I pick up a pile of broken-up firewood to put into our wood arbor and see that each stick is unique in its shape, color. Branches from different trees that grew and fell, or died with the tree from which we harvested. Now they will serve as fuel for our warmth, cooking, light, comfort. My heart fills with gratitude. As I go through the day, I reflect on how so many of the tools that we use are gifted to us by trees, by animals, and by rocks. Denise is working on crafting a basket for a few days now. She sits in the summer arbor, which is roofed with Birchbark and peat. The floor is Balsam Fir boughs with an additional layer of hair-covered Deerskins which we periodically shake out and keep out of water’s way. The basket she makes is for storing dried Suckerfish which we caught and preserved a little while ago by drying and smoking – now they need to be kept in a dry container. It is made of Birchbark – the skin of Birch trees, and rawhide – the skin of Deer. Our wigwams are roofed with Birchbark, lashed with Spruceroot and rawhide. Some of us wear the laboriously processed skins of Deer as a second skin on our bodies – buckskin clothing. Tomas is building a canoe made of Wood and Rawhide. I have a trap-line which helps to supplement our diet, the traps made of Wood, occasionally weighed down with Stones. Stones help to form the circle of our hearth where the fire, kindled by one of our the wooden Cedar firekits, dances. Sometimes we put little Stones directly into the fire to receive his heat, and then transfer them into our Wooden bowls to render the fat and cook the greens. And the list goes on! Pack-frames, scraping beams, paddles, rope, bows, etc etc etc. To be fair – we use Metal too. Knives, tomahawks, needles, awls, scraper-blades, files. I am grateful for metal, yet hope to one day replace his friendship with the greater intimacy of Stone and Bone. And that is how we survive, live thrive. We have big brains, agile hands, language to share information. We are crafty tool users, and we are given much by our cousins. As one comes to understand this, he can only be grateful.
Alex