Jillian Morris is Kanien’kehá:ka, turtle clan and band member of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory now living in Collingwood. She will be sharing stories and experience passed down through the oral traditions of Kanien’kehá:ka culture in her regular column, entitled Ka’nikonhrí:io, (The Good Mind) published on CollingwoodToday.ca.
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Shé:kon sewakwé:kon, greetings all.
It hardly feels like a year since I began this column. Here we are back in Indigenous History Month, back to the time of summer solstice and the celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day. Closing in on Canada Day.
I promised you stories within stories within stories.
I want(ed) to invoke interest and curiosity about the philosophy that is born of Indigenous culture. Help to demystify the Indigenous worldview as much as one Indigenous perspective can – one voice that is hopefully a melodic complement to the choir.
Storytelling is our history lesson, our counsel, our introspection prompts, our bonds to the natural world. They hold medicine, connection, purpose, love, and many teachings. We tell stories through dance, song, ceremony, and our daily interactions with life.
It’s early morning, 5:40 a.m. or so. I tried to get up with Brother Sun but c’mon, he’s preparing for his biggest day of the year. I’m not a morning person, today is an exception. I slide into my moccasins and throw a hoodie over my head. I grab a pouch of tobacco out of my bundle and head out my back door.
I understand my instructions for gathering medicine. I hold loose tobacco in my left hand now, I hold it over my heart. I’m reciting pieces of the Ohen:ton Karhwatekwen (Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address), sometimes in my head, sometimes in whispered voice.
I greet the cedar. He is cradled by the earth on a gentle slope at the edge of the creek. Healthy.
I tell him about my intentions for the day. I ask for his help in the ceremonies. I lay tobacco under his boughs. I offer tobacco to the soil and the waters for caring for this medicine. I gently remove only what is needed.
I offer gratitude to the cedar for fulfilling its duties. I offer acknowledgement of our relationship. I promise to share its gifts.
On this morning I am meant to open the Ontario Morning program on CBC radio. I have been taught that the mindful act of gathering medicine humbles me. The Ohen:ton karihwatekwen guides me to the Good Mind.
This was how I began the day to honour my people.
To those that carry traditional knowledge, medicine, language, songs, wisdom, niawen:kowa, thank you very much for your generosity. Your willingness to share is welcoming our people home where they belong. Your openness to the greater community is fostering understanding and connection. You water the seeds laid by our ancestors.
The light of the longest day of the year shone brightly on our joyous honouring of belonging to Turtle Island. We don’t just celebrate being Indigenous, we celebrate the circle that is life, and everything held in it. We celebrate you.
As Canada Day nears, I will inevitably feel a mix of emotions. Knowing that I belong on these lands, I am of these lands. The saga of my ancestors, ancient wisdom, remnants of practice and prayer are layered in the soil and the rock of this nation. We, Onkwehón:we (First People) love these lands and the life it holds yet we continue to be denied access to our responsibility to care for it.
On July 1 celebrate. There are many blessings to acknowledge. Also remember that it is not what humans built but what humans built upon that sustains us.
Skén:nen, Peace.
