What does this have to do with us?

A letter to my child

Abstract

What does this have to do with us? You ask me versions of this question when we’re talking about what you’ll wear for Orange Shirt Day at school, or when I do something that seems strange to you like put a copy of the book Treaty Words: For as Long as the Rivers Flow up on our picture ledge in the living room.

Hearing this question always makes my heart constrict. Have I failed as your parent, that I haven’t already infused this knowledge into your bloodstream? Tied it to your hands and bound it on your forehead, as truths that must not be forgotten? I see it as a core responsibility for your dad and me to raise you in a good way where you know your ancestors, know your community members, and know how we are connected in the web of life in the world. We are treaty people, part of living, generational covenants with the original caretakers of the land where we live and with all nations, the human and non-human world that we are connected to in relationship together.