CHAPTER 1  

 The story begins when Karana, gathering roots with her brother, Ramo, first sighted an Aleut ship heading toward the island where she lived with the rest of the Ghalas-at Indians. Soon the men and women of the island headed toward where the ship would land, toward Coral Cove. The men carried weapons. Soon, a small boat was lowered from the ship. Aleut men with black hair and bone ornaments in their noses rowed the boat. Directing them was a Russian with a yellow beard.. They soon heard that his name was Captain Orlov. Karana's father, Chief Chowig, also introduced himself. There was consternation among the islanders because their chief had told the foreigner his secret name. They knew that could weaken their chief. The captain and the chief discussed the plans of the new arrivals. They were there to hunt sea otters. The islanders had had bad experience in the past with sea otter hunters. At first the captain wanted two thirds for himself and his hunters, but finally he agreed to split half and half.

 

CHAPTER 2

 Chief Chowig warned the villagers to not socialize with the Aleuts. The villagers did as their chief told them. But, they did watch the Aleuts from afar. And, all activity was reported back to the group. The Aleuts also observed the Ghalas-at. Ulape, Karana' sister, reported that there was a girl with the Aleuts. The girl dressed like the men and she kept her long hair under her cap. No one believed this. One day Ulape discovered that a school of large white bass had been stranded on a rocky ledge. There was enough for everyone to feast on for two days. The second day, two Aleuts came to the village wanting to share the abundance. Karana's father decided not to share with them. They were capable of doing their own fishing, Chief Chowig rationalized. The two left, planning to tell Captain Orlov. They were not happy.

 

CHAPTER 3

 This chapter describes the hunt for sea otters. Karana thought of the otters as her friends and did not like the idea of trading their lives for things, even for beautiful or useful things. The chief told Karana that soon the hunters would be leaving. He had some of the young men staying near the ship on the pretense of building a canoe. There were others watching the ship and the hunters from a longer distance also. Karana's little brother, Ramo, saw the ship captain having his beard trimmed. Everyone waited and wondered when they would leave and whether there would be trouble.

 

CHAPTER 4

 A description of the weather leads to the conclusion that a storm would soon strike. A storm with rain and wind did strike later that day. But first, a different kind of storm struck, a storm of human violence. The tribe learned that the ship was preparing to leave immediately. The people hurried to Coral Cove, as they had done on the day the ship arrived. Again the men had their weapons. The women hid and watched. Chief Chowig and Captain Orlov talked. The captain was not willing to give the tribe what the chief considered to be fair. The villagers were given one chest of necklaces. The chief thought that three more chests would be fair. The captain yelled orders. Were they orders to bring more chests? Observation told the chief that they were orders to board immediately, not to unload more chests. A fight ensued. When it was over some of the hunters were dead and many of the tribe were dead. Some men of the tribe were also injured. Among the dead was Karana's father. That night those who remained agreed with Karana that her father should not have told the captain his secret name. It had weakened him.

 

CHAPTER 5

 That night was like a nightmare for the tribe. The day had begun with forty-two men. Now, there were fifteen. Seven of those were old. Some of the islanders wanted to go to Santa Catalina, an island to the east. But, they did not go there. One of the surviving old men, Kimki was the new leader. He assigned work to everyone. The women were assigned tasks formerly done by men. This caused friction between the men and the women. Because of the friction, Kimki issued a new order. From then on, men would do men's work and women would do women's work. There was already enough food so that this did not cause a problem. Karana and Ulape had trouble taking care of Ramo. Their mother had died several years earlier and now their father was gone, too. Similar problems were occurring in other households as well. Aside from these inter-personal burdens were the burdens that the survivors carried in their hearts. It was a sad winter with no laughter. In the spring, Kimki decided to go to a country to the east. He had been there when he was a boy. He promised to find a place for the tribe to live and to then return for them. After he left, there was much discussion about his trip among those remaining on the island.

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CHAPTER 6

The tribe waited for Kimki's return, but in vain. Then, their thoughts turned to worries about the water supply, something that in the past would not have caused so much worry. Matasaip, who had taken the leadership position when Kimki left, worried about the return of the Aleuts. Plans were made to leave the island if the Aleuts returned. Canoes were filled with supplies and hidden, ready for a quick evacuation at the first sign of their return. At that time the tribe would head to Santa Catalina, the island to which they had previously considered going. One night the man who was on watch duty awoke the tribe. He thought that he saw the Aleut ship returning. After everyone was awake and ready to head toward the canoes, he had different news. Yes, there was a ship approaching, but it was not the same one, not the ship that they feared. The people waited by the canoes while the need to leave was checked. Eventually, Nanko came running with a message from Matasaip. The ships were from where Kimki had gone. Kimki had told them to come to the island. They were to take the tribe to the land where Kimki was.

 

CHAPTER 7

 The inhabitants of the island were able to pack their things before boarding the ship. No longer was there a need to flee immediately with nothing except the provisions they had already put in the canoes. As they prepared to leave, Ulape took time to draw a blue mark across her nose and cheekbones. This signaled that she was unmarried. As they boarded the ship, Karana lost her brother, Ramo. She was assured that he had already boarded ahead of her, but, once onboard, she could not find him. In a panic, she sighted him on shore. He had gone back to get his spear, the one for which Karana had already refused to let him return. As the ship pulled out, she jumped overboard. Those around her could not restrain her. In the ocean, she let go of the precious items she had chosen to bring with her. She had to do so because she could not carry them and swim to shore. As she swam she was filled with plans to punish Ramo, but when she reached him, the plans were forgotten.

 

CHAPTER 8

 When Karana and Ramo reached the site of the village, they heard the wild dogs who were having a feast on the food remains that had been left behind by the villagers. The dogs had eaten so much that there was barely enough for a meal for the two of them. The next night the dogs returned.

Ramo asked when the ship would return. Karana knew that it would take days for it to reach the land where Kimki waited and return. Ramo said that he was now Chief of Ghalas-at and must be obeyed. Karana reminded him of the rites of manhood that he must first endure. Ramo became pale at the thought and Karana reminded him that there were no longer any men to give the rites. Ramo gave himself a new name. He called himself Chief Tanyositlopai. The following morning when Karana awoke Ramo was gone. She assumed that he had gone to where the canoes were. Later that day, she heard the wild dogs barking and went toward the sound. She found the lifeless body of her young brother. Nearby were two dog bodies, one with Ramo's spear in its side. She carried his body back to the village. The dogs followed her to the village, then, when she picked up a club, they left for their lair. She followed them and, after they entered the lair, she put brush in front of the entrance and set it on fire, but there was not enough available brush to do what she wanted to do. Later that night, when she could not sleep, she planned how she would someday kill the dogs, all of them.

 

CHAPTER 9

 For many days Karana stayed in the village, leaving only to obtain more food. Then, suddenly she decided to leave the village permanently. She burned the houses one by one, making a change of plans impossible. She moved to a safe place on a headland. There was a very large rock there where she could safely sleep. The dogs could not reach her when she was on the rock. Karana was not concerned with storing food because she believed that the ship which took her friends away would return for her. Instead of food, she was interested in weapons for the time when she would kill all the dogs. First she tried to find weapons that the men had made and left. She knew that women were not supposed to make weapons. She feared that, if she disobeyed the law of Ghalas-at, the weapons she made would fail her. When she could find no abandoned weapons, she remembered the chest that the Aluets had left. Perhaps there were weapons in the chest. She discovered that it was covered by sand. She uncovered it. She took the jewelry out and put it on. She liked the way that it looked on her, but the memory of that terrible day kept her from enjoying it. Finally, she threw all the jewelry into the deep water. She did not find any weapons with the jewelry. Karana gave up the search for weapons. But, one night the wild dogs came to the rock where she slept. Then, they returned the following night. Karana began thinking about making weapons herself. She wondered if she would be able to successfully use weapons that she herself made. There seemed to be no other choice. It took her many tries to make usable weapons. She had seen them made by the men in the village, but had paid scant attention. At that time, she had known that it was not something she would be allowed to do. But, finally she had a usable bow and arrows. She carried them in a sling everywhere she went.

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CHAPTER 10

​ Seasons passed and slowly Karana realized that the ship would not be returning to her. Loneliness overtook her. Karana decided to take a canoe and travel to the place to which Kimki had traveled the place from which their ancestors had come. She went to where the canoes were stored and found that they were still stocked with provisions. She decided to take the smallest canoe because it would be the easiest to handle, the easiest to maneuver into the water. She filled the water basket with fresh water. As soon as she had the canoe in the water, she left on her voyage. Karana removed the water that splashed into the canoe. But, after a while she noticed that water was getting into the canoe through a hole in it. Then she noticed another hole. She was still closer to her island than she was to her destination. She decided to go back. A swarm of dolphins followed Karana as she returned to the island. This made her happy because dolphins, to her, were a good sign. As morning came she saw the island before her. Before noon she was home, lying on the sand.

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CHAPTER 11

 Although she had not reached her destination, Karana was happy to be home. As she approached the island, she had planned to repair the canoe and leave again. But, now she was inexplicably happy to be back on the island and she knew that she would not leave again.As she accepted the idea that the island was to be her home, she knew that she needed to build a place that sheltered her from the wind. That became her next project. She analyzed what would be the best location for a permanent home. She wanted to be near a good source of water. She did not want to be near the site of the village, with its bad memories for her. She decided on a place near the sea elephants.

 

CHAPTER 12

 Part of Karana's new home would be protected by a large rock, but she needed to build a fence for some of the perimeter. On the island were the ribs of two whales that had been washed up on the island in the past. Karana dug holes close to each other and put the whale ribs into the holes. The ribs were curved. She put them in the holes with the curves outward from the area she wanted to protect. That way, it would be more difficult, if not impossible, for any creature to get in. She bound the ribs together with strong kelp. The entrance of the fence was a hole under it. That hole could be covered with a flat rock so that no dogs or red foxes could get through. Karana had difficulty finding enough suitable trees for her walls. She only needed two walls. The rock made one wall and she left one side open, the side where there was no problem with wind. Between the skinny trees that she bound together with sinew for her walls and roof she put broad leafed kelp. Preparing the house took much time, but, finally it was as she wanted it. Then it was time to make weapons for the day she would kill the wild dogs. She already had a spear and a bow with arrows. She felt that she needed a heavier spear and a larger bow with sharper arrows. Just as collecting what was needed to build the house took much time, finding the right material for making these weapons also took much time. At night for light to work by, Karana burned small dried fish. She called the small fish sai-sai. The way she describes them makes them seem similar to grunion. On nights with a full moon, the sai-sai come onshore in large numbers and cover the sand. As Karana worked on her new weapons, she decided that the spear would benefit by having the tooth of a bull sea elephant. She did not know if she could succeed in killing a bull sea elephant because they were as heavy as thirty men. But, she was determined to try.

 

 

CHAPTER 13

Karana heads toward where the sea elephants are as soon as she wakes up. From a safe distance, she looks over the bull sea elephants and decides to shoot the smallest one. He does not have any cows. She takes time deciding where the best place to aim is. Then, the sea elephant that she had planned to shoot starts toward the cows of a neighboring bull sea elephant. This prompts the neighbor to attack him. During the ensuing fight, Karana injures her knee. Karana leaves while the fight continues.

 

 

CHAPTER 14

 Karana had trouble getting back into her enclosure. Her leg injury made getting into her enclosure much more difficult. After some days in the enclosure, she had to leave to get more water. She had to crawl to the water source. The dogs found her. She was able to get into a cave. She stayed there until she could walk. While she was there, she prepared it for use in case of future need. She looked at pictures on the walls of the cave that had been made many generations earlier.When she was finally well again, she went back to the scene of the sea elephant battle. There she found a carcass with teeth for her spear.After making two more spears using the sea elephant teeth, Karana was finally prepared to kill the wild dogs.

 

 

CHAPTER 15

 Karana describes how there have been dogs on the island as far back as she can remember, both wild ones and ones that belonged to the men of the tribe. But, when the men were killed their dogs joined the wild dogs and the pack became bolder. After the men died and before the remaining members left there were plans developed for getting rid of the wild dogs. The dogs were now led by a dog that Karana thought had been left by the Aleuts. He was different than the rest of the dogs. One difference was that he was larger. According to plan, Karana took her spears to the dogs' lair. When she knew that they were inside, she lighted a fire in brush that she put in front of the entrance to the lair. She planned to smoke them out and spear them as they exited. She especially wanted to kill their leader, the Aleut dog. And, she was able to spear him when he came out. While she was busy killing two other dogs, the leader disappeared. Two days late, Karana found the leader, half dead. She meant to spear him again, but, for some inexplicable reason, she did not.. Instead, she put him on her shoulders and carried him to her house. She had to temporarily remove two of the whale ribs in order to get him inside the enclosure. She cleaned his wound. She left the entrance open for him to escape while she was away. But, when she returned, he was still there. She slept up on the rock because she was not comfortable sleeping where he could attack her. But, over time, a friendship developed and she began sleeping near him. She named him Rontu, which means "fox eyes."

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CHAPTER 16

 Karana continued to watch for the boat that would rescue her as well as for the Aluet ship whose reappearance she dreaded. To prepare for the possible return of the Aluets, Karana prepared the canoe she had used when she left the island. She completely restructured it, taking it apart and making it shorter when she rebuilt it. Rontu was with her as she rebuilt the canoe. She was pleased that he learned the meaning of words that she spoke to him. He did not understand every word she spoke, but enough to get the meaning of many things she said to him. When he did not understand, he still listened as though he did. When the rebuilding project was completed, Karana and Rontu took a trip around the island in the canoe. On their short trip they came to a cave. In the cave they found a devil fish. Karana decided to make a special spear that she had seen made in the past. Then, she planned to return and catch the devil fish. They were delicious. When they left the cave and ended their journey, Karana put the canoe in Coral Cave, where it would be safe. In the spring, she planned to take the canoe back to the cave and store it inside the cave on a ledge that she had discovered.

 

CHAPTER 17

 Karana started on her next project, a spear to catch the devil fish that she and Rontu had seen in the cave. Rontu left their home and did not return. This was unusual. Karana worried if they would still be friends or if he would return to living with the wild dogs. She knew that she would never again make plans to kill him. One day Karana took the canoe to the cave as she had planned. Afterward, she climbed up the cliff. She then heard the wild dogs. She went toward the sound. She saw an encounter between Rontu and two dogs from the pack. The pack was nearby. Karana wanted to help Rontu by spearing the two dogs, but decided not to do so. In the long run, she thought that it would not help. Rontu was successful against the two dogs. Afterward, he returned to their house and never left her again.

 

CHAPTER 18

 Because of plentiful rain there was an abundance of flowers. And there were many birds, including some that Karana had never seen. She decided to keep the offspring of these strange visitors. She clipped their wings. When she eventually let their wing feathers grow out, they continued to stay nearby. Karana made herself a skirt of yucca fibers. She put flowers in her hair and made a wreath of flowers for Rontu's neck. Dressed this way, they walked on the island and were happy.

 

CHAPTER 19

 Karana and Rontu went to gather abalones on the reef. After they had gathered enough to fill the bottom of the canoe, they went fishing. Then, Rontu spotted the giant devilfish that Karana had promised herself she would catch. By now she had fashioned the proper equipment, so she was ready for the encounter. But, while she was eventually able to kill the devilfish, she was not able to get him out of the water. By the time he was dead, her strength was gone. She was exhausted. At the end of the chapter, Karana says that this was the last devilfish that she tried to spear.

 

CHAPTER 20

 Someone arriving on the island who saw the area around Karana's house might think that a whole village lived there. There were many abalones laid out to dry. And there were many small fish, the ones that Karana used for light, hanging to dry. Another item that Karana gathered was cormorants. She killed and skinned them for their feathers. Karana needed their feathers to make herself a skirt. Karana and Rontu were alerted to the existence of a cave when she noticed a sea hawk flying out of it one day when they were in the canoe. Without the sea hawk, the cave would have remained unnoticed because the opening was small. They entered and found a skeleton sitting and playing a flute made of pelican bone. Karana knew that the skeleton belonged to one of her ancestors. As they explored the cave, the water rose. They discovered that the water was too high. They could not exit the cave. They remained in the cave all night. One day, as they were returning from Tall Rock with cormorant skins, after Karana hid the canoe and climbed the cliff, Karana saw what appeared to be the Aleut ship returning. She packed what she would need to take to the cave in which she planned to hide. She went to the headland and saw for sure that the ship belonged to the Aleuts. She spent the night moving her things and then making her living area appear as though no one lived there. She returned to the headland to observe once more. She saw a girl with the Aleuts. She was cooking.Through the night they were able to glimpse stars as they passed by a crevice overhead. In the morning, Karana vowed that she would never return to the cave, which she gave the name, Black Cave. Karana and Rontu went to the cave. She had to enter and leave several times before she could get Rontu to enter. Because she had been up all night, she slept there in the cave all day.