According to one Anishinaabe creation story, during the second round of creation the Plant People—the trees, the grasses, the flowers, and the vegetables—were created. Following the dream in which these Plant People were revealed, each was given spirit, life, soul, and Manitou. Each of the Plant People was also given two special gifts: the power of beauty and the power of healing.
For the First Nations of the Northwest Coast, the single most important plant is a tree – the cedar. The use of this tree permeates all aspects of the Native American cultures of this region—the coastal areas of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska—and provides for many of life’s necessities. Life started with cedar. Traditionally, babies came from their mother’s womb onto a cedar bark mat. Children spent the first part of their lives in cedar cradles on a mattress of shredded cedar bark. Diapers were made from soft-shredded cedar bark. Cedar was also used for clothing. The cedar bark was woven into rain-proof hats, into capes, into skirts, and into blankets. Cedar bark was also woven into mats which served a variety of purposes in everyday life. These mats were used for kneeling when digging clams and cleaning fish, for covering cooking boxes, for kneeling cushions when paddling canoes, and for wrapping the body of the dead before burial.
For my own people, the maple tree was extremely important for it was the source of maple sugar. This was far more than simply something good to eat: maple sugar symbolizes good relations among people and harmony between the human people and all other parts of creation.
Shown below are some photographs celebrating the Tree People.
Welcome to Street Prophets Saturday, an open thread. How do you feel about trees? And, since this is an open thread: What have you been working on, thinking about, reading, watching, eating, or drinking?
And, what’s for dinner?