All That We Are Is Story

I attended a Healing Place Collaborative social gathering tonight and left with a four- by six-card with an inspiring quote that I want to share. It is appropriate for the work we do at Healing Minnesota Stories, too.

ALL THAT WE ARE IS STORY. From the moment we are born to the time we continue on our spirit journey, we are involved in the creation of the story of our time here. It is what we arrive with. It is all we leave behind. We are not the things we accumulate. We are not the things we deem important. We are story. All of us. What comes to matter then is the creation of the best possible story we can while we’re here; you, me, us, together. When we can do that and we take the time to share those stories with each other, we get bigger inside, we see each other, we recognize our kinship — we change the world one story at a time.

Richard Wagamese (October 14, 1955-March 10, 2017)
Ojibwe from Wabeseemoong Independent Nations, Canada
Author of “Indian Horse” 2012, “Medicine Walk” 2014,

Weekend Reading and Efforts to Resist the Dakota Access Pipeline

Below are brief synopses and links to articles. Pick the one(s) that speak to you:

• The Canadian commitment to fully embrace the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
• Returning to Harmony, an essay about residential schools, intergenerational trauma, and healing by Richard Wagamese (Ojibwe)
• A United Nations proposal to increase participation by indigenous governments — and some pushback
• An update on resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline