Kawatche
From Smallville Wiki
The Kawatche are a Native American tribe whose name literally means "Skinwalkers."
The oral history of the Kawatche people begins with a story of "a man from the stars" who came to Earth five hundred years ago. This visitor fell in love with the "mother" of the Kawatche people. From that union, according to legend, the tribe was born.
The Kawatche people lay claim to a series of underground caves near Smallville, Kansas. These caves contain paintings and special symbols, which appear to be some kind of alphabet, although the Kawatche do not have a written language.
Jeremiah Holdsclaw, a graduate student and teaching assistant at Central Kansas A&M University, was at one point to be the future leader of the Kawatche tribe.
[edit] Skinwalkers
Skinwalkers are members of the Kawatche tribe who have the ability to transform into an animal and back to their human form.
Kawatche oral history has it that the "man from the stars" brought with him "special green stones" which had strange effects on the people. One effect was the ability of a person to merge with an animal skin that they wear to become that animal. This ability relates to the myths and legends that have surrounded lycanthropy and other human-nature transmutations throughout European, Asian and Native American history.
The Kawatche people named those with this ability "skinwalkers". One such skinwalker was Kyla Willowbrook, a modern day Kawatche tribe member who had the ability to transform into a wolf.
[edit] The Slumbering Place
The Slumbering Place is a burial ground where the ancient Kawatche used to perform death rituals. Jeremiah Holdsclaw was writing a dissertation on this burial ground as part of his studies.
[edit] The Caves
- Main article: Kawatche Caves
The Kawatche Caves are a series of underground caverns that were once inhabited by the Kawatche First Nation. LuthorCorp once owned the land containing the caves. In response to a petition drive led by Henry Small, the state of Kansas decided to exercise the Historic Artifacts Amendment and bought the project from LuthorCorp at thirty cents on the dollar. LexCorp secured the contract from the state for the preservation of the area. Ownership of this contract was reverted to LuthorCorp when Lionel Luthor bought out LexCorp.
One cavern contained a series of pictograms painted on the walls that told of the legend of Naman and Sageeth. The location of the cavern had been lost until a rock slide caused by Clark Kent opened a fissure into the caves.
[edit] Legend of Naman and Sageeth
Naman is the name given by the Kawatche people to a man from another planet who is prophesied to "protect the entire world".
After some time with the Kawatche, the "man from the stars" was to return to his world. Before leaving Earth, the visitor promised to send another who would "fall from the skies in a rain of fire", "have the strength of ten men", and be able to "start fires with his eyes". His description of this second visitor formed the prophecy of Naman that would be painted on the walls of the Kawatche caves. Both men are said to come from a star that formed one of the eyes in a wolf-shaped constellation. This star is no longer visible in modern times and Clark Kent was of the belief that this was Krypton.
The prophecy also foretold of two people who would be important in the life of Naman: Sageeth and a dark-haired woman Naman is fated to be with. The woman is not named but an image of her in the caves features a green diamond. Kyla Willowbrook wore a similar aquamarine stone on a bracelet passed down through the generations. The image also recalled Lana Lang and the necklace made of the Kryptonite meteor that killed her parents.
Sageeth is a friend of Naman who is said to be like a brother. The prophecy tells of Sageeth one day turning against Naman and becoming the "bearer of darkness". The two will represent the balance between good and evil.
Although not proved, the legend appears to tell of a visitor from Krypton and that Naman is most likely a descendant of the original. This legend corresponds to an event in Kryptonian history where a man traveled to earth to hide the Stones of Power.
[edit] Palak
Palak, also known as the Starblade, was a mythical dagger that possessed mystical properties. The legend of Naman tells that the original visitor left Palak in the wall of the caves for the Kawatche people to safeguard.
According to the legend, the Starblade is supposed to shine a light on the true Sageeth so Naman could identify and destroy his greatest enemy. If Sageeth ever touched it, the blade would disintegrate. Because of its importance, a person holding the blade was given abilities similar to those of earthbound Kryptonians to protect it until it could be delivered to the true Naman.
Palak was missing for hundreds of years when the portion of the Kawatche caves with the Naman legend was hidden and lost to the tribe. After Lionel Luthor overtook LexCorp, LuthorCorp gained jurisdiction over the caves. Convinced the caves contained the secret for curing his terminal liver disease, Luthor commissioned studies and excavation which unearthed the Starblade.
[edit] Clark Kent as Naman
While doing research of the caves for her grandfather, Kyla Willowbrook discovered Clark Kent in the hidden chamber after he'd fallen through a fissure into the caves. She noted that he didn't have a scratch on him from the fall. Finding the lost pictograms, Kyla told Clark of the story of Naman and Clark was surprised it bore such a similarity to his own arrival and abilities.
During a second investigation of the cavern, Kyla revealed the legend of Sageeth and the dark-haired woman. The excavation of the land above the caves by LuthorCorp caused the ground to become unstable and a minor quake brought on a partial cave-in. To save Kyla from a large falling rock, Clark revealed his powers and both came to believe that he is Naman. Joseph Willowbrook, Kyla's grandfather, also came to believe this.
Kyla and Clark assumed that she was the dark-haired woman from the prophecy until her death. If the legend of Naman is believed to be about Clark, Lois Lane is most likely the woman depicted in the drawing. After Kyla's death, Joseph Willowbrook gave Clark the bracelet with the aquamarine diamond to give to the "true one" in his life.
About a year after Kyla's death, Palak was discovered by Lionel Luthor in the caves. Lionel called upon Joseph Willowbrook to identify and authenticate the artifact. Willowbrook brought Jeremiah Holdsclaw with him and, knowing of the legend, Holdsclaw took the Starblade from Lionel. He attempted to break the blade with a stone, but the blade protected itself and granted Holdsclaw superhuman strength, speed, invulnerability and the Kryptonian heat vision.
Whether caught up in the legend or corrupted by the Starblade, Holdsclaw believed that he was Naman. Holdsclaw confronted Clark as being a false prophet to be killed and stabbed him with the Starblade, suggesting the blade might be made of Kryptonian metal.
Believing Lionel Luthor to be Sageeth, Holdsclaw captured and prepared the elder Luthor to be sacrificed at the Slumbering Place. Lex and Clark arrived separately to free Lionel and stop Holdsclaw, respectively. A struggle between Clark and Holdsclaw ensued in the woods near the burial ground, during which the Starblade was knocked free, stripping Holdsclaw of his powers and leaving the man comatose. The Starblade landed between Lionel and Lex. Both men attempted to grab the knife and, as both touched it, the Starblade disintegrated.
Clark was unable to see which Luthor touched the knife first and therefore which could be the prophesied Sageeth. He admitted to being unwilling to believe that Lex could possibly be his greatest enemy.
Years later, informed by a journal left by the late Lionel Luthor, Tess Mercer told Clark that the Kawatche cave drawing of the two-headed beast that represented Naman and Sageeth presented another possibility: that Clark is Naman and Davis Bloome is actually Sageeth. Davis, the "human" camouflage for the Kryptonian monster Doomsday, arrived on Earth the same day as the meteor shower that originally brought Clark to the planet. Just as Brainiac and Faora both told Davis that he arrived on Earth to kill "the other Kryptonian" and evolve into "Earth's ultimate destroyer", Tess believed Davis was destined to kill Clark.
Tess confronted both Davis and Clark with this information, referring to Davis as the "Judas" to Clark's "Jesus". Clark, now aware of Davis' Kryptonian heritage, denied everything Tess presented to him. Davis reluctantly accepted that his sole purpose was to destroy Earth's savior and, fearing his destiny, asked Chloe Sullivan to help him commit suicide in a LuthorCorp cage fitted with liquid Kryptonite. Clark intervened, wanting to find a way to help Davis with redemption. During the discussion, Davis began his transformation into Doomsday and, to protect Clark, Chloe pulled the switch to activate the cage. Chloe and Clark both believed Davis died as a result.
Clark visited Chloe at her apartment following Davis' supposed death and found her holding a picture of the Naman and Sageeth beast drawing. Clark, assuming that Davis was Sageeth, shared with Chloe that he was shocked to find that the confrontation wasn't as big a battle as prophesied. He burned the picture in Chloe's fireplace, believing the prophecy to have been fulfilled.
Chloe found that Davis had survived the Kryptonite cage and that he had actually grown more powerful as a result. After Chloe ran off with Davis as a means to keep him from Clark, Oliver Queen advised Clark that the best course of action would be to kill Davis. Clark devised an alternate plan to save and redeem Davis by separating him from the Doomsday beast using Black Kryptonite. Oliver and the Justice League captured Davis in hopes to kill him but Chloe intervened with Clark's plan. Clark confronted Doomsday and trapped the beast miles underground while Davis, his soul dark and twisted even separated from the beast, met his end in a violent confrontation with Jimmy Olsen.
It is unclear if the defeats of both Doomsday and Davis either represent or fulfill the prophecy. The visual evidence of of the Starblade disappearing at either Lionel or Lex Luthor's touch directly contradicts this. Tess's relation of the story could be deception, a fabrication for her own purposes. It is possible, given her determination to make Clark face his destiny as the Traveler, that her motivation was to force a confrontation between Davis and Clark. It is also possible that Tess misinterpreted the information presented in Lionel's journal or Lionel was unaware of his possible connection to the prophecy. In the comics, Lex Luthor was always portrayed as Superman's arch nemesis, though Doomsday is famous as being the only villian who was ever able to kill Superman.
[edit] Notes
- The story of the original visitor in the Naman legend sounds similar to the story of Jor-El as Joe the Drifter except for the century. Jor-El visited Earth as Joe the Drifter in 1961. (See Relic.)
- If the Naman-Sageeth legend is to be believed, it is unclear if Lex Luthor or Davis Bloome is the true Sageeth. As Lionel Luthor has died, Lex is the possible Sageeth for touching the Starblade and causing it to disintegrate per the legend. To complicate things further it appears that Lex is dead too. It is possible that Davis is Sageeth as part of the retcon that established his arrival on Earth at the same time as Clark, except that the Starblade disintegrated when he was nowhere nearby.
