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Clan Knowledge
About
20 paces ahead two Deer crossed before me — a yearling and her
barren mother. Were she not barren she would now be with a new fawn
and would have already driven last year’s child away. They are on
their morning way to the well-worn trail across the Bog to browse on
late season Violet that now grows bitter with age under the far
Maples. Then they will descend the north side of the hill and nap
under a thick grove of Balsam Fir to escape mid-day’s biting Flies.
I
know this about the two Deer not just because I know them, but
because I know their Clan. The trail across the Bog is so worn in
that water stands in it year around. The Bushes and low Tree branches
are shaped by their browse and their regularly deposited scat
nourishes conspicuous plant colonies. Had I never met them I would
yet know this of them. Had I not been here for several years I would
know this of their grandparents, and were I not to return for several
years I would know this of their grandchildren. For the cycle of
their lives and the pattern of their movements remains the same, only
the freshness of their bodies change as life begets unto life. For
the daughter literally walks in the footsteps of her mother and so
will also her daughter, the daughter of her daughter and so on.
When
they no longer wander this Forest with me I go to visit them because
I know where they go to die. Though the body of their spirit withers
with each death, it freshens with each birth and walks the continual
unbroken cycle before me, before Squirrel, across this Bog and back
again.
Many
social animals have an intelligence that’s centered not in the
brain but in the Clan Consciousness. This intelligence is contributed
to by each member of the Clan, with each member lending his or her
insight and experiential memory. We see this exhibited in the “think
tanks” and strategy and brain-storming sessions of our species. We
see it in a school of fish or a flock of birds moving together in
choreographed synchronicity.
The
two Deer who just passed before me are exhibiting it in their daily
routine. In the White Season the Old Ones remember that water appears
on the lake above the ice so they can paw through the snow and have
water to drink when otherwise everything else is frozen up. The
weight of the snow bears down on the ice forcing water up between
cracks, it then pools on the surface sometimes getting several inches
deep. The Elders teach this to the Young, who in their turn pass it
on to their grandchildren, and thus it continues on as Clan
knowledge.
The
Elders help span the time between events that occur sporadically,
such as droughts, fires, or exceptionally heavy snows. They hold the
Clan memory so that it can span the generations. For example, if it
were twelve years between droughts, the animals less than twelve
years of age, even though they might be grandparents, would not know
the trails that would take their Clan to water.
Clan
knowledge is cumulative knowledge. Each generation contributes to it.
An individual might discover something new, which, if it continues to
work and contributes to the good of the whole, and she is able to
pass this knowledge onto others, it becomes part of the body of Clan
knowledge. In this way the Clan grows in knowledge and thus grows in
the wisdom which is drawn from it.
Much
like our oral histories this knowledge has a life of its own, which,
in order to survive and passed on needs the generational dimension of
the Clan — the Elders, those in their Middle Season, and the Young.
Like the continual unfolding of the seasons this knowledge is passed
on. If ever there is a season missing, such as the Young dying of
disease, or the Teachers — those in their middle years, being
dwindled by over-hunting, or the Elders — the Wisdom-Keepers, dying
before their time in a harsh Winter, the Clan knowledge falls into
risk of not being passed on.
This
has happened with our Clan knowledge. When we were conquered our
Elders were silenced, our parents were forced to work alien jobs, and
our Young were indoctrinated into other ways. The Clan circle was
broken. And our knowledge quickly died.
The
reverse is also sometimes true: When a Deer migrates to another area
she may teach it to her new kin, who will in turn pass it down, and
thus the Clan knowledge spreads.
Animals
new to an area one inhabited by their kind face a unique challenge:
Imagine if Deer migrated to a new area or were exterminated and
reintroduced. They would not have the Clan knowledge suited to their
new area — they would not know where to find water in the Deep Snow
time or foods in their various seasons, they would not have a
migration pattern, as well as many other knowings that made life good
for those in whose shadow they walk. This is one reason many of the
reintroductions of animals to their ancestral lands fail.
When
some of us hunt we look for a big mature animal, perhaps a “trophy
animal”. When we eliminate such an animal from the Clan we erase
some of the Clan knowledge. For these are the animals in their prime,
the leaders of the Clan, those who are bearing young and teaching
them the ways of the Clan. When we hunt let us be as the Wolf and
take of the Old who have already passed on the Clan knowledge and no
longer have the strength to lead, or of the Young would do not yet
not possess the Clan knowledge and are born in an abundance greater
than The Bosom can bear.
And
in our own Clans let us gather the knowledge before we send our
Elders away and ignore them. For we have not learned things our
Ancestors knew and we are not faring well without it.
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