When evening fell, and each family had retreated into their tepees, they sat around the fire while the family elder told his tales, rich in history and cultural traditions. The elders possessed the most important virtues of a human being, they were the custodians of the culture and wisdom of their people. In that way, the teaching of generosity, courage, respect and love for all living beings was handed down to the children.
Year after year the little Natives grew... and the moment of puberty arrived for Golden Falcon too.
Outside the tepee everyone was busy with the preparations for the party that Great Eagle had organized to honor his daughter. At the age of 14, you could already see the beautiful woman she would become. Her mother explained to her the significance of the change that had taken place in her.
"This is a very important moment in a girl's life... you are becoming a woman." With infinite tenderness she began to comb the long black hair, her gaze lingering on the little fringe that covered her forehead. That hairstyle symbolized the virginity of the young girls.
"You can let this hair grow too, the fringe will no longer be part of your hairstyle as a woman, since from today you can be courted and requested in marriage," she paused, as she divided the rest of the thick hair in two, to proceed with the hairstyle.
"Always listen to the voice of your heart. It will speak to you and guide you on your journey through life. One day you will get married and have children, you will take care of your family as I have done with you, and your husband will take care of you as your father has done with us," her mother explained as she fixed some red falcon feathers between the colored laces that kept the long braids in place.
Golden Falcon listened in silence and guarded those words as the most precious of treasures, depositing them in her heart.
"This dress too will no longer be part of your status as a woman, it will be donated to a family more in need," added the woman, inviting her to take it off.
The young woman undressed and handed the clothes to her mother, then put on the dress in buckskin which her mother had sewn and richly decorated for her. The seams of the sleeves and the bottom of the dress were adorned with fringes that swayed sinuously with each movement. She had decorated the neckline of the dress with her favorite colors, yellow and red, and the leggings repeated the same motif.
Someone peeped inside. It was her grandmother, Morning Dew. The woman's dark, lively eyes ran over her from head to toe.
"You're really beautiful!" she admitted proudly. “The man who marries you will be a very lucky man." Golden Falcon gave her a smile full of affection.
"I think we're going to have to start building her tepee soon," her grandmother chuckled as they went out.
They went to the center of the camp where the Sacred Fire was burning and a small altar had been set up for the ceremony, on which there was the skull of a bison, a pipe and a bowl with red tincture. The Shaman invited her to sit down crosslegged, and all the members of the Tribe in their most beautiful clothes which they wore for the great feasts, formed a wide colored circle around them.
The man lit the pipe and took a puff, then blew on the muzzle of the bison's skull, wrapping it in a cloud of smoke, dipped his finger into the tincture and drew a red line on the forehead of the skull. His voice rose in a sacred and propitiatory song, and his body began to dance in front of the girl, with movements that represented a bison and, each time he approached her, her mother put sage leaves on her womb.
Then the Shaman invited her to sit in the manner of a woman, which she had become, with both her legs to one side. Her mother let her hair fall loose and the man, after pushing aside her fringe, painted a red line on her forehead too which went across her hairline. She was blessed with the sacred yellow pollen, receiving the purification and female power to bring prosperity and health to her people, who celebrated her with joy and devotion.
The aromas of vegetables, soups and meats, which had meanwhile had been slowly grilling on the coals, had spread throughout the camp, heralding the lavishness of the banquet. As she took her seat next to her best friend, Red Moon, the girl thought back to her mother's words. She closed her eyes for a moment to listen to her heart, and the image that revealed itself made it beat fast. She reopened them and... the vision was right there, before her, looking at her pleased. It was Blowing Wind.
Handsome and charismatic, rather tall in stature and with sculpted muscles, his dark eyes gave him a magnetic look and the beautiful features of his face were framed by long black hair. She had been in love with him since she was a child. She gave him a shy smile that he exchanged with a wink.
The feast in honor of Golden Falcon was proving to be a real success: the food was delicious and the atmosphere serene and joyful.
"Do you think he’ll declare himself one day?" she asked her friend.
"Do you have doubts about that?" Red Moon answered in disbelief. "Can’t you see how he looks at you?"
Blowing Wind could not take his eyes off her and she really seemed to appreciate it.
"Can't you smell it?" Red Moon asked her, sniffing the air.
"Smell what?" asked Golden Falcon.
"The scent of love!" Red Moon laughed, shaking her head. "I agree with your grandmother when she says they're going to have to build the tepee for your wedding soon!"
As the two young people continued to exchange glances and smiles, Lynx Eye approached the boy and asked him when he would declare himself.
"When I come back from my Vision," Blowing Wind confided to him.
"I'm sure she'll like that very much," his friend commented.
"I hope the line outside her teepee isn’t too long," the young man commented with a shadow of concern.
"I doubt anyone would dare so much!" replied Lynx Eye, laughing.
All the boys knew that he liked her and given the respect he enjoyed within the Tribe, no one would have dared challenge him in the conquest of that young woman, also because the two had chosen each other from the time they were children.
At the age of 15, Blowing Wind already had the makings of a great warrior: excellent archer and horseman, he was undoubtedly the best hunter of the Tribe. With the arrival of puberty, the most important moment of his life arrived too, the search for the Vision.
His father, Dappled Deer, invited him to sit around the fire of their tepee as his mother, Dancing Stream, filled a bisaccia with food. The man filled the pipe and with a solemn gesture offered it to heaven and earth, then lit it and began to speak.
"My son, the time of the search for the Vision arrives for all men. No man will ever be himself if he has not yet had his own Vision." He paused to take a long puff, then passed the pipe to his son and went on.
"You will isolate yourself in a sacred place, and you will stay awake fasting for four days, and wait patiently to receive, through a dream or vision, your Protective Spirit which will guide you through life."
The boy listened to his father's words in respectful silence. Dappled Deer emptied the pipe and hung it on the wall of the tepee, then turned to his son once again.
"Now sleep, tomorrow with the rising sun you will prepare to leave." The young man nodded in assent and retreated to his bed for the night.
With the first light of dawn he went to the "sweat hut" for a purifying sauna. Then he set off towards the sacred place he had chosen to receive his Vision.
On the third night in solitude, this was granted to him. In the sky a large silver moon watched over him, he had reached inner silence, he was one with mother Earth and father Sky. The image was clear, the surrounding world was an immense sea, a silhouette was approaching from the north, walking on the waters: it was a wolf.
A noise diverted him from the much-awaited objective. He opened his eyes resigned, and there was the same wolf with a tawny coat a few yards