12. Sisoi makes his own toys

The sea is calm. Two canoes will go out to sea. Besides their parents, the neighbours will also be gone to search for food. Sisoi and Gaméla stay on the beach. Gaméla takes care of the neighbours’ baby. She loves it since she doesn’t get to do it very often. The Yahgans don’t usually have people living next door. Being nomads of the sea, they move every two or three days to another place. That is why they only have ‘neighbours-for-a-couple-of-nights’. However, everyone is accustomed to taking care of the children of other families, so that the mothers can dedicate themselves to other things. Sisoi and Gaméla’s mum tells them: “We’re going to fish. We’ll be away for a while, because after fishing, we’ll dive for sea urchins. I’m going to gather seaweed too, because that’s good for your health. If I can find it, I will also bring a piece of that tough seaweed. Then we can finally mend the broken basket of our fishing tools and shells. Have fun for a while. See you later this afternoon!”

Soon after the canoes have departed, Sisoi begins to get bored. He wanders around the hut. Among the rubbish he finds an intestine of an animal they have eaten earlier. Suddenly he imagines what he could do with that. He rinses the intestine in the seawater, ties a knot in one of the ends and begins to fill it with grass and moss. After filling it to about ten centimeters, he ties a knot in the other end. A neighbour’s boy sees Sisoi concentrating at his work and he asks: “What are you doing?” Sisoi doesn’t answer but continues quietly on his project by beginning to roll his invention until it is perfectly round like a ball. He raises the ball, shows it triumphantly to the other boy and then throws it to him. They start to throw it back and forth to each other, again and again. When the ball hits the ground, they start to play soccer. The neighbour’s boy is pretty good with the ball, so Sisoi has to work hard to get hold of it. They tumble over each other, yelling and laughing with sheer pleasure…

• • You can make a ball yourself by filling a thin plastic bag, tying and strengthening it with a string. Or by making a ball of elastics. Or by sewing together some left overs of fabric. These types of materials didn’t exist thousands of years ago. That’s why the Yahgans made use of everything, including their garbage, to make something new. Have you ever made your own toys? What did you make? What materials did you use? What other games could Sisoi and his pal play?
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