Summary

In the opening of Chapter 1: “The Moon Seasons,” the author describes the mists that fill Yuna Canyon and the village of Tuliyani. Three men and a boy are sleeping. The boy, named Ishi, awakes and inches himself from the rabbit skin blanket in which he is wrapped and exits out the smokehole, being careful to not awaken Grandfather, Uncle Elder, or Timawi. Ishi inches past the women’s house, where his grandmother, mother, and cousin sleep, and creeps from the village, following a trail out of the canyon to Black Rock. Black Rock is Ishi’s secret place, unknown to Tushi, Ishi’s younger female cousin or the rest of the family. Timawi is the one exception.

Beyond Black Rock, the trail continues up to the mountain, Waganupa. Ishi sits and waits until he hears the sound “Whu-HOOH-huu.” He watches as a...