Research into Meet a Tree

The Game I call meet a Tree has now been traced back as far the early 1940's when Bear Heart describes it in his book, see below...

Bear Heart met his tree in the early 1940’s… around 20yrs old.

“To teach our young people how to get in touch with nature and their own intuition, our elders used to take them way out in the woods, blindfolded, and have them sit by a particular tree.

“You stay here blindfolded until we come after you. Be with this tree, touch it, hug it, lean against, stand by it. Learn something from it.” After half a day or more, they would bring them back to camp, remove the blindfold, and say, “Go find your tree.” After touching a lot of trees, they could find the one they had spent time with. Sometimes they didn’t have to touch a lot of trees-those with highly developed intuition could go right to their tree. They seemed to be drawn to it.

That’s how we began to connect. It’s amazing what you feel from a tree. It can give us energy. When we take long hikes in wooded areas, we often put our finger tips on the ends of the cedar or the pine needles. Just standing there touching them, you’re going to feel energy come to you. Trees are emitting energy all the time. Every needle of the tree, every leaf, is trying to make the atmosphere breathable for us.

That’s why my people have great respect for trees.

The trees are our relatives-we call them “tall standing brothers.”

Bear Heart was born in Oklahoma in 1918. He belonged to the Muskogee (Creek) tribe, an American Indian people who were originally from Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, many of whom were later relocated to Oklahoma. Book Title: The Wind is my Mother The Life and Teaching of a Native American Shaman. ISBN: 0-425-16160-9 Page: 69