Goulet.pdf

Barbara Wilkes
When the eagle finally left the circle, Gloria looked at me intently
but spoke quite softly, asking, “Did you feel that?” “Yes! It was amaz-
ing. It must have been the eagle whistles! I’ve never seen an eagle cir-
cle a crowd like that before!” I babbled. She smiled. “No, it wasn’t
the whistles,” she said. “No coincidences, remember?” She continued.
“No. Who’s the one holding that Sundance baby?” she said, looking
at me intently. “We all prayed for that one [the baby] at that tree, and
some of us prayed for you.” Firmly, she insisted, “This was meant for
you. I told you before Pi’ita has taken an interest in you. And that’s a
good thing. I just know you’re gonna dance—and soon!” I was nearly
staggering as I passed the child back to her auntie. All I wanted was
to get away from there, to put the circle behind me as quickly as pos-
sible. I could neither comprehend nor rationalize in any meaningful
way what had just happened, despite having witnessed it myself. I des-
perately wanted to retreat, to be alone, away from all the eyes that
had,apparently, so resolutely followed my every move for four days.
I needed to quietly “reason” out what I had experienced.
I walked away from Gloria and made my way through the crowd.
As I approached the exit at the eastern gate, Marvin stood in my path.
I stopped several yards away, not wanting to engage in conversation,
and he momentarily but intensely scrutinized my face. Having appar-
ently satisfied himself as to some aspect of my condition, he gave a
short, sharp nod, smiled enigmatically, turned, and walked away. Based
on his manner and the intensity of his visual inquiry, I was convinced
he had overheard what Gloria had said. However, at that distance it
seemed impossible that he could have, and the more I tried to reason
it all out and grapple with the accuracy of my perceptions, the more
assured I became that Marvin, indeed, had uncanny powers.
That was the summer of 1995 , and, although these events represent
the second step on my path to the Sundance, I did not dance with my
friends at Merritt. Instead, I moved to Calgary the following spring
to undertake a master’s degree, and later entered a PhD program, to
examine the social construction of disability among the Kainai. I did
not realize that my research would represent the third step on my
path to the Sundance.