December 18, 2006

Parable & Allegory


Vancouver, the city on the west coast of Canada, is one of the most stunning cities in the world. The mountains, the water, the sky. All my peoples beautiful territory just takes your breath away. To really enjoy and live this beauty, I take walks and contemplate under a cedar tree (similar wisdom and tradition from my grandmother). While contemplating, I thought about my ancestors. Like the man who became Siwash as he stood up against the gods, the Transformers, for his wives and his children. Or Xwupu7kinem who was abducted by the seal people because they believed he was worth being apart of his life. These ancestors who were gifted with powers, courage, and wisdom, passing down to my life to, and for many more (if even one of my dreams come true, this will be true). Here is a story, indigenous-ized, to add some breath, maybe into the noble way, to your life.

A man is in the middle of the sea, drowning. A big canoe full of generous people come by and say "Man, come aboard, we'll save you." But the man said "No. I am waiting for the or Xaays(1)Kexe7nek siaym(2) to save me." And so the canoe moved on. Then another canoe with these caring people said "Man, in the water, who is drowning! Come aboard my family's canoe. We'll save you" But the man denied the assistance and said "No. I am waiting for the Xaays or Kexe7nek siaym to save me." And so the canoe moved on. The man then died and moved on to the spirit world. There, he stood to the gods and said, "Why didn't you save me?"

And the gods said, "We did. We sent two canoes."




(1) Xaays are the transformers. Four brothers who are emissaries of Kexe7nek siyam
(2) Kexe7nek siyam is the creator of my peoples existance, who gave us gifts, and tools, and our way of life.
by Rivers on Monday, December 18, 2006 |

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