Do you see the beauty of the snow as it sparkles in the moonlight?
Do you see the beauty of the falling rain in the evening?
Do you feel the peace in the midnight fog?
When you are surrounded by beauty and peace do you know it’s there?
Tag: #land
The lake calls to me
The lake it calls me home. Waves breaking softly upon its shore. The birds singing in the trees near by. The warmth of the sun in the sky. The lake it calls me home.
The lake it calls me home, feeling peaceful in silence I sit. Meditating on the waves as they hit the shore; sounds all around of the water as it sings. Life is what the lake brings. The lake it calls me home.
The lake it calls me home, peaceful upon its shore; the birds and the animals that it brings. The lake is calling me home. Sunlight glistening brings me close to the peace and hope. Quiet as the lake sings. The lake is calling me home.
Where I come from
I come from the land where trees surround me, and the sky is clear.
I come from the place where the lakes and rivers surround me.
I come from the land where my ancestors have walked before me.
I come from the place where my culture grew strong from time immemorial.
I come from the people of four directions, of medicines, of ceremony, of beauty, of loss, and of healing.
I come from the people who walked before me and for the people who will walk after me.
I come from the strength of spirit, and I continue to walk.
I come from here.
Kewaytinok
The going home snow, kewaytinok
Tell me about the going home snow, kewaytinok
The last snow before spring. One last moment to remind you to take a breath in the stillness of winter.
Tell me how the geese have returned and the birds sing. Kewaytinok
Tell me about life renewed.
Tell me about the going home snow and what it means.
Kewaytinok
The Warrior
In 1990 when I was 18 there was a stand off in Oka. I watched the news every night worried for the people who were fighting for their land. I watched as the government criminalized the Indigenous people. I watched as racism raised its ugly head and hate filled the hearts of many people. I ended up writing this poem about the warriors that were fighting.
Tall, brave, defiant stand the young warrior. Praised by his people for his valor, fighting for his cause.
Yet people once friends now label him an enemy. Insulting things that they do not understand. They call him names and laugh in scorn at the proud warrior
“What is this they fights for?” they ask. “A piece of land, what possible meaning could it have?” They suggest to give up; for they believe it is a lost cause.
Still he, the warrior, remains resistant, standing with gun in hand, ready, waiting for the tanks to lumber across the land, his ancestral home. The burial ground of his grandfathers. That is why he fights.
He fights for that final resting place, his historic homeland. He, the warrior is fighting for something that belonged to his forefathers. His land by right, snatched from the hands of his predecessors. Into a corner his ancestors were pushed; now his generation comes out fighting.
His people were forgotten, pushed away until now. For now his people have taken a stand, wanting to get back what is rightfully theirs.
I wrote this on August 28, 1990 during the Oka stand off. For those who were on the front lines and those that were there in spirit.
Bears, After almost 2 years of not seeing bears I’ve been blessed to see them again.
Connections with the Land
Do you carry the land or does the land carry you?
Are you immersed and infused? Do you feel it in your blood?
Do you carry the land?
Does it walk with you?
Does it heal you?
Do you feel it within you? I feel the land, it is ever present in its beauty, in its calm and even in its wild freedom. The land exists in my heart and my spirit.
Where is the land in you?
Do you carry the land or does the land carry you?
When you walk through the bush do you feel the land? Can you see its gifts, it medicines, its life?
Do you feel it carrying you, sustaining you and healing you?
Does the land carry you? Are you connected to the land? Are you part of the land? Is it part of you? Do you hear it speak and feel its heartbeat?
It speaks through the rustles of the wind in the trees and grasses. It heals through connection. It heals through plant medicine and the water. It heals through its spirit. When I walk barefoot on the land, it sustains me with its gifts. I am infused within the land. My ancestors walked here, healed here, bled here, ate here. This land gifted my ancestors with life.
The land speaks to me. In the winter it speaks in the cold and the silence. The the spring it speaks when it awakens with new life. In summer it speaks in its beauty. In the fall the land speaks, with its gifts, relaxation and promise of restoration.
It carries me, it sustains me, it heals me.
I feel the land, it flows within me, I carry the land with me.
I carry the land and the land carries me.
What about you?
Do you carry the land or does the land carry you?
Walking
I am walking, feeling the rhythm, I hear the distant beat of drums. They call to me, telling me to come home.
I try to find my way, I stumble and fall, I rise and follow the sound, growing stronger like a heartbeat. I hear the voices of my ancestors calling me, “Nosim, you will be ok, granddaughter do not be afraid, you will find the way.”
I walk closer to the earth, feeling more grounded and connected as I stand barefoot on the earth. I search, sometimes stumbling as my walk gets closer. I feel the heartbeat of the earth as I walk under the sky. I know that Creator is showing me the way. I am walking back to myself, back home, finding comfort in the old ways.
Ceremony calls. I let go of my pain. I let go of my fear. I am walking a new yet old road.
I am walking, feeling the rhythm, I hear the not so distant beat of drums. They call to me, telling me I am home.
Medicine Gifts
One summer several years ago when we were camping at mile seven. My Aunt, my fathers first cousin, Alsena met us there. We had been camping for several days when Auntie Alsena joined us. One afternoon we spent picking medicines and ĺearning about the plants that we were picking when Alsena told us that her friend Diane was going to meet up with us. She had camped there with us before. When Dianne showed up she had brought sage and sweet grass with her. We learned about creating sage bundles and sweetgrass braids. Once we finished making the braids and bundles we took them and hung them up to dry in the breeze off the lake.
Then we began to clean the roots and prep the medicines. As we were cleaning the medicines Dianne and Alsena were telling stories of the medicines and how we got them.
One of the medicines was spruce gum. This medicine, spruce gum, was/is used as an antiseptic. It helped to hold skin together when someone was injured. It was/is used to treat colds and is added to other medicines depending on the need. The story we were told was about the gift of spruce gum and how badger gave it to us. The badger told the people how to use it for medicine and food. Alsena said that one man was lost in the bush for two weeks in the winter and he ate spruce gum to help sustain his body.
There are so many plants that can help people with their health, it’s important that we keep this knowledge strong and that we spend time with those who know how to treat people.
Sakaw Iskwew 