The Birthing Tree

As I stood under it, looking up into the branches, listening as the wind rustled the leaves, I could hear my Kiju’s voice: “This tree holds our stories.”

Born under the shadow of a tree sacred to generations of Indigenous women, Aliet has been brought up outside a small Nova Scotia town by her fierce, loving grandmother, Kiju. Her father remains a mystery no one will name, while her mother died under that very tree, gently held by its cradle of roots as Aliet came into the world.

But the world beyond their community is changing, and although Kiju has a wealth of wisdom to share, local women are increasingly reluctant to follow traditional birthing rituals. At the local hospital, white doctors are sceptical of Indigenous practices, and Aliet and Kiju are distraught to witness as prejudice turns to condemnation.

Decades later, Aliet is living a quiet life in the city while she grapples with a personal tragedy that has shaped her adulthood. She works as a nurse, administering modern medicine while still holding her grandmother’s teachings and stories dear, tucked beside memories of the tree that once welcomed new life. But when Kiju passes away suddenly, grief-stricken Aliet understands that she must return to the tree: it is only these roots that can help her reconnect with her heritage, and discover long-buried secrets about herself.

Sweeping and intimate, spanning decades, The Birthing Tree follows one woman’s journey to protect her land, her traditions, and the memory of the women who came before her, as she decides which parts of her inheritance she will carry into the future.