"In the Western tradition there is a recognised hierarchy of beings, with, of course, the human on top - the pinnacle of evolution, the darling of Creation - and the plants at the bottom. But in Native ways of knowing, human people are often referred to as "the younger brothers of Creation". We say that humans have the least experience with how to live and thus the most to learn - we must look to our teachers among the other species for guidance. Their wisdom is apparent in the way that they live. They teach us by example. They have seen the earth far longer than we have been, and have had time to figure things out. They live both above and below ground, joining Skyworld to earth. Plants know how to make food and medicine from light and water, and then give it away.
I like to imagine that when Skywoman scattered her handful of seeds across Turtle Island, she was sowing sustenance for the body and also for the mind, emotion, and spirit: she was leaving us teachers. The plants can tell us her story; we need to learn to listen."
Robin Wall Kimmerer - Braiding Sweetgrass (2013). p.9-10
I have been listening. To the whisper of the trees. The creaks. The popping pine cones.
The forest I walk through, am connecting with, has seen people who have left their still visible traces from the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age to the present day... including 500 years of being Royal land...
