"Indian". Art By
Mac Coyote
Drifting on a lazy day of little consequence, I strolled letting myself drift anywhere. Not concentrating on anything. There is this cafe on the corner of the center of looky-loo boulevard in Vancouver. When I take a seat in the smoking section I can watch the people strolling. Mostly its the distraction of the pretty girls that I seek. Its very enjoyable and I find the whole experience pulls my thoughts away to escape. Sitting writing by the window, I ordered my “Extra Large Mocha Decaf Cafe O’ Lait”. (An Oxy Moron if I ever heard one.) It was a warmish day for BC, I sat dazed glancing up from the window feeling my exhausted brain sliding down the side of my face as I let go to relax. A man came. A Native man. A man who appeared to almost stumble when he stepped. He came from the back of the restaurant. From the exit. The thin man, who appeared to be reasonably good shape, sat down. He placed his smokes down on a non-smoking table. I looked down, picked my cup up from a smoking table. He went to light a cigarette and then all hell broke loose. The waiter was there before the lit match had a chance to even scorch the tobacco. I leant down to write in my journal, trying to ignore the exchange between the drunk native man and the staff. "Mind if I sit here?" I looked up. "Excuse me?" I looked up to see a pair of blue eyes staring down at me from the Native man. "Can I sit and smoke here?" I felt tired, peevish and irritable. "Ah no, I'm sorry." He turned away. I had second thoughts about how peevish I was and what would it matter to me if he smoked. After all it was the smoking section and it was the only seat left. He did appear drunk, but who was I to be so grumpy and judgmental. Anyway who knows, it could prove to be very interesting, at the very least. "Hello, sir...?" The Native man turned. "Ah sure, come on. Sit down and have a smoke." He brought his smokes over, staggering as he came. He leant over the table to shake my hand. "Hi, my name is Doug." I smiled. "I’m John, good to meet you....", I replied. "Well it’s not Doug. It’s John." I smiled again. "Well hello, Doug John...." "Well it’s not John, it’s Johnny and it’s not Doug, it’s Douglas." I chuckled inside thinking: Doug, John, Johnny, Doug, Douglas whatever......"Hi....." He kept on the tangent. "Not John, Johnny, not Doug, Douglas. Johnny Douglas. Good to meet you" He seemed to be amused. I quickly suspected something was up as I stared into the clearest blue eyes I had ever seen. Which reeked of not being hazed by any form of substance what so ever. Something was up. I knew it. I was entering the "Coyote Game." "John, Johnny, Doug, Douglas. Johnny Douglas, or it could be Mark, but that's a John joke." This man was no loony he was be precise, I could feel it. Something was up. Besides, I really enjoyed his sense of mischief. "I have a 22 year old daughter. I have been to Victoria. I have a 22 year daughter who I never have seen. I went to see her Graduate." "Oh, that must have been great for you to see her after so long." John, Johnny, Doug, Douglas was a youngish man, not very old. Maybe mid forties. Probably younger. I believed he had a daughter. Oh yes Johnny Douglas spoke with integrity. "Yes. I was very proud. I was very happy...." "Where are you from?" ".....I was gone for a week. To visit my daughter. And then another week I had gone up the island. I was gone for a week, one week for a lifetime." Johnny stared at me waiting for a reply. "A week, a month, a minute, a second. It’s all a story and each story is a lifetime." "Hmmmm" , he said. "Hmmmm", I said. "Which Nation are you from?" "I came to visit. I must return, I have a meeting to go to. A meeting. I thought I would travel by train, I thought I would travel by bus, I think I will fly." He waited for a response. "What band are you from?" " I like the rolling stones..." I chuckled. "..... I thought I would drive, or take the train, or a bus but I think I would rather fly. I have to travel to Wisconsin for a meeting, I think I'll fly." "What sort of meeting?" "A medicine meeting." "Oh", I said. "Oh", he said. "Hmmm?", I said. "Hmmmm?", he said. "Which tribe did you say you were from?" "I am Ojibwa. What about you?" " I mean no dishonor or any disrespect, I am Lakota Sioux." "Hmmmm?", he said. "Hmmmmm”, I said. "We Objibwa call the Laktota a name. We call them a name." "Yes" "We Objibwa call them a name, we have a name for them. Do you want to know what it is?" "Okay, what is this name you call....." "We Objibwa call them Mythsoo." “Hmmm”, I said. Johnny chuckled. "Do you know what it means?" He looked as if he wanted me to try to answer. "Snake?" "It means the Serpent." "Oh", I said. "They liked that name so they kept it....." My mind was whirling on the direction he was heading and why? I laughed. “I do nothing and get in the way. I do nothing and get in the way. I do nothing and get in the way. What do you do?" " I do a lot of things", I replied back. "Like what sort of things?" "I drum." "You put stick to leather!" "No..", my intensity increased no longer willing to sit back and play the game. ".....I drum!" "Who do you drum too?" "I drum to the animals!" "And what happens?" "And They Come!" "Hmmmmm", he said. "Hmmmmm", I said. "I was hitching but people weren't picking me up so I changed my face, then they picked me up." Johnny was staring straight at me. I met his glare and said, "You're searching me?" "That's in your head." "Oh, no its not. I can feel you and I know because we all search each other to see each other’s heart, gently, quietly but we all search." "Do you have a heart?" "Oh yes", I said. "What of that machine?" Johnny, John pointed to a motor cycle out on the street waiting for the light to change. "Everything has a heart", I said not entirely knowing of what exactly I meant. "Everything?" "Oh yes - machines, this table, you can feel it all. You and I, the table top, we're all one heart, with tone and vibration." I pointed at him to emphasize my dramatic moment. It’s an acting carry over characteristic I have. Doug, Douglas smiled a Cheshire cat smile then said, "I came over here because of this tables big heart." The air stopped. I felt it and in some odd way I thought I had gotten a complement of some kind but, it was more than that. "You know when you point, we say that you send little lightning sparks from your fingers." Si’Taxulwood had talked of this too, so I thought I would clarify my intent. "Yes I know, but the only sparks from these fingers are that of love." "At Wounded Knee many died at Wounded Knee. Many died and no one cared." "Yes, I know." "Many died and no one cared. At Wounded Knee it got worse because two FBI agents were killed." "Hmm", I said. "Hmmmm", he said. Doug, Douglas, Johnny, John turned looking towards the building across the street. "How many people do you think built that building?" "How many clear people?" He got aggravated with me. "No, how many people!" "I don't know. 20 or 30 people?" "No, just one." "Okay", I nodded trying to grasp his point. "I built a building last night. Last night I built a building. How many people did it take me to build it?" "I don't know?" "One........I built my tent. Haahaha!" I chuckled with him, more because of the humor he was finding in it, than the humor I found in it. "You want to see my bandana. I carry it on my side. Want to see it?" On his right side he wore a Red and light brown bandana. He showed it to me. “I like yours. I like the color. The blue and the red." I was wearing a Red, Blue, White bandana on my forehead to keep the hair from my eyes. "I like to wear my colors on my head." "Hmmmm", he said. "Hmmmm." I said. "Sun Bear?" I was confused. "Who?" "Do you follow Sun Bear?" There was a tone of disdain in his voice. "Who?" I didn't know what he was on about. "Sun Bear?" "No." "I want to see the last rain forest, they're cutting it down." "Oh?" I said. Johnny Douglas stood to go while offering his hand. "What is your name again?" "John", I said. "Still hasn't changed." "No, why would it have changed?" "Good to meet with you." "The same." I watched the most unusual fellow sit by himself. I turned down to my writing again, keeping my eye on the front door. When I looked up he was gone. I thought I would run back to see if he was really there or not.
But then I thought, I would just leave the meeting in the realm of something very special. After all, I knew who he was.(c)
