Two Old Women

After crossing the river, the two women barely have enough energy to set up camp for the night. They scrape together the essentials and “slip […] mindlessly off to sleep” (41). Because they fell asleep “leaning against one another” in a sitting position, it is especially hard for them to get up the next morning. Sa’ tries to get up but Ch’idzigyaak feels overwhelmed by the effort it will require. Sa’ finds that her body has grown so stiff that she cannot move, and she involuntarily cries out in pain. When Ch’idzigyaak hears her friend cry out, she feels numb and starts to forget her will to live. Sa’ forces herself to move despite increasing pain, while Ch’idzigyaak pretends she is asleep and starts to plan to die there. She is forced to get up when she needs to urinate. 

Sa’ makes them a “tasty broth” (43) and insists they keep moving; Ch’idzigyaak “reluctantly agree(s)” (45). They trudge on, “thin” (45) and desperately in search of food again. Six days into their journey, Sa’ spots the creek they have been looking for. Ch’idzigyaak remains skeptical, but Sa’ insists they move forward. Despite increasingly unsafe conditions, they plod on until Ch’idzigyaak spots their former campsite that night, recognizing it from the “fishracks we hung so long ago” (47). Sa’ feels like they are “coming home” (47). 

At first, the women feel “bitter” (49) as they compare their happy memories of the campsite with their current destitution. Sa’ says they need to ignore this for now and set up camp. They do so and end up creating a “warm and glowing” (50) residence. They begin to prepare for the worst of winter by setting up traps and insulating their shelter. That night, they “feast” (50) on the “last of their food” (50). Having been “neighbors” (50) who made nothing more than small talk in the past, the women “did not know how to converse” (51) and instead fall prey to their own thoughts. 

Ch’idzigyaak immediately thinks of her progeny and mulls over their betrayal again. She wonders how Sa’ can remain so tough in the face of such merciless adversity. Ch’idzigyaak then reveals that as a child, her family had abandoned her deaf and blind grandmother. She explains that the men in her family protested on her behalf, but it was no use, people were too hungry to care about someone who could make no physical contribution to the community. She then explains how her mother warned her about cannibalism, causing her to constantly fear being eaten. She tells Sa’ that her family covered her grandmother in blankets and then left her to die; she was crying as they walked away. As an adult, Ch’idzigyaak says she learned that her male relatives had gone back and killed her grandmother so she would not have to suffer. Sa’ then discusses her childhood, which was spent completely in the company of her brother. Despite her mother’s discontent and the surrounding community’s disgust, Sa’ refused to marry or partake in other activities typically assigned to women in their community. She explains that she contributed as much physical labor as any man but was still looked down upon. She tells Ch’idzigyaak that one particularly dreadful winter, the chief of her tribe decided they needed to leave one of the elders behind to die, so that the rest of the group could go in search of caribou. Sa’ protested, accusing the tribe of being inhumane. The chief of her tribe responded that if she was so concerned with the old woman’s well-being, then she would also be left behind. She was then shunned by the whole tribe except for her family, and even they barely associated with her. The tribe left, and despite her best attempts, the old woman died under her care. Alone with little hope, Sa’ talked to herself all the time. She then ran into a man who also had been deserted by his tribe, although in his case it was because he tried to steal someone else’s woman. They became friends and eventually lovers, later joining a new tribe. He was eventually killed trying to fight a bear. 

When Ch’idzigyaak realizes how sad Sa’ is, she tells her that she is actually lucky because at least she had a chance to cohabitate with someone she loved, whereas Ch’idzigyaak was forced into a relationship with a much older man. Sa’ responds by saying that her fate would have been similar if she had been allowed to stay with the tribe. They then reflect on their current condition and fall asleep. The women become more and more depressed as the winter drags on and they are forced to stagnate in place. They begin to catch a few more rabbits and are able to spend more time hunting in general now that they have a solid shelter. They make presents for each other out of the rabbit fur, and spring slowly starts to come along. Eventually, Ch’idzigyaak catches a grouse. The women’s spirits start to lift as the cold weather starts to disappear.