… and know
That Haida Culture is not simply song and dance
graven images, language or even blood
It’s all of these things
and then…
awakening on Haida Gwaii,
it’s waiting for the herring to spawn
a feeling you get
when you bring a feed of cockles to the old people
or walking on barnacles
…or moss
It has something to do with bearing witness
when a falcon takes a seabird
and being there when salmon
are finishing their course…
along the way we eat some huckleberries
watch the kids grow up
and attend the funeral feasts
it’s knowing that we will stand when we must
and though reluctantly,
we will deal with the squabbles within
Indeed, it’s knowing the might of the South East wind
and utilizing the long nights of winter
absorbing the bird songs of spring
then finally,
to follow our ancestors
into the Great Beyond