Picking at Blueberry Hill

Submitted by Honey Novick

PICKING AT BLUEBERRY HILL

“Blueberry Hill” is both a song popularized by

Fats Domino and an early 1970’s memory of a place

Where the daughter of a Jewish tribe

Went picking blueberries with daughters of the Ojibwa

On Wikwemikong Reserve, Manitoulin Island

At night, the jewel-like stars twinkled in a black sky

By day, the landscape was flat or

Round shoreline or grassy meadow

Girls picking berries was something to do

A way to honour ourselves

An expression of gratitude to our Earth Mother

Working as clerk, singer, general factotum for

The Ontario Métis and Non-status Indian Association

Garnered me an invitation to Wiki

My looks were culturally ambiguous, plaited long black

Hair and darkish skin tone – I could be anyone’s cousin

Off we girls went to the mound, the berry patch

Each filling a little bowl with as much as we could find

The berry patch wasn’t very big and so the pickings

Weren’t very fruitful but I had never seen white,

Greenish (unripened) blueberries

Mother Earth would also reward us with raspberries

The skill was to touch softly, lovingly

If the berry was ripe it would come off the twig easily

If not, leave it to ripen under a golden sun

It was a sacred, spiritual experience

Each berry was thanked, developing a dialogue between

Person and fruit-life

To this day, “Blueberry Hill” is not just a song

But a tender, treasured memory