Urbefolkning+tekst

Ajacapa- the born warrior.  The Native Americans are often remembered as characters in the old western films. People think of terrible warriors who rode around with arrow and bow on their horses with feathers in their hair. But how were they really? In this story I would like to try to change your point of view by telling you about Ajacapa. Ajacapa was a skilled hunter and warrior and a very important role model for all the children who lived in the tribe; Apsaaloke.  The story about Ajacapa starts at a place that we call the Northwest region. The people who lived in the Northwest lived along 2000 miles of coastline from southern Alaska to northern California. When Ajacapa was young, his mother Angulule tragically died. The warriors in the Apsaaloke tribe had travelled a great distance to hunt, so the women were left to themselves when they suddenly were attacked by buffaloes that ran through the village. The women had after all learned how to defend themselves against enemies and animals, but there were too many animals and Angulule was trampled to death. Ajacapa, who was only six years old, soon joined the battle and managed to chase the animals away. But it was too late, he ran towards his mother, kneeled beside her bloody body, crying for help, but it was too late… After his mother’s death Ajacapa decided to become a warrior, a really good one. His tribe was a hunting and warrior tribe. They hunted for buffaloes and fought other tribes for horses and land. Ajacapa wanted to become the best warrior and hunter of the tribe, so he practised every day. It didn’t take a long time before everybody could see that this boy would once become both a great leader and warrior. At an age of ten,  Ajacapa had managed to become taller, stronger and smarter than all the other boys at his age. Ajacapa usually spent all his days outside trying to improve his hunting and gathering skills, hoping once to become good enough to join the grownups warriors. Ajacapa´s father, Apoko, was the leader of the Apsaaloke tribe. Apoko was a hard leader and didn’t actually treat his people well. Apoko was a special leader as well; he didn’t like that anybody was better than him. He always wanted to be the strongest and wisest among his people. If Apoko realized that someone was better then him, for instance inn hunting, he arranged an involuntary fight between his superior and a dozen buffaloes. Nobody had ever managed to survive. As the years went by, Ajacapa kept on growing bigger and bigger, stronger and stronger. So one day when Ajacapa was about eighteen years old, he went towards his dad and told him that he was ready to join the other warriors in the tribe. He was after all the best hunter and warrior in the Apsaaloke tribe, and as Ajacapa still remembered, Apoko had promised him when he was young that when he became eighteen he could join the warriors. Apoka hesitated for a while before he said to his son that he was not good enough yet. Maybe next year he added. Ajacapa didn’t understand this, he knew he was good enough and all the other warriors knew he was good enough, so why didn’t his stupid father understand? He felt a terrible grief; he had never been so disappointed before. During that day Ajacapa didn’t do anything, just sat inside in his tipi, crushed by his father words. Hunting and fighting was his passion, this was what he had been working for the last ten years. During the following days the Apsaaloke tribe had its yearly gathering where the shaman, the medicine man, told the rest of the tribe about the spirits, and which plants and herbs that could cure illness. And if someone was ill, the shaman talked to the spirits so that they would leave the body of the person who was sick. Ajacapa who was so sad and disappointed of his father, didn’t find it interesting to listen to the shaman. He was still sitting inside, trying to figure out why his father wouldn’t let him join the other warriors. As the days passed by Ajacapa realized something. When he was six years old he had promised his mother that he would once become a really good warrior, so he couldn’t give up his dreams just because of his father. So he began to train more and even better, just to prove that his father was wrong. Rumours said that Apoko tried to refuse Ajacapa to train and improve his skills during his childhood because he was afraid that Ajacapa would become more powerful than himself, and one day take over his leader role. Apoka early told him that he never would become any good warrior and suggested that he could become a medicine man instead. One September evening when Ajacapa was about twenty years old a couple of warriors came back home from a fight with another tribe. They were both badly wounded and they were carrying a dead man. Ajacapa ran towards them, asking them what had happened. The warriors explained him the case and told him that they had been attacked from two other tribes during their way over the mountain, and that the tribal leader Apoko needed reinforcements. Ajacapa saw his great chance to show the tribe and his father that he was a great warrior. An hour later Ajacapa and a dozen other men were on their way to help the other warriors of their tribe. Ajacapa and his men fought long and hard to help their fellow tribesmen. With the help of Ajacapa and his men the tribe managed to turn the outcome of the fight. Though there were lots of injuries among the men – they managed to win. During that fight Ajacapa showed some inhuman fighting skills. Nobody had ever seen such a fighter before, even his father Apoko, seemed a bit proud of his son. Apoko, who had been killed without the help of his son,   thanked Ajacapa later that day and told him that he had been a selfish fool all since Angulule died. Apoko also promised that from now of, he would be a much better leader and treat his people better. From that day, Ajacapa turned from being a normal boy to the best warrior and hunter in the tribe. His father now understood what resource his son was and instead of feeling threatened by his son and his skills, he started to teach him and make use of him. He knew his son would become the natural leader of the tribe.