Abandoned in the Amazon

Chapter two

This week, we were meeting with the other half of our tribe as usual. The leader of our tribe many times ago had both Cayme and Tayope as sons. Cayme was older by a sun-up, so he was decided to be the next leader. But Tayope had better judgement. They constantly fought until one day the leader fell ill and died a sun-up later. Since no leader had been decided, each brother split off to its own half of the tribe. Cayme was currently the leader of our tribe. They still sometimes fight, but not like before.

The next day, we were at Talltrees, the spot in the middle of four huge trees where the Marubo tribe halves met. We had been waiting for at least a quarter of sun-up when we finally saw the other tribes come up the hill. We entered Talltrees now; it was tradition to enter together. The babies were lifted out of their packs to play with the other children as the elders sat on stumps to talk.

Our tribe finally got a good look at Tayope's tribe's painted faces. That's when we panicked... Their faces were full of worry.Something was wrong. There was no happy greetings or smiles or even looks from Tayope's tribe. Just silence. Murmurs of wonder and concern flooded the small area. Suddenly the brothers were shouting for everyone to be quiet. Immediately everyone was silent.

"It is time to make a truce between us brothers." I was sure I saw tears in both of their eyes! Leaders were supposed to be brave for their tribes! They hugged... And then greeted each other the standard leader way. Finally! The meeting would begin for real.

"Brothers and sisters, we are here today not to celebrate, but to join together." Everyone gasped. Join together!? We barely knew they existed. How ridiculous!

"There is a new force in the forest, something that even a whole tribe may not be able to beat. THE HORRIBLE WHITE MEN HAVE BEEN SPOTTED! They wield weapons of every kind and diseases that could wipe us out in a heartbeat. We either need to flee or...make contact." There were children's stories about tribes being taken away by the white men and their metal animals and were never seen again, so everyone, especially the kids were frightened.

The chiefs stepped down from the rock, which meant anyone could go up to speak.. An elder from the Tayope tribe went up to speak.

"White men of any kind are despicable. They should all be killed. None of them are good. Not a single one." With that statement, I put my head down, ashamed, but not before seeing another boy do the same thing. And that boy looked exactly like me.