An extraordinary and unique contact took place on Monday 16th November 2020, bringing together the people of Highland Scotland, Native America and India. The Native American hosts pictured above are Mr William Snell (centre), Ms Ada Bends (right) and Mr Les Left Hand (left).
The virtual event opened from the spectacular setting of Foulis Castle in the Highlands with a welcome address from Clan Chief, Hector Munro. This was an uplifting, inspirational event making a timely connection with the Indian festival of Diwali, celebrated at the weekend, with its message of light and hope.
Photo: Foulis Castle ©Nick Sidle/Heartstone all rights reserved
What began as a small Heartstone project with Heartstone’s photographer, Nick Sidle, documenting the landscapes, plants and animals of the Munro lands and the connection of the people with it over many centuries, with the support and funding from the Clan Munro Association, grew into a bigger project covering the north shore of the Cromarty Firth with the additional support and funding from the Port of Cromarty Firth, Northern Meeting Charity and special permission from the MoD for drone flights into restricted military training airspace for the project.
Photo: Fyrish Monument ©Nick Sidle/Heartstone all rights reserved
That beginning then grew into a route to bring together the people of Highland, the American Indian Tribes and India through an unlikely connection, an animal to be found through its relatives in all three locations – the badger. The animal with its distinctive black and white stripes and mysterious behaviour at night, including the badger tracks by which they find their way, has been the inspiration for numerous stories, from folklore and now, in our time, as one of the main characters of ‘The Heartstone Odyssey’.
Photo: Badger ©Nick Sidle/Heartstone all rights reserved
Clan Chief Hector Munro, pictured above with his wife, Alpha, began with a presentation about the importance of the environment to the people of the past and present and his hopes for the future, highlighting one theme – the need for greater communication and working together in a globalised world and particularly now. He emphasised the need to protect and preserve the environment and spoke of the impact of climate change which is already being seen in his daily life as a farmer in the Highlands. The changes in the seasons, the direct effect on insects, birds and other creatures and his own crops means climate change cannot be ignored, an issue which he feels passionately about and which, in his case, affects livelihoods, not just his own but that of many families resident in the area.
Alpha Munro, musician and leader of Kiltearn Fiddlers, also has a strong personal interest in medicinal plants. She presented the importance of many different examples found on the Munro lands, and spoke of the history of their use stretching back over hundreds of years to the Beatons, a family of doctors closely associated with the Munros. Interestingly, this was mirrored by William Snell’s own ancestry. His grandmother was the famous Pretty Shield, the medicine woman of the Crow Nation, who similarly used a wide range of medicinal plants. The event demonstrated the close bond the people of these different cultures have had with the natural world which surrounds them over many centuries and the role it has played in their lives. To find out more, follow the link below to ‘Planted for Life’ detailing some of the most important plants found on the Munro lands: https://nicksidled706.myportfolio.com
Photo: Betony ©Nick Sidle/Heartstone all rights reserved
Sitakumari, dancer/storyteller and Director of Heartstone, pictured above hosted the event and presented the story of Cùra, the Scottish badger character in ‘The Heartstone Odyssey’ series of books which provided the connection with all three cultures. In the story, Cùra has a magical encounter with ghost moths at a wooden bridge in the deepest part of one night. He is watched by Chandra, the heroine of ‘The Heartstone Odyssey’, who remembers the story of a family during the Land Clearances in Scotland who had died whilst crossing the same bridge 200 years ago. Cùra helps the spirits of the people ‘cross over’ to continue their journey into the next world. His name, in Gaelic, means ‘guardian’.
Photo: Sitakumari with Indian Classical dance mudra (hand gesture) – Ghost Moth
Iain MacIlleChiar, pictured above, local resident and Gaelic speaker, welcomed the assembled representatives of Crow, Assiniboine, Cree, Blackfeet, Sioux and Lakota tribes, brought together by the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council for this event, and through them, to other famous tribes on the edge of the Rocky Mountains. The welcome was made in Gaelic, inviting response from Ada Bends in the Crow tongue, in essence making the bond of respect between the cultures through their languages.
The central role of the badger and the natural world in the traditional stories and lives of the tribes followed. William Snell gave a captivating and eye-opening presentation, which took everyone into the world of the American Indians today. He described how every part of the Teepee or Lodge has a connection with the environment in its construction for the people of the Apsaalooke (Crow) people, with the badger being essential for its foundations, its claws symbolic of the strength needed to keep the Tipi rooted to the ground.
Photo: Teepees – RMTLC
Terry Tatsey of the Blackfeet tribe, pictured above, shared the difficulties of preserving the cultural traditions, including the language, in a world where families still have to live with the split which followed the creation of the 49th parallel in 1846. Backed by a wall of photographs of his ancestors across multiple generations, Terry vividly brought to life how important it is for current generations to continue to respect, protect and preserve the world shared by all. The badger fur is included in his traditional headdress demonstrating the central role played by the animal within his tribe.
To make the connection with the Hindu Festival of Diwali, which had started just two days before this event, Nila Joshi, founder of the Edinburgh Women’s Interfaith Group, assembled a group cutting across several faiths, together with traditional lights and sweets, for a ceremony in the Craigmillar Woodland Park surrounding Edinburgh, with the theme of ‘light from the darkness’, a fitting theme for the current time and making the connection between all those present for the event.
The close of the event was left to the badgers. A short video clip of a badger in a Scottish woodland location taken the night before showed him purposefully following a badger track. As Sitakumari said in her closing statement, most would say the badger was looking for food – but what if he was out for some other mysterious purpose…..
At a time when all those involved have been sadly personally affected by the impact of Covid-19, the event provided a strong uplifting and inspirational moment, a celebration of what is shared and a ray of hope for the future.
Heartstone and the organisation’s partners in Highland, India and the American Indian Tribes brought together through this project will be building on this contact over the coming months.
Sitakumari said:
‘This event has brought people together across nationalities, cultures and backgrounds in a unique way, to share and celebrate a common humanity, at a timely moment for everyone.’
Clan Chief, Hector Munro said:
“The contact with the groups particularly the American Indians was inspiring, they share so many values, ancient traditions, and tragic history with the Highland Clans”
Walks With The Pipe (aka William Snell, Director of the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council) said:
“It was an honor to share some of our cultural ways with our brothers and sisters in Scotland as we come together to learn from each other during these uncertain times. The presentations were a “breath of fresh air” as we strive for a brighter futures for all people. I want to encourage the young “student warriors” to never lose hope and keep your heads high. Always your friend.”
The “Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders’ Council (RMTLC)” is a tribally owned entity, a consortium (group) of Indian tribal leaders from the United States which include Montana, Wyoming and Idaho that share similar interests and goals and are united in the preservation of our lands, sovereignty, culture and kinship systems, by building healthy communities and a brighter future for our people.
American Indian Presenters who took part in the event:
Mr William Snell is the current Director of the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders’ Council, which represents the Blackfeet, Chippewa Cree, Fort Belknap Indian Community, Assiniboine and Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, Crow, Little Shell of Montana, Confederated Salish & Kootenai, Eastern Shoshone, Northern Arapaho, Shoshone Bannock.
Mr. Snell is known by the Crow Tribe as “Brave Hawk” and “Walks With The Pipe” by the Assiniboine’s. His father was member of the Assiniboine Tribe and his mother was a member of the Crow Tribe. He is a child of the Greasy Mouth Clan and is a child of the Whistling Water Clan through the marriage of his Grandfather Goes Ahead and Grand Mother Pretty Shield.
Ms Ada Bends and Mr Les Left Hand, Crow Tribal Presenters:
Mr. Les Left Hand is an enrolled Crow Tribal member and his Crow Indian name is: ‘Usshshiidaabiish” English translation: “Robin’s neck”. Les was raised on the Crow Tribal lands reservation in the district reservation community of: “Aashbiichitchee” English translation: “Valley of the Chief District” also called, Lodge Grass, MT, USA. Les is both bilingual and bicultural and is very active in all of the Crow Tribal traditional cultural ways.
Ms Ada L. Bends is an enrolled Crow Tribal member, and her Crow Indian name is: “Iish chiit chii biia” English translation: “Sacred Tobacco Woman.” Ada was raised on the Crow Tribal reservation lands in the district community of: “Aashbiichitche” English translation: “Valley of the Chiefs” or Lodge Grass, MT., USA. Ada is both bilingual and bicultural and is very active in her Crow Tribal traditional cultural ways. Her family is: the Pretty Around the River Bend, Yellowtail, Hill, Birdinground, See With His Ears just to name a few.
Mr Terry Tatsy, of the Blackfeet tribe, former Vice-Chairman of the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council, leader of Creators Natural World, Native livelihoods, agriculture, education and the future of the Blackfeet people. He is a founding Board member of the First Americans Land Grant Consortium and sits on numerous other committees and task forces. He is a leading voice on tribal policies and programmes.
Heartstone would like to thank Port of Cromarty Firth, the Clan Munro Association and the Northern Meeting Charity for their support and funding to ensure this online exhibition event could take place, reaching out to all the North Shore Cromarty Firth communities and across Scotland. We would also like to thank Craigmillar Woodland Park and all the contributors to this event.
