This past weekend Nana and I were given the extraordinary privilege to camp with Hubie Jim and George Manuel Jr at Mt Currie.
The Indigenous wisdom shared was both enlightening and practical.
Hubie has been fire keeping on the mountain since 2000 when a group of Canadian and Japanese investors set their sights on developing the mountain into a ski resort much the likes of Whistler. The local St’át’imc People opposed the development and united together to occupy the land to preserve it for the grizzly bears, mountain goats, cougars and all our other relations on the land.
As soon as you cross the bridge from Hwy 99 onto the land you can feel the beating of the Earth via the pulsing of the fire. We were tasked with climbing high on the mountain to gather fallen logs to bring down and chop up for the fire. We were taught how to use ropes and chains to pull the logs down steep slopes and were informed that this becomes easier in the winter as Hubie says he sometimes even can ride the logs down
the frozen chute. We were told how important it is to maintain our connection with the plants and that they want to be touched to reciprocate their love. George showed me how to lean with my back on a giant old fir to feel its aura and medicine. He also showed me how after hours of mushroom picking on the steep slopes
without water you can take a certain tree’s sap into your mouth which produces salivation and gets rid of your dry mouth and thirst.
Hubie has many messengers on the land – especially the birds who let him know when visitors have parked off the highway. Perhaps the most powerful messenger is the living water flowing out of and down the mountain into the many pools and creeks that lead down to the main river. We were gifted the opportunity to bathe in the pools daily and feel rebirthed each morning. Hubie says to take your worries to the water and let her take them away. Any addictions can be healed by consciously asking the water to
take them away. It was humbling and liberating to be carrying water for dishes and splitting logs for the fire. The simple life. I felt absolutely free and alive and grateful the cougars and grizzlies let us sleep in our tent unhindered.
We were taught to not wear any creams containing tallow or certain fragrances as
this would make us prime prey for the grizzly. We were told we were being watched by a cougar and a grizzly on one of our bushwalks and that they will remember our smell and not bother us in the future as they now know Nana and I are fellow protectors of the Earth.
I forgot to bring the rain cover for our tent (of course) so we prayed each evening for the rain to stay away even though it was forecast to fall both nights we camped. Instead, we got a glorious unhindered view of all the stars and planets above shining their love brightly down on us. The experience will stay with me forever and I cannot wait to return for more wisdom sharing and
connection to Mother Earth.
For a little read of the history click the link below.
Sutikalh - http://www.sutikalh.resist.ca/background.htm
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