Thomas Berger
Old Lodge Skins Monologues
There is an endless supply of white men. There has always been a limited number of human beings.
Do you see this fine thing? Do you admire the humanity of it? Because the human beings, my son, they believe everything is alive. Not only man and animals. But also water, earth, stone. And also the things from them... like that hair. The man from whom this hair came, he's bald on the other side, because I now own his scalp! That is the way things are. But the white man, they believe EVERYTHING is dead. Stone, earth, animals. And people! Even their own people! If things keep trying to live, white man will rub them out. That is the difference.
Today is a good day to die.
Come out and fight! It is a good day to die! Thank You for making me a Human Being! Thank You for helpin' me to become a warrior! Thank You for my victories, and for my defeats! Thank You for my vision, and the blindness in which I saw further! You make all things and direct them in their ways, O Grandfather. And now You have decided the Human Beings will soon walk a road that leads nowhere. I am gonna die now, unless death wants to fight. And I ask You for the last time to grant me my old power to make things happen.
Take care of my son here. See that he doesn't go crazy.
Let's go back to the teepee and eat, my son. My new snake wife cooks dog very well.
She also has a very soft skin. The only trouble with snake women is they copulate with horses, which makes them strange to me. She say's she doesn't. That's why I call her "Doesn't Like Horses". But, of course, she's lying.
Glad to see you too, my son. My heart soars like a hawk. Do you want to eat? I won't eat with you, because I'm gonna' die soon.
Yes, my son. I want to die in my own land, where Human Beings are buried in the sky.
Because there is no other way to deal with the White Man, my son. Whatever else you can say about them, it must be admitted: you cannot get rid of them.
There is an endless supply of White Man. But there always has been a limited number of Human Beings. We won today... we won't win tomorrow.
This boy is no longer a boy. He's a brave. He is little in body, but his heart is big. His name shall be "Little Big Man."
I would like to meet this man and smoke with him. What does his name mean?
Good name. How did he win it?
Yes, the "black" white man; I have heard of them. It is said that a "black" white man once became a Human Being. They are a very strange creatures. Not as ugly as the white man true; but they are just as crazy!
Don't worry my son, you will be back with us, I dreamed it last night. I saw you with your wives
Yes, there were three… or four, it was hard to tell. It was very dark in your teepee and they were under buffalo rugs as you crawled among them. Anyway, it was a great copulation.
Invisible! I've never been invisible before!
I saw you in a dream my son. You were drinking from a spring that came from the nose of an animal I didn't recognize. It had two great horns, one on each side of its nose, and the water that came from its nose was full of air!
It makes my heart sad, a world without human beings has no center to it.
Come out and fight! It is a good day to die! Thank you for making me a Human Being! Thank you for helping me to become a warrior. Thank you for my victories, and for my defeats. Thank you for my vision, and the blindness in which I saw further. You make all things and direct them in their ways, oh Grandfather. And now, you have to silence the Human beings! We'll soon walk a road… that leads nowhere. I am going to die now, unless death wants to fight. And I ask you for the last time: to grant me my old power to make things happen.
Am I still in this world?
Heeya… I was afraid of that. Well sometimes the magic works and sometimes it doesn't. Let's go back to the tepee and eat my son. My newest snake wife cooks dog very well.
She also has very soft skin. The trouble with snake women is they copulate with horses which makes them strange to me. She says she doesn't, that's why I call her "Doesn't like Horses." But of course she's lying.
You make all things and direct them in their ways, oh Grandfather, and now, you have decided the Human Beings will soon walk a road that leads nowhere.
Oh no. My eyes still see. Buy my heart no longer receives it.
My heart soars like a hawk.