xinotthi tasoł | inspire

The
Great
Cedar
Tapestry

by Gavin Hudson
(Tsimshian)
For the exhibition “Indigenous Perspectives on Environmental Injustice, Colonialism and the Global Climate Emergency” at the Museum of Ethnography in Geneva, Switzerland. Gavin Hudson lives in Metlakatla.
The ocean feeds the salmon, the salmon feed the trees,
the salmon swim upriver depositing their seeds, 
they give their life to the forest in an exchange of energy, 
the promise of renewal becomes a lasting legacy.
The salmon eggs are kept safe in the waters beneath the trees, 
they will hatch and grow, when it’s time they’ll know, 
the river will carry them to sea.
Each depends upon the others, a fragile harmony, 
each one always giving so that all may receive.
This is how the Potlatch is, through the centuries, 
our ancient way of life reflects our shared mutuality.
A land of bountiful abundance and a season of plenty, 
nourishing and nurturing complex societies. 
Salmon fill our bellies, they sustain us annually,
we cook and clean in pristine streams and drink when thirsty.
The forest and the ocean provide generously,
our Elders’ most important lessons: take only what you need,
that we belong to each other, that together we succeed,
that honoring this balance makes us wealthy indeed,
these are the lessons of sustainability.

Then, colonizers came in the name of Christianity, 
bringing with them murderers, thieves and disease,
they preached that we were wicked, our traditions—“devilry.”
Shame was planted in our hearts, a creeping invasive weed, 
its thorny, spiny, winding vines wrapping ‘round our psyche, 
strangling and scarring our Indigenous identity.
Their colonies extracted from the land with brutal efficiency, 
While they forced on us a strange new philosophy: 
“profit at any cost, more money for me me me,” 
and in this we learned the true meaning of poverty.

What has always been intertwined is now unraveling.

How can this be real? Is this a bad dream? 
The plague of hate and trauma breeding toxicity, 
while the voices of our Ancestors fade from memory.
If our ego makes us blind, if we no longer see, 
if we take and take and take some more and horde it selfishly,
if we cannot acknowledge this reality, 
our grand delusion will bring only suffering and misery.
Our world is changing, becoming more extreme, 
we know the pestilence and famine are caused by human beings. 
If we continue on this modern path of greed, 
our children will inherit a global climate catastrophe.

But, it’s not too late to activate, we need your bravery! 
Let us dissolve the false boundary separating you from me, 
allowing us, at last, to heal in love’s remedy.

The salmon are us, literal family, 
so too are we the forest and all its sparkling streams. 
If we are wise, open our hearts, our ears, our eyes, not only shall we see, 
it won’t be long before we hear that soft and gentle song of eternal unity.
We all need each other, every precious species, 
for we are woven together in a great cedar tapestry.

by Gavin Hudson
(Tsimshian)
The ocean feeds the salmon, the salmon feed the trees,
the salmon swim upriver depositing their seeds, 
they give their life to the forest in an exchange of energy, 
the promise of renewal becomes a lasting legacy.
The salmon eggs are kept safe in the waters beneath the trees, 
they will hatch and grow, when it’s time they’ll know, 
the river will carry them to sea.
Each depends upon the others, a fragile harmony, 
each one always giving so that all may receive.
This is how the Potlatch is, through the centuries, 
our ancient way of life reflects our shared mutuality.
A land of bountiful abundance and a season of plenty, 
nourishing and nurturing complex societies. 
Salmon fill our bellies, they sustain us annually,
we cook and clean in pristine streams and drink when thirsty.
The forest and the ocean provide generously,
our Elders’ most important lessons: take only what you need,
that we belong to each other, that together we succeed,
that honoring this balance makes us wealthy indeed,
these are the lessons of sustainability.

Then, colonizers came in the name of Christianity, 
bringing with them murderers, thieves and disease,
they preached that we were wicked, our traditions—“devilry.”
Shame was planted in our hearts, a creeping invasive weed, 
its thorny, spiny, winding vines wrapping ‘round our psyche, 
strangling and scarring our Indigenous identity.
Their colonies extracted from the land with brutal efficiency, 
While they forced on us a strange new philosophy: 
“profit at any cost, more money for me me me,” 
and in this we learned the true meaning of poverty.

What has always been intertwined is now unraveling.

How can this be real? Is this a bad dream? 
The plague of hate and trauma breeding toxicity, 
while the voices of our Ancestors fade from memory.
If our ego makes us blind, if we no longer see, 
if we take and take and take some more and horde it selfishly,
if we cannot acknowledge this reality, 
our grand delusion will bring only suffering and misery.
Our world is changing, becoming more extreme, 
we know the pestilence and famine are caused by human beings. 
If we continue on this modern path of greed, 
our children will inherit a global climate catastrophe.

But, it’s not too late to activate, we need your bravery! 
Let us dissolve the false boundary separating you from me, 
allowing us, at last, to heal in love’s remedy.

The salmon are us, literal family, 
so too are we the forest and all its sparkling streams. 
If we are wise, open our hearts, our ears, our eyes, not only shall we see, 
it won’t be long before we hear that soft and gentle song of eternal unity.
We all need each other, every precious species, 
for we are woven together in a great cedar tapestry.

For the exhibition “Indigenous Perspectives on Environmental Injustice, Colonialism and the Global Climate Emergency” at the Museum of Ethnography in Geneva, Switzerland. Gavin Hudson lives in Metlakatla.