boy vowed to himself, he would find the Land of the Sun.
Many miles from the places where Daagoo's band camped, there roamed another Gwich'in band, in which there lived a young girl. She was named Jutthunvaa' after the jewelry she wore. Ever since Jutthunvaa' was an infant, her mother, Na' Zhuu, had made jewelry for her, fashioning beads from the shin bone of the moose, dyeing them, and stringing them together into necklaces and bracelets to ornament her only daughter.
Despite all Na' Zhuu's efforts to make her daughter look beautiful and feminine, Jutthunvaa' was more influenced by her father and three older brothers. Her father, Zhoh, trained his children to make and use their own weapons. All Gwich'in men were expected to give such training to their sons, but no one was expected to train a daughter this way. In these times boys were trained to hunt and scout for animals, while girls were taught to cook, raise children, tan skins, sew, and gather edible plants and medicinal herbs. But Zhoh was proud of his daughter's interest in the things that he and his sons did, so he encouraged her to learn how to run and hunt.
The young girl was an eager student. She even learned to imitate perfectly the calls of the birds that flew through the flatlands -- a skill which hunters prized highly, for they used birdcalls to signal to one another without frightening away the animals nearby. In time Na' Zhuu stopped trying to teach Jutthunvad how to cook and sew, surrendering her daughter to be trained by the men of the family. She no longer protested when Zhoh and his sons called Jutthunvaa' by their nickname for her, Bird Girl.
As the years passed, the daughter of Zhoh and Na' Zhuu grew into a beautiful young woman. Bird Girl became a skilled hunter, able to run long distances and swim the swiftest rivers. She raced and wrestled with the boys in the camp, often beating them at their games. Her family watched her grow strong and skillful, feeling pride and admiration for the girl. Yet other members of the band began to frown.
In the camp where Daagoo lived, the men also frowned. They were losing patience with this boy who was always wandering away, exploring, instead of hunting or scouting for animals. His lack of interest showed blatant disrespect. Daagoo's father, Ch'izhin Choo, bore most of the men's criticism.
"He is your son and your responsibility," he was told.
Ch'izhin Choo had no answer to their complaints. He admitted that he and his wife had allowed their son to have his own way too long. Now that Daagoo was becoming a man, Ch'izhin Choo knew it would be hard to change him.
Daagoo did not mean to be a bad son. He loved his parents and tried to please them. Sometimes he hunted small animals, such as porcupines or ground squirrels, which were Gwich'in delicacies, and gave them to his mother as gifts.
Still, there was a part' of Daagoo that he could not deny. He had an insatiable wanderlust. Often he worried his parents by roaming the land and not returning for days.
