Dancing Under the Paddle [Woody Morrison]

Woody Morrison makes great posts on the Tlingit and Haida people of Alaska page, this is another one:

DANCING UNDER THE PADDLE

Explanation
My Haida Grandfather, Ḵun kwii aan (Paul Morrison) was the keeper of a Ceremony called “Dancing Under The Paddle”. He performed it in 1940 when it was against the law, so it was done in secret.

Ceremony Background

It is said that when "That Which Exists Nowhere, in Nothing Brought all things into The Light, also caused the First Human to come into Being. That Being was molded from Earth and Tears. It was Perfect; it was Female. The Breath of Life was put into its mouth in puffs of air with a "spitting sound" - Ts’aswii.

When that Female Being breathed its first Breath, it was in harmony with the Universe. But there was a problem: nothing is ever made with only one side. So this new Female Being was separated into two parts: the second became Male. That is why the children belong to the Mother’s Lineage. The only requirement for being Human is to be born of a woman. When a woman gives birth to a child, its first cry is a signal that it is now in Harmony with the Universe. Jaat’áay Ts’uswíi - The Woman’s Gift of The Magic of Harmony.

The teachings brought to us teach that God Cursed woman, woman is the cause of Original Sin. For thousands of years now, women have been vilified, tortured, mutilated and murdered as a result of those teachings.

No! Woman was given the Gift of Harmony and, she must take back her legacy.
"I am Human and will accept nothing short of being treated as Human”.

We are not Mankind. The only requirement for being Human is to be born of a Woman. Thus we are not Mankind, we are Humankind. We have to get rid of the concept of "Race" for it implies a contest to be #1. We are all Humankind. To be Humankind, one must be a Kind Human.

ADDENDUM

Each Woman Dancer must be aware that this is not about her yet it is everything about her. She is the First Woman. What is she bringing into the world? Anger, Hurt, Guilt, Hate, etc.? No, for this brief moment she brings the awareness of being Human, the awareness of carrying not only the seeds of human survival but also the mind-set that will instill in us and those yet to come a sense of completeness, of happiness, trust, sharing and the knowledge that all of Creation are our relatives and not simply “things”. All Humans share a Beginning in common; none is superior.
Each Human is a Unique Creation and must be treated as such: the woman has feelings, hopes, aspirations, dreams and as Human deserves to be treated as such. As she walks through this life it is my responsibility to not interfere in her Quest for her own Special Place and, to ensure others do not interfere in that Quest.

Each time a new born child arrives and cries for the first time, it is the First Human, a unique creation, and with that first cry brings that one into Harmony with the Universe. Protect and nurture it. For each newborn is the First Human and our treatment of the New Being will determine our Human destiny.

Ḵáawan Sangáa - Ceremony Keeper