On ‘ki’ and ‘kin’

Last Friday and Saturday, we had record-breaking cold, arctic chill. This was no fun at all. Then, this weather left us quickly and abruptly, leaving us with the shock of early spring: temperatures swinging up into the 50s. Early in the morning, writing at my window, I knew this was a day to be outside.

The day began 
with this glorious sunshine 
dappling, spotting, kissing
everything in sight
as if to say
Good morning!

Later in the day, my friend and I met for our regular ‘wun’ (walk/run). She had to collect sticks for an art project with her students, so this was truly a walk in the woods  I had recently listened (again!) to Robin Wall Kimmerer  [an OnBeing podcast from May 2022], who shared –

And there’s a beautiful word — “bimaadiziaki,” which one of my elders kindly shared with me. It means “a living being of the earth.” But could we be inspired by that little sound at the end of that word, the “ki,” and use “ki” as a pronoun, a respectful pronoun inspired by this language, as an alternative to “he,” “she,” or “it” so that when I’m tapping my maples in the springtime, I can say, “We’re going to go hang the bucket on ki. Ki is giving us maple syrup this springtime”? And so this, then, of course, acknowledges the being-ness of that tree, and we don’t reduce it — it — to an object. It feels so wrong to say that.

Robin Wall Kimmerer with Krista Tippett, The Intelligence of Plants, May 12, 2022

As my friend and I hiked along the creek, in the midst of bare trees of winter, surrounded by all this beautiful brown and gray, I felt embraced by other beings. I understood what Robin Wall Kimmerer was saying, how it feels wrong to use the label ‘it’ when speaking of a tree or a stream or a cloud above. 

Let me share a little more of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s wisdom, from the podcast –

And I have some reservations about using a word inspired from the Anishinaabe language, because I don’t in any way want to engage in cultural appropriation. But this word, this sound, “ki,” is, of course, also the word for “who” in Spanish and in French. It turns out that, of course, it’s an alternate pronunciation for “chi,” for life force, for life energy. I’m finding lots of examples that people are bringing to me, where this word also means “a living being of the Earth.”

The plural pronoun that I think is perhaps even more powerful is not one that we need to be inspired by another language, because we already have it in English, and that is the word “kin.”

Yes, “kin” is the plural of “ki,” so that when the geese fly overhead, we can say, Kin are flying south for the winter. Come back soon. So that every time we speak of the living world, we can embody our relatedness to them.

Robin Wall Kimmerer with Krista Tippett, The Intelligence of Plants, May 12, 2022

My friend and I decided to practice ‘ki’ and ‘kin’ on our walk. As we picked up sticks, we introduced the stick to each other – look, isn’t ki a beauty? We were surprised by the mental challenge of this seemingly simple change in language. What was unexpected for me was how easily I chose the masculine ‘he’ for the pronoun. I had to slow down and think through this, before I spoke, choosing not ‘it,’ not ‘he,’ but ‘ki.’ 

With this language of ‘ki’ and ‘kin’ at the front of our minds, I noticed that we both became quieter and more observant. We were absorbing the beautiful nature all around us, in that slower, meditative way, that is so good for the heart and soul. We were with kin.