I remember from my ecology classes in both college and seminary talking about tree growth and tree rings. Every year as the tree grows, there is a new outer layer that encapsulates the previous year(s) of growth and forming rings. And when you look at each ring, it tells you a story about each year of that tree’s life: you can see whether a year had a lot of rain or a little, the potential presence of disease or infection and how that tree survived it, the turning of seasons and the fluctuations in climate, and so on.
There are many amazing qualities of trees generally which get even more specialized and interesting as you look at specific species and the ecosystems of which they are a part of.
Tree rings overall are the tree’s life story embodied – with tremendous effort and for the sake of growing and living, the tree creates a beautiful and unique story with its very being. The Tree People teach me about storytelling in this way. As ancient witnesses – such as my favorite tree, the bristlecone pine – they teach us that the acts of storytelling, story sharing, and story keeping are sacred acts.
Stories of years gone by, of remembering, and of life events as they happened are intertwined with our very beings. The care and thought that goes into living and creating our stories matters, and we do not do this holy act alone. Although this analogy is imperfect, how trees tell their stories as well as the stories of their environment hold important lessons for us.
Our stories are formed by and alongside the communities and environments that surround us, much like trees within their ecosystems. We are constantly creating and sharing stories as we continue to live and grow.
I have been grateful to be a part of the Story Sharing Committee here at the Coalition for a little over a year (as I am writing this). In this group, volunteers come together to discuss and create stories to share with the broader community.
Stories about the land and those who have stewarded it for countless generations, stories about colonization and its lasting impacts on the land and the people into today, and stories of hope and imagining new ways of dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery, learning from and with Indigenous leaders and communities, and healing the land and ourselves as we speak truth to history and seek justice locally, nationally, and globally.
The Story Sharing Committee has also taught me that every member of the community tells stories in unique ways just as no two tree rings are identical. We each bring our different experiences, perspectives, and geographically impacted stories into each meeting.
After every meeting, I am reminded that our stories are intertwined with one another, the land, and the many communities that we are connected to. I am grounded by the deep roots of stories within the land, honored by the stories entrusted to us through relationships with Indigenous communities all over the world (though primarily within Turtle Island). Through the stories of others, I witness my own story as it interacts with the broader stories embodied within this land that nurtures us all.
As one who has mixed heritage (Apache, Spanish, and Basque roots to my current knowledge), I find this way of understanding the sacredness of stories very powerful in my own life.
If I were a tree, my rings would show years of disconnection from the different facets of my heritage followed by years of incredible learning, reflection, and ongoing reconciliation with the history that brought about my existence. Those rings would show years of self-exploration and acceptance as well as each step in the journey where I have become connected into various communities, ever-expanding my experience and understanding of kinship with all my relations.
And as that kinship continues to expand to all my relations, I am learning of the many tree rings that surround me, include me, are healing, and those who were cut short, far before their time. In the sharing and keeping and telling of stories, we are reminded that we belong to each other as well as ourselves. What hurts one hurts all, moving us to collective liberation and life for all.