Wasioto

Reflections inspired by Wasioto (AKA the Cumberland River)

Can you teach me to be human?

Human in the way we are animals
and part of the land

In the way we are capable of surviving and thriving
but only in community

Human in the interdependent way
A way that makes life
An abundant way
Full of gifts and struggle
Not exploitative, not a lie
Human as in mutually beneficial for all

Human in grief and joy
And in need of accountability
In connection to spirit
and love

Human in the way we are gifted with what we need
In the way we think about 7 generations ahead of us
and in the gratitude and responsibility this way of thinking brings

Dearest teachers,
May I be a part of the ‘we’
May I learn the ways of human beings
May I make choices that make our future possible
And repair my relationship with the land and therefore myself and therefore the land and…

Help me understand -
How did you survive?
How do I survive?
How will we survive… thrive?

If I sit and listen by this river long enough,
Promise you’ll tell me?

During a visit with my mom to Nashville, TN to visit my sister and her wife, I visited Wasioto River (aka the Cumberland River). While researching Indigenous history of Middle Tennessee, I learned that the Shawnee people called the river Wasioto (meaning “mountains where the deer are plentiful”). I learned that in Nashville, the river is a certified site of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail where in 1938 & 1939, Native Americans were forcibly removed from the lands that their people had been tending to for thousands of years. The space, its abundance+pain, and my learning of its history of struggle+love inspired this little writing.