 Here is a story entitled Story of the Thornbush by Chief Dana Tizya-Tramm.
I live in a small remote village, Old Crow, 80 miles north of the Arctic Circle in the Yukon Territory, 60 miles east of the Alaska border. It’s the most north-west community in Canada. I took my four-year-old niece outside and brought her to the tree-line, and said, “Okay baby, show uncle where to go.” I want to raise her as a leader, not just to follow me. She brought me through meandering willows, and came to a break in the canopy where the sun shone onto a thorn bush. She stopped and said, “Wow Uncle, look at that flower.” As I got to my feet, I saw a thorn bush with one pink flower soaking in the sunlight. I looked at her and she was taking in the moment. I picked her up, and brought her to that flower: “Look baby, I want to introduce you to your grandmother.” “No, Uncle, it’s not.” I brought her very close to this flower: “Can you see the veins in the petal?” You could see darker pink veins across the leaves like a road map. “Yeah, I can see them.” “Now look at your hand, can you see the veins?” “Yeah, I can see them.” “Baby, your grandmother has been working a very long time and very hard to meet you. Look around. All this forest are your grandfathers and your grandmothers.” A big gust of wind came, and all the trees started dancing in a symphony of rustling leaves. You could see the moment of reverence on her face. I think this is one of the greatest teachings we can take from Indigenous ways of knowing and being. All things are understood to be interconnected.
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