Where the Two Trails Run

My name is Syuxtun, which means where the two trails run.

I was walking on a trade route near Humaliwo, ‘where the surf sounds loudly,’ as my father says, when I came to the fork in the road.

The path on the left was a safe path, a trusted route I had been using my whole life. It had always been the one my family and I used.

The path on the right, however, is rumored to have more people. Dangerous people. Evil people.

But more people meant more money and goods, and I could get more for my fish. I’d make my family proud today and bring back something good.

For the first time since I was a youngling, I took the path on the right.

I was nervous going alone. Last time I was on this road, it was with my father.

There were cowboys, miner’s and other colonizers on this route, colonizers that did not belong on my land, on my ancestors land, who were very dangerous people.

But as long as the colonizers brought money and goods and were willing to trade, I could overlook their presence, for now.

With my basket of fish on my back, I headed down the road.

After walking a mile, I saw an extraordinarily pale man in a straw hat and severe stubble on his face on horseback. Most of the colonizers looked extraordinarily pale to me.

“Howdy,” the man said.

“Hello,” I said back. Pale man stared at me in silence.

“Would you like to trade?” I asked.

“I ain’t never traded with a dark skin before. I shot a few of your kind who tried to steal my goods. Is there a lot of your kind around here?” The man asked and hopped off his horse.

“Brown skins? Well, I suppose. And I’m not here to steal anything,” I said, feeling a little more conscious of myself. My senses were also heightened, having heard this man just confess to shooting ‘my kind.’ His tone made me uncomfortable. His very existence made me nauseous.

“There are hundreds of my people along the beach. Are there a lot of pale skins on this path?” I asked him.

He chuckled and said, “Pale skins, huh. Yah, further up the road. We’ve established a small trading village a few miles up the way.”

“That’s nice. What do you have in exchange for these fish?” I asked and showed him my basket. I wanted to exchange goods and get back to the safety of my village as quickly as possible.

“How about…” the pale man said and rummaged through his inventory bag.

“These two dollar bills and a loaf of home cooked bread?” He finished saying.

“I’ve already got a little cash, and it’s more then two dollars. And I’ve got more bread then I can eat. Do you have more cash, or possibly any tobacco?” I asked.

I wasn’t the fool this pale man clearly thought me to be. I spent all day fishing, and my basket was worth at least five dollars.

“Dang it, I just rolled my last cigarette. But how about this brand new, unopened bottle of booze? It’s good old fashioned Tennesse moonshine,” the pale man said and smiled.

“Sorry, I don’t drink. But I’ll gladly take that fur coat off your hands,” I said and pointed to the pelt hanging off his horse.

“I can’t trade that. It gets cold here at night,” Pale man said.

“Do you have anything else to trade?” I asked.

“No. But my fur coat? For a basket of fish? I could get twenty dollars and two baskets of fish for this back in the city,” The pale man said and looked shocked.

“Then go to the city. Then bring me back something I can use,” I said.

“The city’s four hours away. I don’t know if I want to trade with you anymore, buster,” Pale man said.

“I can also give you a pocket full of rare sea shells. They’re quit highly prized in my village, I assure you. You could exchange them for hunting supplies and make another fur coat,” I said and smiled.

“Well, ok, fine then. You got yourself a deal, feller. What’s your name, bucko?” He asked and handed me the fur coat.

“Syuxtun,” I said and handed him the basket of fish, then emptied my pockets. I handed him all the seashells I had.

“Well, Tracys gravy and biscuits on a Sunday, I’m Jim. Pleasure doing business with you,” the pale man said, sounding almost bitter as he said it, grinding his teeth after. He then extended his hand, a gesture I was unfamiliar with. I stared at him, unsure what else to do.

“You’re supposed to shake it, son,” Pale Jim said.

I grabbed his hand with both of mine and gave it a good shaking.

“Well, you almost got it,” Pale Jim said and frowned.

“I’ll see you another time,” I said.

I put on my new coat before I turned around and started to walk away when Pale Jim shouted “Hey, Syuxtun.”

I turned around to see what he wanted and his pistol was pointed at me.

“What’s this about?” I asked.

“That’s my coat, and I want it back, thief,” Pale Jim said.

I turned around to run and he shot me in the back.

The idiot had ruined the coat. There was a gaping bullet hole in it, which meant the colonizer had murdered me for nothing.

I should have taken the safe route.

*****

My spirit had risen from my body soon after. But I was in a haze, and had spent several hours staring at my corpse. I was in disbelief. I was dead.

When the fog in my head finally cleared and the shock had worn off, I had seen the spirits of my ancestors beckoning me to go with them.

I told them no. Not yet.

I knew what I had to do. I had to go back home and warn my people about the plague that had colonized this trade route. They must know not to come in this direction. Most already knew, but several had greed in their hearts, and I must quell it. The colonizers could not be trusted.

I was able to float back to the beach. I was enjoying traveling this way, and very quickly arrived home.

I saw a group of people sitting around a campfire, my son Eqon included.

I had hovered over to the fire. The wind my spirit had generated was strong enough to cause the flames to flicker and pulse and embers to spark and fly.

The people sitting around the fire had covered their faces with their arms.

Eqon was the first one to take his hand away from his face and recognize my spirit.

“Father, no,” Eqon cried.

“It is ok, son,” I said.

“No, it’s not. You’re dead,” Eqon shouted.

“My spirit still lives. And as long as I walk this Earth, I can still love and protect you,” I said.

“No. It’s not right. Why are you dead? What happened?” Eqon said.

“If you listen, I’ll tell you. I will tell all of you,” I said.

Eqon and the others sat silently.

“I was on the dangerous route. I wanted better trade today. It was a mistake. After I made my trade, a pale man named Jim shot me in the back for a fur coat that he’d traded me. Pale Jim was so blinded by hatred, he didn’t even care that he ruined the coat. He just wanted me dead because I wouldn’t give him the fish for free, and then I wouldn’t give up my catch for two dollars. I’ve come to try and alleviate you from the same greed I suffered when I decided to take this path. It’s not worth it. Do not take this route,” I said.

“We will not take this route but once more. This… Pale Jim must pay. The pale traders must learn there are consequences to there actions,” Eqon said.

There was a cacophony of noise as the people around the fire clamored in excitement.

“NNNNOO” I roared, a wind so strong coming out of me it almost blew out the fire. The group went silent.

“Then what would you have us do? Let them get away with murder?” Eqon asked.

“It’s to dangerous to go there, especially with only a few of us that can fight. And murdering Jim would only enrage the pale skin traders and cause them to take revenge on us. The few fighters we have must stay here to protect the village,” I said.

“So, you are suggesting we stay here and do nothing,” Eqon said, his voice low and angry, his hands balled up in a fist.

“No. I have a plan,” I said and smiled.

I let my words sink in before saying, “I was standing over my body for hours. I was in disbelief, shocked I was dead. I overheard Jim say to his friends that he was going to come and trade the fish and seashells back to the villagers tomorrow. He said the dumb villagers probably wouldn’t even realize the fish and shells were theirs to begin with and probably would also trade the fur coat and not notice the hole in it. I caught a poison fish early this morning. I put it in my tent. I was going to use it’s fins for medicine. Instead, use the fishes poison to spread across the venison we have. When Jim comes tomorrow, trade our venison for whatever he gives you. It should be enough to feed most of his trading camp, and if there are any survivors, they will blame him. He will either poison his entire camp, or be punished by any survivors. But he will be punished, either way. It is better to let Pale Jim take the blame for murder then have the other pale men from the trade camp seek revenge on us. Do not end up like me. Survive,” I said.

Eqon smiled. He was happy with my plan.

Eqon and the others worked through the night catching more poison fish and using them to poison the venison.

The next day, Pale Jim came to the village. They greeted him like a regular tradesman, even though they all knew what he had done.

He gave them my fish and seashells and they gave him enough venison to feed his entire trade camp.

“Wow, sea shells really are valued here,” Pale Jim said and smiled, thinking he had tricked us.

I followed him on his way back to camp. I watched as he distributed the venison to most of his other campers for various goods.

The other pale men ate, and hours later, most of them were dead.

Pale Jim was one of the few who hadn’t eaten the venison. He traded it all for goods.

A sickly looking pale man in a cowboy hat that had only taken a bite wobbled over to Pale Jim.

“What have you done to us?” The Pale man asked.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Pale Jim said.

“The venison… was poisoned,” the pale man blurted out, then threw up.

“That’s ridiculous. And even if that’s true, I didn’t do it,” Pale Jim said.

“Bullshit, you didn’t. You’re a greedy son of a bitch, just like everyone here. You just wanted to steal our stuff, you bastard,” the pale man shouted.

“I don’t know what…” Pale Jim started say when the dying pale man pulled out a revolver.

He shot Pale Jim in the knee before dying.

“Aaaahhh,” Pale Jim screamed. I smiled.

Vengeance was ours.

There was one last thing.

I went back to my village. I gathered Eqon and the others.

“Most of the pale men are dead. The last one left is Pale Jim, and he’s weak. He’s been shot in the knee. It is time for you to take back what’s yours. Go to the trade route. Make sure you disarm Pale Jim, he cannot be trusted. Even injured, he’s still dangerous. Then, take everything they have. They’ve stolen from us for a long time. That ends now. We take it back,” I said.

The villagers started ululating.

They road to the pale man’s camp and quickly disarmed Pale Jim before he could let off a shot.

They packed up all the goods they could carry.

I stiffened as Eqon approached Pale Jim. One of his friends was at his side, pointing Pale Jim’s own pistol at him.

“Don’t kill him. He’s not worth it, son. Let him suffer,” I said.

Pale Jim could not see or hear my spirit, and had a nervous look on his face, knowing he might die.

“You killed my father. His name was Syuxtun. If you don’t remember him, he’s the man you traded your fur coat to and shot in the back. I will make sure you suffer before you die, Pale Jim,” Eqon said before grabbing a rope from his sack and tying Pale Jim up.

“You’re going to have to be more specific. I kill a lot of you savages,” Pale Jim said and started laughing.

Eqon punched Pale Jim in the stomach hard.

“You're the savages, pale man. You have brought decades of diseases along with pain and suffering to my people, killed innocent women and children, stolen our land and spread your hatred of us around the entire country when we have done nothing to you. There’s nothing more savage then that,” Eqon said.

Pale Jim coughed up blood.

“His name was Syuxtun. Say it,” Eqon shouted.

Pale Jim was silent.

Eqon raised his fist again and Pale Jim shouted, “Syuxtun. It was Syuxtun. I remember him.”

“Good. May you suffer a long time, Pale Jim, for the pain you have inflicted on me, my family and my village,” Eqon said.

Eqon and the others got back on their horses and road back to the village.

I would continue to guide my son and my village as long as the spirit world would allow me to walk these earthly plains.

And I could rest easy tonight, knowing there was no more danger from the pale man’s trade route.

Vengeance was ours.

*****

Historical facts about Californias natives:

The Chumash people have a long and fascinating history in California, with many local place names derived from their language:

Malibu: Derived from the Chumash word "Humaliwo," meaning "where the surf sounds loudly."

Ojai: Believed to be a shortened version of the Chumash word "Awha'y," meaning "moon."

Simi Valley: Derived from the Chumash village name "Shimiyi," which refers to the thin, wispy clouds that look like strings.

Ventura: Comes from the Chumash name for the area, "Shisholop," meaning "in the shade."

the Chumash have lived in California for thousands of years, with a culture that thrived on the land and sea. They were skilled fishermen, hunters, and artisans, and had a large trade network with neighboring tribes.

Chumash names:

"Eqon" means "hawk"

"Sumu" means "buzzard”

"Yoneloni" means "condor"

"Pismu" means "tar"

"Tujun" means "baby"

"Naksha" means "sea"