There are no grape fields in the Napa Valley, nor are there any later luxury wineries or large wine cellars filled with wooden barrels. Five hundred years ago, this was the land of an Indian tribe, just as it has been for the past thousand, ten thousand years.
From the ancient wilderness to today, countless Miwok people live in this narrow valley. They reclaimed land along the river and built tribal longhouses, which they passed on from generation to generation. The only things that remain unchanged are the sunny summer sun and the sweet Napa River that fills the fertile soil along its coast.
"Very good fertile land, a lot of farmland!... It must have been developed for a long time, but the growth of crops is average. It may be a lack of fertilizer, or it may be that weeding was not done carefully... Of course, the biggest problem is that it is not warm enough..."
Mikey the Knowledgeable stood on the long boat, sailing along the river to the hinterland of the North Bay. He observed carefully. As he walked further in, the farmland by the river gradually became denser. Corn, pumpkins and beans are all growing slowly together with weeds. There were gradually more and more thatched huts and straw huts around, and then after passing a certain section of the river bank, patches of wooden huts suddenly appeared, as well as piles of firewood!
"The tribe's longhouse...the wooden house...the firewood stored...so much?"
Mikey, the knowledgeable man, widened his eyes, and his evaluation of the North Bay Department improved again. In the north, where productivity is even lower, cutting down trees in the forest is not an easy task. Although the wooden longhouse can withstand the cold, it requires a lot of labor. And this requires sufficient food supply and enough tools, that is, more people who farm, hunt, and make tools.
Therefore, as the fleet traveled north, they met many tribes and gradually came to a consensus. Then take a tribe. If there are more wooden houses, the scale will be larger and the strength will usually be stronger! And based on the number of wooden houses in this valley...
"Witness the Lord God! The large Beiwan tribe probably has six to seven hundred tribal hunters and four to five thousand tribesmen..."
Based on observations along the way, Mikey, the knowledgeable man, made a rough judgment and became increasingly cautious.
This is already the core camp of the Beiwan Department. The long boat leaned to the shore, attracting many tribal people to watch. Under the curious gaze of hundreds of people, Mikey the Knowledgeable quickly jumped off the longship. Then, he followed the strutting cloak hunter Le Feng and led the kingdom warriors holding gifts to the tallest and largest chief's longhouse.
It was approaching dusk, and a bonfire was burning in the chief's longhouse. The room was warm and smelled of herbs. An older tribal shaman hunched over, sitting cross-legged in front of a warm campfire, processing some medicinal herbs by the bright firelight. His face was carved with yellow and red patterns, and at first glance, he looked like a red fox on the grassland. And those old wrinkles are like the bark of pine trees, wrinkled with time and wind and frost.
"Honored, wise cedar shaman!"
Seeing the shaman chief, Cloak Hunter Lotte lowered his head with respect on his face. Among the northern tribes, shaman is a noble title and is a "physician, healer, prophecy and divination person". To use a more popular term for the kingdom, they are high priests, or even priests and elders.
In the hearts of many Miwok tribesmen, the status of shamans is actually ahead of chiefs and priests, and just below the gods and ancestral spirits. Because chiefs and priests usually only belong to one tribe, but shamans can belong to many tribes. To become a shaman in the North, you must have rescued hunters from many tribes and healed many tribesmen. Only then will your reputation transcend the boundaries of the tribe and be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
"Shaman, I have invited the leader of the Longship Tribe over! ... They have very big ships, much larger than the tribe's. They have many hunters, almost all of them hunters. I looked carefully at their attire and weapons , this is probably a powerful Kumeya tribe. After the defeat in the south, the hunters and warriors fled here by boat..."
"And their leaders seem to be divided into several different factions. This leader who came is the most gentle one, without any hostility! He seems to have no understanding of the situation of the Gulf Tribe, and he does not even know the noble , you who save everyone..."
The cloaked hunter Lotte lowered his voice and responded quickly in the tribe's Miwok language. Along the way, Mickey the Knowledgeable was observing everywhere, while he was silently observing Mickey.
"Um."
Chief Shaman Xuesong raised his head and stared at Mickey and the two kingdom warriors wearing leather armor at the door of the longhouse with his deep eyes. His calm eyes stayed on the amulet around Mickey's neck for a moment, and gradually became sharp.
"They are not Kumeyans."
"ah?"
"The sun and the bird...the Kumeyan people do not have such gods. His clothes are also different from the Kumeyan people."
"Well…"
"Go! Invite the guests over!"
Chief Shaman Xuesong smiled, pointed to the place beside the bonfire, and sang a song leisurely.
"The gods played their bamboo flutes and stood on the tall trees to welcome the wind from the sea! Whether it is the gentle wind that brings rain or the cold wind that brings storms... If you are willing to come, you are a guest of the tribe!...Come , let’s sit by the campfire and keep warm together. Let’s drink a cup of sour and hot purslane tea and tell stories about distant places!…”
"Aha! Greetings to you, respected Chief Cedar, thank you for the invitation!..."
Mikey the Knowledgeable lowered his head and paid the royal courtesy of greetings to Chief Cedar at the bonfire. He came forward and sat cross-legged in front of the campfire. Then, with a gentle look on his face, he said with a smile before the elder shaman chief spoke.
"Blessed by the Lord God! Dear Chief, we came from the distant sea, followed the prophecy of the Lord God, and came to this golden bay with the goodwill of the kingdom! ... You are the master of this land, and as guests, we have Some gifts for meeting you, here to give to you!"
After saying that, Mickey the Knowledgeable waved, and two kingdom warriors came forward with gifts. The warriors put down a bag of lake gems, a piece of cloth, a copper axe, a copper spear, a long bow, a copper arrow, and a pair of refined leather armor.
“Praise the Lord God!”
The two warriors looked solemn, prayed neatly and calmly, and then retreated to the door. The well-trained look is like a moving wood.
"Well...gift...warrior..."
Chief Cedar's eyebrows twitched, but there was no expression on his face. He first picked up a bag of gems, opened it, glanced at it, and then closed the bag again. But then, he paused and noticed the bag in his hand. Then, he looked at the cloth next to him.
"A bag of cloth...a piece of cloth...a southern tribe, very southern..."
Chief Cedar pondered for a while, then stretched out his hand and grabbed the copper ax on the ground. Although he looked old, he still felt very relaxed when picking up the heavy copper axe.
"when!"
Chief Cedar tapped the face of the ax lightly, and then touched the sharp edge of the axe. He raised his eyebrows again and put the ax down calmly. As for the bronze spear, he didn't take it. He just stretched out his hand, touched the smooth spear shaft, and felt the material of the wood.
"The metal ax head is like the red copper of the tribes in the Eastern Mountains, but it is tougher and sharper...The fir spear shaft is polished very smooth, making it a fine spear."
Then, Chief Cedar looked at the big bow and bronze arrows and gave calm instructions.
"Letian, please pull this bow."
The cloaked hunter Lotte nodded, raised his big bow, and slowly drew the bowstring. There was an obvious expression of surprise on his face, but he still drew the bow to its full capacity. After a few breaths, he pursed his lips again and slowly pulled back the bowstring without letting go.
"How about it?"
"...Stronger than the tribe's bow."
"How strong is it?"
The cloaked hunter Lotte was silent for a while before answering.
"...double."
"Um."
Chief Cedar nodded, then touched the material of the copper arrow's wooden shaft, and his eyes finally changed.
"Arrow shafts made of fir? Can solid fir be used as arrow shafts?..."
Finally, Chief Cedar touched the tough surface of the leather armor again, and then asked quickly in the tribal language.
"Lotte, how many of them have such weapons and leather armor?"
“…”
There was another silent silence. The cloaked hunter Lotte frowned and tried to remember for a long time before answering.
"Many, most of them have...numbers...at least half of the tribal hunters!"
This time, it was Chief Cedar's turn to be silent. Mickey the Knowledgeable smiled and waited patiently for the two people talking. Although he couldn't understand the other party's conversation, he could roughly guess some of the content. The beginning was just as he expected.
"Tribes from the sea. I already know your purpose of coming and your desire not to engage in war."
After a long time, Chief Cedar spoke calmly. He looked at the somewhat astonished knowledgeable Mickey with his old and sharp eyes, and asked calmly.
"Tell me! Why did you come to this cold land from the far south, and even set up camp in the bay? And what do you want to gain by risking your life and coming to my tribe? ?”
"I…"
"Please tell me the truth. For guests from far away, the more direct the better!... Because our translators don't seem to be very reliable."
This time, Chief Cedar straightened up, as if he had suddenly transformed from an old fox into a brown bear. His eyes were sharp and he spoke in a deep voice. What was spoken was the language of the Kumeyan people.
"When I was young, I once went to the south to look for the herbal inheritance of various tribes, and also learned their language..."
Seeing the changing expression of Knowledgeable Mickey, Chief Cedar also adjusted his language. He switched among the Utah-Aztec languages, from Cumea in the south, to Utah in the southeast, and finally to Yaqui, which was not standard but barely comprehensible. At this time, Mickey the Knowledgeable was finally able to stammer and talk directly to him.
"Tell me! What do you want when you come here? And what do you want when you come here?"
Having said this, a wise smile appeared on Chief Cedar's old face. He spoke gently, but his words hit home.
"I think you traveled so far from the sea. When you got here, you immediately opened up farmland... Maybe you didn't have enough food to eat?"
