Jinshan Bay gathers the rivers in the upper reaches of the east, and the plains along the rivers are suitable places for settlement. Therefore, there are naturally many aboriginal tribes in this vast bay area.
The fleet was stationed at Xishan Port. Only two or three days later, Indian hunters in canoes were watching on the large lake in the east. Zuvalo personally led a longship and tried to contact the tribal hunter who was scouting, but the other party flew away.
"The tribal hunters here are so vigilant..."
Seeing this scene, Zuvalo frowned and pondered in his heart.
"It seems that the tribes in the Golden Bay are fighting each other and will not be so peaceful."
In the next few days, hunters dressed in different costumes appeared carefully from the north and south of the lake. Looking at the fleet from a distance, they obviously belonged to different tribes.
Time was running out, so everyone in the fleet temporarily put aside the surrounding tribes. It was already mid-June, and it was already a bit late to plant corn and beans. Everyone was busy building huts and thatched sheds, reclaiming land along the river, and planting crops on the boat as quickly as possible. Fortunately, potatoes are a cold-resistant crop and can be planted later. As long as sweet potatoes can grow, you will be able to harvest any amount.
After ten days of busy work like this, there were some rudiments of a camp on the shore. Perhaps sensing the fleet's intention to settle down, five tribal hunters finally rowed over from the northern bay in a canoe to meet the landing fleet.
"Ah-hi! Which tribe are you from? What are you doing here?"
A strong Miwok hunter stepped out of the canoe and came to the expedition leader Zuvalo. He wore sea lion skin short-sleeves and trousers, and a straw hat with some gray bird feathers on his head, indicating his identity as a hunter. Among the several hunters who were traveling with him, only he wore an orange fur cloak on his back, which seemed to have some kind of animal vaguely painted on it. The bright color, dyed with flower juice, symbolizes his courage and status in the tribe.
"Aha!"
Under the stuttering explanation of the translator Lu Chong, Zuvalo looked cautious and began his first contact with the Miwok people. "Aha" is a peaceful Miwok greeting, just like "hello".
"We are from the water, from the south, the tribe in the lake! We want to settle here. What about you? Who are you? What tribe do you belong to?"
"From the water? Southern tribe? Hmm..."
Hearing this, the cloaked Miwok hunter narrowed his eyes and looked at the leather armor on everyone's bodies and the big bow on his back. He pursed his lips slightly, and after listening to the words of the translator Lu Chong again, a hint of confusion appeared on his face, as if he connected everyone with some other southern tribe.
"Ancestors, they are Kumeyan people who are good at fighting. They migrated here from the sea... Now we are in some trouble..."
The Miwok hunter muttered a few words in the tribal language in a low voice, but no one understood him. Then, the Miwok hunter looked solemn and expressed his intention.
"Me? I am a cloak hunter from the North Bay! My name is 'Toho', the 'wind' from the north. You can call me..."
The Miwok hunter spoke a long string of words with pride on his face. Translator Lu Chong listened blankly for a while, then touched his head and explained with some caution.
"He was explaining his name just now... He is a very powerful tribal hunter! He has hunted wild beasts in the mountains and has the qualifications of using his tribe as his 'name'. And the thing painted on his cloak is the prey that symbolizes his courage, the bear …”
"Huh? Is this a bear? I thought it was a pig..."
Exploration Captain Zuvalo's eyes widened and he looked at the Miwok hunter who deliberately turned around to reveal his fur cloak. He looked at the abstract engraving, then looked at the material of the fur itself, and then confirmed that it was indeed bearskin.
"So, what's his name?"
"His name is Le Feng. 'Feng' is his name, which represents his agility. And 'Le' is the god of their tribe. The god plays the flute, sings songs, and creates the world and life...Only the most powerful Miwok Only a tribe can call itself 'Le', a large tribe blessed by gods..."
"Lefeng?...A large tribe blessed by the gods?"
Hearing such a name, Mikey the Knowledgeable was silent. Judging from what the other party said, this Beiwan tribe should be very powerful among the surrounding tribes. The tribal mythology they inherited and the honor of the cloaked hunter prove that the size of this Miwok tribe can already support the priests and warriors...
Thinking of this, Mikey, the knowledgeable man, stepped forward, glanced at the translator Lu Chong, and said in a deep voice.
"Please ask carefully, how many cloaked hunters like him are there in their tribe? How many ordinary hunters are there?"
Lu Chong nodded and communicated with the cloaked hunter Le Feng for a while. Everyone saw Le Feng gesturing with his fingers and saying a lot proudly. When translated, Lu Chong only has a few simple sentences.
"Uh... I don't quite understand... Their tribe occupies a very large hunting ground on the north side of the big bay. This is also one of their hunting grounds, but there are very few prey... And the cloaked hunters of their tribe , only fingers and toes, about 20 people... As for ordinary hunters, there are 20-20-20-20-20-20-20 boats..."
Lu Chong said six or seven twenty in one breath, not sure if he was right. But after hearing such an answer, the expression of the knowledgeable Mickey suddenly became serious.
"If it's six 20... that's one hundred and twenty boats, with five people on each boat... What kind of Beiwan Department has 600 young and strong tribal hunters?"
After thinking about it, Zuvalo, the exploration captain, and Mikey, the knowledgeable man, looked at each other. Based on this estimate, this is probably a large northern tribe of four to five thousand people, which has almost reached the limit of maintaining a half-fishing, hunting, and half-farming tribe in the cold Northland. In fact, this may be the largest tribe they have encountered since they went north!
"Let me ask again, what is his intention when he comes here?"
Translator Lu Chong continued to talk to Cloak Hunter Le Feng for a while, until the other party turned sideways and pointed to the canoe behind him.
"Uh...he said...this land is one of their hunting grounds in the North Bay..."
Translator Lu Chong carefully looked at the faces of the two leaders and replied.
"If we want to settle here, their hunting grounds will be handed over to us..."
Upon hearing this, the warrior leader Chakapu Shijian's eyes turned cold, he pulled out the copper ax from his waist and shouted sternly.
"This is the place predicted by His Majesty, and it is also the will of the Lord God! Do they want to drive us away? Then let them come over and fight with us!"
"Well…"
Lu Chong swallowed, looked at the angry warrior leader, and then looked at the other side. Although they didn't know what happened, they were obviously alert to the Miwok hunters, and explained carefully.
"Strong leaders... are not like this. Although the hunting grounds in the North are owned by some, they are not the foundation of the tribes... The migration of tribes is a common thing, and the hunting grounds will also be transferred between tribes. In addition to the sacred ancestral land, planting Outside the farmland, there is no land that truly belongs to a certain tribe or person... The entire vast land is a gift from the great spirit to each tribe..."
Upon hearing this knowledge of the land, the leaders of the fleet looked at each other with some surprise on their faces. This idea of sharing the output of the land and sharing the great spiritual gifts is like the oldest tribal story in legend. On the Mexica Plateau, such an ancient concept has long since disappeared...
In fact, later generations of Yankee colonists sometimes signed contracts with local tribes and "purchased" vast tracts of land for only a small gift. This is not actually because these aborigines are stupid, nor is it their original intention. Their original intention was just to follow ancient traditions and share the produce of the land with the white-skinned tribes. Because land is a gift from the great spirit and does not belong to tribes or individuals.
After a while, the exploration captain Zuvalo gave a slight "cough" and ordered.
"The Lord God witnesses! Keep talking. What is he here to do?"
"Oh! Oh... He said that the elder, wise, healer, Miwok shaman and chief of the North Bay Tribe, Cedar Puyati, heard about the arrival of the Longship Tribe. He wanted to invite the leader of our tribe. , go to Beiwan Buzhong as a guest..."
(End of chapter)
