ABSTRACT
Perched again on the bird pole at Bird Mountain Village, I looked down and saw only the village women sitting cross-legged on their mats. There was not a sign of the men and boys, not even Dolphin, Sunflower’s toddler. Birdwing beat the drum, sitting in a line with with Tall Sister, Sunflower, Magpie, Birchleaf, and Pebble, dressed in their ceremonial robes of black and white. Flyingbird, Red Cockleshell, and Blue Seaweed sat facing them, decked out in freshly made black and white robes. A tiny fire flickered on the sand between the two rows of women. Each girl had a large sunflower braided into her wavy brown hair. A new moon had just risen.
