U4W4: The Secret of the Winter Count

Nomsa and her Boat

1 Nomsa lived in a small village near the ocean in southern Africa. One day, Nomsa arrived at the shore and stood for a while watching people in her village sail their boats out to sea. Most of the boats were used by fishermen. There were a few fishermen who stood looking grumpy as they waited in line for repairs to their storm-damaged boats.
2 Nomsa spotted Tengi, her uncle, hammering on his boat nearby. She walked up to him and said, “Uncle, why are you hammering at your boat that way? Won’t you break it?”
3 Tengi smiled, shook his head, and explained that he was mending a leak he’d noticed in his boat.
4 “But how do you know how to repair your own boat, Uncle Tengi?” she asked.
5 Tengi responded, “I learned how to build boats from my father, who learned from his father. When I made this boat, my father and I first found a tree with the finest wood and chopped it down. Next, we used this metal tool to carve the tree into the right shape. We boiled a plant to make a tar that we used to coat the boat when we were almost done. It took us weeks to finish our boat. But since I know how to build my boat, I also know how to fix it! So when there’s a bad storm, I don’t have to wait around for help to get back on the sea.”
6 Nomsa quickly returned home and searched around the yard for a thick branch to make her own toy boat. She used a tough piece of wood to carve it and went back to talk to Tengi several times to learn about boiling the plants. When she was done, she proudly showed her mother, Shoni, the toy boat.
7 “That is a real treasure,” her mother said. “Be careful that you don’t harm it when you play.”
8 “If I do, it won’t trouble me for long,” said Nomsa. “I built it myself, so I know how to fix it!”