It began at tte JeRicto Mine, JeRicto City, Tennessee
in tte yeaR 1935, tte day afteR Ma died.
Ste'd Iasted onIy a yeaR afteR Pa was kiIIed in tte aRmy.
Ttat's tow I came to Iive witt GRanma and GRanpa wten I was eigtt.
One time, GRanma toId me ttat wten you come on sometting good,
fiRst tting to do is staRe it witt wtosoeveR you can find.
Ttat way, tte good spReads out, no teIIing tow faR it'II go. Wtict is Rigtt.
So I'm teIIing tte stoRy of ttem days,
tow GRanma and GRanpa got me away fRom Aunt Martta
and took me to Iive in tteiR mountains wteRe ttey'd Raised my pa befoRe me,
and wtict I know now was tte secRet teart of tte woRId.
You stop, right where you stand!
I said no!
You ain't goin' off with no backwoods white Indian so Iong as I got breath.
SaIIy was my sister and she gave him to us.
Put a hand to it, Henry, for Jesus' sake.
You can't waItz in here and carry him off to some God-forsaken...
Martha, Ieave him be.
It ain't right.
It ain't right, by damn!
WaIes, he's wearin' out.
Yeah.
Are you OK, son?
Take the Iight.
You ain't wakening him his first morning?
Just giving him the option, is aII.
LittIe Tree, are you awake enough to hear me?
We're heading up to the corn patch. Figure you might Iike to heIp.
- WaIes! - It's up to you.
Come on, now!
WeII, now!
Go on, get off him!
They're heartened to see someone new. They get pIenty of Granma and me.
That's BIue Boy.
They the onIy shoes you got?
Bet you can't feeI a thing through them soIes.
We'II take care of that. To Iearn, you got to feeI the ground.
AII right... You'II stay!
She's coming aIive!
Don't feeI sad, LittIe Tree. It's the Way.
The faIcon caught the sIow bird, so it won't have no babies that are sIow.
It heIps the bird out, you see?
It's a Iesson. AnimaIs know that, just Iook around.
OnIy the white man takes more than his share.
He'II cIaim whatever he can, no matter how much it is.
He'II run his fIag up, saying, ''This stands for my right to more.''
Then there'II be a war over it and men'II die.
Like your daddy.
You're saying, ''HoId on there, I thought Granpa was a white man.''
It's the truth. I was born white, no doubt about it.
But, when I met your granma, young she was and...
...how she couId dance!
We married and I began to see the worId through Cherokee eyes,
tiII I came at Iast to understand the Way.
And so wiII you, LittIe Tree.
You'II Iearn you can't change the ruIes of the Way,
even if you are white, and that's that.
My ma was white.
As was mine. Fine a woman as ever Iived.
- As was mine. - She was.
She pIeased your daddy, too. He toId us.
Dictionary.
As he can't get to the settIement every day for schooI,
a crying shame, nothing we can do about it,
I pIan to teach him myseIf. AII I know, anyhow.
Look at the first word. Can you make out what it says?
Aard...vark.
Aardvark.
Aard...what?
Large, burrowing, African mammaI
that feeds on ants and termites.
That's his first word?
TeII me, when is the occasion going to arise for him to empIoy this word?
- Can't never teII. - Yeah, that's right, LittIe Tree.
You go to the settIement, you never can teII what's going to come up.
You know, Iike, ''LittIe Tree's downcast. Seems he Iost his aardvark.''
''That's funny,'' says Mr Jenkins.
''Miss Perkins is having troubIe with her aardvark, too.
''Had to go to KnoxviIIe, to hospitaI, have her whoIe dang aardvark removed!
''She's resting comfortabIe now, but... Them aardvarks!''
You can't never teII!
You'II stay!
How oId are you going to be on your next birthday?
- Nine. Come March 22. - That's what I thought.
Then it is time you started on a trade.
- That's her. - What does she do?
She makes whiskey! Ain't you ever seen a stiII afore?
This here's my trade. Whiskey-making.
Been handed down on the Scots side of my famiIy for 200 years.
I'm going to hand it down to you.
Of course, when you get oIder, you might want to switch trades.
Leastways you'II have something to faII back on
when you're pressed otherwise to make a Iiving.
Times Iike these here, hard times.
Now, this...
...you caII the beer.
What we're going to do today is turn the beer into whiskey.
OK.
Pour away!
This here is pure corn.
Some feIIows, and this is what gives whiskey-making a bad name,
some feIIows use potash or even Iye to make the mash quick.
Some put it through sheet iron or truck radiators,
got aII kind of poisons that can kiII you.
Now, these feIIows ought to be hung, in my opinion.
Then there's the other side, them that say whiskey ought to be aged.
I tried that once. Set back some fresh-made for a whoIe goddam week.
By the bye, there's a word you won't find in your granma's dictionary,
so you probabIy shouIdn't try it out on her, OK?
OK.
Now...where was I?
You set some fresh-made back a whoIe goddam week.
Week, yeah...
Didn't taste a damn Iick different from aII the other whiskey I ever made.
I'm gonna raise the fIame on this a IittIe bit.
See? You want to boiI it, but you don't want to scorch it.
What I couId use is just one more armIoad of good dry wood.
I'II get it, Granpa!
You be LittIe Tree?
WeII, Iet's see what you brung.
LittIe Tree, this here's WiIIow John.
He has the magic.
- What do you reckon? - Ain't you gonna taste it?
WeII, this is what you caII your singIe. Damn near 200 proof.
We onIy get a coupIe of gaIIons of it. You add water, start over again,
and that's how you get your seIIing whiskey, see?
StiII, a man ought to know what his singIe tastes Iike,
seeing as how it's the backbone of the whiskey and aII.
That's out of the earIy corn. Got a...
Don't know what you'd caII it, exactIy. A kind of a...
- Bite. - Bite.
Yeah, that'd be it.
- Have you toId him of our history? - Not as yet.
He shouId know.
- It's a hard taIe. - It is that.
But if you don't know your past, you won't have a future.
Why don't y'aII Ieave it up to the boy?
This here's a story about your ancestors and how they come to be here.
Do you care to know?
I do.
WeII, now...
...the Cherokee have Iived in these hiIIs since the Doda put 'em there.
They farmed in the vaIIeys, made the winter hunts,
and taught themseIves the Way.
But then the white man come
and the Cherokee made a paper treaty with him.
They said, ''These white men ain't so bad. We couId Iive together.''
Then government soIdiers came and said the paper treaty had changed its words.
Now the words said the Cherokee had to give up their homes
and move far west, where the government had other Iands for them.
Lands that the white man didn't want, of course.
WhiIe the Cherokee were trying to understand, the government soIdiers
found this big oId vaIIey and ringed it in with their guns,
and drove the Cherokee in there just Iike cattIe.
And they fiIIed up that whoIe vaIIey.
Then they brought in muIes and horses and said they couId ride out west.
Now the Cherokee, they had nothing Ieft, did they?
They had no homes, no farms, no Iand, nothin'.
- But they wouId not ride. - Damn right.
So they did save something from it, didn't they?
They couIdn't see it, they couIdn't wear it, they couIdn't eat it.
But they did save something.
They wouId not ride.
- They waIked. - Yes.
It was a Iong waIk
and as they got farther and farther from their mountains,
they began to die.
At first, it was just the very young and the very oId,
and the soIdiers stopped to Iet the Cherokee bury their dead.
But then more began to die.
They died by the hundreds, by the thousands.
The soIdiers said, ''Put your dead in the wagons and we'II carry them for you.''
- But did they? - No, sir.
No.
The Cherokee wouId not put their dead in the wagons.
They carried 'em, waIking. Yes...
The man carried his dead wife,
the son carried his dead momma,
and the IittIe boy carried his baby sister.
The white peopIe Iined up aIong the traiI to watch them pass by.
Some of them peopIe began to cry
and that's why they caII it the TraiI of Tears.
But the Cherokee did not cry.
They did not speak, they did not Iook.
They waIked on.
But by some magic that I don't know,
some managed to escape and make their way back,
staying off the traiI, untiI they found their mountains again.
And they went far back into them and time went on.
By and by, the white man forgot about them and passed by,
and finaIIy Ieft them in peace.
And that's you, LittIe Tree. That's us.
That's where you come from and that's why we're here.
WeII, now!
I reckon WiIIow John Iikes you.
- He Ieft it for me? - Looks Iike it.
- But I didn't get to thank him. - He didn't do it for thanks.
He gave it to you 'cause you deserve it. That don't caII for no show, does it?
- I suppose not. But shouIdn't I...? - Go on to bed now.
Long day tomorrow.
Take them big shoes off, for once and for aII.
They're finaIIy ready.
They're stiII wet!
You put 'em on wet and waIk 'em dry.
That way they fit Iike they growed on your feet.
Got rid of them cIobbers, did you? Just in time.
Got a Iong, heavy hauI down to the settIement.
How many jars you reckon you can tote?
- How many in aII? - Thirteen.
Two to keep, for medicinaIs. That makes...what number?
- EIeven to go. - AII right. Try it now.
- What say I put two in the sack for you? - Three.
You're sure, now? If I put in three, that's how many you'II carry.
- Three. - AII yourn.
Don't feeI Iike nothin' at aII.
That new knife kind of baIances things out, don't it?
- How do them moccasins feeI? - Like they growed on my feet!
Now, that there is Jenkins' store.
You got good eyes. TeII me, is there a pickIe barreI out front?
- No, onIy some men sitting. - That's the sign to come on in.
PickIe barreI means the Iaw. That's another thing to remember.
I guess new fortune's on its way. Howdy, WaIes!
- Who's the IittIe feIIow? - My grandson, LittIe Tree.
Hey, LittIe Tree!
It was Wednesday... No...
It was Tuesday, for I'd been pIaying at a dance on the Monday night.
I come through the settIement
and I seen Smokehouse, Turner, you know, poIice.
I'm taIking with Smokehouse
and this big shiny car comes puIIing into the fiIIing station.
It hit me right off! I said to myseIf, that's a big-city criminaI.
Smokehouse asked him, ''Where you from?''
He says, ''Chicago.''
Meantime, puIIing Smokehouse aside, I say,
''He says he's from Chicago, but he's got an IIIinois tag on his car.''
OId Smokehouse come down on him Iike Judgement Day!
He was jumpin' and sayin' to him...
Let's give it the acid test, WaIes. Here we go.
EIegant!
Hey, LittIe Tree, come over here.
Thank you.
WouId you do an oId man a favour
and go out to the woodpiIe and fiII the sack with woodchips?
Getting mighty Iow. I appreciate it.
What's them things on your feet?
Moccasins.
Can I touch 'em?
S'pose.
- They's soft. - Yep.
- You're an Indian, then. - I'm working at it.
You been inside that there store?
They got doIIs in there?
Expect so. AImost near everything.
- WouId you Iook and find out for me? - S'pose.
Pa says he's gonna buy me one as soon as we get our share...
- Share of what? - What?
You know, the share.
The share of tobacco you pick, dummy.
I ain't never picked no tobacco before.
That's 'cause Indians are Iazy and don't work none.
- What's this I'm doing, then? - I ain't saying it's your fauIt.
You're just...different, that's aII. I mean, Iook at the coIour of you.
Come ahead, put yours up.
Come on.
- Which one do you Iike better? - I don't know.
Do you Iike mine?
Yours is dirty.
AII right, now. Me and Mr Jenkins is aII settIed up.
So I figured out your cut of the deaI here. 50 cents.
- Mine? - We're partners, ain't we?
- But... - You done the work, you get the pay.
That's how it is.
Let's get it over with.
WeII... This morning, God is truIy shining his beatific Iight on us.
It is said that he aIso serves who stands and waits.
Lord knows we've been standing here a Iong time.
But today, our prayers are answered.
A great man is about to arrive and bIess us with his words,
aII the way from Washington City.
Our own Congressman, the poor man's best friend,
Johnny Mack Stoddard!
Above aII the churches in East Tennessee, he chose ours.
I think the Christian thing to do is to get up and march out there
so he can see his chosen peopIe as he drives up.
And...
Stand up, now!
How are you, Reverend?
Hey, how are you? Thank you for coming.
Can I shake your hand?
Nice to see you. How are you? Good to see you as weII.
Hey, how are you? AII right, bye for now.
Right this way, John.
Up I go!
My friends, my feIIow Tennesseans,
sons and daughters of the great pioneers
who fought their way through forest and mountain
to found this rich Iand,
that has been given with good heart and trust to myseIf,
your humbIe servant.
I come here today to teII you of a mighty battIe I'm fighting for you...
- Like my caIf, kids? - Yes, sir.
Go on ahead! Pet him aII you want. Won't hurt him none.
- WouId you Iike to take him home? - Yeah.
- You got any money? - No.
WeII, now...
Ain't that a cryin' shame.
- I got some. - How much is some?
- 50 cents. - Where did you get 50 cents?
This caIf's worth more than a hundred times that much.
Yes, sir. I wasn't figuring to buy him.
WeII, I'm a Christian man, son.
Somehow, even costing me aII this caIf's worth,
I figure you ought to have him, the way he's taken up with you.
I wasn't gonna take him, mister.
Don't worry about me none. It's for the best.
Thank you, sir. I didn't mean...
I said, where did you get 50 cents?
- Did I take advantage of him? - No, that's what Christian peopIe do.
You reckon? WeII then, I guess he's mine.
I gotta go show my granpa!
- You can come up and visit him. - I can?
If you want.
I can fight for you against this army of Jews and CathoIics
who's bent on picking everything from your pockets.
Thank you!
Thank you, thank you.
God bIess.
Granpa, Iook!
A feIIow soId him to me, for 50 cents, but he was a Christian man,
and that's what them feIIows do, so it's OK.
I didn't take advantage of him or nothin'.
- Take care. Bye-bye. - See you Iater!
Granpa!
Do you know any Jews or CathoIics?
I'II teII you what, LittIe Tree.
If you were to take a knife and cut into that poIitician's heart,
you'd have a hard time finding a kerneI of truth.
The son of a bitch didn't say nothin' about getting the whiskey tax taken off,
the price of corn, nor nothin' eIse of vaIue.
I stand against poIiticians and aII such sons of bitches.
Listen here. That's a new cuss word with a whoIe Iot of starch attached to it.
You don't want to use that no way at aII around your...
- I beIieve your caIf's died. - No, he ain't neither.
Come on, get up. Get up!
He's dead, LittIe Tree. If something's dead, it's dead.
There's disease on the Iiver. Can't eat it.
We'II send the dogs back. It'II make a meaI for them, anyhow.
For the caIf's hide.
Ain't no way of Iearning you, except Ietting you do.
If I'd stopped you buying the caIf, you'd aIways want it.
If I toId you to buy it, you'd bIame me for its dying.
- You just gotta Iearn as you go. - Yes, sir.
WeII then, teII us what you Iearnt out of this.
WeII, I sure as heII...
I reckon I Iearnt not to trade with no Christian.
TeII me something. Did you find your secret pIace yet?
Secret pIace?
- I don't know. - WeII, you'd know.
- What's it Iook Iike? - It's a pIace onIy for you.
Sometimes you feeI you gotta go there. AII Cherokee got a secret pIace.
Is that so?
I teII you what. Instead of working the stiII this morning,
you'd be better off searching out your own pIace, before the snow comes.
- You think? - I do that.
Come on, BIue Boy!
Gotcha!
This is it. This is my pIace.
- Revenuers! - Damn!
- How far back? - Some.
AII right.
Take this. I'II cIean up and meet you at the cabin.
- Can you manage it? - Yes, sir.
Come on, BIue Boy!
- Indian! - Just a kid.
- Yeah, Indian kid. - Wait a goddam minute.
Ain't you SaIIy's kid? SaIIy, who married the Indian.
- CouId it be? - Ain't you?
- What you got in your sack? - What's in the sack, boy?
- Can I take a Iook? - TerribIe thing...
...teach kids to be whiskey-runners.
Give it over. You ain't going no pIace.
- Watch her. - Hand the sack out.
Easy as one...
...two...
Get off!
HeIp me!
He's gettin' away!
Hey, BIue Boy!
LittIe Tree?
I'm here, Granma. Over here!
Are you aII right? Are you OK?
You can Iet go of the sack now. Let go, Iet go.
- Didn't break one! - CouIdn't have done better myseIf.
You're coming to be one of the best whiskey-makers in these mountains.
Come on!
Maybe they thought it was somebody eIse's kid.
How'd they know he's yourn? There's pIenty young 'uns in these parts.
- Sure! - They recognised him.
CaIIed his ma by name. One of 'em said, how couId we...
...put him in the whiskey trade at his age? Don't Iook good.
Bound to get back to somebody. And then what?
- Is this yourn? - Nah!
Look here what I got.
It's a present. I owe it to WiIIow John.
He gave me this.
- It ain't as good, is it? - WeII, I Iike it.
- You do? - Did you show him the caIf?
The caIf?
You name him yet? I've come up with the perfect name.
- Wanna hear it? - Sure.
OK. Brown Eyes. 'Cause he's got them pretty brown eyes.
How is Brown Eyes?
Can I stiII come up and see him?
He's...
He's dead.
- Say, what? - He just...
He just...keeIed over and died, just Iike that.
I couIdn't do nothin' about it. The feIIow cheated me.
- I didn't know. He said he was... - LittIe Tree, come on to church now.
I'm sorry. Ain't nobody in the worId oughta cheat you.
AII right!
What makes this day different than aII others?
TeII me! TeII me! Speak it!
Testifying day.
Today you wiII stand before the Lord and confess your sins.
- Amen. - Yes, sir.
Stand up and make yourseIves cIean. Praise Jesus.
- Praise God. - I'm a sinner.
- I'm a sinner in the face of the Lord. - TeII it, sister!
- I committed... - TeII it!
- ...fornication! - Amen!
- BeeIzebub! - With...
...Junior Logan.
- And with... - More!
- TeII it, sister. - And with...
- TeII it. - And with...
- Got it? - Yeah.
You want to be shortening up on that handIe some.
Just kind of Iet her faII.
See now...
That mauI's got enough weight to spIit that pine just Iike a...
Hang on, there...
Son of a gun. It just hit me Iike a boIt of Iightning.
I'm teaching you everything, the Iand, the business,
and I forget the most important one.
What's that?
HaIf of dinner. You get the other haIf, we'II have the whoIe shebang.
If you come across a frog or two, I don't beIieve we need any more gifts.
Don't move, LittIe Tree.
Don't turn your head or even bIink your eye.
Thank you, Granpa.
HeII, we showed that son of a bitch, didn't we?
Yes, we did.
He'II steer cIear of us from now on, and teII his reIations to steer cIear of us.
Hotter than heII, ain't it? For this time of year...
- What happened? - Granpa...rattIesnake...
- Where? - I Ied him as far as the sheIter.
But he...
BuiId up the fire, LittIe Tree. Make it hot as you can.
Damnation!
That's good.
You keep the fire hot.
We can't move Granpa so we've got to keep him warm aII through the night.
Thank you, LittIe Tree, but that won't be necessary.
What'II heIp is the heat off our bodies.
He ain't gonna die no more, is he? After aII you've done?
WeII, now...
There's aII kinds of dyin', LittIe Tree.
I've seen peopIe at the settIement waIking around Iike you or me,
but they're as good as dead 'cause they spent their Iives in meanness and greed.
The spirit inside of them shrunk down to no more than the size of a pea.
'Cause the onIy way to make your spirit big is to work on it.
You got to use it to understand.
The more you try to understand, the bigger it gets,
tiII it gets so big and powerfuI...
...you come to understand everything, you remember aII your past body Iives.
I beIieve Granpa is gettin' near such understanding,
though he don't know it.
But...
...if his body dies, he'II remember us.
That's what I want you to know.
We'II aII of us be together in spirit aIways.
That's the important thing.
My God! A feIIow can't Iay his body down nowheres
without you stripping buck naked and hunchin' at him!
Oh, my God!
Mr WaIes...?
I'm EIizabeth Dubois.
This is Mr Lane. We're from the State...
- PoIiticians. - Pardon?
Oh, no. We're from the State Department of WeIfare.
PoIiticians.
Sir, we'd very much Iike to taIk to you. It's reaIIy quite important.
It...has to do with...
I think the boy, LittIe Tree, is it?
I think he shouId...
He sits in on everything there is to sit in on.
A compIaint has been fiIed by a Mrs Martha McCuIIers.
- Damn! - Aunt Martha?
She aIIeges that you're not sending your grandson to schooI,
in vioIation of state and federaI codes, and that...
...you have invoIved him in iIIegaI activities.
In short, it states that...
Are you sure...?
...that you are unfit guardians and he shouId be removed
to a suitabIe pIace for his moraI and educationaI upbringing.
- He's going to her, then? - Who?
No.
He's on the Cherokee roIIs and therefore is officiaIIy an Indian.
I am?
As such, he wiII be sent to Notched Gap Indian SchooI
to board there untiI the age of 1 8.
You have 30 days to appeaI the decision in court.
Otherwise...
We have to go.
EIizabeth?
AII you have to do is come here the next circuit I make,
I'II have the cease and desist Iawyered out, and you put your mark to it.
You foIIow me, Bobby? AII right, then.
- WaIes. - Mr TayIor.
You been in jaiI, I recaII. Whiskey-making.
Once.
I couId take this to court, sure. But it wouIdn't do no good.
The bureaucrats that run these things
don't understand mountain peopIe, nor Indians neither.
I don't think them sons of bitches understand anything at aII.
We'd Iose. They'II take the boy.
I'II not be coming.
You heard of the Dog Star, LittIe Tree?
It's the brightest star you can see in the dusk of evening.
Understand?
Good. WeII, then...
Wherever you may be in the dusk of evening,
you Iook up at the Dog Star.
Me and Granpa, we'II be Iooking, too. WiIIow John as weII.
Whatever you have to teII us, we'II hear you then. AII right?
- You're this cIose to Iearnin' the Way. - I am?
- Don't you Iet go of it. - No, sir. I won't.
You been good.
- I'm going away. - Me too.
- Where? - Depends on the turtIe dove.
- We ain't heard him yet. - What's he going to say?
He don't say nothin', siIIy. He's a bird!
It depends on the direction he caIIs from. That's where we move.
- Don't you know that? - Wasn't no turtIe dove that caIIed me.
Where are you goin'?
Here.
- For me? - You can put 'em on.
Granma made 'em from the caIf's hide. They didn't cost nothin'.
They's a perfect fit.
They's soft.
My daddy.
Thank you.
Daddy!
Look what LittIe Tree gave me.
- You stand there. - Daddy, no!
- PIease! - Turn around.
Gimme those moccasins.
We don't take no charity from nobody, 'speciaIIy from no Indians.
Come on, now. We're goin', here.
Come on!
He'II be aIong any time now.
Did she get the shoes OK?
She said they's the best present anybody ever thought to give.
Granma'II be gIad to hear it.
Hi. How nice you Iook.
Here, I want you to wear this.
So there'II be no confusion.
AII right?
He'II be aIong any time.
I'II be back...directIy.
We have to go.
Do you speak EngIish?
- Yes, ma'am. - Good.
- Do you see that gate? - Yes, ma'am.
When you step through that gate, you shaII not speak Indian again.
Is that cIear?
- Yes, ma'am. - FoIIow me.
ActuaIIy, I can't speak no Indian hardIy at aII.
Except Granma did teII me the names of her medicinaIs.
Some in Indian, but I can onIy recoIIect one or two at best.
The one that's kind of green, and you scrape it off the sourwood tree.
Now that one's caIIed...nvoki.
I think it couId be a mushroom. I ain't totaIIy sure...
AII right.
Come with me.
You are going to see the headmaster.
- Be quiet, don't cry and be respectfuI. - I ain't never been...
And do not speak unIess he asks you a direct question.
Do you understand?
- Yes, ma'am. - Good.
Come.
Stop swinging your Iegs.
You speak EngIish, I'm toId.
- Was that a direct question? - What?
'Cause if it was, I couId teII you, ''Yes, sir. I do.''
Yes, weII...
They caII you LittIe Tree.
Have you had an inteIIigence test?
- No, sir. - No.
Anyhow, LittIe Tree is an Indian name.
Americans don't name chiIdren after...
...objects.
This is an American schooI.
Therefore, you wiII be given an American name.
And that wiII be...
...Joshua.
Do you understand, Joshua?
- No, sir. - You wiII.
Quiet! Quiet down and go to bed.
Put it on and get into bed. You'II be up bright and earIy in the morning.
Prayers.
- Goodnight, boys. - Goodnight, Mrs Higgenbotham.
Not another peep.
Granma and Granpa...
I'm OK.
They've taken my cIothes and cut most of my hair off,
and given me an American name, but I'm stiII LittIe Tree.
I ain't never gonna Iet that go.
Up! Everybody up!
I know you're awake, WiIburn. Get up or I'II get the strap.
WiIburn!
Say what? Somebody taIking to me?
Begin!
They don't give you none for dinner.
- Hey, kid. - Come on!
- Your name ain't Joshua. - Fat man gave me it.
Fat man! What's it reaIIy?
- LittIe Tree. - LittIe Tree?
No kiddin'? That's what I'm gonna caII you, then.
Give Mrs Big Bottom conniptions.
BaII! Come on kid, throw the baII!
Throw the baII!
Wanna pIay? Come on, come and pIay!
- You can go pIay. - Nah.
Suit yourseIf. I don't give a damn.
Two times eight is...
Two times nine is...
Two times ten is...
Time.
AII right? Time, WiIburn.
LittIe Tree. What's two times ten?
WiIburn! Stop, or you get a zero.
Now, who can teII me what animaIs are in the first picture?
- Rabbits! - Very good.
- And what are they doing? - Laying down...
BIah, bIah, bIah, bIah!
And what are the next animaIs?
- Deer! - Very good.
- And what are they doing? - They're running...
BIah, bIah, bIah!
They're matin'.
You can see right off they're matin'. The buck deer is jumpin' the does.
You can teII by the trees it's the time of year...
Joshua,
do you know what you have done?
No, sir.
Then you'II have time to think about it, won't you?
Did they say how Iong tiII I can come out?
I know what I done was bad, I come to reaIise it.
You can teII the headmaster and the Iady teacher, too.
TeII them that LittIe Tree, I mean Joshua...
TeII them Joshua stands ready to make amends, aII right?
And teII them that I stand ready to...
...make it right.
Granpa and Granma, and WiIIow John,
some time ago now, I ain't sure how Iong,
the headmaster Iocked me in this IittIe room.
He says I've got to stay in here untiI I know what I done wrong.
I have no way in the worId of figurin' that out.
I didn't mean to worry you none,
as I shouId be oId enough to get by without your heIp.
I found a piece of gIass in here, aII round and cIear.
Turns the Dog Star bIue when you Iook through it.
Granpa,
I don't think I can handIe this situation no way at aII.
I want to come home.
Joshua? You can come out now.
Today is Thanksgiving.
Nice peopIe from the town have come to put on a pIay for us.
Joshua?
What?
No provisions in the Iarder and the coId days drawing ever cIoser.
I am soreIy afeared
that we shaII starve ere the spring breezes stir the Iand again.
No!
White man show way of God to us,
and in thanks we give to him much food and warm cIothes...
I've been saving it for you.
Did they give you bread and water? I heard that's aII they give you up there.
LittIe Tree?
I found this. If you Iook through it, it turns everything bIue.
...in peace and harmony, beneath the vast American sky,
under God, with Iiberty and justice for aII.
Wave goodbye to the nice Iadies and gentIemen!
- Bye! - Thank you!
They come here so they can feeI good when they get drunk at the country cIub.
AII right, inside!
- Thanksgiving dinner! - Whoopee.
WouId you Iike this?
- I don't mind. - It's yourn.
You can see...
Come on!
Granpa!
It was WiIIow John that heard you. So I came.
- TeII me true, you want to come home? - Yes, sir. I do.
You're shut in here Iike goddam Iivestock.
Think they'II come and take me back?
Let 'em come on.
Them woods want to make sure it's you. They're happy to know you're back.
- Something's wrong. - What's that?
I couIdn't feeI the traiI, Granpa.
And you can have them cIobbers!
And you can have them cIobbers, too!
Now, you'II stay.
Granma!
BIue Boy, come on!
Thank you, WiIIow John!
I RemembeR ttat moment. Tte fouR of us standing tteRe togetteR again.
It was tten I knew I was tome.
I aIso knew it couIdn't Iast.
Maybe we aII feIt tte time getting cIose, but we didn't speak of it.
GRanpa's step got sIoweR, so I caRRied moRe of tte wtiskey jaRs.
We didn't speak of ttat, eitteR.
''Tom appeared on the sidewaIk with a bucket of whitewash...''
GRanma pusted me on IeaRning.
I Read to ttem at nigtt, witt GRanma teIping some.
- ''...meI...'' - MeIanchoIy.
''...meIanchoIy settIed down upon his spirit.
''30 yards of board fence, 9 feet high. Life to him seemed hoIIow.''
Tte poIiticians came to take me back to Notcted Gap.
Eact time, GRanpa Ied us up tte tigt tRaiI wteRe nobody couId find us.
She's coming aIive.
It was on tte tigt tRaiI ttat GRanpa sIipped and feII.
He kept teIIing us, ''I'II be aII Rigtt diRectIy. ''
But sometting teRRibIe tad tappened in ttat faII,
and te wasn't going to be.
Give me my hat, wouId you, LittIe Tree?
It's been good.
Next time, it'II be better.
Be seein' you.
Damn...stupid... !
I knew wteRe GRanma was taking GRanpa.
It was to tis secRet pIace, at tte top of tte tigt tRaiI,
wteRe te'd watcted tte day birtt and neveR got tiRed of it,
and neveR quit saying, ''Ste's coming aIive'',
Iike eact time was tte fiRst time te'd eveR seen it.
Maybe it was.
Maybe eveRy birtting is diffeRent and onIy GRanpa couId see it.
Not Iong afteR ttat day, GRanma took me aside and toId me again
about tow teR and GRanpa weRe moving cIoseR to tte undeRstanding,
so ttat I stouIdn't be sad because wten tteiR bodies died,
ttey'd stiII be togetteR, aIways, tteiR spiRits knowing.
And ttat was tte Iast tting GRanma eveR said to me.
Ste died in tte nigtt.
I found a note wtict Read, ''LittIe TRee, it's been good.
''Next time it wiII be betteR.
''RemembeR, if you need us any time just Iook to tte Dog StaR
''and we'II be tteRe. ''
I went up tte tigt tRaiI ttat same nigtt and I asked GRanma and GRanpa,
''Reckon I couId get cIoseR to tte undeRstanding as weII,
so I couId catct up to you?''
It was Ionesome, I toId ttem,
aIways being Ieft betind.
I didn't know ttat WiIIow Jotn was Iooking to tte Dog StaR, too,
and taIking witt GRanma and GRanpa.
He toId me ttey weRe soRRy ttey tad to go befoRe my education was done,
but if I went off witt WiIIow Jotn,
te couId teact me aII tteRe was to know about being an Indian.
Y'aII come!
I tave not made it back to tte cabin since, but I wiII.
I've been Ranging acRoss ttis countRy, me and BIue Boy,
digging oiI witt tte CteRokee, Riding fence witt tte Navajo,
gettin' caugtt up in wtite man's waRs.
But no matteR wteRe I am, in tte dusk of evening, I Iook to tte Dog StaR.
And I say to GRanma and GRanpa and to WiIIow Jotn,
''Wait foR me. I'm stiII IeaRning tte Way.
''But someday I wiII catct up to you
''and we'II aII of us be togetteR again, aIways,
''ouR spiRits knowing. ''
SubtitIes by: Lucie Maguire