Welcome,I am honored by your visit, and I'm grateful for this opportunity to share some of my life with you. Finding resonance with fellow journeyers is one of my life's sublime pleasures, so if after touring this site you'd like to share a page of your story, I'd enjoy receiving it.
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What's Happening?It seems that the older I get, the more capable I am of realizing humans' role in the destiny of our mother-planet. More and more, I am drawn to the tried-and-true ways of indigenous people for the guidance we so desperately need. Unfortunately, what I usually come away with is a sense of alarm at how fast first peoples are losing their sustaining traditions. It's happening in my own family: a modern ranch house surrounded by an expensive golf course-style lawn now replaces the rustic farmstead where as a child I watched Grandmother practice the traditional crafts and food preservation skills of her ancestors. A few months ago, my mate Lety and I were houseguests of Wilfred King and his partner Rosemary. She is the daughter of our elder, Kamgabwikwe, who was also visiting (Lety and I sponsored Anquat, Rosemary's son, at his naming ceremony). Wilfred is chief of the Gull Bay First Nation Ojibwe, whose reserve is a 2 1/2 hour road trip north of Thunder Bay, Ontario. He told us a story of cultural change and loss that stirred memories in me of Grandmother's bygone era. And yet, he was not at all defeatist--he expressed hope for the renewal of his people's ways, along with a desire for reasoned integration of new ways. Every story has a spirit that enters the heart of the listener, and Wilfred's story was empowered by the Thunderbird, fabled guardian of the sky realm and creator of life-giving storms. Our gracious hosts took us up on nearby Mount Thunderbird, where their young people go to fast and seek their Visions. It is said that the Thunderbirds are alive and well on the Mount, where they come back to roost when clouds shroud the peak. In the shadow of the peak, we talked about times past and the prophecies of times to come. Wishing to make Wilfred's story available to Natives and non-Natives who might gain inspiration from it, I asked Wilfred if I could record and share it. I am grateful to be given the privilege of carrying the story to you, which you can find here. To help Thunderbird spirit travel on with the story, Wilfred asked me to caretake the Thunderbird coat he received from the Saskatchewan Plains Cree. Recently Lety and I spent the day with three generations of the McGeshicks, a respected family of the Sokoagon Ojibwe Band, who reside on a reservation near us. Family members include a former tribal chairman and vice chairman, and the current coalition coordinator for the Great Lakes Intertribal Council. We met to explore the possibility of working together on a Native diet project. It might seem bad enough that diabetes and obesity now affect so many people that they are considered epidemic, where with Indian people these maladies have gone beyond epidemic to catastrophic. Recent research has shown that returning to one's ancestral diet can not only restore health but prevent the onset of these insidious afflictions. Along with a PhD in nutrition, I am writing a book on Native diet, and we have been invited to submit a proposal to the Great Lakes Intertribal Council to work with the local tribes in setting up diet and nutrition programs. So many times I have heard the elders say, Giving is receiving, and I consider it a great honor to now be able to give some small things in return for all I have received. Click here for an archive of Tamarack's updates. gfg |
Current WritingBlossoming the Child: Native-inspired Ways of Unparenting and Encouraging Childwisdom Blossoming is also geared to a second audience -- adults who have lost touch with their inner child. This includes almost everyone who has been raised by the accepted methods of today's society. Forthcoming BooksBeing a prolific writer, I usually have a couple of book projects going. The following titles will soon be off to publishers, freeing the front burners for a direct communication book, a traditional story primer for teachers and storytellers, and a collection of tracking stories.
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