Tribal Journey by Gary Robinson

Author:Gary Robinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781939053879
Publisher: Book Publishing Company

Chapter 7

The Canoe Family

That’s when the dream started. Every night for a week I’d see the same thing in my sleep.

I was walking through a forest near a clear running stream. Tall, majestic cedar trees stood all around me. A woodpecker in one nearby tree was tap-tap-tapping on the tree’s trunk. He tapped so hard the tree fell over and landed in the stream. I walked over to look at the fallen tree.

A large black bird, a raven, flew down and landed on the tree. That’s when he spoke to me. And that’s when I always woke up. But I never could remember what the raven said. Finally I told my mom about the dream. She said she’d speak to Mr. Franks about it.

“Why Mr. Franks?” I asked.

“Because he’s a wise man,” she said. “He knows about such things.”

The following Saturday a large crowd of people of all ages gathered at the canoe. The class members were there, but I didn’t know the rest of them. Everyone seemed to know who I was though.

“Who are all these people?” I asked Billy, who stood near the canoe.

“The canoe family,” he answered. “You’ll find out in a minute what this is about. Stay up here with me.”

Mr. Franks stepped up to the canoe’s bow. He began singing a prayer song. The crowd grew quiet. The song was similar to the one he sang the first day I met him.

When he finished he said, “I’ve called this meeting of our canoe family for a couple of reasons. Billy, you go first.”

“I’ve been watching for a sign that would tell me what name this canoe would go by,” Billy said. “You know, every Salish canoe has a spirit. That spirit speaks to those who create the canoe and use it. I’m happy to say we have the name.”

Then Mr. Franks spoke again.

“I want you all to meet Jason Morgan,” he said as he put a hand on my shoulder. “You’ve no doubt heard about him, his terrible accident, and the contribution he’s been making as a carver.”

People in the crowd nodded. Some spoke a few words in their—our—native language.

“Jason is the one who has given us the name for our canoe,” he added.

No one was more shocked to hear that than me. What was he talking about?

“Jason dreamed the dream given by the cedar tree spirit guide, the woodpecker,” he continued.

“In his dream, the raven flew down and landed on the cedar tree. Thus the spirit of Raven gave his permission and his blessing on the canoe. So from this moment forward our canoe is the Raven Canoe. And we are the Raven Canoe Family. We’ll have a canoe-naming ceremony when the carving is complete.”

I certainly wasn’t expecting this. They gathered around me and congratulated me.

Everyone in the group raised their hands, palms up, moving them up and down. This was the traditional Salish gesture of thanks that I’d seen as a child.

They were all so happy. I was surprised and happy too. I wasn’t sure what it all meant, but I realized it was still good to go with the flow.

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