Footprints in the sand.

These footprints were found in a 23,000 year old prehistoric lakebed in White Sands, New Mexico, and were probably made by a small family of hunter/gathers who lived in the area, maybe the only humans for many miles around, struggling to survive in a lonely landscape, a dangerous land, filled with wild animals, hostile people who are also struggling to survive in a harsh, unforgiving land. An adult man, an adult woman and one child who every day is learning the skills needed from his parents as they wander around the land tracking ceaselessly the herds of antelope and bison for the meat and skins and bones they will provide when they make a kill. And they have to make a kill. If they don’t, they might not survive. At the same time, the mother is scouring the bush for plants she recognizes as edible or medicinal, teaching the child what to look for, passing on her knowledge like her mother taught her. The child is a girl, and although she is learning to hunt from her father as well, her main job will be plant gathering for food, because her father doesn’t always have success bring down an animal. And being a healer, because injuries occur during the hunt or just by living in the environment, snake bites, cuts, cold, heat, burns, any small injuries if not tended to could potentially be disastrous. Her mother hopes her next child will be a boy so that he will grow up to be a hunter and defender of their small family and take the weight of the burden off her man, and share the tasks they as men have. And it’s not just hunting that they all know how to do, but there is trapping, and snare making and setting, skinning, tanning, tool making from the bones of the animals they kill. Every thing they find that is useful, as a tool, or a weapon, must be used, and could make the difference between life or death, or just make the daily existence that little bit easier. As the children get older, the mother hopes they will find another family like them who will not be hostile, and will join them to hunt together, and defend each other from roaming groups of people who are hostile. And she has to find a mate for her daughter and son, so that they can start a family. She remembers how she met her man years ago. Her mother and father were fishing at the lake and saw some tracks of a small group of people, a man and woman, and a smaller man, maybe their children, so they followed the tracks until they made contact with them, and then the intricate dance of greetings, using sign language, speaking hopefully common words, until both groups felt comfortable with each other. They hunted together, the new family shared their knowledge of fishing and hunting, and the two young people found that they liked each other, so with some negotiating and trading of belongings a deal was reached, and the son married the daughter joined together to start their own family. That is what she wants for her own son and daughter now. They are getting old. It is time, and she feels a sense of urgency.

The lake is the place to find people, a steady source of water, and fish, and small game. Maybe they will stumble across tracks of other people. And find a compatible mate for their children, who are growing up and need to start a family. Finding people is becoming a priority, so besides the everyday hunting and foraging, looking for signs of human life takes on an urgency. But they also realize that those other people will also be looking for their tracks. Maybe for the same reason as them, but maybe to attack them. So they have to be careful, wary, prepared to fight at any moment. It’s an intricate game they have to play. If they succeed, life goes on. If they fail, life ends.