I give thanks
that I can stand.
It is good, it is so.
For all the blessings
of our lives.
It is good, it is so.
Welcome,
beloved viewers,
to Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants.
Today we’ll visit
with Dr. Joseph Bruchac,
whose ancestry is
European and Abenaki,
a people indigenous
to the northeastern US
and Canada.
In Abenaki culture,
animals are held
in utmost respect.
They’re not just animals,
they’re animal people,
and are equal to and
in some cases superior
to human beings, because
we say there were
original instructions
given by nature or
by the Creator to all of us
and human beings are
always forgetting them.
But the animals tend
to remember,
to take care of
their young ones,
for example, to be part of
their own community
and to be able to
live in a way
that will not destroy
where they are
for future generations.
The award-winning author
of more than 70 books
for children and adults,
Dr. Bruchac also shares
his indigenous heritage
through poetry,
short stories, novels,
anthologies and music.
He is most known
for his bestseller,
“Keepers of the Earth:
Native American Stories
and Environmental
Activities for Children”
and subsequent books
in the “Keepers” series.
The Native Writers Circle
of the Americas
honored him with
the Lifetime Achievement
Award in 1999.
He is also the founder
and director
of the Ndakinna
Education Center
in Greenfield,
New York, USA
which informs the public
about Native American
culture
particular to the region
and teaches children
and adults about nature.
Now let’s hear from
Dr. Bruchac to learn
how understanding
animals’ lives and traits
through traditional wisdom
helps us reflect
on ourselves with
a deeper sense of meaning
and moral awareness.
The idea of totem,
which actually comes
from an Algonquian word,
“dotm,” which implies
family or relative,
is a term that’s used now
all over the world
to talk about
when some person
or family or community
identifies very strongly
with a particular animal,
sometimes to the point of
saying that those animals
were actually,
physically relatives.
So the totem animal
usually relates to family
or clan.
What is Dr. Bruchac’s
family’s animal totem?
Certainly
bears are very important
to our family.
We feel a very strong
connection to them.
The bear is an animal
which is very loyal
to its family,
may be slow moving,
appear to be peaceful.
My two sons,
Jim and Jesse,
both have bear paws
tattooed onto their calves.
And we’ve been told
we’re a bit
like bears ourselves.
We have that kind of
perhaps slow
or deliberate nature.
But we also can
exhibit strength
if we need to,
but not for no reason.
It has to be
for a good reason,
as with the bear.
In his book
on animal totems
called “Animal Speak,”
Ted Andrews writes,
“Meditating and working
with bear will help you to
go within your soul's den,
your inner sanctum -
to find your answers.”
And he knows
the medicines.
We say the bear knows
the plants to eat
when he is sick.
If he has a headache,
a bear will chew the tips
of the willow tree,
which contains the same
chemical compound
that you’ll find in aspirin.
So we would
follow bears around,
I think some of the older
people used to do this.
They’d observe
what a bear ate,
and usually we could eat
exactly what a bear ate,
and if that bear was sick
and we had
the similar sickness,
we could turn
to that particular
natural medicine.
The Abenakis and
other indigenous groups
in North America,
such as the Iroquois
and the Menominee,
have many beautiful stories
about animals.
Here are two stories
about bears.
I’ll tell you
a very brief version
of a traditional story
that’s found
throughout the continent,
and the basic message
of the story
is about the importance
of caring for your children.
In this story
among the Abenakis
it said that a boy was lost
among the Iroquois;
it said that a boy was
abandoned by his father.
Whichever the case
it might be, that boy was
adopted by the bears.
And the bears began
to take care for him.
They adopted him
as family, especially
the mother bear.
And as he traveled around
with these bears,
each time the bear cubs
scratched him,
hair grew on his body that
grew thicker and thicker,
until he looked like
a bear himself.
And when he was finally
found, in some cases
a party of people find him,
in other cases
the father or the uncle
who abandoned him
finds him, immediately
that father or uncle
apologizes
for his bad behavior,
says he understands
how he was wrong,
and he’s seen
what the bear has done,
and wishes to do
the same thing, to be
as caring for the child
as the bear was.
There’s a Menominee story
in the Midwest
about a girl
who’s lost in the snow
for several days,
a little girl,
everyone is sure
that she’s died, and then
she’s found sleeping
with the bears
inside the bears’ cave,
completely safe and well.
So that to me
is an example of a story
that teaches
on a number of levels.
It gives us respect
for the animals,
but it also reminds us
of our place
and our proper role.
Along with the bear,
the wolf is held
in high regard
by the Native Americans.
Both animals
show great care
in raising their offspring.
Among wolves,
all members of a pack
are involved
in the care of pups.
If for some reason
a mother or father
is unable to look after
their own pups,
another member of the pack
will adopt the youngsters
or even serve
as a babysitter.
Despite this
mixed social behavior
in raising pups,
wolf packs live by
carefully defined rules,
where each member
knows his or her position,
function within
a hierarchical structure,
and relationship
to everyone else.
However,
this system of governance
is neither autocratic
nor democratic, but both.
As Ted Andrews notes,
the wolf totem
“can teach you
how to use ritual
to establish
order and harmony
within your own life”
and to understand
that “true freedom
requires discipline.”
The wolves teach us
that every adult
has responsibility
for every child
in their community.
We all have to
take equal care.
They teach us
how to sing together.
So there’s that,
we regard the animals
as teachers, and
certainly as co- equals,
and as I said,
often as those who know
more than we do.
Our next animal totem
is the turtle.
Turtles symbolize longevity
as they live to a great age
and are considered sacred
in many cultures
across the world.
In our traditions, often
the turtle is the creature
that holds the Earth
on their back.
Many traditional stories
among, for example,
the Haudenosaunee
and other Iroquois people
talk about how woman
fell from the sky,
carrying with her seeds
from the sky tree, and
that the water creatures,
for there was no land then,
saw her coming
and started diving down
to bring up Earth
for her to stand on,
and put it
on the back of the turtle.
And as the Earth was
spread out, it became
the North American
continent.
So it’s often said,
even in California (USA),
where a similar story
is told among
our native people, when
there’s an earthquake,
turtle is stretching.
Turtle is moving around
underneath there,
and of course
plate-tectonic theory,
which is very scientific,
talks about
the moving plates
beneath the Earth
as if it were alive.
So there’s something
to that symbolically too.
One of my books is called
“Thirteen Moons
On Turtle’s Back,” and
it’s based on the fact that
the turtle has 13 plates.
Every turtle has 13 plates
on their back.
I’ve seen turtles
all over the world
and they all have those
13 plates on their back.
Sea turtles, yes, yes, and
there are 28 smaller ones
around the outside.
There’s approximately 28
days from one full moon
to the next and 13 within
a given cycle of years.
So this is one of my books,
“Thirteen Moons
on Turtle’s Back.”
Indigenous groups
in the Americas
like the Cree people love
frogs very much as well.
Among the Cree,
the fourth moon
is called “frog moon.”
It’s a story of how
the animals got together
to talk about
how long winter would be.
And the beaver said
“It should be as long as
there are hairs
on my back.”
All the other animals
had ideas,
but the frog said,
“No, it should be
as many moons as
there are toes on my foot.”
So there are four moons
of winter.
And every year the frogs
sing when spring comes
to celebrate their victory
in making winter
not too long.
To conclude
today’s program
on the animal totems,
we would like to present
a lovely poem about toads
by Dr. Bruchac entitled
“Birdfoot’s Grandpa.”
The old man must
have stopped our car
two dozen times
To climb out
and gather into his hands
The small toads
blinded by our lights
Leaping live drops of rain.
The rain was falling,
a mist
around his white hair
And I kept saying
“Get back in,
you can’t save them all.
We’ve got places to go”
But knee-deep in
the summer roadside grass
He just smiled and said
“They’ve got places
to go to, too”
Thank you, Joseph Bruchac,
for informing us about
the splendid traditions
of your people,
and for sharing
your profound wisdom
and understanding.
May we all look
more deeply into stories
told by
the indigenous peoples
and put into practice
the hidden lessons
of the animal world!
For more details
on Joseph Bruchac
or the Ndakinna
Education Center,
please visit
www.JosephBruchac.com
or
www.NdakinnaCenter.org
Books and CDs
by Dr. Bruchac
are available at
www.NativeAuthors.com
Kindhearted viewers,
thank you
for your company today
on our program.
Coming up next is
Enlightening Entertainment
after Noteworthy News.
May the inspiration
we get from animals’ lives
always help us
better appreciate
their loving presence!