Turtle woman is making an offering of wampum to the plants of the river.

“Please”, she asks, “can you help us?”

She explains how we need the rivers to be clean and she acknowledges the plants as the cleaners of the river.

She speaks to the wampum and thanks them also for the light they bring the world.

She talks to the plants for a long time. Telling them what is happening. She explains that the two legged have lost their ways. But there are still some who remember. She tells them about the babies that are coming who need clean water. She cries for her grandchildren.

The plants, being loving and generous, wait for her to finish speaking and then they tell her they have heard her prayers. They agree to help. They are gentle. They never have an unkind word to say about anyone.

From the shore a young person sings a turtle song. Unbeknownst to them, turtle woman is pleading for the world only a short distance below at the bottom of the river.