Category Archives: allmyrelations

Rubber-band Relationships

Posted on April 5, 2019 by Cynthia Coleman Emery

More Little Theories What do rubber-bands, relationships and dishwashers have in common? Today I offer another Little Theory: this one about rubber-bands, which proves an apt metaphor for human relationships and household appliances. What comes to mind when I mention … Continue reading →

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This Book will Haunt You

Posted on February 26, 2019 by Cynthia Coleman Emery

Watch out for Teddy I’m beginning to hear voices. Ted Van Alst’s latest story about growing-up-Indian in Chicago has a captivating spirit that won me over. Completely. His character—Teddy—gets inside your head. Here’s a scene in the book (Sacred Smokes) … Continue reading →

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When One is Enough

Posted on October 15, 2018 by Cynthia Coleman Emery

  The Story of the Lone Fig Our potted fig tree—the third since moving to a new house—is an adolescent Lattrula fig (Ficus carica). All summer we watered the fig, and I cooed at its growing leaves, which became the … Continue reading →

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Never Stop Learning  

Posted on August 18, 2018 by Cynthia Coleman Emery

It takes guts to examine your failures, but that’s just what we need to do in order to learn and grow. The take-away in a brief news item in today’s New York Times notes that taking time to consider why … Continue reading →

Posted in allmyrelations, american indian, failure, fear of failure, Indian, native american, native press, Native Science, nativescience | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Kondo as a Verb

Posted on July 16, 2018 by Cynthia Coleman Emery

(We discovered a spoon with the Rous insignia) No one enjoys moving, do they? I am in awe that my mother moved us—sometimes once a year—when my step-father worked overseas on construction projects with oil companies. We moved every year … Continue reading →

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Threading the Needle

Posted on July 8, 2018 by Cynthia Coleman Emery

Closing the Osage-Buddhist Circle We spent the last weeks—months—on a sewing project, creating a Rakusu: a garment worn when you become a practicing Buddhist. The Rakusu has a rich tradition. The garment is a rectangular cloth with straps that you … Continue reading →

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Dependence within Independence

Posted on July 4, 2018 by Cynthia Coleman Emery

I wonder about the meanings of dependence on the day that celebrates independence (and my birthday): July 4. Thoughts about independence are buried deep within our nation’s stories, including myths that our Indian ancestors roamed free and wild and independent, … Continue reading →

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