Huckleberries symbolize plenty and prosperity for many native Americans. Picking huckleberries is a social event for my wife's family and her people, a time of joy and harmony.

Ripening late in summer, the sweet berries are a favorite treat in a time of year when food is plentiful and the earth showers us with bounty.

The costumes of Ilawoo and Wolai were inspired by a photograph of the Wasco Queen and Court taken in the Dalles, Oregon in 1928. The woman furthest to the right is my wife's grandmother.

The huckleberry baskets pictured in the story are my renderings of the basket my wife's grandmother gave her one memorable huckleberry picking trip up on the side of Mt. Adams in Washington. That trip was the first time my wife, still a young girl at the time, was able to completely fill a basket with huckleberries in one day of picking. The basket was a gift to honor that occasion.

In our family, the sharing of huckleberries is akin to sharing our souls. A gift of huckleberry jam or a huckleberry pie is a gift of love.

The End