The Core That Is Community

 Community grows from common experiences

The Life And Times Of Brian Waddington 

Community

 Community is created through shared experiences. After some time in the village I felt that I was part of the community. And I was. What I was about to learn was how  my belonging was and always would be limited.

Now you need to realize that I am intentionally  being vague about which village I was in. This vagueness will continues in this story.

A village carver felt the need to carve a pole and erect it in his ancestral land as a way of reminding the people of their past.

While the pole was being carved a question came into my mind: Could the pole be brought into the church for a blessing? The church council members were shocked. It had never crossed their minds that this was possible. 

They went to the carver, to the chiefs, to the elders and to the people. They were all shocked. But they all said yes.

 When the pole was finished a potlatch was held. Feasting, dancing, drumming, speeches, prayers. It was a time of great joy and sadness. I was honored merely by being invited. Granny Bee would do the praying. My role was merely to watch, learn and enjoy.

The church gathering was very different. This had never been done before. There was no rule book.

The pole was carried in and placed in the aisle. People gathered. At the beginning I offered encouragement to the elders as they worked through in their own minds what was right and proper.

I remember the Elders moving around the pole and the people slowly joining them. There were tears, smiles, small dance steps, and a power that comes from being totally within time and community.

I realized that I could never understand what they were experiencing. This was a part of their story that I could only be told about. That I could never live through with them.

It had been years since I had such a powerful experience of my whiteness and now I was face to face with it. 

It is true that I was a member of the community with my name and my role. It is also true that my part within the whole was limited by not having this and many other shared experiences.

Brian