Volume 5 Number 2
January 1966

Carl Whitman Jr.

A week ago John Big Skunk came home finally after a week of celebrating with some friends. All the way, he kept thinking of what he should tell his wife when he got home, but in the midst of some good line of thought, the pounding in his head would erase the train of thought. With desperation, he searched his mind to try to recapture the story in vain.

He reached for a sack of Bull Durham and commenced to roll a cigarette but his hands shook so badly that he finally gave up. He fixed his gaze on the dash board without really seeing it. Occasionally events hazily fleeted across his mind. Momentarily he wondered why the people would not lend him any money when he asked for it in town. The gnawing craving in his stomach drove him shamelessly to seek other people for a possible loan without results. He tried for a while to try to remember how many people turned him down for a loan. Times must be hard because the people would not lend him even a dime. Suddenly, the peril ahead brought him up short. What should he tell his wife? Absent-mindedly he reached for his sack of Bull Durham again as the car pulled into the yard of the home. He did not get out of the car until the driver told him he was in a hurry to get home with the repairs he got in town so that he could get his tractor going. He made a move as if to get out and changed his mind. Instead he turned his attention back to rolling the cigarette while his vacant gaze was fixed on the house. Finally, the driver reached over and took the Bull Durham and rolled the cigarette for him. He again reminded Big Skunk he had a lot of work to do as he opened the door for him while John was trying to light the cigarette.

He stood where got out as the car drove away. He tore the last match from the book and lit it and continued to look toward the house while the match burned until a puff of wind extinguished the flame. The curtains at one window parted for a fleeting instant and closed, as his eyes were drawn to the window by the sudden movement. He was not quite sure whether someone looked out or maybe the wind blew the curtains apart. The fact that the window was closed did not seem to make any difference to John. The matter was dismissed entirely from his mind because his attention was diverted by the quivering of his legs. An unknown terror gripped him as he looked at the door again. He felt so alone. Vaguely his mind searched for what to say again. The burned-out match in his hand was finally applied to his cigarette and thrown away upon seeing that it was burned out. The book, which he still clutched in his left band, was opened and upon finding it empty, he threw it away. He started for the door, after the thought that he could not stand out here forever flashed across his mind. "Get it over with I Maybe I’ll think of something about the time I get there," he thought.

His hand reached for the doorknob and slowly turned it, but the door was locked. He tried again because it seemed the thing to do--the only thing to do. When this second effort proved fruitless, he fixed his eyes on the spot just in line with his eyes and stood for a while. "Hey," he said, without raising his voice, sort of cautiously, "I’m home." Why couldn’t I think of something better to say, he thought bitterly. He puffed on his cigarette and finally remembered he had not lit it. Slowly his hands went into one pocket after another without finding a match. Then he stood still, evidently in deep thought. "Hey, I’m home," he said, and somehow it sounded familiar. After awhile he remembered that he had said it before. "Why did I repeat it anyway? It didn’t work the first time. Got to try something different. What got me in the last time?" These thoughts stumbled through his numbed mind. Again, he puffed on his cigarette and again went through the same movements for a match and apparently recalled he did not have any more matches. He turned his attention back to the door and was trying to concentrate on the present situation when the door suddenly opened and there stood his wife. This took him by complete surprise. The sudden appearance of his wife unnerved him and left him dumbfounded and speechless.

John was not always like this. Even though he quit school at the sixth grade, he did all right for a while. He had given up school because all of his friends kept dropping out until he found that one day he was the oldest one in the class. His classmates were kids and if he could have concentrated on his studies instead of on his situation, he might have done well, but unfortunately his grades were not anything that he could brag about. He began to think of all the reasons why he should quit school. His classmates liked him because he was a good all-around athlete. The next fall, when he became ineligible for football because of age, he did not return to the government boarding school.

That winter he helped his father with ranch work. His friends were married and he found himself with no one to run around with. He finally got married and built himself a small log cabin. When his mother died he moved his family to his father’s house upon the latter’s urging. He managed to get 20 head of cattle under the Repayment Cattle Program, so together with the father’s small herd of cattle and his own, they were getting along comfortably. Nothing elaborate but he was satisfied because he never knew of too much luxury.

One day his father died. The funeral expenses, which included the feeding of his friends who came to mourn, the giveaways, and the undertaker’s costs, took half of his father’s cattle.

Just when his herd was increasing, drought came along and he found himself without hay. Desperately, John looked for hayland, but everywhere the grass was short and brown because of the hot sun and lack of rains. That fall, he sold half his herd to the government for $20 each and bought some hay with the proceeds which were not much. Somehow they got through the winter. His hunting abilities helped a lot.

The next year, the government set up relief work in a form of Emergency Conservation Work Program. He went to work for $30 per month and finally moved his family to town to be near the work. Due to lack of attention and care, his cattle disappeared one by one until there were none left. Oh well! He had a job now, so the loss of the cattle did not seem to bother him. His family, which was increasing, was eating well, until the day when the program folded up.

The lucrative cattle business was tempting so he applied for cattle and a loan. The Tribal Council approved his application for cattle under the Repayment Cattle Program and also approved a cash loan for purchase of haying equipment. After all the red tape was finally completed and he got his cattle, he moved back to his father’s place. His income from inherited lands provided the table with food. At last he was headed for success. He set out to improve his home and his other facilities. That fall the price of cattle dropped. The plunge kept going down. Payments on his furniture, the gas, etc., became due. He sold his calves that fall, but the government took all the proceeds to keep the payments on his loan "current." His other creditors began to hound him. He went to the Agency office to try to get a "refinance" loan, but the government turned him down even though the Council approved his application. In desperation he asked for a release of some cows and received approval. With the proceeds he paid off some of the creditor,,. The rest he managed to pay off with the proceeds from the sale of land which he had inherited from his mother.

About this time there was a mass relocation of Indians as a result of the Garrison Dam and Reservoir project. Big Skunk took a while to decide where to move, and eventually moved to one of his inherited lands and started to build up. The price of cattle kept going down. That fall, the government again took all the proceeds from the sale of the calves, but this time the money did not pay in full what was due on the loan. The grocer, gas company and others began to plague him for payment due on his bills. Again be went to the office to get a release for some cows to sell. This was granted, but when the cattle were sold, the money was applied to his loan so he would not be "delinquent." He asked for release for some more cows to get the creditors off his back. The Bureau turned down his request because his equity would be in jeopardy. All this was "Greek" to him except that he understood he could not sell any more cattle. The only alternative left was to sell some more of his land which the Office approved.

That winter his cattle kept going back to the old place from which he had moved because that was where they had fed last year. Practically every day John made a long trip toward his old place and brought his cattle back to the new place. One day a storm came and lasted for a number of days which prohibited his rounding up. After the storm abated, he found that some of his cows had died.

The food became scarce and since he could not sell any of his cattle, he applied for another loan but was told that the Credit program was closed down because of some "moratorium." After this disappointing news, he confided his situation to a friend who admitted he was in the same boat, but that he had found a buyer and sold some of his calves anyway. Upon inquiry, his friend gave him the name of the cattle buyer who was willing to buy mortgaged cattle. With some misgivings he arranged to sell one of the cows and bought some groceries. As groceries do not last forever, he again found his home with little to eat. He did not want to sell any more cattle, so he went to work for the timber salvaging outfit. He thought of what happened to his cattle before when he went to work, but the situation left him without much choice. Needless to say, the cattle scattered and his small calf crop, as a result of neglect that year, brought about a "foreclosure." His cattle and equipment were sold by the government. The returns were not enough to pay off his loan because of the depressed cattle prices. After this, a sum of nearly $4,000 was left to pay. The Bureau suggested that he sell some of his inherited lands, which he did and paid the loan in full. With the balance of his land sale money, he bought groceries and spent the rest on liquor to celebrate the payment of the loan. The celebration lasted until his money gave out.

Just when his groceries began to dwindle, lo and behold, he got a big bonus from an oil lease--a vast sum of nearly $90,000. The money was in the Office he was told, and that same day he got to the Office and got ten thousand dollars without any difficulty. From there he went directly to a car dealer and bought the biggest car they had, and paid with "spot cash." After he bought groceries he decided to celebrate the good fortune. The next day the big car was found crumpled in a ditch. Miraculously he had escaped unscathed from the wreck. As there was no insurance on the new car, he had to go to the Office again and they let him have another ten thousand dollars. He bought another car and went home with some more groceries.

Of course, news travels fast on the reservation and before long, nearly everyone knew he got a lot of money. People came with hard luck stories. They went away not disappointed, for John was a generous man and he knew what it was like to be hard up. So he helped whoever came with a loan or a gift of money. What the hell, he had a lot of money.

Salesmen were as numerous as the flies, which indicated that news traveled fast outside the reservation as well. He bought furniture, brushes, silverware, dishes, cooking pots and pans. A vacuum cleaner salesman pressured him even though he knew there was no electricity there. John even bought a nickelodeon from one to get rid of him. He also bought a truck complete with a stock rack and hydraulic box even though he had no need for one. He bought subscriptions for all sorts of publications even though he could hardly read, and even if he could he did not have the time. Big Skunk’s place was a salesman’s paradise. It was the best place for a sure fire sale, so the word was passed around.

He kept making trips to the Office for more and more money. One salesman kept coming back. He wanted to sell him a whole line of farm equipment. He was not satisfied with selling him the one measly truck. It occurred to Big Skunk one day that the salesman would keep coming back as long as he did not buy the machinery the dealer wanted to sell. One day he decided to buy the equipment and get the salesman out of his hair. However, when he asked for his money at the Office, the official did not believe him about the machinery because he saw and heard of his wild parties and sprees. John was not disturbed by this refusal because now he would not have to buy the equipment. When John told the dealer what happened, the persistent salesman accompanied him to the Office. After the official was assured by the salesman that the money would be used for the farming machines, the request for the money was granted and a check was made. The office gave no consideration of the fact that John had now only 80 acres of land left upon which his home was located and hence this investment of over $12,000 for equipment was unjustified. At any rate, the machinery was delivered and Big Skunk was bothered no more by him. What a relief!

It was not an unusual sight to see the big truck with the stock rack on it, heading for town followed by his wife in the big car. Sometimes the caravan was seen heading home with a box of groceries in the box of the truck. At other times, only the car headed for home while John stayed in town for a "couple of drinks."

He was a welcome individual in town. He was considered a good spender and the business men looked forward to his coming. When they heard John was in town, business men began to look around their stores to find hard-to-sell items and changed the price tags on them, and subsequently sold to Big Skunk. The attention he commanded intoxicated him in more ways than one.

One day while he was in the bar drinking with friends, a stranger joined them and John took a liking to him immediately. The stranger later told John about himself and his business. To make a long story short, the stranger walked away from there five thousand dollars richer. John offered to help him on this business deal that needed five thousand dollars. No notes, just a shake of the hand was sufficient for John. The stranger has not been heard from or seen since.

As all good things must come to an end, Big Skunk drew the last of the ninety thousand from the Office which amounted to less than a thousand. He took his car over to the car dealer and traded in his car for a new one and after everything was figured out, the difference of eleven hundred dollars was reduced with an eight hundred dollar payment and he drove away to the bar to celebrate. Two months later the new car was repossessed by the dealer because John could not make the monthly payments. Oh well, he had the truck to get around in. The whole affair did not bother him much.

The demands from his friends, the needs at home and the craving for drinks eventually led him to sell the farm machinery, which he hardly used except to haul water, for thirteen hundred dollars. When this was spent in short order, he began to sell the things he bought from the salesmen until they were all sold.

When he had nothing more to sell, he began to try to collect the money owed him, but all the borrowers were broke. Now he was not bothered for loans anymore. Via the grapevine everyone found out he was broke. His grocery bill mounted higher and higher and the grocer pressured for payment and later reached the point where he threatened court action. Only one thing was left--to sell his land on which his home was located. He contacted his councilman for land sale to the Tribe, but was told by the councilman that there was no more money for land purchases. He applied for a fee patent on his land and the Bureau released the title. He sold the land to the first white man that wanted to buy it and used the money to pay the grocer and to celebrate the payment of the bill.

For a week he had a hilarious time. Finally, broke and sick with a hangover, he went home. When he got there, he found the new owner had taken possession of the place. He asked about his family and found that they had moved to her parent’s place. Perhaps the sordid details of his arrival at his new home will be better left unsaid. Suffice it to say, he was not welcomed with open arms.

The two-room home of the in-laws was a little crowded with the two in-laws, his wife, and ten children. Perhaps it was the come down from a three-bedroom home, which was getting crowded in the last few years, to a two-room home, but at any rate, he spent as little time as possible there. His love for his wife and children drew him back time after time. While he was there he was a sweet and loving father. The in-laws could not hate this man when he was sober. His wife, at times through the urging of her parents, often thought of divorcing him and going on ADC, but at the same time, she loved him in spite of his weakness and knew her children needed a father, and they also loved him. At times, when he was gone, the children often got out of hand and the grandparents were no help under these circumstances.

His absence from "home" was usually spent in town begging for drinks or working for some of the ranchers in the area. Sometimes be brought his wages home, but most of the time he spent it on liquor.

Mrs. Big Skunk looked out the window as a car drove up and saw her husband in it. She thought perhaps her parents were right--she should divorce him. While she was thinking about this, one of the children went to the window.

"Daddy’s home," he shouted happily, and headed for the door, but Mrs. Big Skunk reached the door first and locked it. She heard her husband, but made no move to open the door. One of the children said, "But we haven’t seen Daddy for a long time." She finally decided to open the door.

His Stetson was crumpled and was precariously perched on his head. A lock of hair hung over his heavy eyelids which he evidently was having a hard time keeping open. He wiped his running nose with his hand. Some light yellowish matter was caked at the corners of his mouth. His tongue came out slowly to moisten his lips. His mouth opened and the faint Adams apple bobbed up as he swallowed. His shirt was not buttoned nor was it tucked in his overalls. He reeked with a mixture of stale wine and--her glance down the Levis confirmed what she suspected. A repulsive odor and sight.

"Well, what do you want?" she said coldly. "A match," he said without thinking and afterwards thought what an awful thing to say. He put out both of his hands with palms up and opened his mouth to say something, but evidently changed his mind or did not know what to say. His hands dropped back down slowly.

His answer to her question was so ridiculous and simple, it disarmed her. It will be nice to have him home even if it is for a little while, she thought.