The Sign of the Beaver Chapter 17 Summary

  • Matt wakes up in the dim little wigwam. He notices that it's cluttered with bits and bobs, and the leftover smoke from the ashes catches in his throat.
  • Outside, he's a celebrity with the little kids who gather around him and giggle when he tries to speak with them.
  • Matt takes a look around the settlement. In the daytime, things aren't as majestic as they'd seemed the night before—in fact, the wigwams and bark homes seem downright shabby.
  • As Attean leads him out, Matt notices women pounding out corn and weaving baskets, but other than kids and grandpas, there are no men to be seen. Turns out Saknis led them on a deer hunt that morning.
  • Attean is not a happy camper, and Matt tries to find out why. Did he get left behind this morning? Attean says no, and that without a gun he can't join the men anyway.
  • Attean explains that bow hunting is the way of the past for them, but that in order to buy guns, the Indians need to trade animal skins. Matt realizes that white traders have taken away many of the Indian hunting grounds, which makes it difficult for them to get the skins they need for trading. No wonder the camp seemed poverty-stricken.
  • He tries to cheer Attean up by telling him he'd love to come back again sometime.
  • It's totally the wrong thing to say though, and Attean tells him that his grandmother didn't even want him there in the first place.
  • Now Matt realizes why he slept alone in the little wigwam and had to hurry out—and why Attean is especially peeved.
  • Attean explains that his grandmother hates all white people. Why? Because they saw Attean's mother in the woods and killed her for no reason—just to get her scalp. (Sound hard to believe? Attean isn't wrong in the slightest. Shudder. )
  • Attean continues. His father went on the war trail to find his wife's killers, but never came back.
  • Matt is shocked, but in his defense he reminds Attean that Indians scared white women during the war too.
  • But Attean reminds Matt that the white people were the ones who took over the Indians' land.
  • Matt asks how Saknis feels, and Attean tells him that Saknis understands that they have to deal with the white settlers, and so he does.
  • Matt thinks Saknis didn't have to invite him to the feast though, so since he did it must count for something.
  • They walk in silence, and Matt realizes that he can now follow the signs of the trail through the forest. It's cool to note his skill, but there's no way he'll be returning to the village without a personal escort.