Eight years ago, I experienced one of many, out-of-the-blue awakenings that have come my way since intentionally studying the transformational aspects of ancestral teachings. I was in my birth town of Prince Rupert, researching the transformative teachings of the Ayaawx, (Ayaawx is ancestral law, defined as law in the spiritual sense that if one is disrespectful, they will cause suffering - for every action there is a reaction). I had been contracted to teach participants about the relevancy of the Ayaawx and how it applies to our present-day relationships in a one-week course.
 
At the end of the contract, the students in my course organized a concluding dinner to celebrate their journey together. They invited their families to witness their understandings with a presentation that would include a speech by each student. We held our dinner in a space that regularly served the homeless and chronically addicted meals throughout the week.
 
As we were about to begin, I overheard the venue hosts informing people that this was not a public event. One of the Elderly men would not be turned away. He sat near the front in his dirty clothes, hair uncombed. I sat beside him and decided I would not turn him away. He asked me quietly who we were and what we were doing there. I didn’t know the level of his coherence and explained to him that we had completed a program that discussed the teachings of the Ayaawx. His eyes lit up and he nodded his head as though he understood. And then he asked if he could open our gathering with a prayer. As he was an Elder, I agreed, not knowing if it was the right thing to do. I asked him where he was from, and learned that he was Gitxsan, a Hereditary Chief. He had been forced to residential school as a child, and later served as a soldier in the Second World War. He said he would never return home, as everything is different now.
 
Right on cue, he stood in front of everyone and addressed us with the formal, traditional opening address in Sm’algyax, language of the Tsmshian, Nisga’a and Gitxsan. He then interpreted it in English. He spoke to the importance of learning the Ayaawx, noting that it would guide and direct us, and that he was encouraged to hear that we recognized the importance of the teachings. The teachings had been since the beginning of time and they would never change. He then prayed a blessing on everyone and concluded. I sat in silence, stunned by the beauty and strength that had come from a mind that was connected with wisdom from the other side.
 
By letting go of judgment and shame, I experienced, in a brief window of time, what it means to “be in” the Ayaawx. Returning to ancestral principles is simple, but the journey to get there demands letting go of judgment and shame, being the victim or being the offender; it requires letting go of all that is familiar and being willing to be led into the unknown. It isn’t only trauma that is transgenerational—more importantly, we have the teachings of our ancestors in our genetic makeup. The principles of our ancestors have created a pathway to follow, a narrow deer pathway. May we find it and follow the teachings to heal ourselves, our families, tribes and all human beings.