MORNING- 1640
It is late morning and everyone in my tribe is still asleep. I am disappointed that everyone is still asleep, but in a way, I am relieved. I am relieved because now I get to write in my diary. I would be so embarrassed if one of my people knew that I could speak and write in the white man’s language. Since this is my first dairy, I think it would be best to write everything down.
First of all, I would just like to explain as to how I got my name, Calm River. You see, when I was five summers old, my name use to be Quiet One. Then one day, Tuwa, my mother, took me with her to the corn fields. The corn fields were right by a river. Tuwa said that I could go play by the river while she gathered corn, but I was not to go in. While my mother gathered corn, I grabbed some weeds to weave into a basket. I sat down on a rock that was on the shore of the river, and started to weave a basket.
Soon, there was a loud sound that startled me. I got scared so bad that I slid off of the rock and into the river. The river was very wild, and I did not know how to swim very well. I tried really hard to get to the shore, but I was too far out. I soon gave up on trying to get to the shore. Please great spirits, I thought. Please do not let me drown. Please do not let me get separated from my mother. Just like that, the river calmed down, and I was able to walk to shore.
At the shore, I met my frantic looking mother. “Quiet One, what happened to you?” she asked.
“I fell into the river because a loud sound scared me,” I answered.
“I came over here because the river went quiet. Tell me Quiet One, why did the river go quiet?”
“I do not know. All I know is that I fell into the river and I begged the great spirits to not let me drown or get separated from you. Then, the river calmed down.” My mother went quiet.
“You mean you calmed the river?” my mother asked shaking.
“I guess,” I said softly. Tuwa and I went back to the village to tell my father what had happened.
“Abnaki, Quiet One calmed down a river by speaking with the great spirits,” my mother said walking into our tepee.
“She did? Well, I think it is time that her name changes. I think her name should be Calm River,” Abnaki thought out loud.
“I think that is a great idea.” Tuwa turned towards me. “Quiet One, from now on your name will be Calm River.” Since that day, my name has been Calm River. Now I am going to write how I got this diary. Oh, wait. Tuwa is waking up. I will write later.
AFTERNOON
I snuck into the forest for a little bit so I can write in my diary. I am going to quickly write down as to how I got this diary. A few hunting seasons ago, white men came over here. We had never seen them before, and they spoke a language that we did not understand. By nightfall, there were tents and fires everywhere. Most of the men sat by the fires and started to write in these weird objects, with dark water, and a bird’s feather. The white men had these long, shiny sticks beside them. My tribe’s chief, Abnaki, had forbidden us to go near the white men because he saw them as a threat.
A few nights later, my people started to hear loud bangs coming from the distance. Tuwa told me that the loud bangs might have been from the long, shiny sticks that the white men had with them. The next night, we heard loud crashing sounds. The chief sent some of our brave men to watch over the white men, and see what was causing all the crashing and banging. The brave men were gone for a really long time, and my people started to get worried.
