Thought and Memory

2017
Pen and ink on archive quality paper
31.5” x 36”

The shaman's spirit helpers, his connection to the spirit world, assist the shaman in his connection to the physical world.

They remind him of the season of the caribou: birthing times, when they pass the winter homes, when they return inland again.

They remind him of the tides of the seals: when they come up on the ice to breed, when they group up to move north, when they are fat enough that they won't sink if you kill them.

They remind him of the long gathering days of summer and the short leaner days of winter and what we must do to survive both and from where...

Now they remind his grandson's grandson, there was a time when the land, sea and the air were a part of us and we were but a part of it. There was a time when you ate what the land provided; there were lean times as well as fat.

There was a time when we didn't need a license to feed our families. There was a time when we needn't worry that our water was poisoned. A time when it was hard, but it was worth while for we had a sense of freedom.

Now those times to him are just a part of someone else's Thought and Memory.