small modern living blog - turtle island
It’s 3:00 in afternoon on a sunny June day – the sun is in high form, a welcome invitation for our false map turtles to lay on sturdy logs floating in the pond next to our home. We count the June clouds as they pass in clear blue skies. When my son grows tired of this, we move to the wetland to count the turtles. One day we counted twenty-seven! My son and daughter lay in the high un-mowed grass and demand that I tell them stories about them – I am happy to oblige.
Cultural representations of turtles are depicted in folklore, religion, mythology, literature, and many other sections of life. The Anishinaabe people often associate the turtle with Mother Earth. We spend our summers in Bayfield, Wisconsin running our tiny house rental business. The property sits right across the Chequamegon Bay from Madeline Island. During the summer, I often stare at the great waters and tell my children about Madeline Island, an important place for the Ojibwe. During their Great Migration from Canada, they were instructed to look for a “turtle-shaped island,” and thus settled on Madline Island. Their creation story, told in oral tradition, outlines a great flood in which emerged “Turtle Island,” (North America). Turtles are a prevalent symbol in indigenous cultures and highlight respect for the environment.
If I venture back to my high school English studies at Cretin-Derham Hall, I remember in The Grapes of Wrath, the turtle symbolizes the “Okies” who were forced to leave their homes during the Dust Bowl. Even Dory in finding Nemo was rushed to safety by a group of sea turtles. Many children’s books such as “Old Turtle, ” (coincidentally illustrated by our dear friend’s father, Cheng-Khee Chee), represents turtles as wise, all-knowing creatures who command a quiet power.
Today, I took my children to the MN Zoo and as we entered the “Minnesota Trail,” an aquarium full of turtles native to Minnesota greeted us in the atrium. My kids were mesmerized by their intricate motions and waved excitedly as each turtle peeked above the water to collect a breath of air. The aquarium had false map turtles and I immediately thought of ours in the wetland and how prominent their symbols are to our everyday life.
For the past year, Walser Automotive Group, has been trying to push through a massive development (car dealership and 4-story-parking garage), that encroaches on one of the largest wetlands in our community. This development eliminates wetland buffer area and provides harsh light and noise pollution (requires piling) that threatens our wildlife. As the Trumpeter Swan Society emphasizes, swans require “minimal human disturbance,” especially during nesting season. Impacts to the environment are difficult to measure because the city staff, the mayor, the city council, the developer HAVE NOT DONE OR REQUESTED AN ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT. It rests on the shoulders of citizens to ensure our wetland jewels are protected to by the Wetland Conservation Act.
I close my eyes and imagine June clouds as they pass – our wetland turtles proudly displayed on an island in the wetland, basking in the bright sun. It is unimaginable to me that anyone would knowingly try to strip this wetland of her protection – threatening the incredible wildlife in this habitat. False map turtles, coyotes, foxes, trumpeter swans, barred owls, varieties of ducks, etc. – They are all the fabric of an elaborate ecosystem relaying on our Mother Earth to thrive. According to many cultures, the turtle is a sacred animal – It now relies on us and the built world for survival. The turtle represents the tie between physical and spiritual realms - It carries the hope of life with every quiet and powerful breath.