WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:02.118 We were told by our ancestors 2 00:00:02.118 --> 00:00:05.080 that in the time when man was first put upon this earth, 3 00:00:05.080 --> 00:00:07.120 he had very few survival skills. 4 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:09.360 He didn't have any furs 5 00:00:09.360 --> 00:00:11.130 to keep him warm in the cold nights, 6 00:00:11.130 --> 00:00:12.504 he did not have any tools 7 00:00:12.504 --> 00:00:14.559 or knowledge of how to build a lodge. 8 00:00:14.559 --> 00:00:16.323 He didn't know what to eat 9 00:00:16.323 --> 00:00:18.824 and how to prepare it or where to find it. 10 00:00:18.824 --> 00:00:21.784 So he looked to the animal world, the natural world, 11 00:00:21.784 --> 00:00:25.443 the other creations all around him for assistance. 12 00:00:25.443 --> 00:00:29.880 And each of the animals tried to help, except for Porcupine. 13 00:00:29.880 --> 00:00:33.199 Porcupine had nothing to offer to the two-leggeds, 14 00:00:33.199 --> 00:00:34.664 and he became very upset 15 00:00:34.664 --> 00:00:37.224 that he could not help the two-leggeds out. 16 00:00:37.224 --> 00:00:38.925 And the creator observed how 17 00:00:38.925 --> 00:00:43.187 unwilling Porcupine was willing to assist. 18 00:00:43.187 --> 00:00:47.384 So he came down and attempted to teach Porcupine a lesson. 19 00:00:47.384 --> 00:00:49.704 And that lesson was to take his children 20 00:00:49.704 --> 00:00:51.704 and turn them inside out. 21 00:00:51.704 --> 00:00:55.624 And all of their quills became the bones 22 00:00:55.624 --> 00:00:59.550 and call them tatamaho in our language, 23 00:00:59.550 --> 00:01:01.640 or shad fish that we use today. 24 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:04.620 And the shad fish was placed in his waters. 25 00:01:04.620 --> 00:01:06.510 The children and the grandchildren 26 00:01:06.510 --> 00:01:08.819 of Porcupine was placed in our waters 27 00:01:08.819 --> 00:01:10.456 and they were given the task. 28 00:01:10.456 --> 00:01:14.979 They would swim out every fall into the ocean 29 00:01:14.979 --> 00:01:17.336 and help to rise the sun. 30 00:01:17.336 --> 00:01:19.997 And all fall and winter long, 31 00:01:19.997 --> 00:01:23.400 they would help to bring the sun up into the skies. 32 00:01:23.400 --> 00:01:24.934 And then in the spring, 33 00:01:24.934 --> 00:01:28.897 if Porcupine was leading a good life again, his children 34 00:01:28.897 --> 00:01:31.176 and grandchildren would come back to see him. 35 00:01:31.176 --> 00:01:34.477 And in the spring, that springs spawn is when 36 00:01:34.477 --> 00:01:38.440 the shad waters reenter our waterways and our homelands, 37 00:01:38.440 --> 00:01:41.016 and they populate our streams and our rivers. 38 00:01:41.016 --> 00:01:43.350 And Porcupine has a chance 39 00:01:43.350 --> 00:01:45.624 to see his grandchildren once again. 40 00:01:45.624 --> 00:01:50.061 And an acknowledgement of the sacrifice 41 00:01:50.061 --> 00:01:51.880 that the porcupine made 42 00:01:51.880 --> 00:01:55.380 and the story of the shad that helps our people so much, 43 00:01:55.380 --> 00:01:57.821 we still adorn ourselves today with the quills 44 00:01:57.821 --> 00:02:00.618 of the porcupine in recognition of that fact. 45 00:02:00.618 --> 00:02:03.720 And this medallion that I wear today is made 46 00:02:03.720 --> 00:02:05.363 with porcupine quills. 47 00:02:05.363 --> 00:02:08.243 We use natural dyes to get the various colors, 48 00:02:08.243 --> 00:02:09.960 and we work in designs 49 00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:12.060 that whatever is pleasing to the artists. 50 00:02:12.060 --> 00:02:15.750 But behind all of this is the story of tatamaho, 51 00:02:15.750 --> 00:02:17.544 the porcupine, and the shad. 52 00:02:17.544 --> 00:02:21.384 And we honor that in our teachings to the next generation 53 00:02:21.384 --> 00:02:24.467 so they understand why we use our porcupine quills. 54 00:02:24.467 --> 00:02:25.625 (wind blows)