Saturday, May 26, 2007
A Brighter Future
When my Irish ancestors left Belfast in 1767, they brought their four kids, hope for a brighter future, and a harp. As an emblem signifying harmony, the harp--although played throughout the Celtic isles--is most closely identified with the island of Ireland. No longer displayed as the symbol of the Irish nation, however, it nevertheless provides the basis for the green-white-and-orange flag of the Irish Republic, which represents the aspiration for the Irish people to live in harmony.
Here in my adopted homeland of North America, the harmonizing of humans with each other and the rest of the Creator's domain has fallen on the shoulder's of the First Nations who helped my family to prosper and live well. As a modern representative from another tribe of salmon people far away, I am connected across the distance and time by the timeless sea and the fabric of life that unites us.
While not an indigenous person, I am yet part of that domain, and as a guest still learning the ways of the new homeland my ancestors first set eyes on from a ship at sea (as I did theirs), I am, like them, hopeful for a brighter future. Perhaps unlike them, though, my hope is guided by the knowledge that First Nations must now take the leadership role in this great harmonizing that the descendants of European immigrants have sadly neglected. Understanding that colossal failure, and subordinating our good-hearted efforts to the new indigenous leadership, is the first but vital step.
Here in my adopted homeland of North America, the harmonizing of humans with each other and the rest of the Creator's domain has fallen on the shoulder's of the First Nations who helped my family to prosper and live well. As a modern representative from another tribe of salmon people far away, I am connected across the distance and time by the timeless sea and the fabric of life that unites us.
While not an indigenous person, I am yet part of that domain, and as a guest still learning the ways of the new homeland my ancestors first set eyes on from a ship at sea (as I did theirs), I am, like them, hopeful for a brighter future. Perhaps unlike them, though, my hope is guided by the knowledge that First Nations must now take the leadership role in this great harmonizing that the descendants of European immigrants have sadly neglected. Understanding that colossal failure, and subordinating our good-hearted efforts to the new indigenous leadership, is the first but vital step.
