Whirlwind Woman (Arapaho)

by Lorraine Schein

Art by Helena Domenic

I am not afraid, the girl said to her mother

as the sky grew dark as a raven’s wing,

thundered like a herd of stampeding bison.

When the great tornado approached them

she ran out toward it alone

though the rest of her family had taken shelter

and begged her not to go.

She turned her face up to its winds

as if they were the sun’s warm rays,

raised her arms to the fierce vortex

as in worship of an ancient god.

As the whirlwind embraced her,

her moccasins fell off, her legs dangling.

Her black braids whipped and swirled about her head.

Caught, the girl rose in its circles–

her voice became its howl,

her body spun into turbulent gusts.

Transformed, she became Whirlwind Woman–

she who brings the blessed rain,

life rebuilt after destruction,

visions of change and new hope for the future.