There is a flood coming… I am making rope

Evan Almighty, was my kids movie choice last night. Perfect, in so many ways.

It’s the modern interpretation of Noah, the ark, floods and humans behaving very badly.

The story of the great flood is a familiar one. It is a Sunday School staple. But, the Christian version is just one of many story narratives of the flood.

The W̱SÁNEĆ also have a flood narrative. It’s an ancient story that tells of the birth of the identity that we carry today. W̱SÁNEĆ.

It is eerily similar to the Biblical version. The people were told to look after each other. Our teaching is that “all of the animals, the birds, the trees and the salmon, even the wind, were, and still are, people.”

Live in a “good” way

Life was good when the people remembered the teachings and lived within the means provided by Mother Earth. They were well looked after, and harmony existed.

But, after awhile they forgot the teaching from the Creator. And, just as Noah was told to build an ark, the ancestors of the W̱SÁNEĆ were told to prepare their canoes and make cedar rope.

When the floods came, and the tide waters rose, those who heeded the warning and prepared their families, were spared. Those who did not, perished.

After a crow, with a stick in its beak, landed on the front of one of the canoes secured by the long cedar rope to an arbutus tree at the top of a mountain, one of our ancestors pointed and said “NI QENNET TTE WSÁNEC”, (translated means, “Look at what is emerging”).”

As the waters receded, they gathered around the arbutus tree, and the coiled rope, and they gave thanks for their well-being.

They agreed “from now on this mountain will be called LÁU,WELNEW (Place of refuge). They also said, “We will be called the WSÁNEC” (The emerging people).”

The mountain and the people still carry these names. And, today the mountain shares its name with our school on West Saanich road. It’s another place of refuge for the W̱SÁNEĆ children. This is the place where our children learn these teachings.

There is a flood coming

So, when “G” calls on rookie Congressman Evan Baxter to build an ark in modern day New York, because there is going to be a flood, it’s also the result of people behaving badly. And, eventually Evan faces the public ridicule and shaming because he follows through on his instruction. These are timeless human narratives.

At some point we all face the reckoning. More often than not, we have the opportunity to make the right choice. Whether we do or not, is entirely up to us.

It is not good enough to just do a little bit, to poke around the edges. Evan and Noah did not have to build a little boat, they had to build a huge boat in the face of the mockery of their neighbours. They had to endure. The same goes for the W̱SÁNEĆ. Do not make a little cedar rope! Because, only the biggest cedar rope would show your commitment to doing the right thing.

It must be a deliberate attempt. Nobody gets to accidentally survive. Well actually, in Evan Almighty, some of the contemptuous crowd are welcome on board, as the cheaply made dam, the dam built with cut corners gives out and washes away the development of the corrupted politicians.

These narratives weave deeply through me. It’s personal. From the Sunday School teachings of Phyllis and Don, and the equally ancient ones of Laura and Ernie, my ancestors who are with me in every place I go, are teaching that it is my responsibility to act.

So, build a boat and prepare the rope, because there is a flood coming.