Snow Goose Global Thanksgiving

A life-changing dream…

The year was 1992. I was in Portland. Rain of Gold had just become a bestseller, and I’d been on a book tour for over 30 days. I was exhausted. And I was sound asleep. But then suddenly, I saw myself flying with a flock of joyfully cackling snow geese, looking as bright white as angels against the star-studded night sky.

Then I remembered that last night a group of local Natives had called me their spokesperson, and so had to do something about the new media calling this year the 500-year anniversary of Columbus discovering America, because it hadn’t been a discovery. It had been an invasion.

But I hadn’t known what to say or much less to do, so I’d told the Natives and the whole bookstore jammed full of people, that I’d asked my Indigenous grandmothers for help and I’d dream on it like I did for all my writing.

Hearing this, everyone began saying that they’d send their own grandmothers to help me, and one little blonde girl said, “My grandmother isn’t dead yet, but she’s real old, so I’ll send her, too.”

Everyone laughed, and now I was hearing all this laughing and cackling as the snow geese and I came flying together over the top of pine trees, and we approached a long mountain meadow with a little stream running through it. And the geese now began explaining to me that the big strong male geese, who were in front of Our V-Formation, weren’t leading. They were “following infront,” and it was the mother and the children geese that were leading with their cackling sounds of joy and thankfulness.

I awoke. And my two Native mamagrandes told me that this was exactly what all of Humanity had to start doing once again, have women and children to lead once more, and big strong men to follow infront, breaking the wind so the children and women could use 30% less energy to keep up.

Instantly I understood. Why, this could bring our whole world together, making it nicer and kinder and give us a chance to finally have Harmony and Peace for all of Humanity.

“Thank you!” I leaped out of bed yelling. “Thank you! We’ll do it! We’ll do it!”

So we’ve been doing it for over 30 years!