Freedom and the Collective

Medicine Woman was content. The Tribe was two ir three days away from the Sea People at the southern terminus of their annual migration. She looked forward to seeing two cousins and their children, as well as many freinds.  She felt she knew everyone in that village.  They were always there, in the same place.  Medicine Woman wondered what that would be like. The Sea People took most of their food from the ocean.  The Wolf People traded with them for nets, salt, dried fish, seashells (for jewelry and more utilitarian purposes), seaweed (as a seemingly rot-proof food), and many other things the Wolf People needed. The Wolf People would stay with the Sea People for at least a moon (month) before migrating back to the north. Over that time, young men and women would fall in love, and ultimately some of the Wolf People would remain here, while some of the Ocean People would come back north with the Wolf People. Medicine Woman's month-old daughter was asleep, a...

Sees More spent much of his time working on better weapons with which to face their enemy.  All who were interested were welcome to suggest ideas, and many did. All the while, they sent scouts with dogs ahead of the traveling group. All around their encampments, to insure that the Wolf People weren't taken by surprise, sentinals with diga were posted, and ditches, sharpened sticks, and walls surrounded carefully chosen sites. Axes, clubs with flint embedded, knives with wooden handles, wood and rawhide or fiber shields all came to be refined quickly. Glues were improved, as different tree-saps were mixed with various powdered minerals and eachother.   It was Medicine Woman who did most of these experiments.  It was similar to the way she experimented with different plants and herbs for different purposes, such as poultices. Medicine Woman was the wife of Sees More's brother, Goes Alone (the head scout), and often worked with him. Sees More's latest projec...

As the Tribe migrated north to south, and then south to north each year,  they had agreed to meet with other groups at certain locations for trade and mixing. With the exception of the Others in the north, the groups would share an encampment briefly, and usually young men and women would leave or come to the Tribe. Indeed, many of the people were reuniting with family members; the groups were literally related. The Tribe (now called "the Wolf People") were expecting to meet with a smaller group which typically brought dried fruits, salt, and a particular type of wood which the Wolf People preferred for their spears, throwers, and other carved tools. This year, they planned to give these people four of their puppies. It was not to happen.  The dogs (they couldn't call these freinds and allies wolves any more) began growling as they neared the meeting place.  Something was wrong. The men practiced warcraft from childhood, and spread out, moving ahead of the wom...