In the beginning there was song....

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Tansi, ahnee and hello.

In the beginning there was song. According to our legends and teachings, the Creator gave the gift of song to the Indians. With this gift of song came the responsibility to sing into being all those things of the earth, which the people saw

around them.

Song united all parts of the universe. Until each creation had been sung into being it had no purpose. The Indian's sons named each creation and gave it responsibility in the scheme of things. Thus there are bear songs, deer songs, earth songs and

medicine songs.

Following the song was the drum.

The drum was the echo of the heartbeat of Mother Earth. The spirit of the drum was the spirit of motherhood and birth, the spirit of harmony and the spirit of the people themselves.

The Creator sent the drum to the Indians. With the drum came the responsibility as well as the ability to bless all those things which had already been named in song. When the Indians stood upon the land singing those old songs and echoing the

heartbeat of creation with the drum they brought all things into harmony and balance again. The universe united. The circle closing.

It is said by the Old Ones that when there is no longer any Indian left to sing the old songs and therefore bless the land, there will be no more land.

This is the bones of it. The details, the flesh and substance of these old teachings vary from one degree to another between the various nations but the essential nature of the teachings remains.

This morning finds me reflecting on beginnings. There was a time when I had no idea that this old teaching existed. Times when I had no idea that it could provide me with such a vital link to the real nature of myself and my people. I had always

assumed that we Indians sang and drummed in order to strike fear into the hearts of the pioneers. That's what Hollywood told me anyway.

When I finally had the opportunity to talk with the elders and the old storytellers I discovered that there was a whole lot more to our singing and drumming than that. Consequently I discovered that there was a whole lot more to myself.

As a writer and a storyteller, those old teachings, legends and values have a great effect on the work that I do. Each of these columns is an attempt at a reconnecting. An attempt to make sense of my place in this modern world by looking through

the eyes of tradition.

If it weren't for those teachings there would be no column. The logical extension for this is that if it weren't for those old teachings there would be no me.

Recently I've been given the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time around our artists, dancers, singers and writers. I've had the opportunity to see their work and to discuss some parts of their lives with them. As a nation of people we Indians

have a lot to be grateful for in this area because there is a generation of creative people in our circles that are really starting to move.

The motion is outward.

In the works of artists like Jane Ash Poitras, George Littlechild and Joan Cardinal Shubert to only name a few our Native world comes alive. It's alive with truth. Some of these truths may be distasteful to those outside our nations but no one ever

says that truth would please everyone.

When our creativity reflects our realities it has the power to change the way other people look at our world. It has the power to go beyond the canvas, the stage, the screen and the page. It has the power to go directly into people's hearts because

that's where it originated. When hears and spirits connect, change is possible.

Louis Riel said over a hundred years ago there would come a time when the Indian nations would rise again. A time when the eyes of tradition would open again and a new Indian world would begin. The people who led this re-emergence would be

the artists, singers, dancers and writers.

It seems these days that that time has come.

More and more of our creative people are being recognized. More and more of the relities we Indian people are forced to live under and through are being represented in their work. More and more people are being educated in what it means to be an

Indian person in the country today.

It's very important that there Indian artists in whatever form they work in, remember their traditions and their own personal histories.

Song is art. When the Creator gave the gift of song he gave it to be shared. When the Indian stands upon the land and blesses it through his song and his drum he blesses it for all people. It is perhaps through art that the parts of the universe will

indeed be united. Perhaps through art and the voices of the artists involved the world will indeed see the re-emergance of strong, independent and loving Indian nations. The circle growing.

Until next week, meegwetch.