The dark, red face of an eclipsed moon is a sign of a tree somewhere in the world turned into a woman.
Every girl fears the curse of never being a woman, but without cursed girls, women would not be able to hold the power they do.
After a girl's first menstrual flow, she is initiated by a secret celebration into the company of mature girls hoping to become women.
Women unapologetically favor their firstborn girls as proof of their ability to create future women.
Hot and wet summers near a source of water make the perfect recipe for messy, muddy fun.
Even without having a writing system, women can engage in legally binding contracts with each other using thin sheets of wood or bark marked in blood.
Games are fine for girls and boys, but women are expected to leave them behind.
Sand is useful for a variety of purposes, making it well worth risking the chill and force of the river current to get it.
Spirit-talker is a healer, communicating with spirits that cause good or bad conditions within the body.
With no wheels, no boats, no paved roads, and no beasts of burden, the tandem tumpline is the only way to move supplies between villages.
A hard-packed trail, following the course of the river, is the only way to send messages between villages.
Boy packs travel the same paths, but can't count on meeting each other to exchange information. Deliberately placed objects keep other boys informed of conditions along trails and in villages.
Travel cakes are small, nutritious, and stable, making them an essential food for boy packs during their winter migrations.
The women's primary source of energy is fire, and their primary source of fuel is wood. But they also believe trees are their ancestors, making it not such a simple matter to chop up and burn their relatives.
With the birth of her first daughter, a girl is granted the rights and responsibilities of adulthood.
Woman Woman keeps her work and her life separate by having a house just for holding meetings in.
Scrounging for dead wood involves regular trips to the boundaries of a village's forest territory.