Ishkoisi - The Red and The White

Ishkoisi was a young woman of eighteen. Standing at five foot ten, she was taller than the other women of the tribe. In her youth, her height was a source of ridicule for the other girls. They'd taunt her and sing "tall legs, tall legs;" fortunately the name never stuck. At times Ishkoisi would run to her grandmother, other times she'd stay and yell at the mean girls. Every time she would cry. She wanted to hit them, to fight like her mother had—a woman warrior, Red Girl they called her, Hommatek—but Ishkoisi's grandmother had taught her the way of peace. She obeyed, but her very nature begged for action.

Eventually they matured, Ishkoisi and the girls, and they became friends. Ishkoisi had become well known for her kindness, joining her grandmother in her peacekeeping (healing disease, settling minds, and maintaining the tribes harmony with The Great Spirit), and offering her help with numerous chores. She was a kind, helpful girl, with a pleasant face and attitude. The other girls warmed to her, and now any remarks about her height are playful, laughed at like a silliness from the past.

One of the hunters, Chatan, a young man of twenty, came to Ishkoisi's grandmother and gave her a blanket handed down in his family. She accepted the gift, acknowledging his request to marry her granddaughter. Normally the man would bring gifts to the mother and father of the woman, but they have passed away, leaving only Nanaiya, the old peacekeeper to look after Ishkoisi. It was also tradition to keep the mother away from her son-in-law, but Nanaiya was a little old lady with a tendency to laugh at the queerest things; she was no threat to Chatan's commitment to Ishkoisi.

Nanaiya told her granddaughter the news: "A young man has asked to marry you—one of the hunters."

Ishkoisi was excited at first, flattered that one would find her a suitable wife—the taunts of her childhood had shaped her confidence, making her feel, if by small degrees, ugly. Her excitement quickly turned to anxiety. She asked her grandmother many questions: "What's he like? Is he nice? How does he look? Should I wear something of mother's? Did he say if he liked me?" Nanaiya laughed and playfully mocked, poking at her worries. Ishkoisi was used to it, but there was fun in whining.

The ceremony was held a day later. Nanaiya advised Ishkoisi to wear her white beaded dress. She did as her grandmother suggested, but she also wore one of her mother's necklaces; not one of the red ones, that would send the wrong message, but instead a shell necklace with blue string.

Ishkoisi twiddled her hair, nervous about the ceremony. She had seen it before, and her grandmother reminded her of the woman's role. Her husband was on the other side, waiting for his time to be released. Ishkoisi would go first, allowing her time to reach the center and pull out a pole. If she did not like the man, she could fight him off. But if she did like him, she would let him take her into his tent, a symbol of their new bond. They'd then rejoin the celebration as one family.

Ishkoisi had seen it several times. Most of the time, the woman accepted the man, but she once saw a woman fail to fight off the man she disliked. They did not have a happy union. Ishkoisi prayed her's would be different; she prayed she would like her husband.