Richard Phillips

Mr. Wood

English Comp 1

2/20/2022

    GONE FISHING

This story begins in a rural area in eastern Okfuskee and western McIntosh Counties, where the two counties join. I was maybe about seven years old; it was around the year 1977; I’m not sure as to the exact year; I was raised by my grandparents in a time that was not as common as it is today, my mother was in my life, but I did not see her very often it seemed. 

In the days when times were simple and at a slower pace, people didn’t rush to go everywhere and stores were not open 24 hours of the day, we would go to town once maybe twice a month, in a time when people still hunted and fished for food, we would eat what my grandfather would kill, sometimes it would be squirrel and hominy or rice, grandmothers choice, sometimes it would be bar-b-que rabbit, it was a time when people would still have what were called (get togethers) sometimes it would be for a child graduating from school, or a person’s birthday, or just a gathering to get together and socialize with one another and fellowship with each other, but in all these gatherings everyone would bring food to eat which is what we do at Native American get togethers, when these gatherings took place it would be up to the men that would be at these get togethers to either hunt the rabbits, squirrels and fish for which ever was in season and or time of year it was, one day as I was playing under a very large and very old Mulberry Tree, my grandfather was walking past where I was with my Tonka dump truck in the dirt underneath that old tree, my grandfather asked “what are you doing?” in our Muscogee Creek Language, he asked me “you want to go fishing in the morning?” And I replied, “yes!” What seven-year-old wouldn’t want to go fishing? He said, “well, you retire early tonight,” which was his way of always telling me to go to bed early. It also meant that I was going to have to work or something that was going to involve my seven-year-old body doing manual labor of some sort. 

My grandfather told my grandmother of the gathering on the upcoming weekend; she said, “OH, you get to go with the men to get the fish!” She sounded so excited for me, and I didn’t understand why. I went to bed not knowing what to expect and what bait we would use; my mind was racing with anticipation for the coming morning. I was awakened by the smell of biscuits being baked in the oven, potatoes being fried on the stovetop, eggs fresh from the chicken coop, and homemade gravy. My grandmother, in my opinion, is the best cook ever! We had biscuits and gravy every morning, freshly fried eggs, and hot tea. My grandfather told my grandmother we’re going to ekv cate (red hair) and Alec’s house to help get fish for the fish fry. My grandmother said, “you be careful and stay by your grandfather’s side. You hear me!” I told my grandmother I would. As we were getting ready to leave, I asked my grandfather do I needed to get my fishing pole. And he said, “you’re going to learn a different way to fish today,” my grandfather told me to put on old tennis shoes and shorts. As we were about to leave even my grandfather was wearing tennis shoes that were black canvas shoes with white soles, they had a white circle tag on the side that read KEDS. KEDS were famous shoes back in the day. As we left, I told my grandfather I’d never seen him wear shorts, laughing; “he said nobody won’t see me today but the fishermen.” 

I was raised to not question my elders; whatever you were told or asked to do, I did it without question, we arrived at red hairs (Eka Cate) house, and my grandfather and red hair greeted one another in our language and a handshake. Red hair got into our 1968 green Ford Mustang in the front seat, and I was seated in the backseat; we went about three miles up the road to the east. My grandfather and red hair talked and laughed over comments that made fun of one another. They joked about each other’s legs being so white, saying that they were the color of a marshmallow. I am so thankful that I was taught my language and listened to and understood the ribbing given to each other. The jokes and their deliveries were so much funnier in our native language because of the expression used in our dialect. It was about 7:30 in the morning on a hot August morning when everything was done before noon or early afternoon; due to the sweltering temperature. We went to Alec’s house, where he lived down a long dirt road. The temperature was starting to warm up in that hot month of August, and locusts began to start making their grinding sound at the bottom of the long sandy road that seemed to me to go on forever. We came to a winding hill and at the bottom a small house was visible. It was Alec’s place, and two vehicles were parked on the south side of his house. My grandfather parked our Mustang next to the other vehicles, and as we exited our car, I noticed the house didn’t have any screens on the windows or a screen door to the front door. Chickens, geese, and guineas were running around in the yard, which like our house, our chickens ran free range. I can’t remember a single time I ever had a tick on me from playing outside during my upbringing. 

Four other elderly men were sitting under a tree talking and laughing, and as my grandfather and red hair walked up, the men all exchanged handshakes and greetings. Without missing a beat, the ribbing at each other became even funnier since my grandfather and red hair arrived. Then Alec asked the men in our language, “are y’all ready to get some fish for the fish fry this weekend?” The men all agreed; the fish fry was only for fellowship, no special occasion other than just sitting around and eating and visiting. The menu consisted of My grandfather Joe, red hair, Josh, Alec, and two other men that I don’t remember their names, but I can recall their faces plain as day. 

I don’t remember what time it was, but in the August 1970s, you best believe it was a scorcher. We all stood in a circle as one of the men said a prayer that Our Heavenly Father would provide the fish for the upcoming fish fry as he always does. Then men all got a drink of the best well water that I’ve ever tasted; from a galvanized bucket with a dipper inside it, my grandfather said, “get you a drink. We had a long walk and a lot of fish to catch. As I grabbed the dipper from my grandfather, I asked, “Grandpa, what kind of fish are we fishing for? He replied, “the kind that swims,” as he and the other men chuckled at me; one of the men said where we are going, the fish are as big as this young man right here, pointing at me. All the men knew that I, too, could speak and understand our language; I to became part of the ribbing as we laughed and said here, we go, I wondered why as we were leaving, everyone had a five-gallon bucket or a bucket of some sort. 

The joking and laughing continued as we began to walk towards the North Canadian River Bottom, we had had a unusually wet month of July that year and the river had risen over a dike in an area the men called the slew, as we were walking Alec was telling the men that there were a whole bunch of fish trapped behind the levee and that the fish were just swimming back and forth in the slew, he was telling the men that there were some fish as large as that boy right there, meaning me, then men kept joking and laughing and after hearing that the fish were as large as I was, well you can imagine how I was feeling, I began to think to myself, I knew that’s why my grandfather wanted me here they’re going to use me as bait, in my seven short years of life I began to dread this walk towards the slew, Alec veered to the right where an old cow trail once was and the air became almost stagnant with the smell of fish, and humidity was almost unbearable, we walked for nearly an hour or it seemed about that long to me. Then Alec said, “we arrive. Here is the water’s edge, just the other side of these trees” I was almost in tears when we saw the water because again, in my little brain, I was going to be the bait!  

As we began to step toward the water, my grandfather looked down at me and reassured me there was nothing in this water I needed to be afraid of. At that moment, I wanted to yell out for my grandmother. Still, I didn’t dare to. I could hear my grandmother’s advice, “stay close to your grandfather” I was so close to my grandfather. If I could have fit in his pants pocket, that’s where you would’ve found me. As I stepped into the water with all the men, keeping in mind I’m seven years old and almost coming to my grandfather’s waist in stature, the water became deep real me! I was doing my best to keep up with the men, but it was a river bottom. The mud and silt on the bottom were nearly over my shins, not to mention the water was up to my chest. I was doing my best to catch up, and the men were laughing at my struggle, including my grandfather. As I began to catch up, I noticed there were a bunch of snakes just to the right of me! I began to holler, grandpa! Help me! There are snakes! The men returned to where I was struggling, and I pointed the snakes out to my grandfather. Red hair and Josh were coming back to me also. As my grandfather came to me, he looked and saw the snakes. I don’t remember how many there were, but my grandfather and red hair laughed at me. My grandfather then picked me up and relieved me; I thought he would carry me the remainder of the way, but no! He threw me in the direction of the snakes and said if he bites you, you bite him back. Red hair, Josh, and all the old men laughed so hard as I was screaming and trying my very best to get up and run atop the water like the lizard in Australia. Then men couldn’t stop laughing at me. Finally, Josh came and picked me up, hugged me, laughed, and said you did good, Cepan ( Boy ). You’re going to be a fearless man someday! As Josh carried me to my grandfather, he hugged me and said I’m proud of you too, then all men came to me and patted me on the head and back, and they all said how well I had done during my adversity. I didn’t understand what I had done? That was like the most my little seven-year-old life had seen or done in my whole seven-year existence, and it flashed before my eyes!   

Alec said, “we’re here!” There was a large round seining net placed there in the days before by Alec and one of the other men. That’s how the men knew the fish were trapped as the river had receded. The water was about waist deep to me. You could see the backs of some of the fish as they swam in the pool, which was approximately the size of maybe one of those above ground swimming pools in the present day, the men were using the seine net, and my grandfather said: “grab them and throw them on the bank of the river.” I grabbed a large catfish by the gills, threw it on the bank, and began catching and throwing as if on an assembly line. There were several fish in the area where I was told to go. I’m not sure how many, but then Alec finally said, “enough! I think we’ve got enough,” which is also like our Native American Ancestors. You only take what is needed and give the rest back. The slew had so many fish in it that the calm waters when we arrived were churning as if to be boiling. Once all the fish were gathered, we knocked down a portion of the levee, and the fish were given back to the river. A prayer was given to the Creator for the bountiful harvest we were given. 

We arrived back at Alec’s house, and all the men and the women began to clean all the fish we had caught. It was thought it took us only a short amount of time to get them all cleaned, and the women cut the fish up and had them ready for the following weekend. Our catch had yielded enough fish that the ladies cooked some of the fish, and everyone was sitting around enjoying the things that had occurred and then the snake situation that I had encountered. At my expense, they told the ladies of the snakes, which was, as it turned out to be, a Hack Berry Tree whose roots are black. Since they were trapped in the slew, they became water-soaked and moved around like black water snakes. We enjoyed the rewards from the day’s outing and returned home with a full belly and some stories to tell my grandmother.