Respect and protect the Earth because we are all connected: Kaya’s story
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A powerful spirit
A daring race. An enemy raid. A sister lost. In The Journey Begins, the first book of the Kaya series, her heart and mind are both tested. From a careless act that earns her a shameful nickname to escaping capture while making a heartbreaking choice, Kaya must learn to grow stronger from her mistakes.
When Kaya And her family rode over the hill in to Wallowa, The Valley of the Winding Waters, her horse pricked up her ears and whinnied. Answering whinnies came from the large herd grazing nearby. Kaya stroked the smooth shoulder of her horse.
“Go easy, Steps High,” she said softly. “We’ll be there soon.”
It was midsummer, the season when salmon swam upstream to the lake to lay their eggs. Many bands of Nimíipuu gathered here each year to catch and dry the salmon. Kaya and her family were traveling with several other families from Salmon River Country to join the fishing. Kaya loved these reunions with her grandparents and her many other relatives, old and young—all the children were like brothers and sisters to one another.
Steps High whinnied again and began to prance, stepping high just like her name. Kaya held tight to the lead rope of the old pony that her sister Speaking Rain rode. A sickness in Speaking Rain’s eyes had caused her to lose her sight.
“Your horse wants to run!” Speaking Rain said to Kaya.
As if the horse understood Speaking Rain’s words, Steps High tossed her head and pawed the ground. Kaya rubbed Steps High’s sleek neck. “If only we could race, I know we’d beat all the others!”
Eetsa, Kaya’s mother, turned to look Kaya in the eye. “I’ve told you before not to boast,” she said firmly. “Our actions speak for us. Our deeds show our worth. Let that be your lesson, Kaya.”
Kaya pressed her lips together—she knew Eetsa was right.
***
When Kaya and her family rode up, her grandmother, Aalah, was waiting at the doorway of her family’s tepee. Aalah stepped forward. Her face was creased with age, and little pockmarks, like fingerprints, covered her cheeks.
“Tawts may-we!” she said. “Welcome, all of you!” Smiling, she hugged Kaya and Speaking Rain as soon as they climbed off their horses. Kaya’s twin brothers, Sparrow and Wing Feather, giggled as they scampered to hide behind a travois and peeked at Aalah, their dark eyes gleaming.
“Look how these boys have grown,” Aalah said as the twins ran from their hiding spot into her outstretched arms. “So full of laughter and tricks! Keep a sharp eye on these little ones, Kaya.”
Kaya nodded. Her little brothers were harder to herd than wild ponies! They ran everywhere and were curious about everything.
Kaya turned and saw her father, Toe-ta, gazing at the herd of sleek horses, some of them spotted, in the wide meadow. Perhaps Toe-ta was thinking of trading for some of the horses, or of the races they’d have. He was an expert horseman. Often he won races on his fleet-footed stallion, Runner.
Kaya was certainly thinking about horse races. For a long time she’d imagined being in one on her adored Steps High. She knew Steps High was fast, but also young and untested. Toe-ta had told her that Steps High wasn’t ready to race yet.
Kaya and her older sister Brown Deer carried their bundles into the tepee and placed them across from where their grandparents slept. Speaking Rain stacked the bundles neatly along the wall of the tepee. It was always packed full when they gathered here. But Kaya liked it crowded and cozy, and the tule mats that covered the tepee let in cool breezes and light.
After the women and girls had put everything in order around the tepee, Eetsa allowed Kaya to take Speaking Rain and the little boys to play. “Remember, it’s your job to look after your brothers carefully,” she reminded Kaya.
Kaya knew there were dangerous animals about. She also knew about the Stick People—small mischievous people who might lure a child to wander too far away into the woods. “Aa-heh,” Kaya said. “I will.”
She led Speaking Rain and the twins to a group of boys and girls gathered in the shade beside the river. Raven, a boy a little older than Kaya, was playing a game with a length of hemp cord.
“Here’s what happened when Coyote went to put up his tepee,” Raven said. The twins watched, wide-eyed, as Raven’s fingers flashed, weaving the cord into the shape of a tepee. Then, with a tug, he made the tepee collapse. “Coyote worked too fast!” he said. “He didn’t tie the poles properly, and his tepee fell down on him!” Everyone laughed and the twins squealed at the fun.
Raven leaned back on his elbows in the thick grass. “I see you have a new horse, Little Sister,” he said to Kaya. “She’s a pretty one.”
“She’s the prettiest horse in the whole herd!” Kaya said. She couldn’t disguise her pride. Steps High wasn’t large, only about thirteen hands high. She had a black head and chest, a white rump with black spots on it, and a white star on her forehead. “She’s fast, too,” Kaya added. That wasn’t boasting, she thought—just saying what was true.
Fox Tail squatted beside her. He was a bothersome boy who could be rude. He always followed Raven, trying to impress the older boy. “Your horse looks skittish to me,” he said to Kaya. “Why would your father give you a horse like that?”
“Toe-ta didn’t choose my horse,” Kaya said. “My horse chose me.”
Fox Tail laughed and slapped his leg. “Your horse chose you? How?”
“One day I was riding by the herd with Toe-ta,” Kaya said. “A filly kept nickering to me. So I whistled to her. She followed me. She came up to me and rubbed her head against my leg. Toe-ta said that meant she wanted to be my horse. He worked with me so I could ride her.”
“Is that a true story?” Fox Tail demanded.
“Ask my father if that’s true,” Kaya said.
“I believe you,” Raven said. “But you say she’s fast. Should I believe that, too?”
“I haven’t raced her yet, but I’ve run her many times,” Kaya said. “She glides over the ground like the shadow of an eagle.”
Fox Tail jumped to his feet. “Like an eagle—big talk!” he said. “Let’s race our horses and see if yours flies like you claim she does!”
Kaya had an uneasy feeling. I shouldn’t have boasted about her speed, she thought. I’ve never raced her. “My horse is tired now,” she said hesitantly.
“She’s not too tired for one short race,” Fox Tail insisted. “Maybe your horse isn’t so fast, after all.”
Kaya felt her face grow hot. Her horse was as swift as the wind! She was sired by Toe-ta’s fine stallion, Runner.
Kaya stood up. “Speaking Rain, could you take care of the twins for me?” she asked. “I know it’s my job, but I want to race.”
Speaking Rain was braiding strands of grass into bracelets for the little boys. “I’ll try, but sometimes they play tricks on me.”
“I’ll only be gone a little while,” Kaya assured her.
***
Kaya, Raven, and Fox Tail got on their horses and rode up to the raised plain at the end of the lake. Often people held celebrations and races here on the level ground, but today Kaya and the boys were alone.
Now that she’d decided to race, Kaya was eager to begin. Steps High seemed eager, too. When Fox Tail’s roan horse came close, Steps High arched her neck and flattened her ears. When Raven’s chestnut horse passed her, she trotted faster.
Raven reined in his horse. “We’ll start here. When I give the signal, we’ll race until we pass that boulder at the far end of the field.” He held his hand high. Then he brought it down and they were off!
The boys took the lead, stones spurting from under their horses’ hooves. They lay low on their horses, with their weight forward. They ran neck and neck.
Steps High bolted after them but swung out too wide. Kaya pressed her heels into Steps High’s sides. Then she gave Steps High her head, and her horse sprang forward.
Kaya thrilled to feel her horse gather herself, lengthen out, and gallop flat out. She was running as she’d never run before. Her long strides were so smooth that she seemed to be floating, her hooves barely touching the earth. Her dark mane whipped Kaya’s face. Grit stung Kaya’s lips. She clung to her horse, barely aware that they’d caught the other horses until they passed them. She and Steps High were in the lead!
Suddenly, Steps High began to buck! She plunged, head down, heels high. Kaya grasped the horse’s mane and hung on. She bit her tongue and tasted blood. Steps High bucked again!
Raven quickly spun his horse around. He was beside Steps High in an instant and grabbed the reins. He pulled the horse sharply to him, and in the same motion, he halted his own horse. Steps High skidded to a standstill, foam lathering her neck. Kaya slid off.
Steps High’s eyes were wild. For a moment she seemed never to have been tamed at all. Kaya’s legs were shaking badly, but her first thought was to calm her horse. She began to stroke Steps High’s trembling head and neck.
Fox Tail came galloping back. “I knew that horse was skittish!” he cried. “She just proved it.”
“She proved she’s fast, too,” Raven said.
Kaya wanted to thank Raven for coming to her aid, but her wounded pride was a knife in her chest. She could hardly get her breath. Leading her horse slowly to cool her down, Kaya silently walked away from the boys.
When Kaya had rubbed down Steps High, she turned her horse out to graze. Then she started back through the woods, heading toward the river.
Her feelings were all tangled up like a nest of snakes. She was excited that Steps High had run so fast, but she was disappointed that her horse had broken her training. Kaya was relieved that she hadn’t been bucked off, but she wished the boys hadn’t seen her lose control. She knew she shouldn’t have boasted, but she also wished she could have made good on her boast and won the race.
When Kaya glanced up from nursing her hurt feelings, Fox Tail was coming down the trail toward her on foot. He stopped right in front of her. “You told us your horse chose you,” he said with a smirk. “Would you choose her after the way she tried to buck you off today?”
“She’s the best horse ever!” Kaya said. “She can run faster than your horse, and I can run faster than you, too. Want to race me right now?”
Fox Tail cocked his head. “The first one to the riverbank wins!” he cried. He turned and sprinted away down the path.
For a little while Kaya was right on his heels. Then Fox Tail left the path, leaped over a fallen log, and took off through the woods. He must know a shortcut, Kaya thought. She followed him.
But she couldn’t keep him in sight because he jagged in and out of shadows. Was that his dark head beyond the bushes? Now she was uncertain which way to go. She stopped to listen for the sound of the river as her guide.
She stood in a gloomy clearing surrounded by black willows. She listened for rushing water. There was only silence. No wind blew in the leaves, no flies buzzed. All Kaya could hear was her heartbeat.
Then a twig snapped behind her. She whirled around. Did something just duck behind that tree? The shadows around her seemed to waver and sway. Was it the Stick People? Had they led her to this part of the woods?
Kaya held her breath. She knew the Stick People were cunning and crafty. They were strong, too. She’d heard they could carry off a baby and leave it a long way from its mother.
A flock of jays cawed—or was it the Stick People signaling to her? They seemed to be saying, “Forgot! Forgot!” Kaya shivered. What had she forgotten?
Then she gasped. She’d forgotten her little brothers! Kaya should never have given her job to Speaking Rain. The little boys were four winters old, just the right age for mischief. Kaya must get back to them at once, before they got into danger.
She knew she must leave a gift for the Stick People in return for their help. They became angry with people who didn’t treat them respectfully. She found rose hips in the bag she wore on her belt and placed them on the moss. Then she began running back the way she’d come.
Facing down fear
Smoke on the Wind, the second book in her series, begins with Kaya recovering from a painful loss. Adding to her anguish is the thought that an impending wedding could change her family. Yet the return of Kaya’s lost sister and loyal horse lifts her spirits—until a new threat puts Kaya in danger like never before.
Kaya knelt on a mat in the winter lodge and leaned over the baby named Light On The Water, who lay in her tee-kas. “Tawts may-we!” Kaya crooned to her. “Are you unhappy this morning?”
Light On The Water gazed steadily into Kaya’s eyes, but her mouth trembled and turned down as if she was about to cry.
Kaya stroked the baby’s plump, warm cheek. “Are you wet? Is that what you’re telling me?” she asked. She loosened the lacing of the buckskin that wrapped the baby and pulled it away from her feet and legs. The soft cattail fluff that cushioned the baby’s bottom was soaked. Kaya pulled it out, dried the baby, and placed fresh fluff underneath her. She squeezed one of the baby’s little toes and kissed her forehead. Light On The Water smiled now. “Tawts!” Kaya said as she laced up the covering again.
Running Alone, Kaya’s young aunt, put her hand on Kaya’s shoulder. “Won’t you make the lacing just a little tighter?” she asked. “We’re going to ride out to gather wood for the fires, and I want my baby very safe.”
Kaya tightened the lacing, then carried the baby out of the lodge. The day was chilly, and Light On The Water’s breath was a small cloud at her lips. When Running Alone had mounted her horse, Kaya handed her the baby. Running Alone slipped the carrying strap of the tee-kas over her saddle horn and gazed down at her smiling daughter. “She likes your gentle touch,” she told Kaya.
“She’s so easy to care for,” Kaya said. “Not like my little brothers. Look, they think I can’t see them hiding behind that tree.” She pointed at the two sets of dark eyes gleaming through the branches of a pine. “Boys, let’s go riding!” she called to the twins, Wing Feather and Sparrow, and they came running, clutching robes of spotted fawn skin around their shoulders. Like all Nimíipuu children, they loved to be on horseback.
Kaya helped one twin climb up behind her older sister, Brown Deer. Then Kaya mounted a chestnut mare and lifted up the other twin. As she waited for the other women and children to mount, she glanced up toward the north. The foothills of the distant mountains were already white-robed with snow, but here in Salmon River Country the earth was still brown and bare. Each winter, Kaya’s band came to these sheltering hills to make their winter village. They put up their lodges near the banks of the stream and stayed until spring, when it was time to move up to the prairie to dig nourishing roots and bulbs for food.
Kaya pulled her elk robe more tightly around her shoulders. Even dressed warmly in fur-lined moccasins, leggings, and her robe, Kaya shivered in the chill of winter. But she remembered the heat of late summer, when enemies from Buffalo Country made a raid on her people to steal horses. Kaya’s horse, Steps High, was stolen with other Nimíipuu horses. And in the raid Kaya and her sister Speaking Rain were captured as slaves and taken far away to the enemy camp. There they met a Salish boy, Two Hawks, who was also held as a slave. Kaya and Two Hawks had managed to escape and cross the mountains back to her people. But Speaking Rain, who was blind, had insisted that she couldn’t keep up—that Kaya must leave her behind.
Kaya shivered again. She remembered, too, how cold—and hungry!—she and Two Hawks had been as they made their way over the Buffalo Trail. Now she and the boy were safe, fed by the meat and warmed by the hides of animals that had given themselves to her people. But Two Hawks had broken his ankle on the trail, and it was slow to heal.
Kaya felt as if she had two aches in her chest. One ache was a sharp-edged gratitude that she was with her family again. But the other was a stab of grief that Speaking Rain was still a captive. Kaya had promised that they would be together again, but where was her sister now? If Kaya could find her, how could she save her? And would she ever see her beautiful, beloved horse again?
Soon Kaya was riding single file with the others. After a time, they came to a bowl-shaped canyon where trees grew thickly. The children ran to play, and the women fanned out along the creek to gather wood. A girl named Little Fawn and some boys were climbing aspen saplings and swinging to and fro on them.
“Magpie, fly into the trees with us!” Little Fawn called to Kaya.
Magpie! Kaya winced. She tried to ignore that awful nickname the children had given her when they were all punished because she hadn’t taken care of her little brothers.
“Not now!” she called back. “I’m going to look for more fluff for the baby.”
She glanced toward Light On The Water and Running Alone, who was tethering her horse to a tree. The baby, lulled by the rocking ride, napped in her tee-kas on the saddle horn. Taking a twined bag, Kaya started for the stream after the other women.
Suddenly, a sharp crack echoed across the canyon. Kaya whirled around—the branch Little Fawn was pulling on had broken off. Little Fawn jumped to the ground. The branch slashed down like a spear and struck the rump of Running Alone’s horse. The startled horse reared up in alarm and broke her tether. Wild-eyed, the panicked horse began to bolt down the canyon, the baby in the tee-kas still hanging in the saddle!
“Stop! Stop!” Running Alone cried out. She ran after the galloping horse.
Kaya ran, too. The fleeing horse was already halfway down the canyon and heading for the narrow opening and open country beyond. The tee-kas bumped against the horse’s shoulder with each plunging step. Would the baby be tossed off? Light On The Water could be hurt badly—or killed!
Near the canyon opening, the young woman named Swan Circling came rushing from the woods. Dropping her robe behind her, she ran swiftly to cut off the horse’s escape. She reached the opening of the canyon first and spun around to face the galloping horse, which was thundering straight at her. Taking a stand, she spread her arms wide, like an eagle in flight.
Would the horse run her down? Swan Circling stood her ground. Right in front of her, the runaway skidded to a halt. The horse snorted and tossed its head, flinging lather onto both Swan Circling and the baby.
Swan Circling seized the horse’s reins. She held the horse firmly in place as Running Alone came rushing to get her baby.
Running Alone lifted the tee-kas from the saddle horn and clutched it to her chest. “My little one!” she cried, kissing her baby’s face over and over. “You saved my baby, Swan Circling! Katsee-yow-yow! I can never thank you enough!”
Kaya came running right behind her aunt. She reached up to take hold of the reins, too, and stroked the horse’s neck and shoulder to calm her.
“I saw you step in front of my horse, but how did you get her to halt?” Running Alone asked. “She could have run right past you—or right over you!”
“I didn’t think of that,” Swan Circling said. “I wanted her to stop, and she did. Is your baby all right?”
Light On The Water was grinning. She thought the bouncing, runaway ride was a game.
Swan Circling glanced at Kaya, who was still stroking the horse’s lathered neck. “You seem to have a way with horses,” she said approvingly. “She’s quieting down. Will you lead her back now?”
Kaya held the reins of the uneasy horse securely as she and Swan Circling returned to the others. As they walked, she studied Swan Circling’s calm face. Kaya had been curious about Swan Circling ever since she had married Claw Necklace and joined the band. And now Kaya remembered that the woman who appeared to her when she was lost on the Buffalo Trail had looked like Swan Circling. Had that vision been a sign that they would be friends? Kaya hoped so. She wished she could become as strong as this brave young woman who hadn’t even flinched when a horse charged straight at her!
Guidance for girls today
Honor, compassion, inner strength—through her stories, Kaya becomes a role model for girls confronted with their own obstacles and opportunities:
Respect for nature. Like her people, Kaya lives with gratitude for the natural world, nursing injured animals, using only what she needs, and giving thanks for the food she eats.
Caring for others. While being held captive by an enemy tribe, Kaya’s understanding of suffering deepens, and so does her empathy and desire to help.
Courage during crisis. From slavery to starvation to forest fires, Kaya encounters many frightening challenges but knows she has it within herself to overcome them.
“What a wonderful job of researching the historical period in which the stories take place. It’s refreshing to have a company make such an effort at getting it right. The Kaya books will make excellent learning tools for young girls to discover the true history and culture of the Nez Perce people.”
“What a wonderful job of researching the historical period in which the stories take place. It’s refreshing to have a company make such an effort at getting it right. The Kaya books will make excellent learning tools for young girls to discover the true history and culture of the Nez Perce people.”
— Julie S. Kane, Managing Attorney, Office of Legal Counsel, Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee
Authentic from the start
When we develop a character’s world, we depend on so much more than imagination and inspiration. To bring girls a truly authentic experience, we engage in exhaustive research—more than five years’ worth for Kaya!
From location visits to museum tours, from recruiting respected authors to employing our own staff historian, we make sure to cover every aspect of a character. Most important to our research is partnering with an advisory board.
For Kaya’s story, that meant collaborating with the tribe of her people, the Nez Perce, including meetings with elders, artists, language experts, and tribal historians. Our staff immersed themselves in the tribe’s culture with tours of historical sites and recovery areas for salmon and wolves, on horseback rides and hikes over the Buffalo Trail through the Bitterroot Mountains, and in pow-wows and prayers with a Nez Perce spirituality expert.
A carved stone knife offered a variety of uses for the Nez Perce. Besides protection, this tool could aid in food preparation and the construction of shelter.
To roast salmon, the Nez Perce threaded sharp sticks through fillets and planted the sticks in the ground, leaning the fish over a low fire to cook.
To carry a heavy load, the Nez Perce would build a wooden structure called a travois (trah-VOY) and lash its two long poles to the sides of a horse or a dog.
Putting it all into play
Because the Nez Perce view meeting people with full smiles as disingenuous, Kaya’s smile is softer than other American Girl characters.
The mats on each side of Kaya's tepee entrance mimic a reed called tule that swells in rain for a waterproof barrier. When the weather's dry, the reed would allow breezes to flow through or could be rolled up as windows.
To match the tradition of painting on garments, Kaya's trading outfit features geometric designs with colors created from plants, minerals, and even bugs.
Steps High is an Appaloosa, a breed known for spotted coats and named after the Palouse River where the horses graze.
Explore more of Kaya’s world
Invaluable
I've always thought of the American Girl historical books as some of the most valuable books available to children. They teach history in a fun way, a way that keeps kids coming back for more... Any child who reads the book can relate to Kaya and know that although they may have different experiences and live in completely different times, they're not so different after all.
American Girl Customer
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