Today I decided to share something with you that I brought into my novel. When I say that I am including some of the stories and legends of the Clinton People in my book, this is what I mean.
So one of my favorite stories about the Clinton People is actually about one of the last Medicine Men. Not all of them were good but I am always curious about what events happened to make people end up the way they turned out. This is no exception, and is the reason why I chose to use some of the stories of my People in my novel.
This is the story of Jimmy Gabriel as I remember it told to me.
Jimmy was an old Medicine Man who travelled the Cariboo Region. He would hop from mountain top to mountain top and pretty much do what he wanted, whether it was good or bad.
Jimmy eventually lost his power to a powerful young Medicine Woman who trapped him and took his power from him. Medicine People were to remain clean (meaning no sex or marriage), and he didn't obey that law. Whether or not the young Medicine Woman stole his power because he was not always good isn't really clear but she did it anyway.
Jimmy Gabriel had a Deer Power that allowed him to jump from mountain to mountain. When he lost his power to the young woman he became angry and that is when he got mean and no longer cared if he helped or hurt people.
Years later Jimmy Gabriel eventually got married and had children and a new power came to him. By that time he had taken taken the Rattlesnake Power and it killed most of his children. Eventually his wife left him out of fear for her life and their remaining children.
No one knows for sure how old Jimmy was but it is rumored that he was around 159 years old. I know for some this is hard to believe but really, no one has been around to say whether or not this is true. I chose to believe he was old simply because times were different, medicines were available and clean, and magic existed in some form. Jimmy Gabriel never did travel the mountains like he once did and eventually he died of a suspected heart attack in a hospital.
Comentarios