River: Hey Jodi, it’s me Riv.
Jodi: Hey CUZZIN!! U coming to the 49?
River: Yeah, I’m just gonna take some stuff back to Dad’s. I’ll be there. Prolly half an hour.
Jodi: K. Text me when ur close and I’ll come and meet u. Tell your dad you’re just coming over to visit.
River: Kk.
Warm water soaked the facecloth that River ran over her face and neck. She patted her face dry and applied a little makeup. She put on clean panties and a clean bra instead of taking time for a shower. Her hair got tossed into a messy bun. She tucked her favourite red bandana into her back pocket, in case she got all sweaty again. She brushed her teeth and smiled in the mirror.
She heard her mom’s voice. Clean up after yourself, and don’t leave your stuff all over the bathroom sink. River tidied up the bathroom, leaving it just how she found it. Her mom always made her make the bed when they stayed at other people’s houses too. “Leaving a house and not making the bed is poor manners,” her mom always said. “And never arrive empty handed.”
Her mom’s words were always in River’s head. They were starting to haunt her. She knew her mom would be asking 1,492 questions if she could. She would want to know every detail about the powwow, about the 49. River smiled to herself. She loved the fact that there weren’t 1,492 questions to answer. And it wasn’t like her dad would try to stop her. She texted Jodi.
River: Be there in 10 minutes. I’m walking over.
Jodi: YES!!
River wandered to the back of the powwow grounds. She went past the Sundance area and into the bush. Cedar hedges tickled her bare legs as she trailed behind a line of strangers. It was still black fly season, so the mosquitoes weren’t that bad. With one arm raised, shielding her face from branches, River followed the glow of her cell phone as it shone on the pebbled path in front of her. I wish I had my head lamp, she thought. The stroll into the bush reminded her of when she was small. She used to spend hours playing behind the barn and in what seemed to be deep forest to her young self. She would spend hours yapping at the farm animals and making tiny villages beneath the willow trees.
The sound of laughter grew closer. A line of strangers before her paraded between two huge boulders that served as the grand threshold to the 49. When she looked up from the path in front of her, she saw women gathered around a circle of men. Each man held a big drum by the loops on its side with one hand, and pounded it in unison with leather-wrapped drumsticks. The women’s voices were higher than the men’s as they sang a familiar round dance song.
Goosebumps raised under River’s long-sleeved shirt, and her heart fluttered. She felt like she was home, even though she was worlds away from where she grew up. Girls barely old enough to be up past eleven held beer cans in the air as they belted out a Nikki Minaj song. Watching them as they sat on the back of the truck tailgate also reminded her of home.
River wandered around the clearing. She noticed that most of the guys were dressed like rappers, some with coloured bandanas. They were spitting lyrics faster than lightning. When River spotted her cousin, Jodi’s back was turned to her. River snuck up behind her and poked her in the ribs.
“Hey, cuzzziiiin,” River whined in her best rez voice.
Jodi wrapped her arms around her cousin’s neck and smooched her on the cheek. “Look at my gorgeous cousin from Ontario, hangin’ with the real rez girls now. Breakin’ your 49 cherry too. I saw that guy you were looking at today at the powwow. He’s over dere.” She puckered and pointed with her lips.
As they laughed and took selfies, River pulled the red bandana from her back pocket and poured some water over it. She used it to pat her face, then placed it on her ankle where she had been bitten by a mosquito.
The gang of girls cackled. Normally River was shy, but she wasn’t going to waste any time. Jodi would tease her if she didn’t drink. And it was only beer, not like the rum she had been drinking at the bar. After she downed two tall boys within half an hour, she felt like she was letting loose. Her legs were numb and wobbly beneath her. She swayed a little, grinning, hoping no one noticed. The girls around her were giggling, and so was she. But she wasn’t sure they were all laughing at the same thing.
Suddenly shrill calls interrupted her buzz. Even River knew what that was about. A fight.
“Carmen, no-o-o-o! He’s a Northern Rebel!” A girl by the fire was begging her boyfriend to stop fighting.
A sea of ponytails and messy buns swarmed around the brawl. So did cell phone cameras.
“That guy is a Northern Rebel, Jodi?” River slurred.
“Oh my god! Shut up, Riv.” Jodi elbowed River in the ribs and whispered in her ear, “Yes, that’s a street gang here in Winnipeg. Really scary shit. Don’t let anyone hear you talking about them.” Jodi shushed her cousin again, and dragged her by the hand toward the crowd. River grabbed her bandana from her ankle so she wouldn’t lose it as they rushed into the crowd.
Once she was closer, the sound of the two men grunting and the drunken folk encircling them was strange to River’s ears. High school fights didn’t sound like this at all.
“He has a knife!”
Everyone in the circle took one step back.
The guy on top, the Northern Rebel, had a knife to Carmen’s throat. “If I ever see you in town, you’re going to be just another dead Indian,” the Northern Rebel snarled, just loud enough for all to hear.
To River’s fuzzy brain, it was like being in the middle of a news story. She held up her phone and snapped a photo of the two men on the ground. She posted the picture to Instagram. Then she posted a selfie of herself and Jodi.
The Crazy Crees is a REAL THING YO! #farmgirlinthecity #49 #ontherez
Soon after Carmen stumbled away, the crowd broke up. After a few minutes, everyone seemed to settle down. Things went back to the way they were when River had arrived. Her phone chimed several times, but she ignored it. This was her first 49. She didn’t want to have her head in her phone all night.
River spent a few more hours with her cousin and some new friends, drinking and laughing and dancing. She was surprised at how friendly some people were, and how unfriendly others were. Some glared at her with looks of contempt. She didn’t let it bother her too much. She knew she would probably never see any of them again.