Through Yin's words
One hundred clans are in harmony.
Forest Carter in his book, The Education of Little Tree, explains that the word ''kin'' had a broader meaning for his family than ''being related by blood''. Kin also meant understanding and could be used as a verb: ''I kin y'a.'' (In Shakespeare this is spelled "ken.") Carter's grandfather was half Scottish and half Cherokee. The number of my ''kin'' have been growing as I have gotten older. My kin have grown from my immediate family to my artistic community to my ancestors to my extended family to the community which supports my children's school to my local political community. Every Novena increases the number of my kin. During a Novena, everything that I can perceive becomes my kin. I will explore this idea further in the following chapter.