Solomon's Tree

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

Solomon’s Tree is a story of life, death, and rebirth on Pender
Island, one of the larger of the Gulf Islands that lie off British
Columbia’s southwest coast. Young Solomon has a special relationship
with a giant old maple tree. He talks to the tree, and the tree answers
back in the rustling of its leaves. “In spring, the tree shows him a
hummingbird nest, in summer the maple shows him a chrysalis turning into
a butterfly, and in fall the tree showers Solomon with golden leaves and
winged seeds.” When a storm fells the tree, Solomon is devastated. The
tale charts his healing through the teachings of Tsimshian uncle and
parents. In a tribal ceremony, Solomon sings his own song: “Let my
memory always honour you.” One large log becomes, with his uncle’s
instructions and help, Solomon’s mask. It has a hummingbird design
across the smooth forehead. Solomon wears the mask while he dances to
his uncle’s drumming, and as he dances his feet are pressing one of
the old tree’s seeds into the ground. The cycle of life continues.

Both Andrea Spalding and Tsimshian master carver Victor Reece live on
Pender Island with their families. Spalding participated in a
mask-carving workshop given by Reece, whose works are exhibited in the
Canadian Museum of Civilization. Reece carved a special mask for this
story and provided designs of the trickster, Raven, for Janet Wilson to
use in her illustrations. Wilson’s richly colored realistic paintings
complement Spalding’s text perfectly. Highly recommended.