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Tribal Family Values
from the book: Life Will Get You in the End:
Short stories by David Satterlee
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| Life Will Get You in the End: Short Stories by David Satterlee |
Tribal Family Values
Captain Chan Huy Gan stood before his assembled crew and
spoke to them with conviction and urgency:
“It has been a full season since our sea-barge and its
company of four hundred ran aground on this shore. There is no doubt that we
shall not see our former homes and families again without being discovered by
another expedition, and we know that no other such expedition was planned to
explore these unknown far reaches. Therefore, our ship’s governing council,
with the consensus agreement of our accompanying Scholars, has determined that
we must put all consideration of return behind us. We must commit ourselves to
permanent residence in this place. Further, we must commit, not only to our
continuing security, but to extending our prosperity and our progeny for all
time henceforth in this land.
“We have met with hostility from the native peoples. But our
fortifications hold strong and they will be further strengthened and expanded.
You have submitted well in transforming from a ship’s crew to a community of
farmers, herdsmen, craftsmen, and guardians. Many of you have been humbled to
necessarily forget your royal lineages and government appointments. We have only survived by all willingly doing what is needed, in service to our common good.
necessarily forget your royal lineages and government appointments. We have only survived by all willingly doing what is needed, in service to our common good.
“We bear no ill will to the natives beyond our walls and
protected fields. Yet, they do not approach us kindly and will not tolerate us
to approach them. Sadly, it is only by experiencing the superior strength of
our weapons that they have been persuaded to give us some distance and a
measure of peace. We have not even been able to unravel the mysteries of their
speech. We have taken some from among their raiding parties captive, but they
are proud and strong; they refuse to speak or even eat and, by so doing, they
give themselves up to their gods.
“We continue to give honor and gratitude to our few precious
Scholars who, although being women and our guiding council, have, like every
man of the crew, sacrificed for our company’s survival into the future.
Remembering that they were born as women, they have, each one, consented to lay
aside their veils of mystery, submit to a man among us, bring forth progeny,
nurse, and nurture children. However, it has become obvious that, to increase
our numbers sufficient to survive and prosper into future generations, we
cannot continue to rely upon only these women who traveled with us. We must
also take wives from among our neighbors.
“We shall prepare new homes inside the innermost walls.
These will be comfortable as befits the most honored guests. Necessarily, to
prevent the possibility of these girls giving themselves to their gods, the
homes will be secured. Open central courtyards will be provided for access to
sun, gardens, and if fortune smiles, the raising of children and the
entertaining of friends. As they mature into women, these girls shall discover
that they are honored for their service and welcome as citizens of our
community. They shall receive the better portions of our goods, whatever
education their aspirations allow, and our reciprocal service in caring for
their needs and responsibilities. To the extent possible, we shall embrace them
as our privileged own.
“We will begin immediately to spy-out villages and fields in
our region. Teams will observe the age, health, vigor, and emotional
disposition of girls. They will not select over-many from any single village.
Nor will they select any who are known to already be mated. But, at an
appointed time, as many as possible of these selected will be brought back to
join our community.
“In time, the girls will be introduced to men from among our
crew. Our Scholars will exercise their best judgment in deciding these matings
and their circumstances. All related matters will be at the sole and exclusive
discretion of the Scholars. We intend that the girls will be allowed to select
temporary or permanent mates to the extent that they choose to cooperate. All
crewmen will be expected to comply for the benefit of our community and without
concern for their individual preferences.
“It has been decided.”
Twelve years later, Chief Banimbu stood before his gathered
warriors and spoke to them with conviction and urgency:
“Your tribe needs you and so I have commanded that you
assemble here in advance of an important raid. For years, the intruders on the
coast have taken our land, taken our children, and murdered those of our people
who approached them. Their vile weapons have given them the power to slaughter
our best warriors. We have, in the past, been forced to retreat. Now, we have
an opportunity to take our revenge. You men are the knife edge destined to
spill their blood and reclaim our stolen fields.
“Our spies have weakened one of their walls in a neglected
area and we are ready to break through, catch them unawares, and repay justice
for their evil. We will form into teams, enter their houses by first-moon dark,
and kill them in their beds. May the gods of earth, water, and sky bless your
blades and strengthen your strong right arms.
“I grieve with you for the loss of our kinsmen and the theft
of your daughters. You, Yalkan, gave your firstborn son in an early valiant
raid on their walls. You also had a beautiful daughter taken while harvesting
bushbeets in the eastern fields. I still feel the sting of tears for my beloved
Jasitan, taken in the firstyear raid. I often wake at night, remembering the
way that she would stand and stare with adoration into deep behind my eyes. Not
just me, but so many of you have suffered such losses and endured such painful
memories.
“This outrage is not to be permitted. We must defend our
children and grandchildren against all threats. Why should we give our fertile
lands to loathsome strangers? Why should we allow our daughters to be stolen
and sacrificed to their gods? We see that they do not keep but a very few
women. It is men who work their fields, bending their backs and knees as women
should. It is men who walk their streets.
“Surely the bellies of their gods must cry for the blood of
women. We cannot tolerate the outrage of our daughters being taken as
sacrifices to call forth blessings from their gods. Why, they must surely also
give our daughters to even call forth curses upon us! Raise your voices now and
join as brothers in taking vengeance for the evil done to us these past years.
Raise your swords, for we shall spill their blood to run back into the sea from
which they came! Let none remain; execute justice to the last man, woman, and
child!”
The next evening, Chief Banimbu led his fourty men to the
intruders’ village. They finished boring through the wall and dispersed to do
their work. They walked with stealth and struck with well-planned deftness.
They did not shout out their victories, but kept the silence of unpleasant duty
and honorable labor.
In the third house that Chief Banimbu entered with his team
of four, his lieutenant opened a sleeping chamber door, only to draw back
quickly with a quiet gasp and the glistening of fresh blood on his forearm.
Chief Banimbu could see the form of a women outlined in the door. She wore a
beaded gown with a sash of rank. She brandished a small dagger and stood
protectively in front of a small brood of children. She suddenly froze where
she stood, staring with adoration into deep behind Banimbu’s eyes. The
lieutenant, his surprise and pain turning into anger and outrage, raised his
sword to run her through. The Chief knocked the sword aside and stepped into
the doorway, ready to defend his child and grandchildren against all threats.
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