Haudenosaunee · the Central Fire in the hills, and the six nations' lands
The heroes of this story.
Carries six invitations, one story from each nation, to the fire. Counts: one, two, three, four, five, six — "but that's FAR!"
Keeps the fire lit for the councils, the children, the nations — all six. "Now we wait — and we keep it lit."
Dignified, never cute-ified. Flies the far ones; watches and carries messages — never children.
Draws the invitation in charcoal on bark paper — fire on the wrong side. An elder corrects him, once: "Ask until it's right. A wrong story is worse than no story."
At the center of the hills a fire never goes out, and the Firekeeper sends Little Hills with six invitations — one story from each nation — east to the Mohawk door, to the Oneida stone, west to the Seneca thanks, to the Cayuga wetlands, down the Tuscarora road. The young eagle flies the far ones. They come: the Door-opener, the Stone-walker, the Thanks-giver, the Muckland child with her cattail cake, the Drawer getting corrected twice — lovingly. Six nations, six stories, one fire — and each child says the word for fire in their own nation's language.
Free coloring pages from this book · how-to-draw the friends · watch the episode on YouTube.
