Teaching of the Hummingbird

Just before I moved away from Victoria, an elder gifted me with a very special hummingbird necklace.

I knew it was special at the time but am now realizing how.....The teachings of the hummingbird have been unfolding for me ever since.

When I first got here I was just grateful to have this female greet me when I walked the dogs in our little scrap of green grass near our temp condo in downtown San Francisco.

When she visited me daily for 4 days in a row I knew she was special and carried a message for me, for 4 is a sacred number.

I thanked the elder again for sending this gift with me so far away; he then assured me I was being watched and taken care of by Ha Moo Moo

She not only took care of me but one day she took me her most personal space, her home. Very special!



When we moved to our new place in Glen Park last week I thought of my new friend and how I would miss her, only to find two other hummingbirds fighting in our yard! Territorial?
They didn't stick around and no further contact until yesterday.


Kris and I had just spent two days unpacking our stuff from Victoria. I was eager to unpack all of my herbs and medicine, but more importantly my sacred bundle.
A bundle can carry any number of objects that have spiritual significance to the owner.
My bundle contains many Indigenous sacred tools used for ceremony, healing and protection that have been gifted to me over many years.

I had decided to pack my bundle and sacred objects in my belongings as it is a lot harder to take things like feathers and sage across the border. I have known many respectable Native American leaders to be denied access to bring their bundles across the border, or to be harassed and ridiculed even though there are laws in place to protect Native rights to carry cultural objects. They don't call it "no man's land" for nothin!

Okay where was I???
O yes the bad news........

We unpacked all of the boxes to find my bundle missing. I was trying not to panic as we checked every box, cupboard, and drawer 3 more times. Nothing!
Thankfully I had packed several different things in several different boxes so all was not lost, regardless I was still devastated. I called the moving company hoping there was a mistake with no luck.



I then went into the backyard with the dogs and there she was! My friend hovering just above me to remind and guide me back to my traditional teachings.

Tho I will miss my bundle it is not really mine, one cannot own such things given by the Creator.
They are merely tools; which to use for the time allowed.
I do not know if these things will come back to me, go on to another or disappear. I was told to remember that these are just objects not meant to hold on to, of what I still have and the teachings that will soon come.

Kris then reminded me of the pile of Abalone shells tucked in the bushes in the yard and to go get one for my new smudge bowl

I must talk to the house owner to find out the origin of these shells
I have never seen them so big

Back home they are hard to come by and quite small

This is the one I picked or picked me and smudged the house with to cleanse and begin our new life.

Mitakuye Oyasin