The New World

We started to prepare our reed

We started to prepareour reed

Sister Spider showed us how to make the reed habitable. At the top, we remove all the pulp until the bark is exposed. At the bottom, on the other hand, we leave a thick layer so that the reed floats without rolling over.

It took a long time. The pulp is tough. Those embedded in the reed dug in with obsidian swords and threw the torn pulp behind them, while others went back and forth to pull it out. Several men and women took turns, as the heat was stifling and breathing was difficult in the reeds.

The groups that went out to collect the gourds returned with their harvest. Sister Spider came and went to check that everything had been done properly and that the gourds were suitable. She was not above making comments.

Finally, when the reed had been emptied of its pulp, Sister Spider climbed to the top. We saw her take out her sharp obsidian point, crouch down and make a few movements. Then she stood up, walked a few steps to the top of the reed and did it again. The sight of such a beautiful, agile being moving at full speed with ease was magnificent.

Then she climbed down and came back to us. "I've just made holes in the bark and you're going to install the calabashes so that the air can circulate but not the water," she said.

She cut a branch of reed and kept a piece, an arm's length and a foot thick, which she emptied of its pulp entirely with her hand. Then she took two gourds and asked for help. While one person held the calabash steady and the other the reed tube, Sister Spider cut a hole in each calabash the exact width of the tube. She inserted one end of the tube and then drilled a series of small holes around the perimeter of each calabash.

She repeated these operations very quickly, running and twirling to pick up reed branches. When she hollowed out a piece of reed, the muscles in her arms jutted out and she blew loudly as she pulled out the pulp. Her long fingers manipulated the obsidian point with precision to pierce the calabash bark.

In the end, there were ten reed tubes with their pair of gourds. Sister Spider cut the twenty-first calabash into two halves without piercing it.

The tubes and their calabashes were placed in the reed. We moved forward in pairs. Sister Spider had climbed to the top of the reed. She caught the tube and its calabash thrown to her by someone and pushed it through a hole in the wall of the reed. The second of the pair, inside the reed, attached the calabash to the end of the tube that appeared above her head.

Finally, the calabash, cut into only two halves, was used for the latrine. At the bottom of the reed, a hole closed by this calabash would allow us to evacuate our excrements during the long journey.

Sister Spider assisted each clan in the preparation of its reed, which took all day.

Evening fell, andafter hours of working into the reeds, we were exhausted but happy with ourpreparations. After the sunset rites, I entered the leaf hut for my secondnight with Chosposi.