Amarco's Culture: A Short Story

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Over 300 years ago in the Northeast Woodlands, lived a middle-aged man named Amarco, who was a part of the Mohawk tribe. As the fall gradually transitioned to the season of winter, people in her tribe seemed to be rapidly developing scurvy and colds, which resulted in severe illness and death. One early evening as Amarco was gathering water in a pail at the St. Lawrence River when a gopher approached him, opening him mouth to drop a white pine tree seed. The gopher spoke to him and said, “Plant this seed outside your village and water it before you sleep. You will wake up to a large tree and use the white pines growing from it to make tea to prevent illness and provide warmth as the village gets cold”. As Amarco was walking back to him village, …show more content…

He dug a hole about 50 meters away from the protective fencing guarding the village and planted the seed. He covered the hole with dirt and used some of the water he collected from the river to water the seed. By early morning, almost everyone from the Mohawk community stepped outside the village to admire the large White Pine Tree that Amarco grew. Amarco could not believe what he was seeing. The gopher was right! It was absolutely astounding; from the smell of the fresh green needles to the texture of the rough grey bark. Amarco gathered everybody’s attention to inform them of the benefits his tree has to offer. Everyone cried in joy and happiness knowing that they’re at peace, now that the disease that they’ve dreaded for the longest while, is now curable. Amarco used some of the pines off the tree to brew tea for everybody in celebration of their newfound discovery. As he grabbed his own cup of tea, he went outside the protective fencing to lie underneath his Pine Tree. While getting comfortable, he noticed a burrow in the ground beside the tree on his left. He was certain that the hole was not there in the early morning, so he slowly leaned over to peep inside. To his surprise, he saw the gopher who gave him the seed to plant sleeping in that hole. Amarco couldn’t help but grin, as he continued to sip his tea underneath his very own Tree of

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