This reminded me of a chapter from Leanne Betasamosake Simpson's *Theory of Water*, where she describes natural phenomenon as maps that tell of other places. in particular, she focuses in on eels, discussing various aspects of their life cycles, and their migrations, and connecting their bodies to those stories:
"The eel ... was a link between me and the Sargasso Sea nearly five thousand kilometres away. And my people once had long-term, intimate relationships with eels. They knew their stories and their travels up the big river to the big lake.
[...]
The bodies of eels are a map, just like the rings on the flesh of a maple tree are a map. They map the life cycle from egg to leptocephalus to glass eel to elver to yellow eel to silver eel. Their bodies are archives of the physical conditions of their world: water temperature, nutrients, the quality of habitats, the productivity of their food webs..."
p. 94-95, *Theory of Water*
