Fish Weir
2500 BC
Quenop
learns that his son and Wennikinnewa are lovers. His jealous rage knows no
bounds.
Old
Muskwas, “Musk Rat,” Quenop’s great-uncle, is the family’s powwow or medicine
man. Bands may fight with each other but families fear violence within their
own ranks and will ambush and slay a member who threatens the peace. Ignoring
Muskrat’s appeals for calm, Quenop takes up his war club. Pimokha-suwi flees in
a canoe, heading into a storm that lashes the bay.
After
the deluge that destroys part of the weir, Quenop searches in vain for his son.
He returns to repair the fish trap, working with a heavy heart, for he accepts
responsibility for Pimokha-suwi’s death.
A
week later, a mighty shoal of shad swim in with the tide, rippling the water on
the run. The silver stream breaks at the weir, leaving countless fish trapped
within the labyrinth. So great a catch that every man, woman and child spends
the entire day collecting fish, with just as many remaining to be harvested.
 |
| Shad and Silver Herring - Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission |
Toward
dusk, Muskrat chants thanks to the shad, releasing the finest specimen and
setting it free to carry his song of gratitude to the spawning grounds.
Mahikan’s
band cross the narrow neck, coming to celebrate the first catch. Quenop can’t
believe his eyes, when he sees the young couple at Mahikan’s side: It is Wennikinnewa
and next to her, Pimokha-suwi, his step as lively as ever. The storm blew
Pimokha-suwi’s canoe far south of the bay; eight days later, he finally reached
Blue Hills.
Fall
comes and Quenop’s band prepares to return up-country. On the day they leave,
Pimokha-suwi comes to bid farewell. He is staying with Bright Hummingbird’s
family, who live permanently at the quarry
In
time, Pimokha-suwi gets a new name, no longer Stirring-About but Yagawanee,
Hut-Maker. It’s a fitting title for the founder of the first clan to settle on
the peninsula, where later generations keep the fish weir in good repair. The
shelter that Hut-Maker builds stands next to a freshwater spring on the western
slope of one of the three hills. It overlooks the gentle lands we know today as
Boston Common.
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| Boston Common, 2013 Photo: ingfbruno/Wikipedia |
Imagining Boston - 3
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