Dance of Gratitude

printed on 100% cotton fiber photo rag

 My first creation of 2026 ✨🌈 a vision I’ve wanted to bring to life for over a year - ever since reading the opening story in Braiding Sweetgrass. It shares the story of Skywoman - a story that resonates with me so deeply✨ it felt so fitting to bring this to life going into the new year.

Skywoman is an indigenous creation story passed down over generations. A pregnant Skywoman falls from the Skyworld after the Tree of Life uprooted, creating a hole in the sky. Geese catch her falling body, preventing her from falling into the water below. The geese could not continue to hold up the woman, so a large sea turtle offers its back as a place for her to rest. Skywoman needs soil from the land to sustain her and create life. Water animals try to bring mud from the bottom of the water to create land; the muskrat succeeds but sacrifices his own life in the process. Moved by the animals’ gifts, Skywoman dances and sings in gratitude, and as her feet touch the mud, the land grows, forming Turtle Island (Earth). She scatters seeds and plants she carried from the Skyworld, including sweetgrass, creating the vibrant, living world. 

There are so many beautiful lessons within this story. May this story remind us
✨We are all interconnected, gratitude fosters growth, give all you can - take only what you need, we must look at the earth as a part of us - we are the earth, the earth is us 🙏🌱✨