As 2011 comes to a close, we will all reflect on the year that was, but also reflect on all that has been.
Aboriginal, First Nations, Inuit, Metis, Native American, Indigenous, and so on and so forth are the names original peoples have been given to describe us as a whole. But, we are each unique and individual nations, defined by our heritage and primarily our lands. The land has shaped our language, many languages flow like the rivers and streams they are born to, many languages are strong and rigid cutting the air like the mountains they came from, and all our languages have carried prayer and laughter since time immemorial.
Although our people change with the modern age and new technologies, we are still unique. We may lose aspects of our cultures in this age, but that doesn’t make us any less of the people we are born. It is like the earth, it is ever changing, lands erode away and new earth is uplifted through the waters, but it is still the earth. The earth is also what binds us. It is the thing that defines us, but it is also the source that provides for us. So as stewards of the lands, we are one. Remember this, as unique as we all are individually, we are bound by our mother the earth. Do not critique each other without love, do not do business with each other without respect of the other, and do not deny your identities or potentials.
Ahma Yaa, Egosi, Hi hi, Meegwitch, and many other thank yous of many other languages.
We hope you honor the change in seasons, have a happy holiday season, and bring in the new year with more hope, more pride, and more respect.
Many thanks.
Brett Huson,
Digital Drum.
