[center][h2][color=#D3D3D3]Philip Beaulieu[/color]
[color=#778899]Time: One Week[/color]
[color=#808080]Location: Long Lakes Region[/color][/h2][/center]
Philip slept in the same long house that was home to the three brothers, including their mother, Dehhewämis and father, Chogan. The parents appeared to be about the same age as him. Philip learned that the Great Hill People employed a matriarchical society which rested much responsibility upon the women in the tribe. The voice of the women in the village decided many societal outcomes and who would be the tribe’s chief or who they called Hoyenah (chief). It was the values and mores of the mothers who made decisions to affect the direction the village took. Dehhewämis was considered a high ranking member of their culture, their society. She carried the vocal majority in electing Sagoyewatha to this position in their village. Sagoyewatha’s oratorical skills and understanding of people; human behavior set him above the rest.

A young man ran into the camp yelling, “Bears along the lake! Bears along the lake!” the men of the village began scrambling out of their houses, fully dressed gathering their bows and a collection of arrows. Two days ago, Koyengquahtah showed Philip how to craft his own bow and a collection of arrows. He had been warned that a hunt was expected soon. The word that bears were present in the area was enough to get the men of the tribe moving south towards their location.

He learned that every morning, young men of the tribe wake up early and search the migratory paths of the animals they hunt for food or use in some manner. It was on such a morning that he was found near [i]Ganeasos[/i] or Berry Place. It was these same berries he woke up amongst a week ago that attracted the bears to the area. It was a place so often members of the tribe will reconnoiter to look for game to hunt. With word that bears were in the area, a hunting party was hastily formed to bring back food. Philip saw this as an opportunity to assist the people by participating in the hunt. He had acquired a penchant for the bow in his past life, but this new crudely made bow was nothing compared to the compound bow he used back home. He appreciated the elegance of this recurve bow just the same.

The hunting party scrambled through the undergrowth hunched over ready to shoot. Philip hung back behind the brothers watching how they moved. They were fluid, moving with grace. All three were right handed and kept their bows in their left, offhand along with one to three arrows. They kept their right hand empty in case they needed to use it for something else.

In what may have been twenty minutes, the party of eighteen men froze in their tracks. Philip imitated their behavior. He was reminded of his time spent in the army, only the uniform and equipment were much different. This group of natives functioned similar to a squad or platoon of US Army Rangers in a tactical setting.

The group stopped and stared straight ahead. At roughly two hundred meters a group of three black bears could be seen mauling over berry bushes. Everyone nocked one arrow and slowly moved forward. The group spread out in a staggered line with roughly ten meters between each individual. There may have been shooters in the group that could [i]hit[/i] the bear at this distance, but everyone knew it would have significantly greater impact if they got in closer. They also knew the bear could sustain more punishment than one arrow. It was imperative that the bear be hit by multiple arrows to bring it down.

The mother bear stood on her hind legs at just under six feet. She was an impressive beast. She smelled something in the air but could not perceive a threat. Her offspring were about half her size and continued eating the berries. The Great Hill People knew to take only the mother and let the younger bears grow larger. The mother would provide meat for at least a week for the entire village. Her fur would be used as a cloak, blanket or rug by someone. Her bones would be used for various tools the tribe used in their daily life. There was no part of the great animal that would go to waste.

As the three brothers and Philip neared the bear, the group got within fifty yards. The men furthest from the bear continued to advance forming a semi-circle with everyone facing in towards their target. Once the group was in place, Koyengquahtah pulled back on the nocked arrow to his cheek. Philip did the same. When he felt he had a good hold on the arrow, he tightened his shoulder blade muscles and released the string. He watched sadly as the shaft flew about twenty feet in front of him and landed in the soil. Fortunately for the rest of the group who were far more experienced with such a weapon, no fewer than ten arrows struck the bear on the first volley. She screeched and charged towards one of the warriors. The rest of the group notched a second arrow and took shots. At least three volleys went out before she fell to the ground sliding into the feet of a young man who could have been in his late twenties. The bear had taken twenty five arrows to its body before she fell.

Now came the task to move the bear back to the village. The bear’s children ran off to the south heading away from the site where their mother had passed. When Philip arrived at the bear, he noticed she was still breathing. Koyengquahtah knelt at her, pressed a hand on her chest and muttered a prayer. Then he took his blade made from a thin firm rock and thrust it into her chest piercing the dying animal’s heart. He waited several seconds or a minute for the animal to go limp.

The group was good about assigning tasks. One group lashed branches together to make a litter to be dragged across the ground. Another group scattered around to gather berries from the bushes. The brothers cut into the bear’s hide at the genitals and tore the flesh up to the chest. One of the brothers had a satchel made from deer hide. They gathered all the intestines from inside the bear collecting them inside the satchel. The liver, heart, kidneys and intestines would all be used by the people. It was a bloody mess, but Philip knew it needed to be done.

“Philip, you will drag the litter,” Koyengquahtah looked at the Massachuset man and spoke seriously. Philip saw this as something more than a request.

“Yes sir!” Philip snapped out in reflex, unplanned. With the bear lashed down upon the sticks, he put the ends of the branches upon his shoulders and began to drag the corpse out of the woods. It was heavy, well over a hundred pounds, closer to two hundred. He knew this would be a chore.

As they moved through the brush, the youngest brother, Otetiani sidled up next to Philip and whispered, “Nice shot,” with a wry smile. Otetiani grew comfortable with giving barbs to Philip whenever he could. He did so in a playful way. It was his way of accepting the stranger into the group.

“Thanks,” Philip responded in a muttered exhausted voice.

“I hope we are not working the King too hard?” Donehogawa asked sardonically revealing an undertone of resentment for his presence. He slapped the Massachuset man in the back of the head, “Work harder!” 

Philip chose not to respond, to show no reaction to the young man’s words and slap. He knew anyone of them would do this task without complaint and felt he had to do the same. It was a rite of passage he would need to perform to be accepted. He felt slightly humiliated by the hit but felt he needed to take it. Now was not the time to challenge the man. Besides, as he looked at the rest of the hunting party, he realized he was the oldest among them. Everyone that came out to hunt appeared to be between fifteen and thirty years of age.