Gunalcheesh (thank you in Tlingit)

Last Friday, I saw the Alaska Kuteeyaa Dancers at the Squaxin Tribe's Museum. They are a group of Alaska Natives, mostly Tlingits, who live in the Washington State/Salish Sea area. The dance group was a dream of a brother of one of the members to keep Tlingits and other Alaska Natives in this area connected to their Alaska Native culture. It was wonderful to see the dance group again, especially since I have been a little but directionally dishevled since returning from the Canoe Journey on August 4th. On Friday evening, I finally (physically) unpacked from the Canoe Journey, washing the Salish Sea out of my gear.

Before the meal was served at the Skokomish Elders Picnic on Saturday, a friend got up to the mic and spoke to the significance of the recent return of canoe families from this year's journey. He then asked pullers in attendance (from all nations) to come up and "sing our spirits back." He explained to the audience that so much of our souls are still out on that water that we needed to call ourselves back.

I really appreciated the call to do that, because it was both relevant and needed. For the past few weeks, I had been working to integrate what I had learned on the journey—I was not lost, per se—but I had definitely been swirling because I had been re-evaluating the universe so much. I have felt more transparent, as if my skin is less of a barrier between me and the rest of the world. Maybe that's part of the understanding I'm approaching: that there is no separation between me and the rest of the world, or even between me and the universe. I am part of all of it, "steeped in its burning layers," as Teilhard says (see previous post). In the past weeks, my heart had felt like a strong magnet was pulling it towards the Canal on my way to work every day, so getting up there at the Elders Picnic and calling our spirits back was a great thing. My parents got to witness that too, which is awesome.

The journey was an amazing & pivotal experience and it was such a privilege & honor to pull. Every time I try to count my blessings, I realize that they can’t be counted or even named, but that they are overlapping within me.

I hope the summer is in all ways beautiful for you and your family.