Read Up Ghost River for Free Online

physical and spiritual worlds, to talk to an animal manitou or ancestor, who got their powers from the Great Creator, Gitchi Manitou. He showed them how to see the interconnectedness of all things. To dip below the surface to see the secret forces that ran our lives, the undercurrents, as a wise fisherman would study a river and know how the current would one day shape the river’s banks. But the shamans didn’t do their ceremonies anymore. They had been banned with the wemistikoshiw laws.
    Did Papa miss the shamans? He never said. For Mama, it was like they had never existed. I wondered if it was because she was so busy. Since we had gotten back to the reserve, she went to see Father Lavois every few days. I didn’t realize where she was going the first few times. I just awoke one morning and Papa was making bannock instead of Mama.
    â€œWhere’s Mama?” Alex said.
    â€œChurch.”
    â€œCan I go?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œWhen’s she coming home?” I asked.
    â€œAt lunch.”
    â€œWhen’s that?”
    â€œEat your bannock,” Papa said.
    Mama came home in time to make lunch. We were having moose steak and I helped her cut the meat. Papa was cleaning his gun.
    â€œYou need to ask the Hudson’s Bay manager if you can work at his store,” Mama said.
    â€œDid Father Lavois tell you that?” Papa asked.
    â€œHe might have mentioned it,” she said.
    â€œI have a job,” he said, and he blew a little too hard into the muzzle of his gun.
    â€œAbraham. Yesterday we ate food that the Father gave us.”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œI had to ask the priest to feed my family.”
    â€œDon’t accept it then.”
    â€œAnd have the kids go hungry?”
    â€œThey’re fine. Aren’t you, kids?” I looked between Mama and Papa, feeling caught. Papa looked like he needed me more.
    â€œWhat about the sickness?” Mama said.
    â€œWhat sickness?”
    â€œThe one that killed the Spences’ boys.”
    â€œThey’re at home with Gitchi Manitou. In the land of the ancestors.”
    â€œFather Lavois said they wouldn’t have died if they hadn’t been hungry. Maybe Rita would be here too.”
    â€œThat’s nonsense!”
    â€œThe Big Father in Heaven is a powerful protector. He will help you if you agree to be helped,” Mama said.
    â€œBy coming to church?”
    â€œIt’s a start.”
    That night Papa went outside with a cup of his special bear oil. Papa had already told me a little about the amber liquid. He said itwas very powerful and the shamans used it a long time ago. Now a few people used it, but only when they were out in the bush and no one was around. It was dangerous if you were caught.
    I stood in our doorway and watched him. First he built a fire, then when it was about as big as me, he took the oil and threw it onto the flames so they reached up and hissed yellow and white. He wafted the smoke toward himself and breathed it in. He stared at the fire. The light reddened the palms of his hands, and his body was completely still as if his life force had seeped into the fire.
    Why was he doing it now? The thought worried me. It was like he didn’t care if anyone saw or if he got into trouble. I wanted to approach him to ask about it but he looked lost, staring deep into the fire.
    The next day when I awoke, Papa was already gone. Alex was sleeping and Mama was cooking on our woodstove.
    â€œWake your brother,” Mama said. “Put on your best clothing. We have to see Father Lavois.” I wanted to ask why, but Mama had one of those don’t-answer-back-do-as-I-say looks. We left before I had finished my tea.
    We arrived at the church and Mama told us to wait by the wooden seats. I looked around. I had been to church once last summer and had seen the painting of the bird-men. This time I looked around for the same painting but couldn’t find it. There was another