The next morning as the sun rose Anung and Turtle were ready to travel. They walked many miles, resting and telling stories and gathering foodstuffs along the way. They could see the forest was opening ahead of them. They crossed a small ridge and looked down upon two lakes connected by a small river channel.
When they came close to the water they saw Fisher. They watched him run to the shore of the first lake and then pace back and forth, back and forth.
Fisher stopped when he spotted Northern Pike, swimming in the water in the weeds, close to shore.
“Hey you there Northern Pike. Do you know what Walleye is saying about you over there in the next lake? Oh, my, he says Northern Pike is a slimy thing. He says that you have a long ugly nose. Walleye says all the other fish laugh at your long nose and think you are the ugliest fish in all the rivers and lakes.”
Then Fisher ran to the second lake where he found Walleye swimming near the rocky shore.
“Hey there. I was talking to Northern Pike in the next lake. He says Walleye has fat bulging eyes. He says all the other fish think your fat bulging eyes make you the ugliest fish in all the rivers and all the lakes. He says even Walleye think you are ugly and that is why you spend so much time in the deep dark waters.”
Anung and Turtle watched Fisher run from one lake to the next one, telling more lies to Walleye and then telling more lies to Northern Pike. The fish were each getting angrier and angrier. Both of them swam in hard small circles they were so angry.
Fisher told Walleye that Northern Pike wanted to fight him. That Northern Pike was waiting for him in the middle of the channel that connected the two lakes. Then he told Northern Pike that Walleye was waiting there to fight him.
The fish swam to the middle of the channel and as soon as they saw each other they attacked and began to fight. They slashed and bit at each other with their sharp teeth. They were very angry and they fought a long time, biting each other over and over. Soon there was so much blood in the water they were fighting in a red swirling cloud of blood.
Each fish had badly wounded the other but they still fought on and on until they were both so weak they floated to the water’s surface and that was when Fisher hopped down from the rock and jumped into the water and caught the two fish. Each fish was as big as Fisher but they were so weak now he could easily carry them to shore.
Fisher had never seen so much food at one time. He ate and he ate. Each fish was much bigger than any chipmunk or mouse he had ever caught.
Fisher kept eating and eating even as he grew fatter and fatter.
Marten came out from behind the tree. When he saw how fat Fisher had become and how much fish was left he asked Fisher to share it with him but Fisher said no and kept on eating. Marten waited a moment but when Fisher kept on eating he asked again if he would share the remaining fish. Fisher was much bigger than Marten and turned from his catch and tried to drive him away. But because he was so fat he was now very slow. Anung and Turtle watched as Marten showed he was too quick for the fat and sluggish Fisher. He darted around him again and again and was able to steal away all the fish he wanted.
For many days Anung and Turtle traveled deep into the forests. One day when Anung was stalking a grouse to shoot with his sling he heard something behind him but when he turned there was nothing there, just a branch moving as if the wind had been blowing.
But there was no wind. Whatever it was frightened the grouse and it flew safely away.
Every night he found a good place to build his fire and on many nights Turtle would tell him more stories. The night after he heard something following him Anung was lonely for his village and afraid of the night spirits that haunted the deepest forests and he beat his father’s drum to remember the songs his mothers and fathers had taught him. Most nights he was still excited from the day’s journey exploring new lands and he would beat the drum and sing a song of the many new things he had seen. But this night he played his drum to sing the songs that called on the spirits to protect him.
Each morning he and Turtle headed off towards the land of the first sun. Now there were many kinds of nuts though fewer berries along the way. The forests were filled with grouse and when he used his sling to kill one of them, it fed him for two days.
Each night when he settled into his campsite he set snares to catch rabbits.
When his camp was near a river or lake, he made fish traps to catch walleye or perch.
The men of his village had taught him well. And Gitche Manitou was watching over him. So he was not hungry. He was warm at night. But he was never relaxed for now it seemed that nearly every day he heard or felt something back there, back in the forest, following him. Turtle didn’t hear anything, and tried to assure Anung, but Anung had learned that a turtle doesn’t hear very well.
After many days traveling through the forests Anung saw signs that people lived nearby.
He came upon a path that led him through the spruce trees then out of the forest into a field of corn, a field much bigger than any Anung’s village had grown. On the far side of the corn field Anung could see the edge of a village that was much larger than his.
Anung had never seen so many corn plants growing in one place before. So many plants meant there were many mouths to feed. While he could not see all of the village yet what he could see was much larger than any Anishinaabe village he had ever visited. He had been traveling many days and was glad when he thought his journey had ended right there for he believed he would find the greatest chief of all the First Nations people living in such a great village.
As they walked through the cornfields, Turtle told Anung the story of First Corn Plant.
“Corn was proud to be the tallest of the Three Sisters. She was slender but she was strong. The people planted her in the best part of the garden. Corn was happy to look out at the beauty around her. Watching the sunrise and the sun set made her happy. The rainfall made her happy.
“One day she saw two butterflies flying around her. As the butterflies danced their wings brushed against each other. This made Corn sad for she missed being close to a family. As the butterflies flew off she sang her song of loneliness.
“When the sun rose the next morning Corn saw that Squash Maiden had made her way towards her. Squash Maiden had heard Corn’s lonely song and she reached out with her vines and grew close to offer her friendship. Corn said, no Megwetch, we cannot grow together. You may be my Sister, but you wander everywhere while I stand in one place. I grow tall and slender to share the sunlight with my young Corn plants. Your broad leaves will block the sun and my young plants will not grow. You must grow alone.
“Bean heard this and planted herself next to Corn. Her slender vines spread out always reaching for something to lean on. She touched Corn gently and softly wrapped herself around her stalk and leaves. They grew tall together. So they became Sisters and learned they should grow close together this way.”
Anung saw how the people of this great village planted the Three Sisters. They planted their beans with their corn, and their squash grew in a separate field. He saw that the plants were stronger and the ears on the corn plants were bigger than those that grew in the gardens of his village. He saw there were many more beans growing all along the vine. He would remember and would tell the people of his village the story of the Three Sisters when he returned.
Beyond the corn field Anung saw one of the sacred herbs had been planted. It was a patch of Asemaa. There were men of this village working in the field, cutting some of the broad green leaves of the Asemaa plants.
These men appeared very different from the men of Anung’s village. They wore their hair like the men of his village. But where he could see their skin it was covered with colorful pictures. Some of these were pictures of the animals of the forests. Some were designs. The men of his village did not decorate their bodies like this.
When these men spotted Anung they greeted him warmly and waved for him to come forward. The people of this great village were Odawa, brothers of the Anishinaabe, and they could see Anung was Anishinaabe.
Anung did not need Turtle to understand and speak with these men for they shared many words.
Anung told the Odawa men of the vision that drove his journey. He told them he had been traveling many days off the paths and trails of his people for he was looking for the greatest chief of all the First Nations people.
He told the men that to keep his journey on the true direction he had walked through the thickest forests. He had climbed over many dead falls. He had to break through thickets of branches and vines. He swam lakes and rivers.
And he always kept his eyes and ears opened for Windigo.
The men told Anung he was brave to journey through the forests alone. They told him their chief was not the greatest chief of all the people, for some men of their village had visited a greater chief who lived to the East in the land their ancestors lived when they were one people, before they became the Brothers of the Three Fires. But the chief of their village was a good man and he would be honored to meet such a brave boy.
They took Anung to meet their chief. His name was Trout. Anung told Trout of his vision. He showed Trout the stick that bore a notch for each day he had traveled and the stick was covered on all sides. He had begun his journey during the last days of Niibin. Now Dagwaagin was soon to give way to the cold winds and snow of Biboon.
Trout told Anung that living in his village were men who traveled the forests and the waters farther than any other people for the Odawa were the greatest traders of all the First Nations people.
Once the men of this village traveled along The Great River that flowed to the East.
They followed the river to a great salt lake so big the water stretched the sky and the lake and the sky met as far as the eye could see. On the shore of this salt lake the men found a village much larger than any they had seen in their travels. The Odawa traders spoke of the great herds of caribou they found to the North. He told Anung that in this great village his men said there were as many people as there were caribou in the greatest herd.
Their Three Sisters gardens grew all around this great village, and each garden was bigger than the Odawa village.
Each net they used to fish the great salt lake that stretched the sky was longer than all of the Odawa’s nets sewn together.
They carved great canoes from the biggest trunks of the tallest trees.
They had walls made of tall tree trunks all around their village.
Their wigwams within the walls were as long as the course the boys mark when they run their races.
They had storehouses with furs of beaver and mink piled higher than a man could reach.
There were visitors from many tribes in this great village. The Odawa traded with many tribes but at this great village they met men from places they had never visited or even heard stories of before. Many strange languages were heard. Many strange customs of dress were seen.
Trout told Anung that the chief of this village was the greatest chief of all the First Nations people. And that the journey to this village would take so many days that Anung must find himself a new stick to mark the days to come.
All these things Trout told Anung.
That night Anung beat his father’s drum and sang the song that had come with him on his journey. It was the song of his village.
He sang of when he was a boy and how one man made him snowshoes so Anung had a good pair when he was with the men checking their traps. He sang how another taught him how to make snowshoes for himself as a man.
Anung sang about the women of his village who cared for him when he was sick. How each woman of his village always prepared a serving of food for him and only gave it to their children when they knew Anung had been fed at another fire.
All night the Odawa village had a feast for Anung. They cooked their best meats. They sang their most joyful songs to Gitche Manitou. They thanked the Great Spirit for leading Anung to their village. They gave him a song of the Odawa trading routes to take with him on his journey, and they asked the spirits of their ancestors still roaming these forests to guide and protect Anung on his way.
The young men and women danced for many hours around many fires. All the Nokomis danced around the Grandmother fire while the elders beat the drums.
They gave a large leaf of Asemaa to Anung. This was so he might remember to thank Gitche Manitou during his journey. They burned much of the Asemaa they harvested in the fire as their offering and the smoke carried their prayers for Anung’s safe journey to the heavens. They smoked the rest of the Asemaa in their best pipes that they shared with each other.
They filled Anung’s pouch with pemmican and dried meats. They gave him all the good breads he could carry.
Each man of the village came to Anung to tell what he knew about the forests and the waters ahead. There was a treacherous ridgeline with a narrow passage and they told Anung how to navigate it. Then he would pass through the lands of the Wyandotte. They warned Anung that he may not be greeted so warmly there. For the Wyandotte were not brothers of the Odawa or Anishinaabe or Pottawattamie. Some villages act as if they are. But some villages do not.
The next morning when Anung awakened in the Odawa village there was the first freezing touch of Gashkadino-Giizi. Before the sun rose, the work of the people of this Odawa village was to rebuild their fires to feel the warmth and prepare to cook the first meal.
Geese flew over Anung’s head. The aspen leaves were putting on their gold. The cold Keewatin winds would soon surround them.
The Odawa fed Anung. Then they gave him one of their finest possessions, a coat that would keep him warm when the snows fell. It was made from a white buck deerskin. Inside the coat was a full beaver vest.
When Odawa traders traveled to the West where the prairies touched their forests they found Dakota who brought buffalo robes to trade with them. They gave Anung their finest buffalo robe.
Anung was happy to receive these gifts. He put on the coat. He wrapped the buffalo robe in a bundle and carried it on his back. He walked into the forests towards the land of the rising sun.