A Closer look at the Okahok Amai
Our main character begins his story long after the main events of the novel. He has travelled far from his home and is an old man telling his stories to a new group of people.
Tanyi Erutaone: Autumn of the Changing Guard, 1670
As Ekuni becomes an adult, he is being trained to become a leader amongst his people. He has a close relationship with his grandfather who is the leader of the village. We see into the world that his grandfather had witnessed when he was visited by a Spaniard far in the south. We get to watch as Ekuni goes through the Monyton ritual into adulthood. His father takes him on a hunting trip with a serious warning about the outsiders that were approaching Indian allies far to the east. Autumn descends into a deep and chaotic winter when Ekuni and his father find themselves racing back home from Tomahitta to find tragedy.
Waneni Miha-maganaga: Winter of the Unwelcome Visitors, 1671
Ekuni reels from the surprises of the trip to Tomahitta and the appearance of a beautiful young Monyton girl. His father proves himself as a leader of the village when he responds to a Seneca attack deep in the winter. The winter passes and life returned to the valley, some wanted and some unexpected. Ekuni travels with his father on a wide-ranging hunting trip into the old homestead of his grandfather and find an expected and mysterious guest with friends tagging along. This propels Ekuni and the Monytons into much closer contact with the English traders they had heard rumors about. Ekuni’s father travels to speak with the English and catalyzed changes that would set the world on fire.
Wehahempei Wakasik Nomp Yateta: Spring of the Deadly Twins, 1672
Ekuni’s family grows significantly just as English traders unsettle their lives in unexpected ways. Their arrival stirs more than just a desire to trade. After the chaos of the trader, Ekuni again travels with his father to a meeting of fellow Indians to discuss troubling attacks. They decide to act but Ekuni and his father are tasked to travel with a powerful leader who had declined to join. This trip illuminated a sinister trend that threatened to set all the Indian nations against each other. Ekuni joins his first war party against the Seneca but things do not go as planned leaving Ekuni to stumble back home.
Wehepiwa Nisep Wayi: Summer of the Longhairs, 1673-1674
Despite his young age, Ekuni becomes a leader in the village and quickly excels. But everyone seems to have a request of Ekuni and his people. Ekuni oversees the response to continued chaos the weather was wreaking on the valley not to mention the pressures from traders and warriors. This reaches a fevered pitch after an old Tomahittan friend arrived and drew the village into open war and setting village on their course towards the unthinkable.
You can only tell so much of the story at one time, so Ekuni the elder closes out the story to rest and continue his adventures on the next snowy day.
