Routines

Now that we’ve been settled in once place for a little while, and the immediate problems of establishing a semi-permanent home have been dealt with, I’ve noticed the days have developed into a fairly regular routine.

Every third day or so the hunters will hone their atlatl arrows and head out for the day. Those able-bodied adults left will go out to gather the more time-consuming and energy intensive plant foods; those that require a lot of digging or climbing. “Hunting days” are when Kohric gives the youngsters, and me, our lessons. We spend the majority of the day learning together, and then I spend a little extra time with Kohric after, and he goes over whatever vocabulary, social rules, etc with me that I have questions about.

The day after a hunting day is very busy for everyone. The previous day’s kills are cleaned and skinned. All the meat that isn’t set aside for the evening meal is smoked or set out to dry. Any plant food that is able to be preserved is set out to dry too, or is roasted, smoked, or covered in a thick, waxy, salty crust to preserve it. It’s all a lot of work, and there isn’t time for our lessons with Kohric. Every able hand is needed. The kids act as guards, keeping animals away from the drying foodstuffs. I’ve been helping them, mostly spending my time with Eyani and Oshtik, though Nandi has been showing me some of how to preserve the plants too. No one seems to want me handling the meat. I think maybe they think it’ll poison me just to touch it. It’s kind of cute.

The third day of the routine is a kind of “domestic stuff” day. There’s enough food that only a few groups go out to gather fresh crops. Everyone else is busy working at all the other chores that don’t revolve around immediate biological needs; weaving (cloth as well as baskets), stretching, tanning, and sewing animals skins into useful objects. Some make jewelry and other adornments. Wood is harvested and carved into atlatl arrows, tools, bowls, and some is set aside for firewood.

And then the next day the whole cycle starts again. It’s actually somewhat soothing to have a regular routine to count on. Everything’s been so haphazard since I’ve been here. I was beginning to think the Azu-nah were completely random with how they chose to go about their lives. I’m not a fan of working from dawn to dusk, but it certainly keeps me occupied. The Azu-nah sing while they work, and I’ve been able to transcribe a few of their most common songs. And what’s really great is that I’m getting to slowly know the whole clan. They can’t swarm me as much with their insistent questions like they used to. I can have things at my own pace, which is a big help.

The best thing about the new routine is the evenings, though. It’s slowly starting to get dark earlier, which means folks are still up and awake when it’s too dark to do much work. So the evenings are filled with stories around the fire. Some days it’s a retelling of the day’s hunt, or an anecdote of how someone saw an interesting animal behavior, or a funny story of someone being silly or foolish. But my favorite are the nights when they tell their cultural stories.

Eyani and Oshtik will pile up against either side of me, and we’ll listen to the Azu-nah myths and fables. One individual is by far my favorite storyteller; a dark, shadowy-colored male named Eraan. He even outdoes Kohric (nothing against Kohric, but Eraan just breathes such life into his tales).



He’s even telling a story tonight about how Yusa, the first female Azu, played a trick on Redeka-spirit, which somehow explains why Azus only have three hind toes. It’s apparently Oshtik’s favorite.

I can’t wait.

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This week's cameo is Eraan, submitted by Zelandeth! Thank you for giving him such a fun character!