I can't help but notice the small pink teepee resurrected in my parent's kitchen and wonder at the Aboriginal influence that permeates the lives of us all here in BC, maybe in all of North America.
How did I, a white girl of French descent start sweating at a Native American sweat lodge at the age of 23? And eventually end up taking part in the Sun Dance ceremony for four years at the Lakota Sioux reserve in Middle America?
Well I must digress into some history first to answer those questions.
There is a tribe of people living here in the North West Coast that I have had the pleasure of encountering over the last few months. This mixed tribe of people or "Rainbow tribe" as we are calling it is of every color, nationality, creed and belief. I love these people and they are some of the most tuned in, caring and active people I have encountered. They care about life, about Earth, about making a difference and they aren't afraid to share it. These are my people, they are my tribe. We are sometimes referred to as the Water Tribe. No matter how many beliefs, the underlying tie or connection: the Native American ways seem to influence and underlie all of our values or practices. Tibetan, yogic, Christian. I have been meeting many of these mixed breeds lately and I firmly believe that the Native American spirituality, heritage, way of life is embedded into the land.
I was introduced to the Native ways first through a Classic book
called
Black Elk Speaks. The book is a first person account from an Oglala Lakota Sioux, Holy man known by the name Black Elk. The book documents the first interactions between the Native peoples and
wasichus or white soldiers when they first began to colonize the US and Canada. It is shocking to hear the stories of the famous battles such as Wounded Knee and Little Big Horn. Now memorial sites to these famous massacres, I went to visit this summer for the first time. You could feel the energy permeated in the land, it was a bit chilling to look around and see the hundreds of little crosses sticking up out of the ground. These battles were some of the first interaction between the native people of this land and the people who were coming to settle here. For a long time I was caught up in the horror and the sadness of these stories as it felt as if it had happened to me and maybe in a way, it had happened to all of us.
Shortly after reading the book
Black Elk and hearing those words "Lakota Sioux" echo through my brain day and night, a very interesting young man showed up at my work one day. He was wearing a big necklace made of Eagle claws and thick turquoise beads and he was Indian. We very fast became friends and I started to teach him Photoshop and the world of Design and he taught me about the Native ways he had been raised in. I went to my first sweat lodge in Washington and I was hooked.
I say I've died 3 times in this lifetime already. One was at the Sundance the first year I went, shortly after the sweat lodge experience. The second was in the one Ayahusca ceremony I took part in. And the third was this summer in Salt Spring Island on the healing table of a Powerful healer. RIP.
But what really intrigued me about the Native ways was the connection with the Earth and the groundedness of it all. Coming from a flighty North American family there was so much disconnect from life, from real life. It was all about rushing around, money and madness, everything but the important things, what felt to me.
I fell in love with how the Native ways focused on the family as the center of life and the connection with all life. It drew me in. I fell in love with the ways. I felt a connection with my spirit and felt how I had a connection with life. I experienced deep awakening and connection that I had not experienced ever.
I ended up getting sobriety from my weekly attendance at the sweat lodge which went on for months and then years. Being sober meant a lot to me coming from a strong addiction to alcohol from the age of 13. By 24 I was virtually sober. A great feeling for me at that age.
Why do I talk about all these things now? Well it is surfacing strong in my life and my path as I question the last 6 years of my life and interconnectedness with the Native ways.
With my connection to this land in BC, where I was born there is a strong bond which continuously seems to present itself no matter where I go or for how long. This time the call came from the Likely mining spill that has infiltrated the rivers and certain lakes in Northern BC. One that houses close to 1/4 of the Salmon population. Now all this sludge which seeped out from a mining tailings pond is headed straight down the Fraser River to Vancouver.
I felt a call to attend a meeting with friends of the "rainbow tribe" which discussed solutions for these amazing disasters that are happening to Mother Earth right now, particularly the waters, oceans, rivers. The conclusion was that if the water is sick, we are sick. If she is being poisoned, it's all of us, not just "them". It also greatly affects the Coastal Native people's drinking water. We all have to take responsibility and stand up, even if it's just spreading the awareness.
I don't know what the connection is here with the Native people and the land but it's permeated in many of us and touches somewhere deep.
I guess what my question is is whether we are Hindus, Buddhists, Jews or spiritualists on this land, do we all have a Native connection? If we are tuned in, or not. Maybe we were Natives Americans once or maybe the spirit of the land and it's people are permeated here for all time.
The Native peoples are rising up much stronger these days especially with all the action needed to protect and ensure the right treatment of the land. I heard said that the Natives are the stewards of the land for this planet. The white man, the steward of the fire. The Asians, stewards of the air element and the black people, the water. Who knows.
This was a longer post than I had intended but I cared to explore these thoughts and I ask you to do the same. If you are from BC and care to comment or post about this or anything happening right now with the water, please do so or msg me. I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject.
Much love and gratitude.
love,
Clarity
