Some thoughts on the symbols. My first comments are based on personal
understanding, my second is academic:
The top carving might represent female, the bottom might represent male. The
tadpole lives in the pond, breaths through gills...but a metamorphos occurs
and the tadpole breathes air (spirit) and suddenly can see all the way across
the pond whereas prior to that it could only see a few inches in the murkey
water. This could mean a transition from life to afterlife.
>From the book "How Indians Use Wild Plants for Food, Medicine & Crafts" by
Frances Densmore, Dover 1974 is this story found on page 381:
I quote...
"The birch and the cedar were regarded as "sacred" by the Chippewa. The two
reasons for this "sacredness" are closely connected. One is the great
usefulness of these trees to the Chippewa and the other is their connection
with Winabojo, yet these two reasons are really one, for everything that is a
benefit to the tribe is traced to Winabojo, the mythical character who, it is
said, taught the Chippewa to live in their natural environment and yet, by his
apparently witless actions, gave them endless supply of humor. The amusing
stories of Winabojo are told and retold by the old people around the winter
fire. A misunderstanding of these humorous stories has given to some
students an impression that Winabojo was a fantastic deity, but the old,
thoughtful Indians understood him to be the source and impersonation of the
lives of all sentient things, human, faunal, and floral. He endowed these
sentient things with life, and taught its peculiar ruse for deceiving its
enemies and prolonging its life. His "tricks" were chiefly exhibitions of
his ability to outwit the enemies of life. He was thus regarded as the master
of ruses, but he also possessed great wisdom in the prolonging of life. It
was he who gave Indians their best remedies for treating the sick, and who
taught the animals the varied forms of protective disguise by which their
lives can be extended. His own inherit life was so strong that, when
apparently put to death, he reappeared in the same or different form. This
character, under slightly different names, appears in many Algonquian tribes,
among the spellings of his name being Nanabush, Minabozho, and Nenabozho."
...end of quote.. Perhaps the birch and cedar were a prayer for the children
who are buried there. Suggest to the woman to ask the man in the ribbon
shirt what it all means the next time he appears to her in a dream. Perhaps
she should also ask if his name is Winabojo.
Peace,
Joseph