CHAPTER SIX
"I had no idea the Blackfoot tepees were so colorful," observed Amelia's friend, Sharon Wells.
As Amelia sat upon the greenish-brown prairie grass outside of her sister's tepee, she was flanked on one side by her sister, Laylah, and her friend, Sharon, on the other. Beside her sister's lodge was the tepee Laylah and her husband's relatives had made especially for her and Sharon. It was a small, simple lodge—completely undecorated—and, sitting as it was in between the painted designs of the green, red, yellow and blue Pikuni lodges, it looked dull in comparison. The plan for the day—as Laylah had told her—was to take down the buffalo hide from around the tepee poles, to then stake the hide to the ground and, finally, to paint it. It was to be Amelia's first chore in her introduction to Indian life.
Laylah smiled at Sharon and said, "My husband, Eagle Heart, drew many of the designs you see on our lodge. They all have meaning to him, but he rarely shares the reasons for the designs. I suppose the yellow sun that goes from sunrise to sunset all around the tepee, is plain enough. But, even I had to beg him to tell me why he was painting particular designs on the buffalo hide and in a certain way."
"It's interesting that he should be the one to do the painting of it," said Sharon, "since my fiancé is also a painter, but perhaps David portrays his works of art in a different manner. However, I do admire your husband's designs. I have noticed, as has my fiancé, that almost every lodge is covered in many different and varied shapes and colors."
"Yes. Our camp is quite vivid and vibrant, isn't it?"
"It is, indeed. Oh, here comes my fiancé at last. He is a little late this morning only because he had to collect together all his paints and canvases. We plan to go a little distant from the Indian encampment and trek up into the bluffs across the river. David says it is there where he might be able to paint a bird's-eye view of the encampment. I'm sorry I won't be able to stay here with the both of you to help paint our tepee."
"Do not concern yourself about it," replied Laylah. "I suspect that when my sisters-in-law see what we are planning to do here today, they might very well come and help us. They are, after all, excited about the two of you coming to stay with us and are greatly wishing to get to know the both of you better."
"And, I would love to meet them, but…"
"Please, by all means, accompany your fiancé," said Laylah. "I am certain we will have many hands to help us today. I even remember Gray Falcon saying his younger sister might join us. So, do take comfort knowing we will have many hands to help us."
Amelia sat up a little straighter and asked, "Did you say Gray Falcon's sister might join us today?"
"Yes, did he not tell you?"
"No, he did not."
"Well, the truth is, because I often accompany my husband when he is called upon to use his skills and knowledge to help others, I won't always be here to help you adjust to camp life. So, Gray Falcon has asked his youngest sister if she might please step in and help me a little by teaching you about many of the tasks we women are responsible for. After all, there is no one else who makes the food or the clothing or who watches the children. And, we have none of the cotton or satin materials for clothing; we make everything ourselves from animal skins. In truth, there is much work, and so we women tend to help each other with as many chores as we can. And, often the work turns out to be more like fun than a chore, since we tend to talk a great deal."
"How nice. But," asked Amelia, "why would Gray Falcon request his sister to do this?"
"Oh, here is David at last," exclaimed Sharon as she sat forward. "I hope you both will pardon me and David, for he wishes to set up his easel and get to work as quickly as possible. And, he needs me when he paints. Isn't it romantic?"
"It is, indeed, romantic," said Amelia.
"Good morning, ladies," crooned sandy-haired David Newson as he stepped toward them and squatted down. "And, what a beautiful morning it is. I hope you all slept well last evening. I know I did, after suffering through those sickening months aboard the steamboat."
"Yes, I think we all slept well," replied Laylah. "Although, perhaps we did not sleep long enough."
"Indeed," agreed David. "I do not believe any of us were able to get as much rest as we ought, since most of us were partying until the very early hours of the morning. But, I am excited to be here, and…well, I am to be off today to climb those bluffs overlooking the Indian encampment. So much to paint, don't you know? I hope you will excuse me and Sharon." He stood up quickly and offered a hand to Sharon to help her rise.
Sharon accepted his aid and, jumping to her feet and smiling at Amelia and Laylah, said, "Goodbye then, until tonight."
"Goodbye," replied Amelia, raising her hand and waving as Sharon stepped out in front of David.
Amelia smiled as she gazed at her sister. "Do you see how she is walking ahead of David? And she is doing it here, in the Pikuni camp. Oh, my, what will they all think? Will they want to put him in dresses?"
Looking back at her sister, both girls broke out into laughter. Laylah said, "I can see Gray Falcon has been talking to you."
"Indeed, he has. I fear he doesn't wholeheartedly approve of my not wanting to walk behind him. And, he often lectures me on what is good behavior. I mean, how many times has he told me I am too bold for a woman?"
Laylah chuckled. "Perhaps this could be as you say, and yet, he has instructed his younger sister to come here today to help you. A Pikuni man does not do this unless he is interested in a woman."
"Oh, I know he likes me well enough. We are friends, after all, and he feels responsible for me. He has told me as much."
"Maybe this is all there is to it," Laylah responded. "Yet, a Pikuni man does not have women friends unless he is interested in making her his woman one day."
"But," replied Amelia, "my dear sister, you forget that he and I came to be friends when we were young. How many times has he told me he is not interested in me as a woman? He knows I love him, yet he contends he does not look upon me in this way."
Laylah's laugh was spontaneous as well as uplifting. After a moment, she said, "I think the man protests too much."
