"Then the moon, Changing Woman, had a son named Killer-of-Enemies. Killer-of-Enemies forced the monsters Buffalo, Antelope and Eagle to serve man. He gave the people horses and all good things. He taught the people, then he went away to the Guadalupe Mountains." He paused at the end of the story. The rest of us sat spellbound by the marked transformation in the voice and manner of the man.
"To my people all things are alive. All things of the earth are of the same spirit, the same essence. We respect the spirit of these things. We stand with face and arms raised toward Ussen every day." He paused for a moment. I think he was beginning to notice how much he was exposing his true self. He was quiet for a moment as he negotiated a corner.
"My people were political primitives compared to many of the cultures of the Amerindians." His voice took on a more academic tone. "We were a late migration from the north. Our society was formed around individual autonomous bands based on family units and territory. The N'de had no overall political unity like the more sophisticated tribes. We were proud of our freedom and independence. We were strong, great fighters. A N'de band, including women and children could cover over a hundred miles a day on foot if need be and live for months on nothing but sotol cakes, agave and mesquite beans.
"By the time your pilgrims were landing, we had carved out a great empire over most of what is now Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. His voice chilled. "Then in the seventeen hundreds, as you white eyes reckon time, the Comanches swept down from the north. We fought the Spanish invaders in the south and the Anglos to the east. We were caught in a vise and though we fought valiantly, we could never fight together. By the end of that century, the N'de were broken."
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