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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