Good Day Brave Heart
It’s seldom a bad day with so much to do.
Exit the warm contentment of the cozy, familiar structure to the bright snow-covered future that awaits you in the outdoors. It’s a fantasy world of snow laden trees, martins leaping along the way and birds chattering to each other. What do they say? Only your own spirits will determine their message. The sundog shines in a glorious ring around the sun, indicating a weather pattern on its way. The brightness of this glory world is the psychedelic wonder of yesteryear. It’s no wonder that they thought that LDS was safe.
Minds bend in the staggering difficulty of the task. The unfathomable human experiment of the day.
Hunting and trapping, the need to survive, the human is a new predator in this place. Now the competition for the food supply has increased and new hunters are on the land. Hunters with families and small mouths to feed. Tiny tots with growing pains, hunger pangs and shill cries. Feed us! cloth us! save us! The howls stop when the hut vanishes in the snow and the hunt for animal tracks begin.
This new human brings a new kind of weapon to the wild world of big game hunting. Gone is the bow and arrow, now it’s the rifle. Guns. Guns to protect us, guns to hunt with, guns to be dependent upon. Guns for survival, guns for livelihood, guns for trade and barter. Guns. Only the need for ammunition is a drawback in the use of guns. Stock the larder with as much provision for the winter as you can, and don’t forget the main one, your gun.
Unlicensed weapons have as many as you want to. No one is watching.
The stealthy aboriginal makes his way to your shelter. Maybe you don’t have to hunt today. Maybe all that you have to do is to trade him a good gun and a round of ammunition for a side of moose, a rack of elk and a hind quarter of deer. Maybe he will give his own much needed furs, from that rabbit, for a gun. The indigenous people need the fur more than the fur trader do, but wildlife is plentiful, and trade brings wealth to this family. Wealth to one, survival to another, a deal is struck. It seems like a win, win situation. The stealthy aboriginal so experienced in the ways of this land, looking to improve his own lot in life. A gun for his hunt, a gun for his prosperity and a gun to protect him from the devil.
The homesteader is saved. No more psychedelic sunshine. No more mind-bending winter exposure. No more lethargic, seemingly drug filled indecisive wanderings. He is saved. Saved by the aboriginal bell of necessity. The gun is more powerful than the bow and arrow.
A shot rings out on the still land. The skilled new hunter has already conquered. More will come looking for this kind of trade. More will seek the European for guns.
Guns for survival, guns to protect us. Guns. A new way of life.
Written by Dr. Louise Hayes