Star Gift

Chapter Twelve

As the group of five left Farmington and headed west on the highway toward Kayenta, Blake felt more liberated. Sharing, and then turning over the mysterious artifacts stored by his father to the Native Americans, he knew he had done the right thing. Though Jasper and Michael were from different tribes, they seemed united in their convictions about their indigenous peoples and their connection to whom and what they called the "Star People"—entities they were convinced of.

Riding with Michael in Dan's 4x4, Blake had the growing feeling he wanted to be some part of their further investigations—especially the curious lightening phenomenon, seen in the numerous photos to be striking at the same place on the desert floor. It potentially indicated something of immense importance.

"So are you two going to drive back to California, tonight or tomorrow?" Michael asked. As Russel was now behind them in Jasper's truck, Blake felt comfortable speaking for himself.

"Well. You know, my friend's anxious to get back . . . Spring Break and all. He was hoping this long detour we took would not eat away the whole holiday week. He's more of a party animal than me. But we've got some friends practically begging us to jump into that craziness over on the coast.

Michael laughed. "Yeah. You'd think Yale students would be immune to all that nonsense. But many are getting plastered down in Fort Lauderdale right now."

"So, you grew up out here, Michael? I mean on the . . ."

"Indian land? Yeah. The Zuni territory south of here is pretty special. Just a fraction of the land the Navajo and Hopi claim. We're all really different, though we share a lot. Deep stuff. Ancient stuff. I got interested because I grew up in it."

"That's pretty cool, actually. It makes you rare. A true original."

Michael smiled. "And rarer than you think. See, my grandfather was a shaman, a tribal seer. He taught me a lot of things about being Native American, generally. But on a deeper level, Zuni. What you traditional types might call metaphysical stuff. He taught . . . and showed me, that there's a spiritual dimension to just about all there is. Both in the heavens and down here."

"Wow."

"Yeah, I kind of fell into a vast collection of pure wisdom through him. He taught me the skills of a shaman . . . though I'm still learning."

"So you're into healing and stuff like that?"

"Healing is a small part of it actually. But you got the idea. Most of what a shaman knows and does is not understood by the white man . . . if you'll allow me that description of who you are and where you're from, Blake."

"No, that's OK. I get it. I can see that. Especially out here. It's really another world. Even the night sky looks different . . . bigger somehow."

"So, I guess because my people saw this potential in me . . . to carry on from my grandfather, the honor was imparted. But then, I was also singled out by these educational do-gooders. A team of specialists  who came to test the youth on the reservation, back while I was in school. For intellectual promise, they called it. Bottom line . . . I got a full university scholarship."

"That's great!"

"Yeah, but I still had to take those entry exams . . . just like you. Worked my ass off studying them outside of school, totally on my own. Yale accepted me, and a few other places. In the end it was either there or Berkeley. Both places had lot of what I'm interested in."