Chapter 13

Back at the base I spent at least an hour in the shower, and then slept for about 6. It was now the 25th July, and after breakfast the officers and SNCO's of the battalion went off to be told how well, or otherwise, each unit had performed during the exercise. The rest of us were going on organized sight-seeing trips and visits.
I had been given permission to go with Eddy Two Bears, and had just got back from breakfast when a Pikani came up to me and wordlessly handed me a note from Eddy. 'Meet you in the CANEX at noon'. How Eddy had got the note to me I'll never know; there were over 500 Green Jackets on the base, all he knew was my name, and it's doubtful anyone would have given out my company, platoon or section details to a Native Policeman.

He picked me up as planned, and we drove to some single storied bungalow type buildings on the edge of Ralston.
"This is where the Greenjacket family live. Forget tepees, it's too damn cold in winter for that." He said, as we pulled up outside one of the larger buildings. The living conditions were a bit different than those back home in the UK. All single males over the age of 14—the Braves as they are known—live together in one of the buildings, the one we had stopped outside. The other buildings housed family groups; the amount of space a family occupied in any building was dependent on family size. From what I could gather the cooking and washing facilities in each building were communal.

Another clan belonging to the Southern People band, the Spotted Tails, lived about 200 yards to the east, and the third family clan, the Claws, lived another few hundred yards further on again. I asked Eddy how many Pikani lived in and around Ralston.
"There are about three hundred members of the Southern People band. About forty or so other Pikani, not members of the local band, live in Ralston itself. We lose a lot of our young folk when they go to college; they may still retain their Pikani heritage, but they live, work and sometimes marry, with Europeans."

Eddy found room for me in the Braves' accommodation. They seemed resigned, rather than ecstatic, to be hosting a white man. "They don't often come close to Europeans. Me, I'm an outgoing sort of person; some say I'm not a real Pikani." He laughed when he said it, but judging by his physique it would be a brave Brave who questioned Eddy Two Bears' parentage.

Eddy explained the role of the Dream Catcher. "He's a mixture of Medicine Man, Shaman and psychologist, all rolled into one. He interprets people's dreams. The Pikani were doing that long before Freud, Jung or Adler came up with their theories."
He grinned at me. "I've got a degree in sociology and psychology from the University of Calgary. I'm not just a pretty face."
About 4 pm Eddy's father came into the building, and it was clear from the way he was treated that he was a very important and respected man in the tribe. He slowly looked me up and down; his eyes were like spears, probing and dissecting me, as if he could delve right into my soul and define my innermost secrets. He was quite tall for a Pikani, who are generally stocky, well-muscled and somewhat Asiatic in appearance. At last he gave me a welcome nod, and said, in English.
"This man is a warrior; he has fought for his Chief, and we are proud to welcome him into the Lodge of the Greenjackets."
All the Braves looked at me, and some gave slight smiles and nods -- which for a Pikani was being quite effusive.
The Dream Catcher then said something that left me absolutely gob-smacked. "He shall be given a Greenjacket name." He paused a few seconds."He shall be known as Flying Horse." How on earth this Pikani Indian knew that I wore the Airborne Brigade flash of Pegasus, the Flying Horse, on my combat jacket, which I had only worn during the exercise out on the prairie, is beyond me.

We sat on the floor and the Dream Catcher, whose Pikani name was Lone Elk, questioned me in much the same way as had Eddy. Food was brought into the room by the women of the clan, and for a time all that could be heard was the sound of good food being eaten with relish. It was some sort of stew, I couldn't determine what meat it contained but it was very tasty and tender. Eddy told me later that it was dog, but I think he was just pulling my pisser.