Gooch

I am a Tlingit warrior. My name is Gooch, which means Wolf. I am 19 years old, a boy whose favorite food is roasted Humpback whale with a lot of fish oil.The skill or strength I have is sharpening the weapons razor sharp for battle. I think the others in my clan admire me most for my agility and dexterity including my fast reflexes. A fear I have is that I would get killed in a battle, and this goes with the weakness I have which is fighting the fierce Haida tribe. Something else I want to tell you is I will be fighting the Haida soon.(Gulp!)

Gooch’s Day

I wake up and go wash myself in the river. But I get stung by a bee. I go to Dleit the medicine woman to get it treated. This is the worst part of my day. Then I go change the bedding and go for a walk in the woods. Along the way, I find my clan’s hunter, Ais. I ask if she has caught anything but she says she hasn’t. I walk out into my village. I visit Toos, the fisherman, to see what he has caught. He says he caught 5 salmon, 2 flounders and 3 dogfish. I go into my home and ask the clan fisherman, Dzanti, if I can have 2 salmon. I go to Kook, the slave to prepare me a fire. As soon as he finishes I cut open the 2 fish and clean them out. Finally I roast them on a stick. After that I go to the smokehouse to see hoe the fish were doing. Me and my friend and chief, Daanaa, go see the newest totem pole being raised by Dis and her fellow totem pole carvers. I suddenly see Ais with a deer she has caught with her bow and arrow. Then Dzanti, Kaahakw and the other fishermen brought back a dead humpback whale. Mmmm. I go on patrol with my friend and warrior, Yeil. This was my favorite part. We see no enemy canoes and go back to the clan home. I go eat my dinner and get my bedding ready. Already Dis, Aas, Kaast and Toos are asleep. I fall asleep with the smell of the fire and the rustle of the leaves from outside.

=The Potlatch=

Yesterday, we had a Potlatch because my new baby cousin was born into the community. His name is Saak, which means hooligan because when he was born, his mouth covered have of his face. That resembled me because I was born that way too. When in Babyland, he was probably crasy too because now he climbs on anything and eats anything he gets his little fingers on. He was also called that 'cause he came out laughing. At the party we ate whale and a bunch of berries with fish oil, bear with fish oil(I just couldn't **__//Bear//__** it!), and fish with fish oil sauce. The host, My Uncle Doosh(Cat) gave us all drums, winter shoes and a carving of a wolf which was small enough so you could drill a hole in it, put string through it and presto, you get a wolf clan amulet. We also danced and sang. Uncle Doosh and our fellow elder, Tlaak, told us a story about Babyland and elder Xeitl and told us about how we got the moon, stars and sun thanks to Raven. He did it all while stroking his pet cat, Keitl. And right after Uncle Doosh and Aunt Chaatl gave us the presents, we all went home. As I sat in bed after the party that night, I wondered how my uncle and aunt would feed their baby when they were so poor.