Barking dogs chased giggling children in endless circles around Golden Fox as the band waited for Dances In Storms’ people. Earlier, the Holy Woman had led Eagle Thunder out to meet her people. Led by Stands His Ground, seven warriors—Blazing Fire among them—and five hunters rode with Grandfather to welcome the new people.

Eagle Thunder carried his Pipe of Truth wrapped in a well-crafted deer skin, which was then placed in a humpback hide pouch to better protect it.

Golden Fox had sat next to Grandfather three cold seasons ago, when he made his new humpback hide pouch. A person should always be the one to make their own sacred things, so the Spirits would know that the person honored the Spirit Land. If a person was too lazy to make their own sacred objects, the Spirits found no honor when that person called upon them.

The bowl of the clay pipe—representing the woman Spirit, also made by her grandfather—separated from the stem that represented the man Spirit. Together, they became whole.

When she first learned about the importance of the pipe, it puzzled Golden Fox. She had gone to her mother. “If we must have a woman Spirit and a man Spirit together to be a whole, how can Fire Starter and Deer Stalker become mates? They are both men.”

Sky Bird had handed her a partially woven basket to work on while they talked. “Not a woman and a man, Daughter. A woman Spirit and a man Spirit. Fire Starter and Deer Stalker are Two-Spirit people. Inside each of them live both the woman Spirit and the man Spirit. They do not need to join with another to be whole. This can happen also with a woman. She can have both the woman Spirit and the man Spirit living inside her. This is why many Two-Spirit people become Holy People or healers.”

Golden Fox shook away the thoughts and took a quick look up at the cerulean sky. Puffy clouds drifted across Father Sun’s face and dappled the land below, as strangers topped the small rise close to camp and stopped.

Sister Wind carried Eagle Thunder’s greeting to Golden Fox’s sharp ears. “I, Eagle Thunder, an elder of my people, greet you, people of Dances in Storms.”

A respected elder woman—easily identified by the ceremonial clothes she wore—rode forward on a white mustang splashed with black and brown splotches. In spite of the distance, her strong voice reached Golden Fox. “I, Floating Cloud, greet you, Eagle Thunder. I am the elder of this band of Sister Wolf People.”

Eagle Thunder and Floating Cloud slid from their mustangs and met between their people. Dances In Storms stood next to Floating Cloud, and Sun Rising stood beside Eagle Thunder. Her grandfather offered the pipe to Floating Cloud.

The elder woman smoked, and then handed it to her people’s Holy Woman, Dances In Storms.

After smoking, the Holy Woman handed the Pipe to Sun Rising.

When the Pipe returned to Eagle Thunder, with great ceremony he put it back into the pouch. After he had put the Pipe away, two young men walked forward and stood one on either side of Floating Cloud.

The elder tugged the men’s tunics. “My grandsons have come to watch over me. They fear their old grandmother cannot take care of herself. Ha!” The elder threw her head back and laughed loudly.

“Your people have traveled a long ways. My people would be honored if you rested beside our fires and ate from our pots.” Eagle Thunder swept his arm toward the camp.

Floating Cloud dipped her head. “My people thank you for your kindness. We would be honored to rest and to eat with your people.”

Eagle Thunder waited politely until the elder woman had mounted her mustang, then hopped upon Swift Arrow. In grave procession, he and his people led the strangers into camp, and the gathered band parted to let them pass. At the center fire circle, Eagle Thunder halted his mustang and slid off. Floating Cloud joined him, and they handed their mustangs to the eager hands of young boys and girls.

Eagle Thunder turned toward those gathered behind them. “Please, let my people lead you to their fires.”

As the throng of people broke apart, with small clumps drifting to the scattered fire circles, Eagle Thunder motioned toward two thick robes lying close to the fire circle. “Please, be seated and let my daughter and my granddaughter serve you.”

Floating Cloud lowered herself from her animal to the robes, and Dances In Storms settled next to the elder woman.

Across the fire circle, Eagle Thunder sat cross-legged on robes with Sun Rising beside him.

Golden Fox hurried to dip bowls of warm meat and tubers for their guests.

As Floating Cloud accepted the bowl, she smiled at the girl. “Thank you, Child.” The elder woman did not glance twice at her yellow hair.

Golden Fox blushed and dipped her head as she handed a bowl to Dances In Storms, and Sky Bird served Eagle Thunder and Sun Rising.

The elders talked long past when Father Sun ducked behind the edge of the land.

The two elk Stands His Ground had brought for this gathering, and the deer his sister had felled, would have been meager food for such a crowd if the strangers had not brought much meat, tubers, and greens. Everywhere Golden Fox looked, people stood or sat near the cooking fires, laughing and eating. The strangers mixed with her people as if they were relatives come together after a long season apart.

***

Golden Fox sank down next to her mother. It had been a long day. She closed her eyes and let her tired body sag.

Eighteen warriors, and fourteen women with twelve children....

If Dances In Storms people and their people joined together, no one hunting them would dare come near.

She opened her eyes and stared across the camp. People still gathered around the dying cooking fires, and a few children laughed and chased each other while the dogs ran after them. The youngest ones collapsed here and there, safe in the camp.

No one had said anything bad within her hearing, but she had seen the strange looks Dances In Storms’ people shot her way. “Mother?”

“Hmm?” Sky Bird dropped her eyes from looking at Sister Moon. The lines around her mouth had smoothed out.

“What will the new people do?” She picked up a twig and made scratches on the ground as a knot in her belly grew hard with worry.

“Do?” Her mother laid an arm across Golden Fox’s shoulder. “Tonight, our people will show them places to lay their sleeping robes, and tomorrow, the women will gather at the cooking fires and talk about food and babies and the sick ones. They will do what our people do, Golden Fox. They are not so different from us.”

Golden Fox’s face drew tight. She sucked her lower lip between her teeth, worrying at it until a drop of blood touched her tongue. “They see you and I are not full-bloods.”

Sky Bird pulled her close and laid her cheek against Golden Fox’s. “Do not worry, Daughter. What happened in the Sun People band will not happen with our new band.”

She jerked away from her mother. “How can you know this? All of my life I lived with the Sun People, yet many of the boys that teased other girls would not look at me. Their mothers frowned when I sat at their cooking fires and spoke with their daughters. You say these people are not so different than us. If that is true, perhaps they will turn away when they see my ugly gold-red hair and strange green eyes.”

“Dances In Storms and Long Sun have not given you bad looks. And, no woman I worked with at the cooking fires curled her lip at my grey eyes and my hair that is the color of our Mother when she is wet. Yellow Moon had long been jealous of me, and her hate poisoned others against me and against you. She is no longer among us. Even her one brother who is with us smiles as he passes by.” Sky Bird’s hands twisted together like a ball of snakes that had been disturbed in their nest. “I am sorry that her words made your life hard. You must not let the words of Yellow Moon, and the cruel ones among the Sun People, put you on a path that takes you away from others.”

“I feel as if I belong only when I am with Dog and the mustangs, or I am away from camp and listening to the wild ones.” The confession felt bitter in Golden Fox’s mouth.

“Stop it!” Her mother twisted around, grabbed her shoulders, and shook her hard. “You belong here! You belong with Father and me, and we belong to a line of ancestors that began when the Great Mystery put our people on our Mother!” She sucked in a deep breath and let it whoosh out of her. “When a person is jealous, when they envy another, a poison as strong as the poisoned water flows in their bodies.”

Her mother dropped her hands from Golden Fox’s shoulders, and her fingers rested on Golden Fox’s arms. “I did not ask to be the one who dreamed. From the first dream when I had just become a woman, Yellow Moon envied me. I do not know what Power the Great Mystery gave Yellow Moon—I do not think Yellow Moon ever knew what her Power was, because she was too busy wanting the Power that Great Mystery placed on me. Look at me, Daughter!”

When Golden Fox met her mother’s grey eyes, they glittered with Power. She had never seen such a look on her mother’s face.

“When I was as many summers as you are, I too wanted to hide, to be like the other girls in the band with their dark brown eyes and long, raven black hair. None of them dreamed. I felt strange, different, and like you, that I never fully belonged with the Sun People. But when you are born to a People and you grow up among them, you know nothing else. It is normal to want to belong.”

She looked away as she confessed to Golden Fox. “Yellow Moon was born only five cycles of seasons before me. She ran with girls who laughed at me. One day, Yellow Moon’s friends circled around me and hit me, pulled my hair, and pushed me to the ground and kicked me. I went home with tears streaking my face and bloodied arms and knees. I cried to my mother—your grandmother—and said I wanted to go away to some place where no people lived. I begged her to tell me why the Great Mystery made me different from all of our people.”

Silence fell over Sky Bird for so long that Golden Fox picked up her mother’s hand and cradled it between her own. When she spoke to her mother, the words whispered between them. “What did Grandmother tell you?”

“These are the words your grandmother spoke to me....” Sky Bird’s voice fell into a near whisper.

For a short span, Golden Fox’s heart rejoiced. It was her grandmother’s voice she heard coming from Sky Bird’s lips. In the bones of her mother’s face, she could see her grandmother’s face. Why had she never noticed this before? Sky Bird’s words pulled Golden Fox back to the night and her mother.

“You cannot hide from what you are, from who you are. There will be those who see your worth, and there will be those whose eyes are blind. Forgive them their blindness, but do not let them shape your life. They are a sad people who shoot arrows of envy because they refuse to honor the gifts the Great Mystery gives to each of us. Instead, they hunger for gifts they do not have. Their lives are small. Do not let your life be small.” A grin broke across Sky Bird’s face. “And, she had Blazing Fire teach me to fight.”

Her mother leaned forward and kissed Golden Fox’s cheek. “Some moons back, before our band became broken, I dreamed.” Her eyes seemed to drift inward. “I dreamed of new Peoples, a new land, and much love and laughter. I dreamed that I lived among a People who looked at my grey eyes and hair the color of wet dirt as beautiful, not so strange. I had this dream as a child, but no Peoples like this came to our band. After a time, I accepted that it was not a true dream, but a child’s wish. Now, I believe I saw Dances In Storms’ people.”

When Golden Fox stood up, her mother said, “Do not turn away from those who would care for you because of a past wound.”