Page 194 - Brokenclaw - John Gardner

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‘Among the most important of our rituals, we agreed, was the appeasement

of the spirits, particularly the spirits of earth, fire and the water which once
covered the entire earth. You can understand this, Captain Bond?’
He nodded. Inside, his stomach churned as he waited for Brokenclaw Lee to
come out with the real object of this l
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‘Just as Christian peoples have their ceremonies which speak of death and
rebirth – the rituals of Spring, the Easter rituals – so we had to look back to the
old ways and resurrect our rites of appeasement, so that the spirits would not
forsake us, so that we would live to see the crops ripen and be blessed with

good hunting.
‘One such ritual which emanates from the Mandan Indians, the Plains
People, is that of o-kee-pa. This is a long ceremonial period, in which there
are spirit dances and sacrifice. Part of the ancient o-kee-pa rites concern the
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choice of future leaders.’ He paused as though waiting for Bond to show
comprehension.
Brokenclaw maintained that the o-kee-pa, when first discovered by the
white man, had offended. ‘They considered parts of it so brutal and degrading

that when an explorer from your own country, Captain Bond, took back
evidence of the ceremonies, the Victorian British maintained that the poor
wretched explorer’s mind was filled with bizarre and morbid fantasies. That
was rich coming from the Victorians who exploited their workers, and who

brutalised the poor, don’t you think?’
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Bond merely nodded.
‘We decided that part of the o-kee-pa was ideal for choosing future leaders
from among our people here. The torture ritual had long been used to weed out

the strong from the weak. So, some twelve years ago, we performed the
ceremony again. Out of eight men, only two of us passed the test, and I have
scars to prove it to you. See!’
He rose, stripping off his buckskin jerkin to display his back. Below the

shoulder blades there were long, thick ugly scars. ‘There are two more.’ He
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rolled up the loose trousers to show that there were jagged, rough scars on
both of his calves as though a bullet had passed through the flesh and exploded,
leaving torn and ragged wounds.

‘You tell me that you will fight me on my own terms, then these are my
terms. I shall explain.’
Bond listened with mounting horror, knowing that this man had already been

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