Grandma’s Hands

Respect for our elders forms a cornerstone of civilized behavior. Across history we find archetypes for guidance, empathy and the establishment of harmony embedded in our culture discourse. Often our natural world hides these universal truths and many societies have personified the turtle as deserving of these characteristics.

In ancient China, a turtle carrying its shell on its back symbolized a wise and patient person who carries their knowledge and experience with them wherever they go. Hindu mythology considers the tortoise as an avatar of the god Vishnu, who represents stability and preservation. In African folklore, the turtle is often portrayed as a wise and cunning animal, employing its slow and deliberate movements to outwit its enemies. In some Native American traditions, the turtle is believed to have played a role in the creation of the earth, and is revered as a wise and ancient being with a connection to the earth and the natural world.

Although we co-exist, our pace is at odds with this charismatic creature and the balance disrupted. Our roads divide habitats, our cars play Russian roulette as they swerve past nesting mothers each summer. Our generation has forgotten the advice of our elders - distracted with our trials we take little notice of our perilous state, the simple turtle a barometer of our ecological state.

The Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre is a registered charity whose goal is to protect and conserve Ontario’s native turtles and the habitat in which they live. They accomplish this through operating a turtle hospital that treats, rehabilitates and releases injured turtles, by performing extensive research in the field to further conservation initiatives, and by running a comprehensive education and outreach program. OTCC strives to increase awareness of the challenges facing Ontario’s turtles and to inspire individuals to act.

The images in this series represent Ontario’s seven species of endemic turtle, all are considered threatened. Populations are in decline as a result of habitat loss, road mortality, poaching, boating accidents / fishing bycatch, predation of eggs and young by human supported predators populations. Our wetlands depend upon their survival and so do we.

Grandma's hands

Used to issue out a warning

She'd say, Billy don't you run so fast

Might fall on a piece of glass

Might be snakes there in that grass

- Bill Withers (1971)