From Orleanna's description of the wild okapi, what does the okapi reveal?

The beginning of the book finds Orleanna reminiscing on her life in Africa from her current vantage point of Sanderling Island, Georgia. The scene of a woman and her four children offers a vision of rare harmony with the land, where the okapi that's present has a number of symbolic meanings. First, it represents the myth of potential harmony between these women and the land of Africa. More importantly, however, it represents the fleeting notions of feminine self-reliance. As the reader learns, though these five women each strive for their own measure of independence, such independence is often short-lived under the oppression of masculinity and the will of the land.