WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.290 align:middle line:90% 00:00:01.290 --> 00:00:05.010 align:middle line:84% I'm going to read a bit from my first novel Elsie's Business, 00:00:05.010 --> 00:00:07.560 align:middle line:84% which some of you here have read. 00:00:07.560 --> 00:00:09.780 align:middle line:84% The story is a modern retelling of a story 00:00:09.780 --> 00:00:14.010 align:middle line:84% from Lakota oral tradition, the deer woman's stories. 00:00:14.010 --> 00:00:16.740 align:middle line:84% There are dozens of these stories among northern plains 00:00:16.740 --> 00:00:20.520 align:middle line:84% tribes and they're meant to be didactic teaching stories. 00:00:20.520 --> 00:00:22.410 align:middle line:84% The moral of these is that young men should 00:00:22.410 --> 00:00:26.820 align:middle line:84% be careful of picking up strange women, but in my novel 00:00:26.820 --> 00:00:29.070 align:middle line:84% I've put a different twist to this story. 00:00:29.070 --> 00:00:32.670 align:middle line:84% And Elsie's Business, Elsie is the victim of strange men, 00:00:32.670 --> 00:00:35.040 align:middle line:84% but she is avenged by the deer woman 00:00:35.040 --> 00:00:38.070 align:middle line:84% and then she becomes the deer woman. 00:00:38.070 --> 00:00:40.170 align:middle line:84% Besides the theme of that old story 00:00:40.170 --> 00:00:43.380 align:middle line:84% I wanted to point out the facts of violence against women 00:00:43.380 --> 00:00:45.870 align:middle line:84% of color, who are victims of violence 00:00:45.870 --> 00:00:49.920 align:middle line:84% at rates far higher than those for women of other ethnicities. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:54.240 align:middle line:84% But you rarely, if ever, see brown faces on the TV news, 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:57.690 align:middle line:84% and rarely are those crimes ever solved. 00:00:57.690 --> 00:01:01.350 align:middle line:84% It is as if these women of color did not matter. 00:01:01.350 --> 00:01:03.810 align:middle line:84% Elsie's Business my way of saying 00:01:03.810 --> 00:01:07.650 align:middle line:84% I remember, I care, and this is my tribute to all 00:01:07.650 --> 00:01:09.900 align:middle line:84% those women of color who suffered 00:01:09.900 --> 00:01:11.640 align:middle line:84% and whose names we may never know. 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:14.830 align:middle line:90% 00:01:14.830 --> 00:01:18.760 align:middle line:84% I'm going to read a little bit from further over in the story. 00:01:18.760 --> 00:01:21.880 align:middle line:90% 00:01:21.880 --> 00:01:26.260 align:middle line:84% Main character of Elsie is dead at the beginning of the story. 00:01:26.260 --> 00:01:28.300 align:middle line:84% And her father, who didn't even know 00:01:28.300 --> 00:01:31.180 align:middle line:84% he had a daughter till she died, has come back 00:01:31.180 --> 00:01:34.420 align:middle line:84% to this small reservation border town to claim her body 00:01:34.420 --> 00:01:36.580 align:middle line:90% and take her home. 00:01:36.580 --> 00:01:40.090 align:middle line:84% But it's wintertime and he's run into all kinds of problems 00:01:40.090 --> 00:01:42.940 align:middle line:84% with getting the body disinterred 00:01:42.940 --> 00:01:44.470 align:middle line:90% in the middle of the winter. 00:01:44.470 --> 00:01:46.430 align:middle line:84% In case you've never lived up north, 00:01:46.430 --> 00:01:48.010 align:middle line:84% the ground freeze is very, very hard 00:01:48.010 --> 00:01:53.140 align:middle line:84% and it's difficult to even dig a regular grave. 00:01:53.140 --> 00:01:59.200 align:middle line:84% So, this is being told from his perspective, the father. 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:02.890 align:middle line:84% And there is another character in here, 00:02:02.890 --> 00:02:06.070 align:middle line:90% who is the local coroner. 00:02:06.070 --> 00:02:10.419 align:middle line:84% So I'm just going to read a little bit of this. 00:02:10.419 --> 00:02:14.470 align:middle line:84% The date is January 31st, 1970 and the chapter 00:02:14.470 --> 00:02:16.660 align:middle line:90% is called "Wiping The Tears". 00:02:16.660 --> 00:02:18.820 align:middle line:84% It's about a ceremony that's pretty 00:02:18.820 --> 00:02:22.660 align:middle line:84% common in the upper plains, especially for my tribe. 00:02:22.660 --> 00:02:26.770 align:middle line:84% A year after a person has died you have a ceremony called 00:02:26.770 --> 00:02:28.300 align:middle line:90% Wiping The Tears. 00:02:28.300 --> 00:02:31.840 align:middle line:84% And after that ceremony is done, after that year of mourning 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:35.590 align:middle line:84% is over, people are supposed to pick up their lives and go on. 00:02:35.590 --> 00:02:38.980 align:middle line:84% They're not supposed to keep thinking back and remembering 00:02:38.980 --> 00:02:41.120 align:middle line:84% and grieving, it's time to go on. 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:43.335 align:middle line:84% So this is a Wiping Of The Tears Ceremony 00:02:43.335 --> 00:02:44.335 align:middle line:90% that was held for Elsie. 00:02:44.335 --> 00:02:47.120 align:middle line:90% 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:50.000 align:middle line:84% The sun isn't up yet on Saturday when Oscar calls you 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:52.610 align:middle line:90% for coffee and breakfast. 00:02:52.610 --> 00:02:55.420 align:middle line:84% Oscar is an old man that Elsie's father 00:02:55.420 --> 00:02:57.680 align:middle line:90% is staying with, in this town. 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:00.050 align:middle line:84% While you're eating as few of his pancakes 00:03:00.050 --> 00:03:01.922 align:middle line:84% as good manners will allow, you ask him 00:03:01.922 --> 00:03:03.380 align:middle line:84% if there's anything you should know 00:03:03.380 --> 00:03:05.420 align:middle line:84% about this ghostly ceremony, anything 00:03:05.420 --> 00:03:07.520 align:middle line:90% that will be expected of you. 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:09.230 align:middle line:84% "Just stick beside me" he says, "I'll 00:03:09.230 --> 00:03:11.030 align:middle line:90% tell you what to do when." 00:03:11.030 --> 00:03:13.700 align:middle line:84% You're still nervous when Irene, and her husband Roger, 00:03:13.700 --> 00:03:15.320 align:middle line:90% and the boys show up. 00:03:15.320 --> 00:03:17.390 align:middle line:84% Roger is a big man, his bulk filling 00:03:17.390 --> 00:03:19.490 align:middle line:84% half the front seat, his head almost touching 00:03:19.490 --> 00:03:21.170 align:middle line:90% the headliner of the car. 00:03:21.170 --> 00:03:23.847 align:middle line:84% He gives you a quiet greeting, you and Oscar 00:03:23.847 --> 00:03:26.180 align:middle line:84% get in the backseat, and the boys curl up under blankets 00:03:26.180 --> 00:03:29.360 align:middle line:84% and go back to sleep as you make the drive west out of Jackson. 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:31.160 align:middle line:84% Up the long hill, past the tourist 00:03:31.160 --> 00:03:34.880 align:middle line:84% cabins where John Caulfield used to live, in number 8a. 00:03:34.880 --> 00:03:37.160 align:middle line:84% The car is filled with the smell of cooked meat coming 00:03:37.160 --> 00:03:39.870 align:middle line:84% from a lidded big pan on the floor, between Irene's feet 00:03:39.870 --> 00:03:41.580 align:middle line:90% so I won't tip over. 00:03:41.580 --> 00:03:43.010 align:middle line:84% You look at Oscar and he explains, 00:03:43.010 --> 00:03:46.100 align:middle line:84% "for the feast" and points his lips to the bag of groceries 00:03:46.100 --> 00:03:47.750 align:middle line:90% on the floor of the back seat. 00:03:47.750 --> 00:03:51.380 align:middle line:84% Indians do that a lot, went like that. 00:03:51.380 --> 00:03:53.900 align:middle line:90% A can of coffees on top. 00:03:53.900 --> 00:03:56.540 align:middle line:84% A few miles west of town Roger turns off the highway 00:03:56.540 --> 00:03:58.580 align:middle line:84% onto a narrower paved road, to a little town 00:03:58.580 --> 00:04:00.642 align:middle line:90% he tells you is Greasy Water. 00:04:00.642 --> 00:04:02.600 align:middle line:84% There's a little store and a gas station there, 00:04:02.600 --> 00:04:04.190 align:middle line:90% a few houses scattered nearby. 00:04:04.190 --> 00:04:07.610 align:middle line:84% But soon the pavement ends, and Roger drives slowly 00:04:07.610 --> 00:04:09.410 align:middle line:84% through tracks worn into the snow, 00:04:09.410 --> 00:04:12.260 align:middle line:84% over roads that wind here and there, like a line of string 00:04:12.260 --> 00:04:14.540 align:middle line:84% carelessly flung out on the ground. 00:04:14.540 --> 00:04:16.399 align:middle line:84% The sun is full up and the car suddenly 00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:18.890 align:middle line:84% drops down a steep hill into a canyon in the prairie. 00:04:18.890 --> 00:04:21.950 align:middle line:84% Totally unexpected from the flat perspective 00:04:21.950 --> 00:04:24.410 align:middle line:84% until you are there, and going down through a one lane cut 00:04:24.410 --> 00:04:25.460 align:middle line:90% in the snow. 00:04:25.460 --> 00:04:28.160 align:middle line:84% The hill is so steep that your ears pop and at the bottom 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:29.450 align:middle line:90% the road widens a bit. 00:04:29.450 --> 00:04:32.720 align:middle line:84% The tail end of the car slivers on a slick spot. 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:37.550 align:middle line:84% The boys is wide awake now yell, "do it again dad, do it again!" 00:04:37.550 --> 00:04:39.590 align:middle line:84% Through the pines and winter-bare cottonwood 00:04:39.590 --> 00:04:41.900 align:middle line:84% you glimpse a frozen creek yards off the road 00:04:41.900 --> 00:04:44.990 align:middle line:84% and you think of catfish jumping and hot summer weather. 00:04:44.990 --> 00:04:46.970 align:middle line:84% Cut up catfish dipped in cornmeal 00:04:46.970 --> 00:04:50.570 align:middle line:84% better frying up golden brown in big black skillets. 00:04:50.570 --> 00:04:53.420 align:middle line:84% A couple of miles further on, Roger turns the car sharply 00:04:53.420 --> 00:04:55.010 align:middle line:84% to the left between berry thickets 00:04:55.010 --> 00:04:56.968 align:middle line:84% onto a road that you wouldn't even have noticed 00:04:56.968 --> 00:04:59.030 align:middle line:84% was there, except someone has shoveled a way 00:04:59.030 --> 00:05:01.130 align:middle line:90% through the snow for cars. 00:05:01.130 --> 00:05:02.930 align:middle line:84% Back into the thickets and the trees, 00:05:02.930 --> 00:05:05.150 align:middle line:84% sits a log house, small, with smoke 00:05:05.150 --> 00:05:06.740 align:middle line:90% rising from a tin chimney. 00:05:06.740 --> 00:05:08.450 align:middle line:84% And in the yard, half a dozen cars, 00:05:08.450 --> 00:05:10.130 align:middle line:84% and men standing around several fires 00:05:10.130 --> 00:05:12.000 align:middle line:90% that have been lit in a circle. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:13.670 align:middle line:84% There's a big shed with double doors 00:05:13.670 --> 00:05:16.640 align:middle line:84% open and a table inside with stuff piled on it. 00:05:16.640 --> 00:05:18.335 align:middle line:84% "That's for the giveaway," Oscar says, 00:05:18.335 --> 00:05:20.210 align:middle line:84% and then seeing you don't understand he says, 00:05:20.210 --> 00:05:21.620 align:middle line:90% "it's customary." 00:05:21.620 --> 00:05:23.870 align:middle line:84% "Most ceremonies include a giveaway 00:05:23.870 --> 00:05:26.120 align:middle line:90% from whoever is sponsoring it. 00:05:26.120 --> 00:05:28.700 align:middle line:84% The Roberts this time, except since this wasn't really 00:05:28.700 --> 00:05:31.190 align:middle line:84% planned far enough in advance, so other people 00:05:31.190 --> 00:05:32.960 align:middle line:90% have contributed stuff." 00:05:32.960 --> 00:05:34.760 align:middle line:84% You look at the goods piled up and see 00:05:34.760 --> 00:05:37.250 align:middle line:84% there are cases of soda pop, a couple of blankets, 00:05:37.250 --> 00:05:40.160 align:middle line:84% cans of coffee, bags of sugar, other stuff too. 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:42.830 align:middle line:84% Somebody better take that soda inside pretty quick you think, 00:05:42.830 --> 00:05:45.800 align:middle line:84% before it freezes and bust the cans. 00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:48.080 align:middle line:84% Roger stops the car and everyone gets out, 00:05:48.080 --> 00:05:50.780 align:middle line:84% the boys yelling and rushing towards half a dozen other kids 00:05:50.780 --> 00:05:52.310 align:middle line:90% piling out of the cabin. 00:05:52.310 --> 00:05:55.070 align:middle line:84% Irene carefully carries the big pan of meat in front of her 00:05:55.070 --> 00:05:56.360 align:middle line:90% into the house. 00:05:56.360 --> 00:05:59.090 align:middle line:84% Hau Kola, Roger shouts at the men, 00:05:59.090 --> 00:06:02.150 align:middle line:84% one of them comes over to him and they clash shoulders. 00:06:02.150 --> 00:06:04.100 align:middle line:90% Ho eyes, tokeske oyaunyanpi huo? 00:06:04.100 --> 00:06:07.200 align:middle line:84% the man asks, "Hena, waste yelo." 00:06:07.200 --> 00:06:11.030 align:middle line:84% You and Oscar are looking over the selection of good, 00:06:11.030 --> 00:06:12.710 align:middle line:90% "who's it for," you ask. 00:06:12.710 --> 00:06:15.712 align:middle line:84% "Everyone" he says, "everyone takes something." 00:06:15.712 --> 00:06:17.420 align:middle line:84% "It doesn't look like much yet, but there 00:06:17.420 --> 00:06:19.460 align:middle line:90% will be more by tonight. 00:06:19.460 --> 00:06:23.360 align:middle line:84% Mighty night It looks like a pretty big pile to you already. 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:26.270 align:middle line:84% You look at the small cabin, with the cars and the people 00:06:26.270 --> 00:06:28.670 align:middle line:84% already there, and know they won't all fit in that house. 00:06:28.670 --> 00:06:31.168 align:middle line:84% It's going to get damn cold before this is over, you think. 00:06:31.168 --> 00:06:32.960 align:middle line:84% Understanding now, the reason for all those 00:06:32.960 --> 00:06:35.360 align:middle line:90% bonfires in the yard. 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:37.940 align:middle line:84% Cars and the trucks keep coming, the giveaway pile grows. 00:06:37.940 --> 00:06:39.982 align:middle line:84% And you and Oscar are asked to help others build, 00:06:39.982 --> 00:06:42.530 align:middle line:84% what looks to you like an igloo, made of bent over tree limbs 00:06:42.530 --> 00:06:44.450 align:middle line:84% with the ends secured in the middle. 00:06:44.450 --> 00:06:46.860 align:middle line:84% It's a small structure with a hole dug out in the middle 00:06:46.860 --> 00:06:48.902 align:middle line:84% and when you're done, some tarps are thrown over, 00:06:48.902 --> 00:06:51.530 align:middle line:84% at the edge it's weighted down with rocks. 00:06:51.530 --> 00:06:52.490 align:middle line:90% "What's that for?" 00:06:52.490 --> 00:06:54.110 align:middle line:90% you whisper to Oscar. 00:06:54.110 --> 00:06:55.670 align:middle line:84% He grunts as one of the tree limbs 00:06:55.670 --> 00:06:58.610 align:middle line:84% comes undone and whips back and slaps him in the gut. 00:06:58.610 --> 00:07:00.230 align:middle line:90% "Sweat lodge" he says. 00:07:00.230 --> 00:07:01.490 align:middle line:90% "What's that?" 00:07:01.490 --> 00:07:02.510 align:middle line:90% "To sweat, what else?" 00:07:02.510 --> 00:07:05.060 align:middle line:84% Then he explains more, "It's a purification right 00:07:05.060 --> 00:07:08.690 align:middle line:84% for the wicasa wakan before he performs the Ghost Ceremony." 00:07:08.690 --> 00:07:11.090 align:middle line:84% The wicasa wakan as Oscar points him out to you, 00:07:11.090 --> 00:07:13.040 align:middle line:84% doesn't look like anybody special. 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:16.610 align:middle line:84% Just an old man, older looking than Oscar even, 00:07:16.610 --> 00:07:19.460 align:middle line:84% wearing a battered cowboy hat, layers of clothes 00:07:19.460 --> 00:07:21.470 align:middle line:90% covering his skinny body. 00:07:21.470 --> 00:07:23.420 align:middle line:84% Late in the afternoon, as if a silent gong 00:07:23.420 --> 00:07:25.700 align:middle line:84% had rang that everyone except you had heard, 00:07:25.700 --> 00:07:28.460 align:middle line:84% women pour out of the little house like columns of ants. 00:07:28.460 --> 00:07:31.070 align:middle line:84% The men gather, the crowd become silent. 00:07:31.070 --> 00:07:33.800 align:middle line:84% The wicasa wakan steps out of the sweat lodge, his body 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:35.990 align:middle line:84% naked from the waist up, glistening with sweat 00:07:35.990 --> 00:07:40.130 align:middle line:84% reflecting the dying sun and the red flames of the bonfires. 00:07:40.130 --> 00:07:42.260 align:middle line:84% A big drum sits in the middle of the crowd on top 00:07:42.260 --> 00:07:44.120 align:middle line:84% of an upended old car hood, put there, 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:46.090 align:middle line:84% he's supposed, to keep the bottom of the drum 00:07:46.090 --> 00:07:47.940 align:middle line:90% from getting wet. 00:07:47.940 --> 00:07:51.000 align:middle line:84% Five men crouch around, and each with a single drumstick, 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:52.418 align:middle line:90% they strike the drum in unison. 00:07:52.418 --> 00:07:54.960 align:middle line:84% The sound continuing and echoing and behind you, in the crowd 00:07:54.960 --> 00:07:56.700 align:middle line:90% a voice begins to sing. 00:07:56.700 --> 00:07:59.990 align:middle line:84% The wicasa wakan takes up as redstone pipe. 00:07:59.990 --> 00:08:02.490 align:middle line:84% Some children are scuffling in the back and one of the women 00:08:02.490 --> 00:08:05.195 align:middle line:90% says to them, "Shh, anagoptanye! 00:08:05.195 --> 00:08:08.265 align:middle line:90% Wastepe!"," it begins. 00:08:08.265 --> 00:08:10.660 align:middle line:90% 00:08:10.660 --> 00:08:14.380 align:middle line:84% 28 years you swept the floors, and mopped them, and waxed 00:08:14.380 --> 00:08:16.270 align:middle line:90% them, and buffed them. 00:08:16.270 --> 00:08:18.010 align:middle line:84% You picked up the pieces of broken chalk 00:08:18.010 --> 00:08:19.360 align:middle line:90% from the classrooms. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:21.693 align:middle line:84% You scrubbed out the toilets, and you had unclogged them 00:08:21.693 --> 00:08:23.902 align:middle line:84% when the kids dropped stuff down there that shouldn't 00:08:23.902 --> 00:08:25.000 align:middle line:90% be dropped down there. 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:27.880 align:middle line:84% You knew that Mrs. Clayton in fourth grade room 27 00:08:27.880 --> 00:08:31.300 align:middle line:84% was a stickler for having the blackboards washed every week, 00:08:31.300 --> 00:08:33.275 align:middle line:84% that Miss Ingersoll in the second grade room 11 00:08:33.275 --> 00:08:34.900 align:middle line:84% didn't much care about the blackboards, 00:08:34.900 --> 00:08:38.470 align:middle line:84% but her trash cans, by God, better be emptied every day. 00:08:38.470 --> 00:08:41.912 align:middle line:84% I learned about that look on Principal Adams face, 00:08:41.912 --> 00:08:43.620 align:middle line:84% that look that meant you better stay down 00:08:43.620 --> 00:08:46.240 align:middle line:84% in the basement repairing broken desk desks or somewhere 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:47.740 align:middle line:90% out of his way. 00:08:47.740 --> 00:08:50.230 align:middle line:84% You watched kids come into kindergarten and go up 00:08:50.230 --> 00:08:52.750 align:middle line:84% the scale in grades and out the other side, 00:08:52.750 --> 00:08:55.400 align:middle line:84% and some of them you remembered because they were good kids, 00:08:55.400 --> 00:08:57.970 align:middle line:84% and some of them you remembered because they weren't. 00:08:57.970 --> 00:08:59.470 align:middle line:84% You look forward to the summers when 00:08:59.470 --> 00:09:02.410 align:middle line:84% you could stay home, and tend your garden, and go fishing. 00:09:02.410 --> 00:09:05.260 align:middle line:84% You accepted the summers when you had to find some other work 00:09:05.260 --> 00:09:06.870 align:middle line:84% to make ends meet, the summers when 00:09:06.870 --> 00:09:08.620 align:middle line:84% you had to go places you didn't want to go 00:09:08.620 --> 00:09:10.720 align:middle line:90% and never wanted to see again. 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:12.760 align:middle line:84% And then the last years came when your knees 00:09:12.760 --> 00:09:15.940 align:middle line:84% hurt so from arthritis that it was hard to bend them, 00:09:15.940 --> 00:09:19.270 align:middle line:84% when the floor polisher kick as it hit spots with too much wax 00:09:19.270 --> 00:09:22.960 align:middle line:84% made your spine felt like a whip being cracked. 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:25.160 align:middle line:84% And you loaded up on pain pills to sleep at night 00:09:25.160 --> 00:09:27.850 align:middle line:84% so you can get up in the morning and do it all over again. 00:09:27.850 --> 00:09:30.118 align:middle line:84% The last graduation, the speeches, 00:09:30.118 --> 00:09:31.660 align:middle line:84% and congratulations, and thank you's, 00:09:31.660 --> 00:09:33.660 align:middle line:84% and the piddly retirement pay that was all right 00:09:33.660 --> 00:09:37.900 align:middle line:84% because you bothered to save your money for years, money 00:09:37.900 --> 00:09:40.510 align:middle line:84% that you'd mostly spent now for Elsie. 00:09:40.510 --> 00:09:42.970 align:middle line:84% A gold watch on your arm, the traditional retirement 00:09:42.970 --> 00:09:46.480 align:middle line:84% gift that you didn't think would mean a stinking thing to you, 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:48.400 align:middle line:90% did. 00:09:48.400 --> 00:09:50.200 align:middle line:90% The ceremony has ended. 00:09:50.200 --> 00:09:52.930 align:middle line:84% The people are lining up for the giveaway. 00:09:52.930 --> 00:09:55.030 align:middle line:84% Oscar pushes you into line, and you move forward, 00:09:55.030 --> 00:09:56.800 align:middle line:90% shuffling in the snow. 00:09:56.800 --> 00:09:59.080 align:middle line:84% The woman ahead of you says to her companion something 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:00.550 align:middle line:84% about that red blanket on the end, 00:10:00.550 --> 00:10:03.360 align:middle line:84% and she hopes it's still there when it's her turn. 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:06.210 align:middle line:84% The line moves forward, pauses, and moves forward, 00:10:06.210 --> 00:10:09.823 align:middle line:84% and the pile dwindles, and then it's your turn. 00:10:09.823 --> 00:10:12.240 align:middle line:84% But you stand there and you wonder what on Earth you would 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:14.642 align:middle line:90% do with any of this stuff. 00:10:14.642 --> 00:10:16.100 align:middle line:84% You could always use the groceries, 00:10:16.100 --> 00:10:18.980 align:middle line:84% but it feels silly to carry it back on the bus. 00:10:18.980 --> 00:10:21.050 align:middle line:90% And Oscar nudges you. 00:10:21.050 --> 00:10:22.970 align:middle line:90% "Take something," he says. 00:10:22.970 --> 00:10:26.390 align:middle line:84% You step forward and reach up your coat sleeve, 00:10:26.390 --> 00:10:28.580 align:middle line:84% pull off your gold watch, and place it 00:10:28.580 --> 00:10:31.850 align:middle line:84% carefully on top of a 10 pound bag of sugar and step 00:10:31.850 --> 00:10:34.670 align:middle line:90% away, for Elsie. 00:10:34.670 --> 00:10:36.440 align:middle line:84% When the gifts are all gone, the women 00:10:36.440 --> 00:10:39.050 align:middle line:84% bring out the food in the house and put it on the empty table 00:10:39.050 --> 00:10:41.262 align:middle line:84% where all the giveaway stuff had been. 00:10:41.262 --> 00:10:43.220 align:middle line:84% The people line up again, filling their plates, 00:10:43.220 --> 00:10:46.665 align:middle line:84% standing or squatting around the bonfires and eating. 00:10:46.665 --> 00:10:48.290 align:middle line:84% They go back for seconds, and then they 00:10:48.290 --> 00:10:52.100 align:middle line:84% bring out their wateca buckets to fill up with the leftovers. 00:10:52.100 --> 00:10:55.280 align:middle line:84% As the women are cleaning up the tables, the drums begin again. 00:10:55.280 --> 00:10:57.140 align:middle line:84% You're tired, and exhausted, and cold, 00:10:57.140 --> 00:11:01.130 align:middle line:84% and you can't believe there's more to this ghost ceremony. 00:11:01.130 --> 00:11:02.750 align:middle line:84% The wicasa wakan spreads the blanket 00:11:02.750 --> 00:11:04.560 align:middle line:84% on the cleanest patch of snow he can find 00:11:04.560 --> 00:11:06.620 align:middle line:90% and begins to speak in Lakota. 00:11:06.620 --> 00:11:08.810 align:middle line:84% The people line up yet a third time, 00:11:08.810 --> 00:11:11.360 align:middle line:84% dance in a slow dipping 1-2 rhythm 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:14.780 align:middle line:84% pass the spread blanket, dropping coins and bills 00:11:14.780 --> 00:11:16.340 align:middle line:90% as they pass. 00:11:16.340 --> 00:11:19.970 align:middle line:84% There are at least 100 people when the dance is slow. 00:11:19.970 --> 00:11:22.910 align:middle line:84% When it is done, the drums give a final thump. 00:11:22.910 --> 00:11:25.190 align:middle line:84% Wicasa wakan gathers the corners of the blankets 00:11:25.190 --> 00:11:27.020 align:middle line:84% together, bagging the money in the middle, 00:11:27.020 --> 00:11:29.750 align:middle line:84% walks through the snow, and hands it to you. 00:11:29.750 --> 00:11:32.570 align:middle line:84% Your arms are frozen at your sides. 00:11:32.570 --> 00:11:36.060 align:middle line:84% And wicasa wakan bounces the blanket up and down, 00:11:36.060 --> 00:11:38.630 align:middle line:84% making it jingle and rustle, and Oscar nudges you 00:11:38.630 --> 00:11:40.730 align:middle line:90% so hard you almost fall over. 00:11:40.730 --> 00:11:42.890 align:middle line:90% "Take it," he says. 00:11:42.890 --> 00:11:46.160 align:middle line:84% You take the blanket, and the wicasa wakan steps back. 00:11:46.160 --> 00:11:49.160 align:middle line:84% "Say thank you," Oscar whispers, but the heavy blanket 00:11:49.160 --> 00:11:51.380 align:middle line:90% has weighted your tongue. 00:11:51.380 --> 00:11:53.870 align:middle line:84% "Pilamaya," he says for you, and turns and shouts it 00:11:53.870 --> 00:11:54.890 align:middle line:90% to the crowd. 00:11:54.890 --> 00:11:58.640 align:middle line:84% "Pilamaya!' there are nods of [INAUDIBLE] smiles. 00:11:58.640 --> 00:12:02.990 align:middle line:84% Here and there a muttered waste yelo, waste k'sto. 00:12:02.990 --> 00:12:05.780 align:middle line:84% The people head towards the cars carrying their wateca 00:12:05.780 --> 00:12:07.640 align:middle line:90% buckets and tired kids. 00:12:07.640 --> 00:12:10.660 align:middle line:90% Waste yelo. 00:12:10.660 --> 00:12:15.870 align:middle line:84% February 1st, 1970, the kindness of strangers. 00:12:15.870 --> 00:12:19.970 align:middle line:84% This is money that he needs to pay to have Elsie's body taken 00:12:19.970 --> 00:12:24.880 align:middle line:84% back to his home, and he didn't have enough, 00:12:24.880 --> 00:12:28.420 align:middle line:84% and that's what the collection was for. 00:12:28.420 --> 00:12:30.190 align:middle line:84% The money is spread out on Oscar's table 00:12:30.190 --> 00:12:33.200 align:middle line:84% in neat stacks of change and paper bills, quarters, dimes, 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:35.920 align:middle line:84% nickels, a few 10s, one 20, and a whole lot of the ones. 00:12:35.920 --> 00:12:37.960 align:middle line:84% You've counted it three times and it 00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:39.910 align:middle line:90% keeps coming up the same. 00:12:39.910 --> 00:12:42.700 align:middle line:90% $316.25. 00:12:42.700 --> 00:12:44.387 align:middle line:84% Oscar reaches for the big chief tablet 00:12:44.387 --> 00:12:46.720 align:middle line:84% and the stubby yellow pencil to check the figures again. 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:48.530 align:middle line:90% You stop his hand. 00:12:48.530 --> 00:12:49.910 align:middle line:90% "Don't," you say. 00:12:49.910 --> 00:12:52.670 align:middle line:90% "It's the same answer." 00:12:52.670 --> 00:12:55.448 align:middle line:84% He puts down the pencil and pushes the tablet aside. 00:12:55.448 --> 00:12:56.990 align:middle line:84% "Sometimes there's a different answer 00:12:56.990 --> 00:12:58.850 align:middle line:90% if you look long enough." 00:12:58.850 --> 00:13:00.320 align:middle line:90% "Not this time," you say. 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:03.800 align:middle line:84% "I have to leave tomorrow, so I'm back to the same question. 00:13:03.800 --> 00:13:07.160 align:middle line:84% Know anybody that can take me to the bus station?" 00:13:07.160 --> 00:13:09.780 align:middle line:84% Oscar doesn't speak for a minute, then he sighs and says, 00:13:09.780 --> 00:13:10.280 align:middle line:90% "Yeah. 00:13:10.280 --> 00:13:11.570 align:middle line:90% Roger's cousin isn't working. 00:13:11.570 --> 00:13:12.560 align:middle line:90% He'll take you. 00:13:12.560 --> 00:13:16.960 align:middle line:84% I'll walk over to his house in a little while and ask him." 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:19.700 align:middle line:84% You wave your hand at the money on the table, 00:13:19.700 --> 00:13:21.440 align:middle line:90% "I got to give this back." 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:22.970 align:middle line:90% And Oscar crosses his arms. 00:13:22.970 --> 00:13:24.170 align:middle line:90% "Can't. 00:13:24.170 --> 00:13:25.970 align:middle line:90% That'd be an insult," he says. 00:13:25.970 --> 00:13:29.308 align:middle line:84% "All right, then use it to buy stuff for the next giveaway." 00:13:29.308 --> 00:13:31.850 align:middle line:84% Oscar doesn't say anything, he just picks the money up a pile 00:13:31.850 --> 00:13:34.490 align:middle line:84% at a time and dumps it into a brown paper bag. 00:13:34.490 --> 00:13:36.230 align:middle line:84% A little later after Oscar's walked over 00:13:36.230 --> 00:13:38.803 align:middle line:84% to see Roger's cousin, you hear footsteps in the yard. 00:13:38.803 --> 00:13:40.970 align:middle line:84% Someone bangs on the door, and first thing you think 00:13:40.970 --> 00:13:43.010 align:middle line:84% is that Jack Mason has found you. 00:13:43.010 --> 00:13:45.562 align:middle line:90% He's the bad guy in this novel. 00:13:45.562 --> 00:13:47.020 align:middle line:84% There's a moment of panic, and then 00:13:47.020 --> 00:13:50.193 align:middle line:84% a voice hollers, "Oscar, you home?" 00:13:50.193 --> 00:13:51.610 align:middle line:84% You think that Jack Mason probably 00:13:51.610 --> 00:13:54.040 align:middle line:84% wouldn't know Oscar's name, probably, 00:13:54.040 --> 00:13:57.200 align:middle line:84% so you open the door to find Frank Staley. 00:13:57.200 --> 00:13:58.420 align:middle line:90% This is the coroner. 00:13:58.420 --> 00:14:00.920 align:middle line:84% He's standing there in the cold, his breath streaming whisky 00:14:00.920 --> 00:14:01.550 align:middle line:90% scent. 00:14:01.550 --> 00:14:05.000 align:middle line:84% He covers his mouth with a brown leather gloved hand and coughs. 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:07.100 align:middle line:84% "Oscar isn't home right now, Mr Staley." 00:14:07.100 --> 00:14:07.790 align:middle line:90% "Doesn't matter. 00:14:07.790 --> 00:14:10.130 align:middle line:84% I really came to see you," he says. 00:14:10.130 --> 00:14:10.850 align:middle line:90% "Me?" 00:14:10.850 --> 00:14:11.960 align:middle line:90% "Yes." 00:14:11.960 --> 00:14:13.310 align:middle line:90% He motioned for him to come in. 00:14:13.310 --> 00:14:14.990 align:middle line:84% He stomps the snow off his over shoes 00:14:14.990 --> 00:14:17.702 align:middle line:84% and steps inside looking around curiously. 00:14:17.702 --> 00:14:19.160 align:middle line:84% "So what do you need to talk about? 00:14:19.160 --> 00:14:21.090 align:middle line:90% Price going up again?" 00:14:21.090 --> 00:14:22.340 align:middle line:90% "Come on now, that's not fair. 00:14:22.340 --> 00:14:23.340 align:middle line:90% I have to make a living. 00:14:23.340 --> 00:14:24.590 align:middle line:90% There are laws to follow. 00:14:24.590 --> 00:14:26.090 align:middle line:90% I can't just--" "Never mind. 00:14:26.090 --> 00:14:26.630 align:middle line:90% Never mind. 00:14:26.630 --> 00:14:27.950 align:middle line:90% I understand." 00:14:27.950 --> 00:14:29.600 align:middle line:90% "But you don't." 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:30.440 align:middle line:90% "It's good news. 00:14:30.440 --> 00:14:32.600 align:middle line:84% A third party has agreed to pay for the expenses 00:14:32.600 --> 00:14:34.520 align:middle line:90% of transporting the body." 00:14:34.520 --> 00:14:35.280 align:middle line:90% "What? 00:14:35.280 --> 00:14:35.780 align:middle line:90% Who?" 00:14:35.780 --> 00:14:37.340 align:middle line:90% You ask. 00:14:37.340 --> 00:14:38.810 align:middle line:84% I'm not at liberty to divulge that. 00:14:38.810 --> 00:14:42.992 align:middle line:84% It was a charitable donation, shall we say. 00:14:42.992 --> 00:14:44.700 align:middle line:84% "They're paying for the transport, right? 00:14:44.700 --> 00:14:46.800 align:middle line:84% Well what about the vault and the coffin?' 00:14:46.800 --> 00:14:47.760 align:middle line:90% He waves a hand. 00:14:47.760 --> 00:14:48.470 align:middle line:90% "Well, that too. 00:14:48.470 --> 00:14:48.970 align:middle line:90% That too. 00:14:48.970 --> 00:14:51.030 align:middle line:84% And the exhumation order is all signed. 00:14:51.030 --> 00:14:53.040 align:middle line:84% If the weather holds, we can exhume the body day 00:14:53.040 --> 00:14:53.942 align:middle line:90% after tomorrow. 00:14:53.942 --> 00:14:55.650 align:middle line:84% This is Sunday, so you can be on your way 00:14:55.650 --> 00:14:57.555 align:middle line:90% by, say, Wednesday morning." 00:14:57.555 --> 00:14:59.430 align:middle line:84% You're thinking that there's some good people 00:14:59.430 --> 00:15:02.220 align:middle line:84% in this town and some bad ones too, and all in all, 00:15:02.220 --> 00:15:04.633 align:middle line:84% you'll be glad to be gone, long gone. 00:15:04.633 --> 00:15:06.300 align:middle line:84% And you're thinking, too, that this town 00:15:06.300 --> 00:15:08.370 align:middle line:90% will be glad to have you gone. 00:15:08.370 --> 00:15:09.120 align:middle line:90% "Wednesday? 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:10.908 align:middle line:90% Why not Tuesday afternoon?" 00:15:10.908 --> 00:15:12.450 align:middle line:84% "God damn it, man, the body has to be 00:15:12.450 --> 00:15:14.010 align:middle line:84% removed from the old vault and the coffin, 00:15:14.010 --> 00:15:14.885 align:middle line:90% encased in a new one. 00:15:14.885 --> 00:15:15.487 align:middle line:90% You know? 00:15:15.487 --> 00:15:17.320 align:middle line:84% And who knows who might die in the meantime. 00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:17.987 align:middle line:90% Give me a break. 00:15:17.987 --> 00:15:20.370 align:middle line:84% I run that place pretty much by myself." 00:15:20.370 --> 00:15:20.910 align:middle line:90% "Sure. 00:15:20.910 --> 00:15:21.270 align:middle line:90% Sure." 00:15:21.270 --> 00:15:21.770 align:middle line:90% You say. 00:15:21.770 --> 00:15:23.872 align:middle line:90% "OK, Wednesday afternoon." 00:15:23.872 --> 00:15:25.830 align:middle line:84% You're wondering if Roger's cousin can take you 00:15:25.830 --> 00:15:28.350 align:middle line:84% to the bus stop on Wednesday instead of tomorrow, 00:15:28.350 --> 00:15:31.860 align:middle line:84% but then Staley says you can ride shotgun with the driver. 00:15:31.860 --> 00:15:33.653 align:middle line:90% That's a customary courtesy. 00:15:33.653 --> 00:15:35.820 align:middle line:84% You wonder why he didn't have the manners to mention 00:15:35.820 --> 00:15:37.830 align:middle line:84% that customary courtesy before, but you 00:15:37.830 --> 00:15:40.372 align:middle line:84% think about the dollars that are going to stay in your wallet 00:15:40.372 --> 00:15:42.750 align:middle line:84% for a little while longer, so you just say, "Thank you." 00:15:42.750 --> 00:15:44.208 align:middle line:84% Staley takes hold of the door knob, 00:15:44.208 --> 00:15:47.190 align:middle line:84% and he voices what you'd been thinking just a minute ago. 00:15:47.190 --> 00:15:48.690 align:middle line:84% "I don't mind telling you this town 00:15:48.690 --> 00:15:50.773 align:middle line:84% will be glad to put an end to this whole business. 00:15:50.773 --> 00:15:52.920 align:middle line:84% It's been a bad deal from start to finish. 00:15:52.920 --> 00:15:55.260 align:middle line:90% Looks like it's about finished." 00:15:55.260 --> 00:15:57.360 align:middle line:84% You want to say, but it isn't finished, 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:01.830 align:middle line:84% and it will never be as long as whoever killed her isn't known. 00:16:01.830 --> 00:16:04.680 align:middle line:84% All you can hope for is an uneasy peace for yourself 00:16:04.680 --> 00:16:07.263 align:middle line:84% and a better resting place for Elsie. 00:16:07.263 --> 00:16:09.680 align:middle line:84% "I figured the crew should have a grave opener around noon 00:16:09.680 --> 00:16:11.222 align:middle line:84% on Tuesday, if you want to be there," 00:16:11.222 --> 00:16:13.750 align:middle line:90% he says as he shuts the door. 00:16:13.750 --> 00:16:16.000 align:middle line:90%