Chew-chew and all of her children belonged to the Horse clan. All the children in those days took the clan name of their mother. Chew-chew’s sons had captured wives from the Reindeer clan. And so the children in Chew-chew’s cave belonged to the Reindeer clan. It thus happened that in every cave there were people of different clans. But since Chew-chew was the oldest woman in the cave, we shall call the people at the Fork of the River by the name of the Horse clan.
Chew-chew telling stories to Fleetfoot.
Chew-chew often told the children about her first home. She told them about the cave near the River of Snow, which was much like the cave which sheltered them. She told them about the wide shelving rocks which were like the ones above their cave. And she told how frightened her people were the day a rock fell near the mouth of their cave.
No one knew at the time what made the rock fall. No one knew there was no need of being afraid. Some one said that the god of the cliff was angry and that he had pushed the rock down. Everybody believed the story. So nobody dared go near the cave.
But the Cave-men needed a shelter. So they offered gifts to the god of the cliffs. When they thought he was satisfied, they all went back to the cave. And after a while they used the big rock as a table for their work.
Chew-chew wanted the children to grow to be brave and wise. So she told them stories of the bravest and wisest people of her clan. She told them stories about their grandfathers who were the heroes of the olden times. And Fleetfoot never grew tired of hearing about the wonderful things which his grandfathers did.
And so Chew-chew taught the children all she thought they ought to know. And they looked into her eyes and listened to all that she said.
THINGS TO DO