<html aria-label="message body"><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div dir="auto" style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space; font-size: 22px;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">For You, a Handful of the Greatest Gift</span><br><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Small-eyed, plump, and with black</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">leathery hands, Attaskwa, is composed</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> and debonair</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">as it perches on trampled cat tail reeds</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">beside a quivering, cloud-reflecting pond.</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Filled</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">with cosmogony, he’s exceedingly</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">unselfish,” instructs the branch-shaping</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> sculptor.</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">“Wabami, Look at him, kekenetama,</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">he knows. And he’s elated to oversee</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> what</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">the daylight brings everyday.”</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We focus the camera’s telephoto lens</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> and see</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">details of his coat glittering with drops</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">of luminescent water.</span><br><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">“To our Grandfather, Kemettoemenana,”</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">narrates the sculpture, “he magnanimously</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> agreed after</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">the Last Conflict of the Gods to retrieve</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">a handful of soil from the deep, singular</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> ocean that</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">became land beneath our feet. He</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">set forth unequivocally a doctrine.</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> Listen</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">very closely, my grandchildren,</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">nottisemetike, for you may not hear</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> these words</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">again.” Lifting its black nose</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">to the sky, Attaskwa ambles</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> to the pond’s</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">edge and stops as if to pose</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">before the picture is snapped.</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> Behind us,</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">the sculptor crafts a small</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">dome-shaped skeletal lodge</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> and</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">embeds it to the ground.</span><br><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We wholly agree that each day</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">there are overt and minute changes.</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> Even if we</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">don’t see or if we’re not there, it happens.</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Without Muskrat, our Creation—you</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> and me,</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">would be zero. From the alluvial soil</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">delivered from oceanic depths, we</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> were made</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">thereafter. His courage is brazen like</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">that of a Wetase, Veteran, because he</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> dove</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">unflinchingly to retrieve Earth.</span><br><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Oblivious of our presence, Attaskwa</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">slides into the pond and swims</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> to the middle,</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">creating a cape-like effect of waves</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">behind him that dissipates</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> the blue sky</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">and its clouds. Indicative of his</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">sacrifice, we learn Attaskwa floated</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> lifeless</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">to the surface. In gratitude Earth-maker</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">resurrected him. So when personal</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> contributions</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">are contemplated, ask yourself,</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">my daughter and son, what did I</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> sacrifice?</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Think specifically of what he did.</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Use him, my children, netabenoemetike,</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> as an example</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">of what must be done to rectify</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">society’s misdirection. Only then</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> will our,</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">language, religion, culture, and history</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">thrive in the Muskrat’s benevolent</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> shadow.</span><br><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">As he approaches the mound</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">of his home, Attaskwa looks back</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> at us briefly.</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">And before his cape of waves reaches</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">the shoreline, he dives into the dark</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> green pond.</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Before we pack up the equipment,</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">the sculptor hands us sacred</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> tobacco</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">to sprinkle delicately over</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">the water animal’s architectural</span><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> tranquility.</span><br><br><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Ray Young Bear</span></div></body></html>