Norseman Chief Read Online Free PDF

working with the women.  It was a source of much laughter from the men as they watched me assemble with the bands of females for their daily tasks, but Ahanu commanded it and so it became true.  My fate – I was once again resigned to it.  Etleloo took great happiness in openly scoffing at my predicament.  The women, too, thought the idea strange that a man would be thrust upon their heretofore orderly labors.  Only Kesegowaase and Right Ear seemed to be firmly on my side, not shunning me with the disdain so quickly given by the others.
    The women worked in bands at various tasks important to the village.  I saw early on that they performed their duties in family groups, only coming together among greater, extended families when a task was large enough to benefit the entire tribe.  Much of their duties involved acting as porters, carrying heavy loads of firewood or water-filled buckets all over the village.  So robust were they that their strength and vigor put some of my old Norse comrades to shame.
    A typical day for me began early, before the sun crested the horizon, Hurit calling unpleasant words from outside my mamateek.  In the winter mornings, upon rising with Right Ear at my side and eating the dried leftovers from the previous evening which were kept warm over the dwindling fire, I walked outside as the women prayed to the sun to bring back its bounty in the coming year, reminding me of my youth when my father and I celebrated the Yule and rejoiced at the sun changing its path to portend longer days were in the making.  More than once, I gave a personal prayer to the One God to celebrate the birth of Jesus, who, in a vision, had assured me of my vast progeny one day.  I often huffed at the last thought.  An old, lone Norseman serving with hearty small skraelings, how would I marry?
    At any rate, the men would soon rouse themselves and form two or three hunting parties to head farther inland during the daylight hours in search of game.  I learned that when the summer was upon them they claimed most of their food from the creeks and sea, but risked the forests and hills of the inner country when the waters were ice-filled.  Ahanu, Nootau, and other men of similar age stayed behind along with the boys who had not yet passed the trials.  Kesegowaase was the oldest among those boys.  I was the only man of my age, who was not maimed or disabled in some way, forced to remain close to the village.  I dearly missed the companionship and exhilarating thrills of the hunt each day as I watched Etleloo, Hassun, and Rowtag organize their bands, gathering weapons and small bits of dried meat for the journey.
    Mostly I worked the hides with a group of women.  We had a constant supply from the game the men brought home each day so that there was always a batch in some stage of work.  My chores were mostly spent in silence as the women ignored me even when I attempted to talk with them.  They became more comfortable chatting among themselves, pretending I was not there, to pass the time. 
    One chilly afternoon with bright sunshine reflecting off the crystallized snow heaped around us, Hurit was tugging on a string of tendons from a recent kill to separate it into sinew-thread for sewing aprons, leggings, and other articles.  I scraped the hair off a hide that was a day or two old and asked, “Do you think I could buy some of the hides from your people to make parchment?”
    It was not a particularly interesting question, but I remember it vividly because for some reason Hurit chose to respond, despite showing total indifference to all my previous attempts at conversation.  “I am not sure it matters what I think.  My opinions are not valued.”  She kept her strong fingers busy, her eyes fixed on the work.
    I sat back on my haunches, straightening my cracking back while exhaling audibly, taking the woman in.  The love or lust I felt when I lay near death under her care had faded due to her distaste for me,