The Rhythm of The North by Kay Cordell Whitaker

A very long time ago there lived this man. His people called him Mud Man. One day he was with his village in a great ceremony. He had a vision, and the omens all fell on him. The medicine man came to him and said “Mud Man, you must leave the village and live alone in the wilderness to the north for one year. One cycle of seasons. Remove all things from your body and take nothing. The spirit people have called you. They will help you. Know that this thing you do is for your people. You must leave at once.”

So, Mud Man removed everything from his body, and in his virility, stops and looks once upon his people and runs off into the wild lands of the north.

He paced himself, and when night has fallen, he finds many branches to make a bed and covering.

On the next day he hunts plants to eat and fashions a rope to make a trap. Soon he catches a little animal to eat and makes a knife from a bone. Then it is time to press on, to go further north.

He runs for days. He does well. Then one night, he hears a little voice calling, “Mud Man, Mud Man.” He gets up and follows it. Light comes through the bush from the moon. He looks silently through the leaves, pushing them aside. There sit’s a pregnant woman whose skin was soil and little plants. She was most beautiful. He steps up to her and she says, “Mud Man, do you know who I am?”

He does not know. He is captivated by her and loves her greatly. She says, “I have come to help you. Do you know what you hunt for?”

“No” he says.

“It is me” she answers, and smiles at him. He reaches to embrace her and she disappears.

“Wait! Wait!” he yells, searching the bushes. His heart breaks. “Wait! Wait! Where did you go? I need you. Please return to me.” He sinks to the ground and sobs. What kind of spirit is this, he thinks, that would steal away with his heart?

Again he runs, moving farther north, always in his mind to find again that spirit woman. Sometimes he thinks he hears her in his sleep.

As the days pass, he finds less and less food. Game is scarce and the water is bitter. He meets a boy who is lost alone in the wilderness. Mud Man makes him clothes and gives him in his food. He will protect him and back to his people. They are together for many days, talking, laughing, hunting. They are happy and have a good time together.

Then one day by a drying river, Mud Man collects wood while the boy gets water. A huge cat jumps in between them. The boy is not afraid. Mud Man comes fast, yelling to protect him, and throws a knife at this cat. The cat steps back but the boy says, “It is okay Mud Man. This cat will eat one of us today. You have a task that needs finishing, so I will be his food today. It is fair. He will be food tomorrow.”

The cat leaped and dragged the boy off before Mud Man could stop them. Mud Man grew heavy with sorrow.

A familiar voice like music spoke to him from behind. He turns around and there is the spirit woman he searched for.

“Your sadness is not for the boy. Know that it is for yourself, for your loss of him. He was happy to be the eater and the food. Honor him by honoring his cycle and his choice to gift you life. Follow me, Mud Man. I have many friends for you to meet.”

She takes him by the hand, and as they walk, they get smaller and smaller. They get so small they are as small as the ant people she walks up to.

“Hello, good people”, she says. “I have a friend here for you to meet.” They all greet each other in the ant way and the ants take them inside their nest village.

It is huge. So many ants are everywhere busy, but never too busy to be polite. These people are most amazing. Everyone has a job. They are all happy and working together. There are those building up new rooms, and those tearing apart old ones. There are cleaners, food bringers and food storers. Babies are tended. The young taught. The old and weak allowed to become food. And at the center was the tribe mother. Always pregnant. Always bringing new life.

Mud Man and the spirit woman stayed with them for many days. The ants feed and care for them and teach Mud Man much about the hidden beauty in the world. They say, “You are respectful. Come back anytime Mud Man. You are always welcome. Let us know if we can ever give you help.”

As they are leaving and walk back into their own world, the spirit woman fades into the air.

Mud Man says, “Wait! Do not leave me again! How do I find you? Wait!’ He starts thrashing through the brush, calling for her. But he cannot find her. He searches for days and days. Food and water are scarcer, and he grows weak.

She comes to him in his sleeping and says to him, “Go to the house of the songbird people. Learn from them. They will help you.” So he goes to them. They welcome him and give him nourishment. He asks if they have seen the spirit woman.

They say, “Oh yes! She is here.”

He looks around all over the place, but he does not find her. So he thanks them and goes on with his journey.

His body weakens again, and the spirit woman speaks to him in his sleep, telling him to find her friends, the frog people, the deer people, and the monkey people. They care for him too and try to help him find the spirit woman. But he only sees fleeting images of her in the land and in his dreams.

Not knowing what to do, Mud Man returns to the tribal ant mother for help. She says. “You forget your source, Mud Man, now you are sick. Look around everywhere. There is the source. And there is the one you seek. She is the mother of all our tribes. Laugh and eat with us of her gifts tonight. Tomorrow, return to your people and teach them what you have found.”