OWL MAN AND THE GREAT ESCAPE

My great-grandma's husband was a very powerful medicine man who use to shape-shift. She never told what he did except when her grandkids got older and would ask a lot of questions. My mom said Gemma (Northern Paiute) married a half Choctaw, half Black man she met at Haskell, our Geppa. His great-grandma was from either Georgia or Alabama. She use to practice voodoo, that's how her ancestors escaped slavery and went north toward Missouri. She taught him some of the old voodoo rituals. Gemma herself was raised in the old medicine ways too. Mom said Gemma met her husband and planned how they'd get away from school together.

Gemma's story goes like this: she made a quilt out of clothing from all the people they didn't want to catch them--the teachers, headmaster, guards and nosey friends. This took a while but she did it. Geppa told her where to hide when she snuck out of her dorm under the blanket. He told her to listen for an owl, follow it and he'd meet her. They sprung their plan and it worked. Gemma said they couldn't go out during a moonlit night because they'd be seen. Some secret spirits don't come out on full moon like people think. Gemma and Geppa knew which ones to consult. Mom said even a Little Person stood watch for her by the door while she climbed out the window, another held the shade back for her. (Weird detail but remember this was a different place in time.)

Gemma got out and hid under the quilt she made waiting for the owl to come. Finally, it did just as she was getting scared and ready to sneak back inside. She followed the owl's hooting until she got quite a ways from the dorm. The owl landed in a tree, Gemma stopped. A voice came from where the owl perched. She looked up and it was Geppa! He was sitting on the branch the owl was on. That's when she found out there was a lot more to him than she realized. What was even more strange was their school records disappeared from the registry. It was like they were never there. Whether or not the Little Insiders may've removed them, nobody knows.

Geppa and Gemma kept their stories and abilities to themselves, only their children knew. Mom said there are bad medicine people who use these powers to steal or hurt others. Those who use it otherwise are to teach and train so that we know how not to be tricked. The sad thing is that a lot of this is lost now. I only hear of it but that's it. This story has never been told outside our family but I believe in sharing because generosity isn't a trait of evil medicine. I know it could be used that way but I'll not have it done in my home