The Sign of the Beaver

Matt wakes to the morning sounds of people outside. He sees that the wigwam is filled with baskets, clothes, pots, and bags. He hears a rhythmic thumping and steps outside. A group of children, most of them naked, gather around him. In daylight, the compound appears somewhat shabby; the people now wear faded cotton clothing or simple breechcloths. The rhythmic thumping comes from women pounding corn in a large mortar. Others weave baskets; rows of fish hang to dry.

Matt asks Attean where the men have gone. Attean says Saknis is leading them on a deer hunt. Matt wants to stay and ask more questions, but Attean is impatient to get him back to his cabin. On the way, Attean explains that he’s not on the hunt because he doesn’t have a gun yet. Arrows are considered the “old way” and only “Good for children” (86). Guns are expensive, and the local clans have little to offer colonists (bar beaver pelts) in exchange for them; however, beavers are scarce due to overhunting.

Matt now understands why Attean’s community seems run-down. He says he’d love to visit again. Attean says his grandmother, who hates colonists, didn’t want Matt there, but Saknis overruled her. When Attean was a small child, tensions flared between colonists and their people, and the Massachusetts governor put a bounty on the Indigenous people. Attean’s mother was killed for her scalp; his father went searching for the killers and never returned.

Matt tells Attean that he believes his father would like Saknis. Still, he feels a gulf between them: “the hatred—would that ever be over?” (88). As they walk, Matt studies the trail signs and realizes he can find his way back to Attean’s village. However, he was only invited to the feast as a thank-you for helping Attean with the bear. There might never be another invitation.

Matt’s 10 notched sticks tell him that his family is nearly a month overdue. Autumn chills the air; the leaves turn, and geese fly overhead toward the south. Attean shows up less often, and the boys no longer go fishing.

Alone, Matt wanders further into the forest, making trail signs so he can find his way back. He sees a Turtle clan sign and turns around but hears the wail of a dog. Thinking of the fox in the leg trap, and Attean’s warning not to enter Turtle hunting grounds, Matt turns to leave but can’t ignore the dog’s yelps, so he investigates.

Matt finds Attean’s dog, Aremus, caught in a trap. He tries to free the dog, but he snaps at the boy and the trap cuts his hand. He hurries through the forest to where the river flows past Attean’s village, swims across, and is greeted by barking dogs and a group of girls. He asks to see Attean, but he and Saknis are away on a hunt. Matt then asks to see Attean’s grandmother; the girls hesitate, but he demands it, so they relent.

At the best-looking cabin in the village, an older woman, gaunt but handsome, glares at Matt. He begs her to help save Aremus. Another girl appears; she says she’s Attean’s sister, Marie, and can translate. Attean and Marie’s grandmother says Aremus is good for nothing. Matt asks again, and Marie pleads, so the older woman finally relents. Marie grabs a blanket and some meat for the dog.

Grandmother notices the cut on Matt’s hand and pulls him inside, meaning to clean it. Matt protests, but Marie says the trap’s teeth may be poisoned. The interior of the cabin is beautiful, its walls covered in birchbark, woven mats, and baskets; the floor is covered with fresh grasses. Grandmother washes Matt’s hand, applies a paste to the wound, and wraps it in clean cotton fabric. He thanks her; as he rises to go, she hands him some corn bread.

Matt and Marie quickly cross the river by canoe and set out across the forest; the latter sets a fast pace. Matt says Attean never mentioned having a sister. Marie laughs, as “Attean think squaw girl not good for much” (97). Matt mentions his own sister, Sarah, and wonders how Marie got her European name. Marie says she was baptized by a priest; Matt recalls that the French once occupied this region.

The pair find Aremus, who’s glad to see Marie. She feeds him, then throws her blanket over his head and holds him while Matt wrenches apart the trap. The dog is free but limps, his paw broken.

The pair walk back to the village, with Aremus following slowly. Halfway there, Attean appears, having been alerted by his grandmother. The dog approaches him with adoration. Attean says, “Dog very stupid” (98), but bends down and gently tends to Aremus’s broken paw.

To thank Matt for saving Attean’s dog, Grandmother invites him back to the village, where she serves him a meal. Attean then gives Matt a formal tour of the village. Matt keeps stopping to note how the women prepare food and make baskets—skills useful to him—but Attean tires of discussing “squaw work” and leads him to a group of boys.

The boys are playing a betting game. They toss a handful of disks made of bone and painted red on one side. Whoever tosses the most disks red-side up wins; the others have to give the winner their betting sticks. Whoever runs out of sticks must offer something of value—like a copper band.

Matt does well on his first toss and collects sticks from the others, but later, all his disks turn up white and he must give away all his sticks. The boys wait for Matt to give up something of value. He hesitates, and they grab at his shirt, the only one he owns. He can’t give up his hunting knife, so he pulls off the shirt, and the others take it.

Attean produces a soft ball, and the others bring out bats, flat and curved at the end; they play a game where they toss the ball back and forth with the bats, often whacking at each other, until one team gets the ball into a hole in the ground. Matt was always good at sports back home in Massachusetts and learns the game quickly; he manages to score. The boys cool off in the river, where they include Matt in their roughhousing.

Near sundown, a bruised and black-eyed Matt says goodbye to Grandmother, who scolds Attean affectionately and makes him give back Matt’s shirt. She gives the boys slabs of nut-and-berry cake, and they begin the trip back to Matt’s cabin.

The boys climb into a canoe, and Attean’s dog, still limping, jumps in with them. Aremus sits fairly close to Matt, which Attean notes. Matt wonders if the dog understands that he helped him. He gently pets the dog, whose tail thumps against the canoe.

On the other shore, Attean stays seated and signals that Matt can find his own way home. It’s a compliment, but it’s getting dark, and Matt worries that he won’t be able to see the trail signs. However, he revels in the feeling of not being alone.

Days go by, and Attean does not arrive. Matt worries that he didn’t pass the village’s unspoken tests. Then, Attean appears, his demeanor serious. He tells Matt that he has been training for a week with his grandfather Saknis. Matt assumes Attean will accompany the men on their fall hunt, but Attean says, “I go to find my manitou” (107). A manitou is a spirit sign that comes in a dream. As part of a Penobscot boy’s coming of age, he must go into the forest alone, build a wigwam, and wait there without eating until their manitou appears. Without a manitou, a boy cannot become a man, nor can he participate in hunts.

Matt senses fear in Attean, perhaps fear of failure; he himself fears that Attean will succeed and they’ll never spend time together again. Despite this fear, he hopes Attean finds his manitou.