A lot of teachings come from the beaver, which is a very family-oriented creature, an ecologist and a builder. Beavers will build very intricate houses, with several entry points and exit points, very comfortable, and there will often be several generations living together, as much as three or four generations. They modify the ecology of the place where they live by building dams along the water flows where they build their houses, which are actually built into these dams. The small lake that forms behind these dams creates a whole new ecosystem.
For Native people, they are considered very important. They were a main food staple for the Northern Indians, because they were easy to find and catch in the winter; but Native people always left a healthy couple so that there was enough for future generations, and so that their community would continue on; it is a fairly big animal, much bigger than a cat, so there was a lot of meat there and also a lot of fat, especially in the tail, which is nearly exclusively fat, and people way up North, where it is very cold, need a lot of animal fat in their diet.
The Beaver Clan, amongst the Native people, was thus a clan whose responsibility was to care for the ecology. If the people noticed any kind of problem with a practice or activity that might harm the ecology, they would bring this to a member of the Beaver Clan, who would bring this to the community council. It was the Beavers Clans’ responsibility to check it out, and if there really was a problem, to bring it to the council. They were also the ones responsible for hosting annual and cyclical ceremonies, because they were good organizers, and they would work well together to make these things happen.
The people with beaver medicine are very strong and persistent, like the beavers are. They could also be very good builders; if people had something to build, they would call upon the Beaver Clan to lend a hand, because they would have great abilities to do this.
So, when a person has beaver as a totem, they are usually very family-oriented, good builders, and have the potential to transform the ecology of the place where they live.
Call on beaver medicine to promote teamwork, construction work, helping to preserve wetlands and family harmony.
A beaver dam