The Journey of Mama Fir Tree (The Story of the Cookie)

The story of this Mama Fir Tree is no ordinary story, it is a story of perseverance and one of life after death. Her life speaks for all beings and asks us to care for the next seven generations to come.

Her journey starts as a seedling from deep in the woods dating back to over 750 years old on the unceded territory of the Ditidhat and Pacheedaht First Nations in so-called British Columbia. She and her family had been cared for and honored by these original stewards of the land before colonization living in balance with nature.

The current system is built on short-term industry profit. Nature is seen as a commodity. She was cut by industry in 2020, and only her large stump with roots connected to the soil remained surrounded by the slash which once was a forest, now a shattered landscape of a home where she once thrived.  Indigenous land defenders heard her cries for the protection of her sacred lands and for her to tell her story and to continue to protect her home in a new form. A piece of her body was then cut and named “The Cookie”.

The Cookie has touched the hearts of many through barricades to protect her homeland from industry with land defenders standing by her side, to sacred ceremony at the grounds of the BC Legislature, and her journey across Turtle Island to COP 15.  The Dzunuk’wa Society and allies from the Adai’stx/Fairy Creek Blockade have been her caretaker for over two years now. 

On Dec 9th, 2022, The Cookie reached Montreal and was met with love, desperation, and tears. bringing an undeniable truth to the hearts of those who attended the COP 15 biodiversity conference. She brought to our minds the trouble we face if we do not change our ways from a resource extraction economy to a system redefined by Indigenous wisdom and natural law. 

Indigenous wisdom and natural law understand the sacred balance of life and human’s role in sacred stewardship with the earth. The time has come where we must see humans as equal to nature, to see our tree people and all life as our relatives. We must begin to see the balance of the circle of life. We must learn to only harvest what we need and to only harvest in balance & respect with the eco-systems.

REMEMBER::The ancient forests allow the earth to thrive and support a healthy ecosystem. It is the old ones in the forest who nurture the new life through their roots and through the mycelium networks under the ground and can withstand the forest to build from the ashes. The old growth provides the oxygen we breathe and contributes a major role in the temperature gage on mother earth providing medicines and foods for all creatures for both the present and future.

“We are asking those who see “the cookie” to imagine how majestic this tree once was—how offensive it is to almost everyone to clear-cut these standing giants. They are our cultural heritage. In almost all cases, these trees were once the foundational habitat of pristine, undisturbed ecosystems. They’ve been cut to the ground with only profit in mind.”