THE GARDEN Once on this Earth, This garden called Aski Lakes and forests and rivers resonated With their fragrance, their music, Their fulsome movement Thus nudging to the fore all things that invigorated. With joy, with laughter, With vaulting insouciance With an enthusiasm that shouted out That “residence on Earth is celebration-worthy, And rhythm to be danced to For life, for death but, above all, for birth. So there in that garden lived all these creatures This vaulting insouciance had encouraged to emerge From the veins of the Earth, from its bloodstream, ahh, To emerge then to flourish and to surge To life for the Raven, the Sparrow To life for the Whale, for the Bear! And the Beaver and the Heron And the Crow and Chickadee, The Fox and the Snake and the Hare!

BEAR I was born here, I live here And have with great pleasure For ten thousand years This home is my treasure I have laughed here, I have played here Along with my friends For life we are ready. So let it begin! I know of a place Where love will arrive Where life will go on And laughter survive! This cave was our haven Our hearth and our bed The full moon at night Was our watchman we said But then comes this dryness This swirling of smoke This near death of breath This yearning to choke I know of a place I've said to my kin My friends and my nation Where breath is no sin

WHY ALL THE ANIMALS SOUGHT REFUGE IN A CAVE When the fire came along, we left our homes We ran through the bushes and down steep hills We swam across rivers and over the mountains We ran through the grasses, we ran through rills. But no matter what, no matter where; The fire pursued us with glowering and growling Hissing and roaring and crackling and growling and Every tree it met it sent up howling Skeletons of trees as black as Satan Steaming like fissures it left in its trail The rocks scorched bald, the earth scorched black, Bound and determined was it to impale So what were we to do, submit to the killing? Drop to the ground and therefore expire? No! We had to continue, our lives are too precious We had to escape the ire of this fire. So what were we to do? Where were we to go? We looked for a place where we could all die sharing We have come to the cave.

SNAKE SONG I was living safely under a rock With my children who numbered seventy seven A number normal for garter snakes Information I'm sure you've somewhere read Their names were Sam and Sue and Stan And Stella and Sadie and Sophie and Simon Sally and Sara and Seth and Serena Sabrina and Sandra and Solomon And their names went on and on and on and on They were, after all, practically one hundred! We garter snakes that's how we spawn I have no arms I cannot carry Not like men or even eagles So what do I do with babes whose lives Should have been noble and regal? Then came fire, then came flame Then came fire and death and destruction We tried our best to flee to safety But the size of my babies proved their destruction I barely got here, woe is me My poor babes engulfed by flames I shouldn't be here, I should die And thus to them return their names

BEAVER I'm a beaver in a pond and I work, work, work I'm a beaver in a pond and I work, work, work I work some more and I use my teeth I’m a-workin’ in the mornin’ I’m a-workin’ in the night I’m a-workin’ in the mornin’ I’m a-workin’ in the night I work so hard I have no peace They call me Bobby Beaver and I love my name Bobby Billy Beaver with the great big teeth A nickle and a pickle and a jiggle and a boo I work so hard theres no time left to eat. Now I was born the tenth of sixteen kids A bunch of baby beavers in a’ one big hole We were happy creatures in the big thick bush Learning how to chew from one big bowl. Then we grew up to be bigger than a great big rock And we started working hard for our dad, Big Bert Chewing on the trees and a-hollering “Timber!” Then a-dragging all the logs to the river through the dirt. By the building of this house And a-building of this dam A-making little tunnels in the wet black soil Bobby Billy Beaver grew a great big beard And hitched up with a beauty named a’ Betty Bella Boyle. And we in turn gave birth to a dozen little beavers Who learned how to work like Grand Dad Bert They worked so hard they almost died A-dragging all the logs to the river through the dirt. We work all day on the dam on the river It’s so damn hot it kind-a makes you wonder Why it’s so damn hot on the dank, dark river. It kind-a makes you quiver. I work so hard that I have no time left…

SKUNK SONG When I can't see the jiggle of the beetles and the bees When I can't hear the cackle of the chickens and the geese Then I'm a lump on a trunk a skunk in a funk Yes, I'm a lump on a trunk a skunk in a funk oh yeah And I rapidly perceived with my own eyes A little curl of smoke in the distance on the rise Two little curls of smoke that alarm me to the quick For they turn into a cloud that is very, very thick. Might it be that this is it, that we can never more attend To the roses in the field that the world is at an end? Oh no! Oh no! When I can't see the jiggle of the beetles and the bees When I can't hear the cackle of the chickens and the geese Then I'm a lump on a trunk a skunk in a funk Yes, I'm a lump on a trunk a skunk in a funk oh yeah When I can't take a stroll through the brambles and the woods When I can't go a-trotting through the meadows and the hoods Then I'm a lump on a trunk a skunk in a funk Yes, I'm a lump on a trunk a skunk in a funk oh yeah

TAATOO GIPI TAMOOK Taatoo-gipi-tamook, taatoo-gipi-tamook Aastam peesaagee-hin, chiggy-chum Taatoo-gipi-tamook, taatoo-gipi-tamook Kapee kasaagee-hin, chiggy-chum. English: Snap open your legs! Snap open your legs! Come and love me Chiggy Chum! Snap open your legs! Snap open your legs! You will love me always, Chiggy Chum!

MOOSE SONG Oh the dark holds tales of wonder So they say, dear, tales of woe Tales of sorrow, tales of pleasure Tales of happiness and oh... Lovers' tales take root, for instance On the silk edge of its knife Like an ember in the ashes That breath soft has coaxed to life Broken hearts, too, take on life, dear In the caverns of the night Night eternal, night profound but Night that someday will take flight Angry men, too, take their cue, dear From the absence of the sun Their ambition to end life, dear On this planet is but one Killers' tales too, find such darkness Soil ideal for their pain Pain that ripples like blood thickened That forever more is stain Mothers' tales, too, take on life, dear In the cradle known as night Night most wondrous, night most holy Darkness wherein shines a light. Though such lives have embraced daylight For a decade or for ten Dead men's tales find their conclusion In this night known by all men

CROW “You cawed your way deep into my heart,” Is what he sang, this lilting love song For me, Joe Crow, who dearly loves him, Who, for him, can do no wrong. High over black pine, higher I climb The smoke is so thick, my love is so strong I will get there to hear him sing to hear him sing his love song, his love song, his love song. But why of a sudden this hanging mist Why of a sudden this smoke so impure? I know this land, my home, my birthplace But all of a sudden I’m not so sure. And I’m flying; flying, flying, Over black meadow, over forest now gone To be by his side It’s taken so long. And here I am flying; flying, flying, Over black meadow, over forest now gone To be by his side It’s where I belong. Joe is delirious, Joe Crow is lost The smoke is too thick, His love too strong He will not get to hear his Fox Sing to him his beautiful song, his beautiful song. It’s too late already I can feel it The sunset behind him a sinister ball He walks a stage, in truth made of granite The curtains a-flame, a terrible wall.

LYNX My fur is beige and fine and tawny My whiskers white and fine as wire My claws are long and sharp as nails My body long and sleek as fire For I have an appetite that's strong as steel I'm hungry from the dawn to dusk Mice I like, chipmunks, too, I savour Even rabbits with their veins and musk But I'm afraid I speak here of times When times are normal and the sun at play And the flowers and the birds in flight Which is not the way things are today. Today we're squished into this dreadful cave To wait out something called a forest fire This cave is long and very dark The situation serious and rather dire If we’ve been cooped in here for a week The question that bedevils and confounds us now Is how much longer? How much longer do we creatures great and small, have to live like this?

WOLF lyrics by Martha Ross Wolf here! What is going on with me Wolf here! Don’t feel like myself Wolf here. Find it hard to breathe Because I want to engulf that little rabbit then the bear and the fox and then especially that moose I’m impossibly hungry! I’m wolf! seems there’s no air anywhere I’m Wolf! Feeling insane as a mouse I want to crash my way out of here And live in a house You heard me I want to live in a house! Wolf here! What is going on with me Wolf here! Is it just that’s hot ? Wolf here! Drowning in sweat And feeling panicked, so fraught! I don’t feel like myself!

CHICKADEE DAVIS Chickadee Davis went off to school Went off to school Went off to school to learn to read and to write But what did he learn to do instead? Learned how to tussle and fight He learned how to wrestle and wiggle and kick He learned how to bite. A difficult boy was Chickadee Davis A terrible boy was he. Why so angry? Chickadee Davis? Why so enraged in gest and deed? Especially when the animal nation Is known for cool, is known for nice That was the question that shook the forest Ten answers to which would not suffice. "Why, my man, are you so angry “So difficult, so terrible, so out to lunch?" My mama would ask, my papa would ask The entire community wanted to punch him. No one could plumb this Chickadee Davis No one could crack his nut hard shell "Why?" we yelled, "Chickadee Davis, “Why this fury, this rancour, this hell? “The world… "The world," we said to Chickadee Davis "This world of ours is coming to nought, “Can't you see all the signs?" "What signs?" he asked, He sees them not. He sees them not. "No," he cried, “This whole situation… "No, no, no, that's always been the way it is “At this time of year? “The water like that, the fire like this…" At which reply, Chickadee Davis Went off to battle, went off to war If there was something that he could do He would do it but from afar.

DOG I've had enough, I've just had enough These damn humans who think they are IT They treat you like dirt as they drink wine and chit chat While you as a dog, or even a cat, are as worthless as shit. They love the word, “conquer,” they love the word, “boss” They love to dominate, they love to lord it over us all They're the top of the heap, they're perfect, they're flawless If that’s what they think; boy, are they in for a fall. In the ten dog years that I've been on this Earth I've lived with the worst! I've slaved for them all As a puller of sleds I've slept outdoors, I've near died of thirst. Well, I've had enough, I've just had enough These damn humans who think they are IT They treat you like dirt as they drink wine and chit chat While you as a fox or even a rat, are as worthless as shit. They turn pigs into wieners, cows into steak Kid skin to gloves, muskrats to coats Leopards to carpet, chickens to stew They eat rabbits and ducks and geese and moose and stoats. And look what they've done to our dear home! To our garden Their hunger for gold, their hunger for oil Their need for uranium, their dependence on gas Their over-consumption, it all makes one boil. I've had enough, I've just had enough These damn humans who think they are IT They treat you like dirt as they drink wine and chit chat While you as a mouse, or even a bat, are as worthless as shit. They've torn out the flesh of our mother the Earth They've ripped out her veins, they have gouged out her eyes This conflagration, this end of the world It is their doing, their greed, their evil, their lies. I say we destroy them; we starve them to death And we lynch them we boil them in tar I say give them a taste of their own medicine You bastards! You fascists! This is war! This Is War!

SPIDER Koogoom-inaa-geesees. That's what they call me. Koogoom-inaa-geesees? Means “spider” in Cree It comes from the word, Koogoom, which means, “your grandmother”. For instance, noogoom, that means, “my grandmother”. Koogoom, that means “your grandmother”. Oogooma, that means “his/her grandmother”.This last because, as with all Indigenous languages in North America, Cree has no gender. Again? First person, second person, third person Noogoom, koogoom, oogooma “My grandmother, your grandmother, his/her grandmother.” As for the suffix, “inaa-gees,” at the end of “koogoom-inaageesees,” It means “creature” or “being”. Thus does “koogoom-inageesees” mean “grandmother creature” or “grandmother being” That's Cree for “spider” which is what I am, a koogoom-inaa-gees, the wisest, the most ancient of creatures... I have a story to tell you. You decide whether it is for good or for bad. Because, as we all know, we have to be careful about what kind of stories we listen to. This is one of my favourites! But, it has repercussions… I am the planet's most ancient of creatures I go back beyond the age of, the era of dinosaurs I am older than the oldest and largest of rocks Do we go back to the era of caves? Of course. So I have a very long memory indeed And for you humans, that memory goes from one generation To the next and the next and the next and the next and the next. But with spiders one generation is a billion generations A single generation is a billion generations… A Billion! I was here when Jacques Cartier arrived here I was here when Columbus got lost in the ocean I was here when Moses came down from the mountain I was here when the Greeks gave flight to emotion I was here when God said “Let there be light!” I was here when the ocean parted from the earth I was here when the first root surfaced for air I was here when a woman named Eve gave birth Snake Sings: I am here.I am here. So here in god’s own garden, I writhed up this tree From which hangs fruit to Encourage you to eat Eat of it and think… Heed my work Head my work And you’ll take root. Spider: As the smartest, wisest woman who ever breathed air My dear, God is smart and he wants to remain so But if you can prove that you're smarter than him Then he'll fall from the sky thus losing his power , no?” So the woman ate the apple but got caught red-handed By who? By God who, grossly angered, said, “Out of my garden, out with your kind, And be forever shameful, be forever dead.” And how do I know this? Because I was there. Perched on a leaf Of that fruit tree fair. Weaving my web And watching and listening Eviction from the garden… I was there…

AANOOCH KAGEE-SIGAAK Cree: Anooch kaagee-sigaak Neemi-eetootaan, neemi-eetootaan. Naagaa-mootaan, paapi-taan Naagaa-mootaan, paapi-taan. English: Today Let us dance, let us dance Let us sing, let us laugh

GOODBYE SONG When the Bear no longer growls When the Ravens no longer joke When the Skunk no longer prowls Then it's time, my friends, to say goodnight. When Rabbit ceases dancing When Chipmunk no longer pines When the Deer no longer prances Then it's time, my friends, to take down the signs. Good-bye, my friends, good-bye. Farewell, farewell, fare thee all well. Good-bye, my friends, good-bye Fare thee all, fare thee all well. When Lynx no longer lingers When Snakes no longer slither When Salmon can not find the river Then it's time, my friends, to wither. When the Fox cannot out fox When the Beaver no longer works all day When the Crow no longer double-crosses Then it's time, my friends, to say good-bye. My deer friends and colleagues, the ending has come The Earth is a cinder, the full moon of paper The child in your heart has stopped laughing The flame of the candle has come to a taper. My deer friends and colleagues, the ending has come Good-bye, my friends, good-bye. Farewell, farewell, fare thee all well. Good-bye, my friends, good-bye Fare thee all, fare thee all well. To life for the Raven, the Sparrow To life for the Whale, for the Bear! And the Beaver and the Heron and the Crow and Chickadee, The Fox and the Snake and the Hare!

FOX When I was a young fox first come into my own, I looked up at the stars high above my forest home And decided then and there, that someday I would be one of them, I would be a star A great big star I decided then and there that I would be the greatest Most unbelievable, most incredible star. I would have a voice that would ring out sweet as bells Sweeter than honey. Sweeter than the sweetest of bird’s song that you have ever heard When I was young fox first come into my own.