He had to die the first time, before his existence took on its true form. Losing something that meant far more to him than his life, a deep resolve formed like mountains in the Earths convergent quakes. Relentless in his blood, he feels it in the water. Coursing through aquifers, his cry is a geyser.
His ancestors are with him now, and they are loquacious. E Naad does not sleep, he draws energy from spite, he draws it from love. In the swirl of a woolen cape, he counts coup with his grandfathers beside him, but his tactical eyes can't spare time to reminisce. His unshaken prayer is a ceaseless endeavor, he will never starve so long as he does not eat.
He becomes uncomfortable when the bones of his arm shatter, but it is not from the pain. The injury brings concern, and he cannot stomach empathy. A deer sprung from it's place in the crunch of nearby leaves, he bolts away from gentle hands as fast as his feet can take him. Unknown faces never see his eyes, he does not want to know them.
E Naad Maa Get is the force with which you slip in muddy shoes, rapid and unexpected. Fire dweller, oath keeper. The ember in the rebirth of sweat lodge, who catches you between the legs of every mother before yours. The vibrations of the drum that bring strength in unity, mitakuye oyasin; all my relations. A song to those who once walked here, to summon strength in what is to be.
In a 4000 mile walk, legend says he spoke for those who couldn't. Endlessly he walks again now, you can hear him in the shadows and smell him in the pine. The sway of his braids is the branch that taps your shoulder, reminding you that you are not a guest to the tress, but a child.
The white frames of his constant shades are the only thing to announce him in the dark. Anomaly, he was a legend even when he was a man. Defender of the gentle, agitator of the debased. He could somehow tell dirty jokes to grandmas, and they always loved them. E Naad Maa Get means "the one who helps" and that was all he ever did. When I build a fire he dances within the flames, his second death a different life. Never absent but always gone, my ever-lovely relation.
A true legend, Branden Emmerson.
In my mid-twenties I lived in a protest camp for a time. I spent most of my days hauling water or wood for elders, helping with ecovillage construction, or washing dishes- everyone around wants a revolution, but no one wants to do the damn dishes! One day E Naad (who had not been given this name yet) approached me to ask for an odd favor- one that sent many things to motion.
It actually wasn't the first time we met... that was the day I tended his broken arm and mace-streaked face. He was so calm that I didn't realize how severe the injury was, until much later. Panicked, I recounted all the information I knew about combating mace- I had never done this before. I tried to be steady but loving.
Stroking his hair away from his face to comfort him as I worked, I didn't know I was kicking it up. Very politely he redirects me, apologizing as if he did anything! I was the fumbling idiot doing the wrong things, and he was comforting me somehow! That was E for you. In the few quiet moments before attention and better help came, I was blessed to care for the greatest warrior I've ever known.
Branden was an Anishinaabe man from Canada. He was made of chaos, but he had a heart of gold. He was first and foremost an activist in the time I knew him. Standing up against easements on treaty lands, fighting for sacred sites, holding space to protect water sources. He was lightning fast and unbelievably self-sufficient. That force would go on to carry him across Canada.
In recognition of his service to his community, Branden was given his Ojibwe name E Naad Maa Get before he embarked on his prayer walk. It took him a year, but he walked the country to raise awareness for missing and murdered indigenous women. You can read more about that in this
article written about the group at their halfway point. A real deal legend.
Not long after the prayer walk, E Naad passed away. No one seems to agree how he died, but everyone knows he really lived! I hope you enjoyed my remembrance of a dear friend, the one who helps :)