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The grassland landscape has shaped every part of my life.

I understand this land as my great mother, her soft roundness and curves, and the whispers of citronella and sage. The ground has so much wisdom and power.

Then there is her vision. I tried to explain to my friends who were born in this city that living fully, clearly, and openly on the horizon will change your perspective. Straight lines, the combination of heaven and earth, and the rising and setting of the sun all tie you in the big circle.

The world is so vast and the stars are so deep. You are here to testify.

Sacredness

I think my growing up experience is very good for traditional West Indian girls.

I grew up in Saskatchewan with a white mother. I also have “Ann and Weiss Charter” (“Medical Wolf Woman” and “Long Feather”), close friends of my surrogate family and mother, who knew me before I didn’t know me.

Our residence is full of indigenous and African religions. I now realize how lucky I am. Their knowledge provides a center beyond the realm of whiteness.

Aunt Anne always thinks of who I am. Uncle Weiss guided me with the sacred order of nature and the power of the medicine wheel. His teaching echoes the Ma’at principle of Africa, the sacred balance and the order of the universe. The thoughts related to my spirit are synchronized.

When they smoked on the kitchen table every time they visited, they shared their memories, joy and sadness.

Ann and Wes brought a sense of sacredness to my life. Their teaching is consistent with the horizon. When I listened, I heard the sunrise.

It makes perfect sense.

Create honor

My father left the United States for the United States when I was nine years old. Nevertheless, he was quietly in the background, always teaching me the way of ancestors and the beauty of African spiritual philosophy.

My African name makes me very angry. Just like the staff, it is everywhere, walking in front of me. Every time I write it out in symbolic form, I will find new discoveries for myself and the targets in the big circle.

My African and indigenous elders instilled the honor of creation in various forms. Knowledge from both cultures is seamlessly intertwined in my life. They never deviated from the key. The truth of the matter was exposed.

Aunt Ann has never spoken.

“You are very lucky. You have to remember Africa and go home one day. Where are we going? This is our home; we have nowhere to go.”

Sadness is different, but I understand. It runs as deep as mine.

Infinite sky and deep stars

The unspeakable sadness in my bones forced me to move to the Bahamas. I am here to teach my community and do my best to help recover.

I was surrounded by black people and was welcomed among the black people on these islands. It gave me such an overwhelming peace.

I often tell my island family that my prairie raising is not much different from their life. The factors that shaped them also shaped me.

There are infinite sky and deep stars on both sides. The grassland land was once the bottom of the sea. If you open your eyes, you can still find some fossilized shells and trilobites in some fields around the old wife lake near Moose Jaw.

They are sister landscapes with the same infinite vision. Only the color has been changed. The soft brown, green and gold I grew up turned into bright turquoise, blue-green and jade.

The sky is alive within you, and straight lines are your lasting companions in your own life journey.

I continue to draw and study the symbol of Akhet-the rising light of dawn-and the four directions of the Medicine Wheel. I see that they are similar in shape, form and meaning.

Both remind me to keep in touch with my spirit, my people and my path. Both reminded me to look up at the sky from time to time, amazed.

The Blacks on the Prairie project is supported by the Canadian Blacks Organization.For more stories about the experience of black Canadians, check out Become a black Canadian here.