Many moons ago when times were hard for the people, the great Eagle had to travel far in search for answers on how to better help the First Nations Peoples. They had been forced to give up their children to these horrible monsters called Indian Residential Schools.
These monsters were awful and consumed all who entered their mouths. Once the great mouths closed, all the ways about the children were then lost and forgotten. They no longer remembered who they were and they could no longer see the great Eagle in the skies above.
The Eagle never forgot them but still, being scared lonely little children, they believed that they were no longer loved and that they were forgotten by their families, their communities, and their spirit helpers. They had become The Lost Children.
It was about this time when the Raven began to appear in the sky looking down upon the people. Once the most vain and beautiful bird, the raven would bathe in the sunlight showing off his plumage of rainbow colors. The Raven took great pride in representing all the people of the earth. There was no need for Raven to be a large bird so he enjoyed being smaller nestled in the safety of never having to prove himself.
When the children disappeared from the communities the mothers would cry and the elders would cry. The cries were heard by the Raven and his heart grew so heavy that he had grown also. His beautiful rainbow plumage had become a pure black color. So black that when people gazed upon him he at times appeared to be blue.
Raven could no longer stand to see the people so unhappy so he called a meeting of other Ravens and they decided that some of them would be left behind. These are the smaller black birds we see flying around today still, but they are not as noticed as the raven. The heartbroken large Ravens began to come up with ways to give the Lost Children hope.
Many of the lost children remembered hearing stories about the Great Eagle who used to come and hear and take the prayers of the First Nations People up to the creator. They also knew that even their prayers had become lost, replaced with praying like a society they did not know. How could they know, they were not from this society and they could never fit in. No matter how they tried.
Now, Ravens had taken it into their own hands. They agreed that since the Great Eagles were so busy trying to hear and answer all the prayers and therefore could not reach all of the people, that they would have to bring hope to the people.
Today, being a descendant of the Lost Children, many times when I am feeling lost, I look up into the sky and I see the shadows of great birds. I see them soaring way above and for minutes, I am in awe. I feel blessed and I am full of hope and my day has been made.
Many times though, because I am a curious woman, I wait and look until I can see, that it is not the Great Eagle who soars high above my head. It is the Raven. Strong and powerful letting me know that the creator still hears my prayers today. That there will always be hope. All one has to do is look for a way...
- ©Simone McLeod - March 3rd, 2014
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