Sue Valley

The reason I chose this photo is because it reminds me of the lost Indigenous women, one where she is on a dark path, on the dark path it is cold and there may not be light at her end. Until she meets someone who can help her, the one who tells her to look into the horizon of the sunset, because there is someone standing there, willing to lead her to her natural path. On a natural innate path that will show her that there is a meaningful purpose to life to bring her back to her belief in her own traditions, her mother tongue, once on the path, she just cannot walk away. Before they told her the natural values of Life she had to pay it forward with no money involved, what she had to do is help others and they would have to do the same to continue to help others find their paths, next thing you know it blossoms to be the generous cycle of a naturing Indigenous woman. Then it turns to the next generation. As it's going from generations to generations of so many stories of how people can help other people who have or still on the dark path and need help. Even if they don't want help, there are other ways to help them,by helping them don't just give up on what they need, and what I mean when I say that is don't give them money or anything that involves their past addictive toxic behaviors.. Once you let them get away with enabling them, they are going to go back on the dark path and the further they go, the longer it will take for them to heal and the longer it takes, and the harder it is.

What they don’t know is how they help and when they do to help they light up sweetgrass and sage to help with prayer, they pray to the grandmothers and grandfathers also the main god or what I call it is Creator, in my mother tongue language we call the higher power Waka Ade, and that is in Nakoda/Stoney, in my other language is Mamowohtahwinaw Kisemanito in Plains Cree. they don’t just pray they also make this hot medicine that helps them when they are sad.

For example: I’ve had an experience with someone who is like that, and that someone is my Mom, she is an alcoholic and drug addict, mostly an addict because she would ask for money or she would take stuff that I own or my brother’s stuff, she would give them to these people so she can get pills. She would also lie to my dad about the money saying she bought this stuff or gave us this much money even though we know what it was being used for and so did my dad. But that’s how people are, they lie and manipulate others. I lost my brother from drugs while my mom was doing drugs when she was pregnant with him,he came out early. Then my mom was pregnant with my sister and was doing the same but the good thing was she survived. A few years later my mom was pregnant agai, I now have another baby sister but I didn't know about it, as always she was doing drugs with my baby sister. When my mom was at the hospital she got my sister taken away from family services because the doctors were running through some tests, they found out that my mom was doing drugs with her while she was pregnant, my sister was put in foster care then the family came and brought her to her new home. My baby sister has a very bad temper, she gets mad right away. That's how babies are when the mother’s do drugs. My baby sister was born high risk.

After all that has happened, I still believe in my Mom and hope she can get better. Also hope she will find the light at the end of her dark path. I will pray for my family and mostly my Mom. This woman is my best friend and my Mother, I will always be grateful and thankful that she brought me into this world. I love her, always and forever although she had put me through tremendous pain. Everyone can still have hope in others and that they can do it, all they have to do is believe in themselves and have hope in their situation.

The Mother Nature Photo reminds me of women batting something everyday, that there is Always always hope.

Written by Melanie Joan Paul

photo taken by Melanie Paul

Girl in the picture Casadaya