Sugar Moon

‘ When I was about eight or ten years old I began to follow the chase, and to me this was never work. Out on the prairies, which ran up to our mountain homes, wandered herds of deer, antelope, elk, and bu alo, to be slaughtered when we needed them. Usually we hunted bu alo on horseback, killing them with arrows and spears. Their skins were used to make tepees and bedding; their esh, to eat. It required more skill to hunt the deer than any other animal. We ne- ver tried to approach a deer except against the wind. Frequently we would spend hours in stealing upon grazing deer. If they were in the open we would crawl long distances on the ground, keeping a weed or brush before us, so that our approach would not be noticed. Of- ten we could kill several out of one herd before the others would run away. Their esh was dried and packed in vessels, and would keep in this condition for many months. The hide of the deer was soaked in water and ashes and the hair removed, and then the process of tanning continued until the buckskin was soft and pliable. Perhaps no other animal was more valuable to us than the deer. (...) Thus quietly lived the Be-don-ke-he Apaches.‘ Geronimo. Geronimo: My Life (Native American). Dover Publications. On the high plains of the Texas Panhandle, the wind blows continuously. Immensity is a magnifying glass. There, we take ownership of nature and air, everything has a price and the land is no longer sacred. Cows are presented to beauty contests, African animals are hunted in ranches with high fences, and competitions of calves are held. There, we pollute and crush the earth, we deny global warming, we vote Trump, we pray God and kill bunnies in half-zoo ranches. Humanity disappears, fear invades everything.