Gideon’s Dilemma – Part One
“All the time I wondered who Secora James was, and how we both could possibly find, let alone help, a mythical creature.“
Wakinyan Tanka, the Great Thunderbird, contacted me in a dream while I was in the hospital healing from a lightning strike. She was perched atop a misty cliff and stood at least eight feet tall as far as I could tell. Her stare had a primitive fierceness that made me feel paralyzed, unable to move or speak. She was aware and said telepathically, “All life is tenacious.” You have survived what most men would not. My kind has survived what many of the large ones from a cooler time did not.
She marked the statement by raising a Mohawk of crimson-tipped feathers that ran from the crest of her head partway down the back of her gray-black neck. Awestruck, I noticed that her face and lower neck were lighter in color, but overall, there was a golden eagle-like impression and, just maybe, a little hawk thrown in. Yet, there were also definite differences.
‘I am Wakinyan Tanka. Long ago, humans relied on the grace of my people to lift their prayers by the wind of our wings to the Great Mystery of which we are all a part of.’ To those who sought our aid all over the earth, we were the embodiment of effortless grace, the Winged Power who protected and destroyed. Her back feathers were gray-tinged, and there was bluish skin on her face near the eyes and beak. The beak was large and primitive, unlike that of modern raptors. It looked like an upside-down canoe, meant to carve deeply into her prey.
Listen. Do not let your attention stray. I showed myself to you in a vision before the lightning strike because you were in danger. You came outside where I could save you. The Thunder Beings are in trouble, and I am calling on you for help. She adjusted her balance.
In these times, wherever we fly, we are targeted and harassed. Soon, greedy men will want to imprison us and keep us from our lives in the sky. She shifted her massive wings. When the chest muscles moved, I was struck by how beautiful the gold-tinged breast feathers were.
Wakinyan continued, “All life is sacred; even a bug chooses to live.” But change is the way of nature, and many animals and plants I knew are gone since the ice came and went. Only a few remain, even as they slide away with rising heat and drying land. For your kind, change is difficult. Two-leggeds hold onto vestiges of the past as sacred, often with disregard for the sacredness of the now.
She dropped her head, but the reddish-gold eyes never left mine. I, Gideon Yellow Thunder, a successful realtor in Missoula, Montana, was shocked. I purposefully had not chosen the way of the Oglala Lakota. The bird spread her dark, glistening wings, which seemed to exceed the length of a large school bus. Wakinyan’s final thought reached me.
Your life is changing; mine may well be ending. I call on you now to help my people, the Thunderbirds. Either we will continue a while longer, or we will end very soon. It is a thing to be decided by the Great Mystery, not for humans to control. The Wakinyan must accept whatever path is chosen for them by the One who gives life to all. And you must accept the new path chosen for you, or perish. The great bird cupped her wings and rose silently, effortlessly, from the cliff on which she perched. An updraft tickled her wing feathers, which became gilded with sunlight. Still, her eyes seemed to pierce me…
Still recovering from the lightning strike, I was taken to the trailer owned by my sister Jane and her 12-year-old son, Kyah. My eyes were riveted on the winking sun during a beautiful daybreak near Porcupine Creek, in South Dakota. There was an undeniable peace. I was alone except for an irritated roan horse that was stomping a foot, trying to dislodge a botfly that was laying eggs on its hair.
It was late June, but the breeze was tinged with crispness as I savored coffee on the porch, taking in the surrounding beauty and trying to block out every stress that still clung to me. I have to admit, there were times the reservation seemed like heaven. That peace was interrupted when my sister’s friend Iris Snowden arrived to plan their summer trip to South America. Try as I might, I could not ignore the trail of dust that followed a small red car off Bigfoot Road and up the drive.
“Hey, Jane! Somebody’s coming.” I slid my walker out of the way as my sister banged through the trailer door, squinted, and said, “Ah, that would be Iris,” as she trotted down the steps. “It’s been nearly a week since her sister, Secora, left for Brazil, and we still need to finalize our fieldwork travel plans.”
Jane and Iris, who worked for the Anthropology Department in Missoula, plotted and schemed while I sat on the porch and listened to the cricket music. A close family friend, Jimmy Lizardeye, climbed the steps and pulled up the second chair. He was a holy man, but I wasn’t open to that sort of thing.
“Hey, Jimmy, what’s up?”
Jimmy offered me a soda he’d brought with him. “Are you ready to deal with your haunting visits from Wakinyan Tanka?”
Instant panic creased my face as I answered in a whispered voice, “Sh… man, what are you talking about? You know I don’t believe in that nonsense.”
“Deny it all you want. But a Wichasha Wakan is not entirely without abilities.” “What is a Wichasha Wakan again?”
“A holy man. Just think of me as a kind of priest who is ready to share with you the way of the Akecheta Heyoka, and help you unravel the power of your visions. That is, if you are ready.”
“No, I’m not ready!” I rubbed my eye. “I’m not looking to participate in any secret rituals!”
After a long evening of planning and squabbles, I went to lie down for a rest, but another vision awaited me. It was evening, and the wind was blowing. Wakinyan was soaring so high she couldn’t be seen from the earth.
She cut through the atmosphere at incredible speed as she looked directly at me and said, ‘Arise, Heyoka.’ You must find the one who will save us both. We cannot endure that which is coming alone. You need what she can teach you to redeem yourself.
Who? Is her name Secora? . . . Part Two Coming Soon!
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