Bitterroot Valley uuman ∾

kukutux looked at sialuk. "we will leave when the spirits whisper we must go back."

"if i cannot help, then i will ask for more voices than my own, to join us." healing was many things. it took many forms. sialuk burned with an impatience that she had never before seen in her daughter.

the duck felt tears beginning in her own eyes. she did not understand them.

sialuk wished a man who would fight for her. "if a man sees he can win you by overthrowing another hunter, what happens when he is overthrown?" 

she took a breath. "there is something you must know. i had the wish that i would wait until sedna spoke to you. until the day that you married. but i see now that you must know."

firstly, "each wolf has two names. there is the one that we wear each day. and there is our spirit name. a mother tells this twice to her children. first when they are born and cannot hear. the second and last time is when he becomes a hunter. or she becomes a woman. when her ears are open to hear."

"this name is to help you make a path into the next trail of your life." she blinked into the beautiful, tormented eyes of sialuk. "yours is atiqtalik. polar bear mother."