Anger Management

When we did our parent program in Lenexa, Kansas this past Sunday there was one couple that really inspired us.  There was a woman who came back in after our program.  She said moments before she and her husband got in their car, and he looked at her and said “I yell too much don’t I?”  She nodded her head, looked at him and said “I get angry too much don’t I?”  He nodded his head. It takes so much courage to self-reflect like that. What an awesome thing! We’re each of us learning and growing as we go, and when we honestly look at our limiting beliefs and patterns of behavior, we step into a bigger, better life. We let more love in.

The Hopi Indians have a proverb that says “Do not let anger poison you.”  Is it possible that sometimes our anger poisons our relationship with our children?

Here’s a picture of us with our clan matriarch, Robert’s mom, Naomi.  She is a powerful, loving presence and she has taught us much about relationships, and our relationships with our own children and grandchildren.

Gakina-awiiya (We Are All Related),

Chief Robert and Terri Lynn TallTree
www.thetalltrees.com

“Teach us love, compassion and honor…that we may heal the Earth, and heal each other.”   – Ojibwe prayer

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Lunch with a Strawberry

“We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born.  We must protect the forests for those who can’t speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees.” – Hereditary Chief Qwatsinas  (Edward Moody)

Yesterday we had lunch with our granddaughter, and it was a BLAST!  When she was born, her parents gave her the name Autumn.  In our culture, the clan matriarch also gifts a name when a baby is born.  Robert’s mother is our matriarch, and she gifted her the name Ode’min-quay – which translates to heart-berry.           

Our grandchildren call us Maga and Bunka.  Grandpa is “Bunka”, and Grandma is “Maga”. Bunka and Maga had a fun time with Ode’min-quayyesterday.  All of our grandchildren are beautiful, and we are blessed.

Chief Robert and Terri Lynn TallTree
www.thetalltrees.com

“Teach us love, compassion and honor…that we may heal the Earth, and heal each other.”   – Ojibwe prayer

  

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Wonder

Who are these people? That’s a question we saw floating around the ‘net about us today. Kind of made us smile…

That’s the best thing about being young. Not just young, even young at heart. There’s a natural sense of wonder…curiousity…that always pulls you forward. That’s a beautiful thing. It’s what we love most about being around children. They’re not afraid to just ask you straight up – there’s no pretense to it. Gotta love that!

It’s gotten really hard to trust that people are real today. There’s so many people pretending to be someone or something they’re not, just so they can feel like they “fit” somewhere. We knew a guy who created a whole “alter ego” on the internet. Like who he was just wasn’t good enough. That’s pretty sad. Mother Theresa once said, “The greatest disease on the planet is loneliness.”

And there have been many who have taken what doesn’t belong to them. There’s alot of unresolved grief from that. That kind of hurt takes a long time to heal. And it’s hard to heal a wound that keeps getting scratched open over and over again.

We are so blessed. We have the support of our family and in our culture, that’s so important. Wherever we go, before we speak we lay down a hand woven rug we were gifted from our clan matriarch, Akwagiishnaquay (Robert’s mother). She gave us permission to go out and speak about the things we share…and she told us to take that rug and stand on it, so that no matter where we are we will always know that we are not alone, that we are being held up by our family and our ancestors. Niishin…it is good!

So if you’re wondering about who we are and where we’re coming from (aniin di wayn jih bayan), we welcome you to come on in.  This internet “technology” is pretty new to us, so please be patient. We are doing the best that we can. From the generosity of others, we’ve had a site up for many years, but only recently started sending out messages and connecting with the world this way. But we’ve been walking this road for a long, long time – and we are grateful to our elders who have given us permission to share their wisdom with the world. Miigwech (Thank you)

Nin dinaway maganug (To All My Relations) Gigawaabamin miinawa (See you later)

PS (our friends call us “Trees”)

www.thetalltrees.com

“Teach us love, compassion and honor…that we may heal the Earth and heal each other.” ` Ojibwe prayer

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