Among the Cedars I stand
“The Great One breathes life in the gathering of trees. My spirit slides upward, on the bark of the gargantuan cedar, as it is drawn to the presence of that one who engulfs us from the universe. My feet touch the roots who have carved deep into this Mother Earth, breaking through unliftable rocks to establish a place that will hold the cedar in its place as it breathes of the breath of our forever keeper.
My mind twists and twirls through the rings of time, for this recorder of life on earth has seen things long before any foreign boat sought or touched our beaches. It has seen and recorded fierce storms that it has survived; it has gloried through its leaves the untold risings of the sun and the comforting warmth that only this fire in the sky can give. It has seen the horrible slaughter of my people. It has wept with the mothers of my nations; it has sheltered, even in its own perplexity and anger, the lonely ones of my ancients as they rallied so hard to survive.
And it sees me today, standing beside its majesty. It senses the cedar bark woven so gently with the hair of the mountain goat in my Chilkat Blanket, and it sighs, knowing that the bark of the past, the greatness of the present tree and the loving acknowledger are together here as one. “
Jim Thomas
“kHatsati – “The Great One”
“Shaa Ye Gun” – “Keeper of the Mountain”
My mind twists and twirls through the rings of time, for this recorder of life on earth has seen things long before any foreign boat sought or touched our beaches. It has seen and recorded fierce storms that it has survived; it has gloried through its leaves the untold risings of the sun and the comforting warmth that only this fire in the sky can give. It has seen the horrible slaughter of my people. It has wept with the mothers of my nations; it has sheltered, even in its own perplexity and anger, the lonely ones of my ancients as they rallied so hard to survive.
And it sees me today, standing beside its majesty. It senses the cedar bark woven so gently with the hair of the mountain goat in my Chilkat Blanket, and it sighs, knowing that the bark of the past, the greatness of the present tree and the loving acknowledger are together here as one. “
Jim Thomas
“kHatsati – “The Great One”
“Shaa Ye Gun” – “Keeper of the Mountain”
