There are no grape fields in the Napa Valley, nor the luxury wineries of later generations, nor the large wine cellars filled with wooden barrels. Five hundred years ago, this was the land of the Indian tribes, just like it was in the past thousand or ten thousand years.
兲
From the ancient wilderness to today, countless Miwok people live in this narrow valley. They reclaim the land along the river, build tribal longhouses, and pass them on from generation to generation. The only thing that remains unchanged is the summer
The clear sun and the sweet Napa River irrigate the fertile soil along the 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..."
Mickey the Knowledgeable stood on the long boat and sailed all the way along the river to the hinterland of the North Bay. He observed carefully that as he went further in, the farmland by the river gradually became denser. Corn, pumpkins and kidney beans were all fighting with weeds.
Together, they grew slowly. The number of thatched huts and thatched huts around them gradually increased, and then after passing a certain section of the river bank, patches of wooden huts and piles of firewood suddenly appeared!
"The tribe's longhouse...the wooden house...the firewood stored...so much?"
Mickey, the knowledgeable man, widened his eyes, and his evaluation of the North Bay improved again. In the Northland, where productivity is even lower, cutting down trees in the forest is not an easy task. Although the wooden longhouse can withstand the cold,
But it requires a lot of labor. And this requires enough food supply and enough tools, that is, more people to farm, hunt, and make tools.
Therefore, the fleet went all the way north and met many tribes, and gradually came to a consensus. That is, if a tribe has more wooden houses, the scale will be larger and the strength will usually be stronger! And with this area
Number of cabins in the 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, the knowledgeable Mickey made a rough judgment and became increasingly cautious.
This is already the core camp of the North Bay. The long boat docked to the shore, attracting many tribesmen to watch. Under the curious gaze of hundreds of people, Mickey the Knowledgeable quickly jumped off the long boat. Then, he followed
Le Feng, the cape hunter with his head held high, led the kingdom warriors holding gifts towards 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 elderly tribal shaman, hunched over, sat cross-legged in front of the warm bonfire. With the bright light of the fire,
Handling some herbs. His face is painted with yellow and red lines. At first glance, he looks like a red fox on the grassland. And those old wrinkles are like the bark of a pine tree, wrinkled.
Imprinted with time and wind and frost.
"Dear, wise cedar shaman!"
Seeing the shaman chief, the cloaked 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". Let's change it to another one.
In layman's terms, the kingdom is a high priest, or even a priest or elder.
In the hearts of many Miwok tribesmen, the status of shamans is actually ahead of chiefs and priests, just below the gods and ancestral spirits. This is because chiefs and priests usually only belong to one tribe, but shamans can belong to
There are 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, the knowledgeable Mickey was observing everywhere, and he was silently observing Mickey.
"Um."
Chief Shaman Xuesong raised his head and stared at Mickey at the door of the longhouse with his deep eyes, as well as the two Kingdom warriors wearing leather armor. His peaceful eyes stayed for a moment on the amulet around Mickey's neck, and gradually
Become sharp.
"They are not Kumeyans."
"ah?"
"The sun and the bird...the Kumeyan people do not have such gods. Their 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. Then 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!..."
Mickey the Knowledgeable lowered his head and greeted Chief Cedar at the bonfire as a royal courtesy. He walked forward and sat cross-legged in front of the bonfire. Then, with a gentle look on his face, he spoke before the elder Shaman Chief spoke.
, said with a smile.
"The Lord God bless you! Dear Chief, we came from the distant sea, followed the Lord God's prophecy, 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, 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, and a long bow.
, a bronze arrow, and a pair of refined leather armor.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Praise the Lord God!"
The two warriors looked solemn, prayed neatly and calmly, and then retreated to the door. Their well-trained looks were like wood sculptures that could move.
"Well...gift...warrior..."
Chief Cedar's eyebrows trembled, 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 cloth 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 ax.
"when!"
Chief Cedar gently tapped the face of the axe, and then touched the sharp edge of the axe. He raised his eyebrows again, and calmly put down the axe. But he did not take the copper spear, but stretched out his hand and touched the smooth
Spear shaft, feel the material of 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 calmly gave instructions.
"Letian, please pull this bow."
The cloaked hunter Lotte nodded, raised his big bow, and slowly pulled out the bowstring. There was an expression of surprise on his face, but he still pulled the bow to its full limit. After a few breaths, he pursed his lips again, and slowly
Pull back the bowstring without letting it go.
"How is 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 shaft, and his eyes finally changed.
"An arrow shaft made of fir? Can solid fir be used as an arrow shaft?..." Ni
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 weapons and leather armor like this?"
“…”
There was another silent silence. Cloak 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. Mikey, the knowledgeable man, smiled and waited patiently for the two people talking. Although he could not understand the other party's conversation, he could roughly guess some of the content. This beginning, and him
As 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 translation does not 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 he spoke 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 Mikey the Knowledgeable, Chief Cedar also adjusted his language. He switched among the Utah-Aztec language family, from the Cumea language in the south to the Utah language in the southeast. Finally, it was not standard.
, but could barely understand the Yaqui language. At this time, Mickey the Knowledgeable could finally stutter and talk to him directly.
"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 the point directly.
"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?"
