An education and healing event was hosted on the weekend by the Kinomaagaye Gaamik lodge in the Mississaugas of the New Credit territory. Teachings were provided by Saskatchewan elders Cheryl Littletent, Rita Prosper, and Linda Obey. Women from many different nations from all over Turtle Island attended this packed event seeking traditional knowledge and healing.
The host, Nancy Rowe of New Credit, stated that the event “is about the empowerment of women to not be too shy to pick up their teachings. What I liked was that so many people from different nations came. We had Inuit, Anishnabe, Haudenosaunee, Dene, Cree all coming together because we are thirsty. People are thirsty for the teachings. It wasn’t just about the women’s teachings because the men were there as well to hear about women’s teachings so we can walk together and respect each other”.
The Kinomaagye Gaamik lodge is place for learning that has been open for the past two years. Rowe reflected on how important the lodge was a place for her to learn Anishnabe culture. “When we built it we were told some people are afraid to come to ceremonies so we created it for education because people want to learn but they don’t always want to do ceremony. All the events that we have there are for universal teachings and every body is welcome to that lodge. It’s also free, and we are not politically tied by funding governing or dictating what we do. All the fund raising that we do is done by people coming to the lodge and who cover the costs of the elders who carry the old teachings.”
Rowe feels like there aren’t enough elders to access in the New Credit community itself. “I travel around to different places listening to different elders. They say utilize what I am teaching you back home to your community build your home fire, build your family, get your family healthy and then you can spread it out to your community.”
Elder Cheryl Littletent from Kawacatoose nation Saskatchewan spoke at the gathering. She told the gathering that “the way I was taught is that teachings begin at home. If you yell at your children all the time, one of your children is going to become a yeller. If you swear at home one of the kids is going to pick up the habit of swearing. Being an aggressive person will never get you anywhere.”
“It’s hard to be a humble person. There are five main things to be a humble person. Number one is respect. Respect yourself before you can respect anyone else. Two, watch what you’re doing, watch what you’re saying, watch where you’re going.
Three, learn from what you are doing, learn from what you are saying. Four listen to yourself, listen to the people around you. The fifth one is be happy with what you’re doing and be happy with what you are learning. Those five elements practiced on a day to day basis will help you become humble.”
