Transcript
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The host introduces Pamela, the museum garden renovation, and the purpose of the gathering. Pamela greets the audience and explains how sharing stories and teachings builds community.
Considering that it's a little chilly, we appreciate your turning out.Um, we're so excited to have Pamela back with us today uh telling us some stories.She is going to also uh tell some plant stories today in honor of the fact that this year we are beginning the renovation of the museum garden.
Yay!
And it's going to be a native plants garden and outdoor learning center.So, it's going to be really really nice.So, she's going to bring us the stories about those native plants.
All right.
Uh she has extensive experience working in native plant gardens, so she's the perfect person to tell us the stories.Before we begin, I just want to remind everyone um that we are here thanks to Ebey's Reserve and to the Friends of Ebey's who have sponsored the porch stories for us now for several years making this possible.And I also want to point out that uh on top of being an amazing storyteller, Pamela is also an artist.So, she's brought some of her art with her today and it's out on the table here as you leave.So, um if you're able to support Pamela by buying some of her art, I know she would appreciate that.Like all of us, we're kind of tight financial times right now.So,
For sure.
Um but anyway, so I'm not going to keep you captive any longer.We're going to let Pamela get started with the storytelling, but again, thank you all so much for being here.We appreciate you.
Um I see.Well, relatives, hax le hal.Hax le hal, good afternoon.Good afternoon.Chalalacum see sta.Stahob chud see beda suaklum.My uh My name is Fighting Woman and I'm the daughter of the Sea Monster Man in real life.Uh My name is Pamela Sea Monster and uh my father was the Sea Monster Man and um I really love coming to porch stories and sharing culture and um stories.We don't have a word for stories, but sharing the teachings with everyone.I think that it um it helps open up our hearts and our minds, our hotchuda, the intelligence of our mind, which is our heart, which is hotchuda.Um and uh it I think it helps build community when we understand one another and where we're all coming from.I think it's a good way a good way to share, a good way to be.
Um
Pamela begins with a foundational teaching about the world being new and all beings believing they were people. She explains that each listener takes their own meaning from the story and connects it to respect for all life.
I'm going to I start every every time I share stories or share the teachings, I I share one story always, every single time, and I'm going to start with it.Um and the reason I do that is uh because it is about community and it is about uh the social structure and the respect and the wisdom and the generosity and courage that the indigenous people have and havea relationship with.And so we'll start.A tootie-too hawk, a long time ago.A long time ago when the world was new, the plants and the trees they believed they were people.A tootie-too hawk, a tootie-too hawk, a long time ago.A long time ago when the world was new, the winged, all of them they believed they were people.A tootie-too hawk, a tootie-too hawk, a long time ago.A long time ago when the world was new, the four-legged they believed they were people.
A tootie-too hawk, a long time ago.A long time ago when the world was new.The beings in the water, the salt water and the fresh water.They believed they were people.A tudituha, a long time ago.A long time ago when the world was new.Oh, the human beings, they thought they were people.Desoito.So, we uh I always like to tell people we don't always have a a beginning, a middle, and an end and the moral to the story because I say I am moralist.Not really, but um but the teaching that you hear is yours and it's not going to the thing that you feel in your hutch, in your hutchusida, the intelligence of your mind is going to be different than theperson next to you.And while I've heard that story for more than 30 years, um
it's different because we here say that we are children of the changer, labateya, the transformer, dokwibalth, the changer, and we change every day.We have the ability to change our minds and our hearts, the way we think, the way we walk, the way we talk, our whole being has the ability to change and become something new.And um the thing about uh the human beings is we're the last to arrive.We're the last to be here before the plants and the trees, before the winged and before the four-legged.No, we were last.We weren't here before the before the beings in the water.None of that.And And we are just sometimes some really bad communicators.We haven't learned how to talk to one another very well or to anything else sometimes.But my my people in my culture um you know, when you you come from a place that is respecting all the things, all the other people and when we're considering all the other people in our daily decisions we're
not just thinking about the human people.We're thinking about everyone because what are we going to be if the phytoplankton in the water out there it turns into a whole piece of microplastic.What are we going to be if the phytoplankton out there in the wolsh becomes something the salmon can't eat and be healthy with the corner a cornerstone species.What are we going to be if the salmon can't hold us and give us life or give the stub twad the bears or even the the kulkuls each the the blackfishor those California sea lions.
What are we going to be if we can't we don't have anything else to exist to eat to to have.A long time ago our people ate from 300 different foods weekly.Can you imagine?Now we eat from about 10 is about the average.We got potatoes and chicken and fish and meat uh maybe pork, maybe beef.Can't even afford beef anymore.It's not even from here.So, you know, there's there's so much to to think about.And if we're considering all of our environment and all of the people when we're making decisions for human people, then we're making good decisions for everybody and the generations to follow us.So.
She tells the blackberry story, where a once-giving giant becomes dark and must be changed by Wolf. The story leads into reflections on medicine, harm, balance, and how humans should judge what is good for the whole environment.
I think I'm going to do a blackberry story today.Every There There There These These cousins of these other ones I'm going to talk about are trying to pop up everywhere.So, um I'm sorry, what?Oh, okay.Uh So, uh here we go.A tootie too hawk a long time ago.A long time ago when the world was new, blackberry was a giant tree.He was huge.His leaves were so big and his flowers were giant and his berries were like the size of our heads.Can you imagine?That's a really yummy looking blackberry I might be.Yeah, no GMO.Hey.So, uh blackberry was a giant tree and all the people Oh, wow, they really loved to sit under his shade in the summer.And they loved to sit there when his flowers would bloom in the sun.Oh, it smelled so good.And everyone was so happy and he really really loved all the people who came to love him and visit him.
And oh, then when it was time to harvest, oh, to share the wealth of food for everyone.All the people loved to He had giant thorns that would sit kind of like a hammock on one side and people would slide in and say hello.Don't get caught on the top.Feel like a person visiting a buffalo in Yellowstone.Lose your pants.Um So, uh Blackberry was this giant tree and and he loved having everyone visit and everyone loved him and things seemed like they were going really good.But one day came one day came and Blackberry became very dark.And then he became sad.And then he became really cranky.And he didn't want anybody to visit and he wanted them all to go away.He wanted them all to leave him alone and stay away from him.Oh, there was a darkness on Blackberry.
And people were concerned and they loved him and they couldn't figure out why why he didn't want any visitors.Why didn't he want anyone to come and sit with him?Why he didn't want anyone to come and get shade and comfort from sitting.And so they come in groups and try to talk to Blackberry and he'd yell go away.And he would reach out and he'd try to whack his giant arms down at them and hurt them.Oh, it was awful.And so they tried and tried again different groups of relatives all coming and checking on him to see what was wrong, how things were going, what was affecting him.And when the doctoring people and the elders couldn't figure out what could be wrong, they called the wolf to come.And so, they all went down to the wolsh and they called out for the wolf to come.
And they sang for him and they sang for him and pretty soon wolf was coming up the beach.And he was coming up with a whale bone hanging from his side.There are some that would say that the wolf packs on the land equalthe blackfish pods in the water.And you see in the water it is the oldest female who leads the pack.And on the land it is a male, an alpha male, who leads a pack.Things in life are always a balance.Some would say.And so, up came wolf and he says to the relatives, "Why have you called me?What's going on?Must be really important for you to call me."All crows out there listening.
And so, uh they're tattling on us for telling about wolf, I'm pretty sure.Um so, uh so, wolf said "What's going on?What's happening here?"And all the relatives came forward to speak to him.Finally, an elder said, "Oh, here, let me tell you."And so, he went in and he spoke with Wolf and he told him, "Blackberry has become dark and sad.There's something affecting him so badly.He needs something.He needs something.But we don't know what it is.We haven't been able to offer him any medicine that he would take."Almost as if he doesn't want to be healed.Blackberry is sick."Huh."thought Wolf."Well, let's go have a look at him.Let's go have a look."And so Wolf came up to Blackberry and he called his name out to him.And he said, "Hey, you!Blackberry, I've come to see you.
The people say the people say that you're not doing well, that there's darkness on you.What What What is it?"And Blackberry looked out at Wolf and he said, "Go away!""I Wolf I'm sorry, I can't.The people have called me and I need to see what's wrong with you.I need to check you out.Let me Let me have a look at you, Blackberry."And Wolf went around the circle of Blackberry all the way around the backside.And Blackberry tried to swipe at him and stab him into the ground with his giant thorns.And Wolf jumped back and like, "Whoa.No.No.No.What's wrong?I brought medicine for you.I brought medicine for you, Blackberry.Let me give you some medicine.Please, let me offer you medicine.Let me offer it to you.Let you Let you have it.I'll take I'll give it to you.
Just let me give it to you."And Blackberry said, "No.Go away."And Wolf just couldn't figure out if you were sick, why wouldn't you want that medicine?So, Wolf walked around him again.He said, "Blackberry, all your relatives love you so much.Blackberry, what's wrong?Why are you trying to hurt people?Why would you want them to leave?What is wrong?"And Blackberry swiped out his giant arm and he yelled, "GO AWAY!"AND HE tried to put Wolf into the ground again.And Wolf jumped back and blocked him with the whale bone that hung at his side.And he said, "Oh, Blackberry, I'm here because I love you, too.Blackberry, what could it be that is so heavy on your heart that you want no one near you?We'll let you sit a little while and think about it."And Wolf went around Blackberry just trying to see what could be the problem.
Where was it stuck on him?What was it that was stuck?
And he couldn't see.There was just darkness that he couldn't see past.And so he said to Blackberry again, "Blackberry, please let me give you some medicine.I brought medicine for you.Let me Let me give it to you."And Blackberry yelled really loud, "Go away!I don't want you."And he swiped out at Wolf again.For a third time he tried to put him into the ground.
So, Wolf jumped back and he said, "Oh, Blackberry, I'm going to have to give you some medicine.I'm going to have to give it to you.You're You're going to need to take it.This isn't like you.This isn't who you have been for all time.This is not who you have been.
This change that's happened isn't so good.So, Blackberry, he didn't care.He didn't care.He didn't want to put a name to the darkness that was on him.And so, he swept his hands out at Wolf again and tried to put him into the ground and this time Wolf brought his whalebone up and he began to beat Blackberry and hit his hands and take all thethorns off of Blackberry's body where he could hurt people.And he hit him and he hit him with medicine.With medicine.With medicine.And today, Blackberry does not grow tall like a tree.He crawls on the ground.And he has tiny little thorns that can't hurt anybody anymore.And he has a white dust covering his vines from the bones of the blackfish.
And he still tastes really yummy.
The indigenous blackberry of this region crawls on the ground.The indigenous blackberry of this region is covered in a white powder.It is not got hard edges like a Himalayan blackberry.We say that Himalayan blackberry must be blackberry's old cousin that started trying to come around here.Still tastes yummy, but still he could rip you up pretty good.Rip you up pretty good and he but he likes to grow tall like I I helped remove a bramble of blackberries that was 30 ft tall.In the center of a park in Lynnwood, Washington about 15 years ago.Maybe 16 years ago now.But just white and that's all.Nowwhat do we think about that?Was that a beating?Was it medicine?Were you we forcing a change or disallowing a change?How how do we how do we reconcile that in our hachusida and the intelligence of our mind?
How do we say what's okay and what's not okay?How do we judge what's good and what's bad?What's good for all the people?Does blackberry still feed all the people that were eating blackberries before?
Yeah.
Can he kill us?
No.
But the tall shade of that tree, what did it provide to the environment before that it no longer provides?Is there something?
Do people go and hang around blackberry and just visit under the shade of him?Do people go and smell the blooms on the blackberry today?How often do we do that?Are we Are are we only there to take?Are How does How do we How do we as human beings figure out the way to walk?The way to carry ourselves?What our judgment is?
Pamela shifts to a historical account of a young observer watching Indigenous life, church conversion efforts, and misunderstandings around language and customs. She uses these examples to show how sharing, reciprocity, and cultural practices were misread by outsiders.
This way.That's for each of us individually.Maybe at the end we can share when the when the camera's off.UmThere was some other things that I was that reminded me of something when I was telling that story.I thought maybe I'd share it.Um although it's not not like a traditional teaching or anything.But there was this posted man that was a little boy in the late 1800s up uh up along what's now uh Darrington up near the Mountain Loop Highway where the Mountain Loop Highway comes around and comes into Darringtonfrom the backside.And uh when he was uh an adult, he decided to write about um all of the things that he saw with with the natives, with the Indians.And um he wrote a little book in like 1902.And I somehow came across a uh 1950 uh reproduction of it or an update from it that maybe his children had added to from his uh journal notes.
So there was a few changes, but not much from the uh from the 1902 uh remembrances of this postered man who when he was young really was super interested in indigenous people and why they were dis- why theywould come up and stay all summer and then leave.Half of them would leave and go down to the squalsh and then in the spring come back up and move camp over just a little bit.And then all the people who stayed through the winter in that area would all move over with them.Of course, we were utilizing we we weren't overusing an area, right?So we were moving camp, right?That's what we do.We move camp.But it was curious to him then.And um there was a little There was a little Catholic church up in that area.And um he thought it so funny that this Catholic priest really wanted the Indians to come into their church.
And the Indians they just didn't want to go in there.They didn't want to go in that house.They They didn't want to and um they worked really hard at getting them to come over there.And uh then when they find this one family had finally agreed to come and see them and what they're doing in that little white house.And uh they told them, "No, no, no, you have to put these clothes on."Really trickster, eh?"Take all your cedar clothes off.No, don't don't Don't wear those in.Wear You We got some clothes for you."And so they took them to these little outhouses and the women changed out of their clothes and put their clothes on and left their clothes nicely sitting outside.And then this little boy watched the people from that church take their cedar clothing and burn it.While the family had gone inside church.
And they were just learning English.They had spent like two or three years teaching English to a few of the families that would listen or you know, um Have you ever Has anybody ever heard of Klahowya Days in Snohomish?Well, that's like a festival every year now.Well, you know what?Klahowya isn't an indigenous word.It's indigenous people trying to repeat how are you?
How are you?Klahowya.Klahowya.How are you?So, How are you Days is celebrated up there in Snohomish.So, anyway, this this young boy would sit and watch them learn English and he would and he was just enamored with his neighbors.And he was watching them uh because there's also a term Indian giver that was going around when this young man was a young man.Maybe in his 14, maybe he was 15 years old when he was seeing it after almost a decade of watching the Indians.And uh he realized that an Indian would come up to maybe a man and his little farm or his little homestead area and he uh he would see that this farmer was doing something or this man who wasplanting his garden was doing something and he would bring that man a tool that he thought would work good and he'd give it to him to work with.
Now, in our culture to not share was a crime.So, if I was I made something, I found something that worked good, I thought of an idea, I made this thing and now everybody in the village can make it, use it, have it, take it.If I'm not using it, why can't this person next to me use it?Why can't this person over here use it, right?And so, this young man realized that every time the Indians would see that that tool was just hanging up, not being used, they'd come back and get it and go to their village and use it for something.And then that little farmer, that little family man, he'd get really ticked off.Start talking about Indian giving.You got to give it Give it Take it away.Bring it back.Take it away.It wasn't his.It didn't belong to him.
To us, it belonged to everybody.And this young man realized that that term wasn't a real thing just from observation because the minute people saw that that gentleman was toiling and needed that tool again, they would bring it back to him and give itto him.And when he wasn't using it, they'd go back and get it and use it.Indian giving.So, that was one of the observations in this book.And then the next observation was the English.So, during all this time and they're trying to speak with the families that are up with their little houses up near the longhouses.And um they're learning their English.Clah ha ya.They're learning all the all the things to say.And So, the priest finally gets them in and they've and the women have gone and burned the cedar clothes in a bonfire.And uh he follows them in to the church after watching the women take off with the clothing.
And he goes in to see what they're doing inside.And uh the priest says to him,"This is the body of our savior.And and and they're feeding them, you know, stale bread chips.This represents his bones.
So, to some people who don't know nothing about no religion, you're eating a dead guy's bones.And then they bring them some really sour juice.This region of the world didn't You are not going to find fermented juice anywhere in any village site.I'll tell you about that in a second.So, then they're telling them, "Drink this.This is the blood of Christ."Holy!Can you imagine?So, these people are now becoming really uncomfortable and frightened, and they run out of this house telling this priest, "We do not drink the blood or eat the bones of our dead."And they ran.And they ran to go get their clothes, and their clothes were gone.So, they were stuck in apostate guy clothes.
And they said and they never went back.They never went back.So, this young man is dying of hysterics over the fact that the English wasn't so good.And now these people who were here long before our new friends, our new Ciaya, they eat the blood and the bones of their dead.So, they're thinking that they're crazy.So, then you wonder how when the new people come, more and more and more, and take you off to a boarding school, why nobody they went kicking and screaming, huh?Maybe.Probably.
She tells a cedar-based origin story about two sisters who travel between worlds and return to Earth with help from their brothers. The story highlights cedar as a life-giving tree used for baskets, clothing, and daily survival.
So, a nightmare had begun.So, Indian giving, everything was shared.
Clothing.Wow.Can you imagine everything that we had came from the cedar tree, our tree of life, the tree of life.There was a There was a pair of sisters, and they were out digging roots out in a meadow valley, and they had found a really, really, really good spot to uh to to dig roots, and they decided thatthey didn't want to bring their haul all the way back to the village and then have to come all the way back the next day and not get there till the afternoon, and then only dig a little whileand get back before dark again.So, they decided that they would spend the the last hours of light making some more baskets.And usually that meant that they were just going to take a small, maybe a 5-ft piece of uh of cedar bark with the bark the outer bark still on it, and fold it up, and sew up the sides.
And make another basket.And so they stayed out there in the meadow valley.And when it got dark and time to sleep there was these two sisters laying there, one younger, one older, and the older sister was telling stories.Making up things to say before they went to bed.And she said, "Oh, you see that little red star over there?That dim little star?That's your husband."And she was laughing, and they were laughing, and elbowing each other, and just being silly.And then there was this bright star in the center of the sky.The center of that summer triangle.And she said, "You see that star right there?That's my husband.That bright star, he's mine."And they were laughing and giggling when they went to sleep.Oh, but when they woke up they were in the star world.And they thought, "Oh."And pretty soon across the sky and over to where they were were two men walking.
Ooh, one guy was red, copper, fire-colored eyes, long, red, dark, auburn hair.Flowing long behind him.His skin was copper red.And woo, he was pretty hot for a star guy.Yeah, but the guy next to him ooh he had a lot of wrinkles.And his eyes were bright and shining and silver.And his hair was long and flowed behind him.But that older sister didn't think he was as hot.And they So, who are you?And they said, "Oh, we're your husbands."We're your husbands.You said you called it out.You put it in the world and you called it out and here we are.And uhSometimes we let our eyes make a judgment for us instead of that smart thing inside of our chest our hot chusida the true intelligence of our mind.And so pretty soon the young sister was heavy with a child.
But she was really missing her home down on Mother Earth with her family.And that older sister, she was getting bitter by the day.She did not want to be there at all.And so daily they would go out and dig.And once the younger sister was getting a little more heavy, a little more heavy with the childonly she would dig for the roots.And the other sister would dig to look down to find the Earth World again.And so they were looking and looking and looking and digging all the time and digging and digging and digging and digging.And one day they went home with just a little bit of a little bit of roots back for food and the the men were kind of crabby and they're like, "Well, where's all the food, why are you guysnot bringing anything back anymore?"
And the older sister said, "Well, she can't do anything.She's heavy with a baby.What do you want her to do?Just run around digging all day?"Oh, that Oh, no, no, we don't want that.So, that excuse held pretty well.And um so, the day came that they found the Earth world through the hole in the sky.And so, then the younger sister kept digging for roots, digging for camas, digging for the things that have always been.And the older sister started braiding a rope out of cedar bark and braiding and braiding and braiding and braiding until they thought they had enough to reach Earth again, to reach Mother Earth, to reach down to Nah Ilahi.And so, uhthat when that day came they wrapped that rope around a cedar tree and they tied it tight and they took the ferns and they covered the line of the rope heavy with ferns.
And then they pulled ferns over the hole.And the pregnant sister went down first and wrapped that rope around her and then put her foot through a loop and then just kept letting it loose and letting it loose as she was going down and then theolder sister would come down behind her.And pretty soon these brothers they were watching something come out of the sky world.And come down and down.And the closer they got, they started running up to them.Running and running and running to see what it could be.And then they realized it was their sisters.And they had missed them so much.And why was that young one so fat?She was kind of chubby.
So, they were coming down and they realized that they hadn't quite made the rope long enough to touch the ground.But the brothers were screaming at them, "We love you.We miss you.Where have you been?How did you get there?What's going on?Just jump.We'll catch you.Just let go.We'll catch you.Let go."And so, the younger sister looked down at her brothers and she I'm sure you better catch me.And she let go.And the brothers they caught her.And then the other sister came down to the end of the rope.And she let go.And the brothers they caught her.And then they hurriedly told them as much as they could in a little bit of time.But they were like, "You have to pull that pull it hard.Break it.Break it so that they can't be seen past the clouds.
Hurry."And so the brothers were pulling jumping pulling and yanking and swinging and swinging and yanking as hard as they could.One brother grabbing onto the other brother's legs and swinging and pulling until the rope broke and came out of the sky world.And where they were jumping there's a giant flat spot on Mount Si.Does anybody know where Mount Si is?Near Snoqualmie?And there's a pile on Mount Si.We would say petrified cedar bark in the shape of a rope.Right up there.Where the sisters came from the sky world.Now if you go to Lakota country those sisters came down on braided timsila.A root.Came out of the sky world to come back home on the braided timsila.S- different plant.Same story.Same teaching.So this cedar tree this this keeper of our lives.When I was a young person there was aunties who would tell us to go get those flowers off the trees.
Go get the flowers from the trees.Okay.Go get some.They'd be in there in their dresses.You know, a long time ago all the ladies was always in a dress.You didn't really see them in pants very often unless you went into town.Here I am in my man pants.And uh they would sit there and gossip about all the kids.Everybody they all knew what was going on because they all they were all tattling on all the kids on to each other.We didn't get away with nothing.Nothing.And they would take those flowers from that life giver tree and they would talk and clean their teeth.And when they were done, they would go over to the sink, rinse it off, shove it in the coffee cup, fill it full of hot water, and let it sit while they were still talking about us.
And then they would drink that.Get all that vitamin C they needed.And then they would go throw that away.We go throw that away.Go throw it out.Go put it out.
Pamela continues with the star baby story, explaining cedar diapering, the salmon king, and the child’s return home. She closes by reflecting on cedar canoes, longhouses, sustainable harvesting, and the responsibility of children of the changer to make better choices.
All of our clothing, even our diapers.So, these two sisters came down and she had a baby.And because this baby was a star baby, he was gorgeous.He became Stoqwal.And he was beautiful and the salmon king thought how beautiful that baby was.And he took that baby.He stuck that baby and left a little cedar bark baby there for grandma who was sitting next to the river cleaning the diapering of the baby.Because all the kayas and the sappas, the grandmas and the grandpas are the ones who took care of our babies.They raised our babies.They taught them how to walk on this earth.And we went out and worked 3 months out of the year.We were gathering and hunting for 3 months.I wish we could work for 3 months and figure out how to be a human for the
for the other 9 months.Wouldn't that be awesome?
So, uh that Kaya, that grandma was there along the river cleaning out the diapering.Now, the diapering was made from the outer bark of the cedar tree.You might think, "Dude, that's a lot of slivers."But, no.It wasn't.No slivers in your tush.Have you anybody ever touched the side of the cedar tree where the squirrels go up one side all the time and felt how soft it was?Imagine that being even more soft because a Kaya was taking the time to beat that outer bark on the rocks and make it soft like feather down.And that would become the diapering material that went insidethe cloth.That was the diapering material.And uh and then that would just get rinsed out and pounded and dried.And so, that's what the Kaya was doing.She was pounding and drying the cedar the outer cedar bark for that baby.
But, the salmon king stole him.Here I'm doing CliffNotes.This is an epic story.It takes 5 days.So, we're going to tell you in 5 minutes.
So, the salmon king was like, "Ooh, that's a pretty star babe.I'm going to get that baby."And he took that baby and he went down to the salmon world with that baby.But, you know, he did a little showing off on the way back down the river.And umAnd so, that grandma did not did not want to tell her granddaughter that this little baby came somebody left it and stole the other one.So, they loved that little cedar baby.Cuz who couldn't love a baby?But it wasn't her baby.And so, it took a long timefor Kwi Kwi, Kwi Kwi, the blue jay.He was going around finding out all the information.You know, he was just flitting from tree to tree finding out everybody's business.And he finally figured out where that salmon had taken that baby, that star baby.And so, he went to see the salmon king.
He went to see the salmon king.And the salmon king said, "No, I like this baby.He's mine."They said, "You That's not You can't can't keep this baby.His mommy loves him and wants him.Let him go back to his skwai."Aw.That salmon king really didn't want to give up that pretty baby.But eventually, he did.He couldn't keep the lie.He couldn't keep telling that boy his mama didn't want him and that he wanted him.And so,that star baby rode up on the back of the silver salmon, on the back of the salmon king, and came back to his people.But Stukwof the moon, Snoqualmie.That's where that story comes from.From the Snoqualmie people.Stukwal, the moon.He was a star child, the moon.Now, to some other people, to our Chinook relatives a little south of us, they called the moon she who watches.
She who watches.And they some people in Indian country say that the sun is father sky.
And the sun is a of male figure.But in Chinook country, they call her Chicha Sun, grandmother sun.And there's a story about how a man, a chief, wanted a wife and he ended up going up to the star world visit Chicha Sun because he heard she had a beautiful robe.Story for another day, we're going back to the cedar.Cedar.So, um so there they were and we have a lot of our our canoes not a four-letter word, boat.
Canoes were made from our dugout were dug out from our cedar trees.So, we have our canoes and our plank houses, our our long houses.Can you imagine having a cedar treeas big around as we are long here?All the way around.There's an image on Google
of all places.If you Google a place called Sedro-Woolley,
you will see that the town of Sedro-Woolley had 98 people on top of a cedar trunk from a cedar tree that was cut down to make a village.And had they had have asked the indigenous people, how did they get those planks?You could have took 60 planks that were 150 200 ft long out of one living tree and never killed the tree.Chief Seattle had a had a potlatch house.Oh, look at this guy flying over.
That was two football fields long.That's a big party house relatives.That was a big house.No trees were killed probably to make that house.Because live planks out of living trees could have been removed just like today when we harvest the cedar bark to still make our clothing and our hats and other pieces of regalia and traditional clothing are made.They were made that way.They were made that way.We didn't have to take away We have to think about the imprint that we're putting on the earth and how could we change it as we all are here children of the changer.We would say if you live here, then you are the children of the changer.The Doke Kwai Boss.How can you make change children of the changer?How can we make change together?
D'Suq'Wub.D'Suq'Wub.