The Nomadic Alternative – Page 129

the hyphae all fallen off - Fungus rotting on the forest floor
turning to black".

Here is another system for dividing the year, which begins in
the autumn, when the days lengthen and the people need more sleep:

HĀNISLŪS

The leaves of the Southern Beech turn from green to red
(Hānis - beech, lūs - red). The time of otter's returning.

STAIYĀKIN

The time of the first snows. Winter descends from the
mountains to the coast. Birds and mammals are easy to shoot.

LĒMKUNḖYI

The time when the Sun (lḗm) goes West (kunḗyi). The Sun
Man hides under a heap of snow. He gives no hope of his return. The
old men sigh.

HĀKHĒRUM

The time when the bark is loose and the sap rising.

ḈEKĀNA

The canoe building season. The snipe are calling. (The word
for canoe-building comes from the "ḉek ḉek" call of the snipe.
"Ḉek ḉek" also imitates the sound of the bark as the men rip it
from the trunks of trees for canoe-building.)

ĒKNA

Time of the first birds' eggs. A joyful man breaks an egg and
draws a vertical line on his forehead and nose. He runs to the sea
shore to look for the blue sea anemone, Actinaria, herald of spring.

ĀRIAĀRUM

The people watch through the cracks in the hut at the sun,
rising each day higher above the horizon.

KĪSI

Birds' eggs are heavy.

HEX-LAKESDĀRA

The eggs (hex) are empty (lakesdāra - to be empty).

AUIYALEMPI

Young birds (auiya) lie down (lempi) and stretch their
wings in the summer sun.

And the annual cycle begins again.

Religious matters never greatly concerned the Yaghan. The
Supreme Being in the Sky had bestowed his gifts on men and ordained
the movements of the seasons. For this they were thankful. But the
Supreme Being also had a nasty side. When he brought disaster they
howled at him in fury, called him the 'murderer in the heavens' and
paid him out with a counter attack on his animals. Seasonal and