Ho Mitakuye Oyasin

I ran across this Native American saying – I think it was at the Great Dakota Gathering we went to this fall. (better known as a pow-wow).  It translates to “all my relations” or “I am related to all things and all things are related to me.”

I’ve “found”  some long-lost relations in the past few years, some I had lost track of for no good reason,  some I didn’t even know existed.  One is Jaylen Bea.

My mother and her great-grandmother are sisters.  She visited me this summer and we were figuring out who she was related to and how.  It got a little complicated.  How many levels of cousin-ness are there? Would she be my third cousin?  Who would the great-grandchilden of my mother’s brother be to her?

She concentrated for awhile and finally told me this:

When you really think about it, we are all related.

Maybe she was just tired of trying to make the connections, but I don’t think so.  I think she was making even more connections.

I wish I was that wise.  I wish our leaders were that wise.

Thanks, JB.  You’re right.  We are all related.

All My Relations (älˑ mīˑ rē·lāˑ·shnz),