"As I write this, I can see the season changing. Soon, green and warmth will cover the prairie. There is change in my personal world, too.

Marion Pearl Howard, my aunt and mother - that is, my traditional Indian mother - died last week. It was hard for me because she was my mentor and friend, and she called me daughter.

On my way home to be with her during her last days, I could see the land changing before my eyes. The brown-seeded grass still had small patches of white here and there. It was cold, though, and when enormous flocks of geese landed near small ponds, they had to stand on the ice and look down, wishing for the tender shoots of green below.

The melted snow also revealed the rigid shapes of the frozen bodies of deer. Atop the carcasses, bald eagles gingerly picked away at their frozen meal. We saw about nine eagles going home, but only about two eagles upon our return to Grand Forks on Saturday."

Get the Story:
COLUMNIST DORREEN YELLOW BIRD : Farewell to a woman for all seasons (The Grand Forks Herald 3/21)

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