ABSTRACT
As I sit here, in the shadow of Mt. Rainier, I am thinking about a quote by Sylvia Ashton-Warner from the book Spinster (1958). In describing her approach to teaching Maori children in New Zealand, in the 1930s and 1940s, she said that she pictured her students as little volcanoes. Each volcano had two vents. Out of one vent came anger, violence, and negative thoughts. Out of the other vent arose creativity, kindness, joy, and learning. She considered it her mission as a teacher to widen and expand the vent of creativity and joy, and, in doing so, to lessen the size of the explosive and destructive vent. Just as the live volcano that was only 30 minutes away from my home can cause destruction and calamity in an instant, Mt. Rainier is also a creative force that has transformed the valley into an agricultural paradise. In fact, the Nisqually name for Mt. Rainier is Tahoma, which means “the mother of all waters.” Th e dual nature of the volcano was not lost by the local tribes, who realized and appreciated both the bounty and the destructive power of Tahoma. All of the stories of the people indigenous to this region refl ect this creative/ destructive potential, and they teach the wisdom of fi nding the balance between the two opposing forces in their own lives.
