The Remedy

Craft has healed many of my own generational wounds and brought me back to spirit. We all need it, whether we know it or not. In the absence of hand-made things, our culture is lost. Just as connecting with our food brings greater meaning to our lives, so connecting with the people who make everyday items brings meaning to the things we use in day to day life.

When items are made by hand, they have their own soul, teachings and memories to share with us. Tradition creates lineage, and that lineage connects us to the birth of time and the creation of the universe.

The photos below are of a sturgeon nose canoe, which I've been enamored with since moving to this region.

The boat was created by a super cool guy I met, Shawn Brigman, http://shawn-brigman.squarespace.com/ who was kind enough to let us paddle her.

Traditionally the skin of the boat was made with inverted Western white pine bark, but we've lost many of that relative to blight decades ago and we are less culturally rich for it.

It's not humans by themselves who create culture. Culture is born out of our relationship with the earth and each other. If you want to save your culture, turn to the earth and begin anew.