The Sunrise
I recently had a dream that reminded me about the connection that our people have with the earth, its inhabitants and with our ancestors.
In the dream, my children and I were standing in front of a painting created by an Indigenous artist called “The Sunrise”. The painting featured a reddish sunrise above a shadowy horizon with water in the foreground, and with the dark silhouette of a bird flying overhead. In the dream, we were standing and looking at the picture with one of our oldest living relatives, Clarence Saylors, who was also a residential school survivor.
One of my kids asked Clarence what he saw in the picture and what it meant to him. Clarence said, “I picture myself viewing the sunrise from shore. At first, I feel gratitude. I am thankful that we have this day, and this sun and planet to wake up to, and for all the beautiful things on our planet. Next, I see the upcoming day and our goal; maybe we are about to put the canoes in the water and continue our journey or hunting trip.”
“The next thing that I see is the bird. The bird is our ancestors reaching out to us; telling us that they will watch over us and guide us on our journey. We know what we know because of them; they are still with us, giving us the benefit of their wisdom with every step we take.”
“Lastly, I see the sunrise from the other side; now it is a sunset. I am now grateful for the day that we had, the distance we have travelled, and that all of us have returned safe to this new shore. I see our ancestors flying home to the spirit world until tomorrow when they will return to guide us again.”
My dream was so vivid and real. It was not like other dreams where people change and morph into other people or other things. These dreams can be meaningful too, but this dream. and its message of wisdom and gratitude, were as clear and realistic as I have written it down here.
Last Fall, I travelled with one of my sons back to our community, where a knowledge-keeper was working to build a birchbark canoe. It was a fantastic opportunity to witness how our ancestors built these extremely light and portable watercrafts hundreds of years ago.
Chuck told me how the canoe is not a thing; it is a member of our family now. It was created from all-natural elements that were living things, each having a spirit of their own kind, and it has been combined now into a new thing, and its spirit has grown. It now supports us and will carry us on our journeys; it is a part of us and a part of our family from this day forward.
Like “The sunrise”, the canoe gave me a vision of how this amazing innovation opened the country for our people, as modern canoes still do now, allowing us to travel across water and portages to find new hunting and trapping grounds, people to trade goods with, or to migrate to another region for one reason or another.
As a tech entrepreneur, I continue to see modern innovation opening countless new frontiers and opportunities. As we innovate, we must continue to listen to the wisdom and teachings of our ancestors and make sure our advancements are sustainable, ethical, and good for all of us as we share this beautiful but finite world we live in.
My dream and Chuck’s description of the canoe becoming a member of our family reminds me of the close connection Indigenous people, and many other people, have with the earth. There is no separation between us and the physical world we live in; we are one with it. As I walk on the ground, I envision roots leaving my feet and joining with the earth. On my morning walks, the animals I walk by look at me, and I look back at them; our eyes and our minds connect in ways much deeper that we are immediately aware of.
Coincidently, on the very same morning as my dream of ‘The Sunrise’, during my early morning walk that comes across a suburban stream, I saw a Great Blue Heron standing in the stream. They are not uncommon where I live, but I have never seen one this close; it was only 2 meters away.
As I got a little too close, it lifted out of the water with its amazing wings and gracefully and effortlessly flew away. It was a simple moment, but it had a deep effect on me spiritually. I was honoured to experience the short visit that we had shared and to be reminded of the beauty of the earth, its inhabitants and the waters and vegetation that sustain us.
We must return to the humble notion that we are not superior to the animals or separate from other living, or even non-living things; we are inextricably connected. We do have the intelligence though, to realize that we are NOT CURRENTLY at one with the earth; we have tipped the balance, and we must tip it back. We must use our intelligence to innovate ways of restoring this balance in the interest of our own kind and all the other living things on our beautiful and precious planet.
Brian Ritchie is the founder and CEO of kama.ai and he is an active member of Chapleau Cree First Nation, the southernmost nation of the Swampy Cree in Ontario.
