1. The making of medicine
people
Deborah Hansen-Lange, Bounmy Inthavong
and Corine Vreugdenhil-Witteveen
16 January 2012

2. Presentation outline:
• Introduction
• Brief background on Indigenous history
• Spirituality, healing and ceremony
• Group discussion
• Family and Education
• Group discussion
• Temptations of life and returning to ancestral
roots
• Last words
• Questions and comments

3. Brief background
“The reason that this book was written is to explain the
importance of respectful understandings.”
-Hill, 2009 (pp. ii)

4. Colonization
• Establishment of settlements
• Demands of the fur trade
• European ethnocentricity
• Transformation of life
Source: http://atethepaint-canadianbacon.blogspot.com/2010/08/history-of-
canada-pre-colonization.html

5. Residential schools
• Lost of the unborn generations
• Generations without guidance
• Lost of identity
• Life without language and culture
Source:
http://www.virtualcurriculum.com/N3225/spring2006/melissa_wendi/3.htm
l

6. Urbanization
• Economic and social
inequalities
• Health
• Poverty
• Education
• Dissociation from the
land
Source:
http://www.rogest.com/templates/Gallery.htm
l

7. This week’s readings
1. Spirituality, healing and ceremony
2. Education and family
3. Temptations of life and returning to ancestral roots

8. Spirituality, ceremony &
healing
There is a purpose or calling for every native person
communicated from the Creator

9. Spirit guides
• Spirit animals and ancestor guides
“…this strong spiritual connection, which is a very
natural source for a person’s spirit, is like the battery
to our body”
- Hill, 2009 (pp. ii)
Source:
http://reverentiallyspeakinglove.blogspot.com/2010/10
/spirit-guides.html

10. Celebrating with ceremony
• The Sacred Goose connection:
“On the day you were born, your grandfather killed
four geese.”
- Snowboy, 2010 (pp. 2)
• The Naming Ceremony:
• Gawehogeh – flower floating in the water
Source:
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Northern+Gateway+hearings+mystery
+Some+intervenors+were+signed+without/5978681/story.html

11. The significance of dreams
“With every correction
you make as a result of a
dream or message, your
spirit guide comes closer
to you.”
- Hill, 2009 (pp. 63)
• Dreams as corrective
• Dreams as a test or
challenge
Source: http://blog.cifor.org/wp-
content/uploads/2010/10/indigenous-
canadians.jpg

12. Identity and spirituality
“How could anything else compare with the magic and
pride I felt when I heard the stories of our ancestors?”
- Snowboy, 2010 (pp. 11)
“I never suffered from a lack of identity because of these
ceremonies.”
- Snowboy, 2010 (pp. 8)
Source:
http://mediacentre.canada.travel/content/travel_story_idea
s/aboriginal_culture

13. Identity and spirituality
“The Life Giver gave the native people the duty of
caretakers of his land but also the ability to
connect with it both physically and spiritually”
- Snowboy, 2010 (pp. 64)
• This duty has been lost by European genocidal
activity
Source:
http://www.turtleisland.org/discussion/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=69
56

14. Approaches to healing
• Healing – 3 A’s (Hill,
2009; pp. 78):
1. Awareness
2. Acceptance
3. Action
• The more responsibility
you take, the more you
can experience peace
Source:
http://www.bearclawgallery.com/Pain
tings.aspx?PaintingImageID=2161&Pai
ntingID=1565

15. Approaches to healing
• Snowboy’s message of healing is about
restoring the Spiritual dimensions of life and
reconnecting with the Spirit Guides
Source:
http://seventhgenerationhealingnetwork.web.officeli
ve.com/HarrySnowboy.aspx

16. Approaches to healing
• Group discussion (15 minutes) – forgiveness and
healing
• Group discussion for 5 minutes
• 2-3 minutes for each group to present thoughts

17. Discussion questions
1. How can we take some of Hill’s and Snowboy’s
Indigenous teachings with respect to healing
and incorporate them into our “Eurocentric”
mentality that was devised out of fear (Hill, 96)?
2. Reflect on the two authors’ perspectives
regarding self- determined actions and
behaviors vs. spiritually determined actions
such as love and forgiveness with respect to
healing?
3. Snowboy and Hill were called to be healers,
however according to this week’s readings;
every person is called by the Creator for a
specific purpose. How could these quotes
regarding healing lead a person to understand
their spiritual calling?

18. Quote 1
“I have learnt to forgive the past because people
have their own hurt. I had to forgive because I
was given the duty to work with the healing of our
people. I had to start with my own healing before
I could take that light I was given and share it with
the rest of the world.”
- Snowboy, 2010 (pp. 72)

19. Quote 2
“He (Jesus Christ) explains that we human beings
are the ones who separate each other because of
religion. This had to stop and he said that heaven
looks down on us all being equal. Jesus began to
doctor me in that ceremony and whatever it was
he took out my anger and resentment towards the
Christian community was gone. It was an
incredible experience...When I go visit
communities I talk about the visit from Jesus…I
encourage people not to judge but just simply try
and understand.”
- Snowboy, 2010 (pp. 75)

20. Quote 3
A human being is born with loneliness
It is not an earthy emotion
It comes from the attachment to the life giver
We are not aware but define it by our humanness
We regard it not by the depths of its origin
But a longing a deep longing
We walk the earth with this loneliness
- Snowboy, 2010 (pp. 29)

21. Quote 4
“Awareness is knowing the person that we have
become, and knowing it’s not who we are meant to
be. We have allowed society and circumstances to
shape and mold us into someone that behaves in
ways that is hurtful to ourselves and others. We
behave this way out of hurt and fear….Hurt and fear
is the main factor that causes people to become
angry, revengeful, mean, distant, withdrawn, cold,
addicted, judgmental, arrogant, etc. Our awareness
that we have developed into a person we don’t
like…is the first step…We can begin to change
ourselves by first becoming aware of our
thoughts…and start getting rid of the negative and
fearful thoughts.”
- Hill, 2009 (pp. 78)

22. Quote 5
“Acceptance is acknowledging that you have
allowed this to happen. Now you have a choice.
Are you going to allow yourself or others to define
you out of fear, or are you going to choose to
become the best you! The you, that you were
meant to be? Accepting that blaming yourself or
others, doesn’t help change your inner self, it only
gives you an excuse to behave in a self-destructive
way. When we accept the fact that we can control
how we feel; how our life has turned out; and our
destiny or path we are walking, we can then
understand our power.”
- Hill, 2009 (pp. 79)

23. Quote 6
“Action is making these changes of behavior
happen by being assertive about the awareness
of your inner self. Only we are aware of the
thoughts, attitudes and behavior that we choose
to use. We have to be assertive about practicing
healthier thinking, feeling and behavior.”
- Hill, 2009 (pp. 79)

24. Family and education

25. Hill and Snowboy
• Family played integral role in development
• Many similarities growing up
• Family reaction to dreams/voices
Source:
http://www.hreoc.gov.au/education/bth/community_guide/index.html

26. Families
“The movement out of
longhouses and into
nuclear families.”
- Hill, 2009 (pp. 97-98)
• Children are precious
• The voices of Elders
are extremely important
Source:
http://www.communities.qld.gov.au/gatew
ay/about-us/corporate-
publications/community-
connect/community-connect-issue-
eighteen/keeping-indigenous-families-
together

27. Families
• Families include ancestors
• We are part of the family of the universe
“We are the youngest ones in the
family of the universe, yet some
people have forgotten this and act like
we are the creators of it.”
- Hill, 2009 (pp. 44)
Source: http://www.rmbrwhen.com/nativ.htm

28. Families
• Dreams and voices helped heal family
• Family helped push against peer pressure
Source: http://www.freespiritgallery.ca/toddbaker.htm

29. Families
• Current education is inadequate
• Ceremonies need to be passed on
• Healing work from residential schools
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/artdesign/story/2007/12/04/norval-
morrisseau.html

30. Family and discussion
• Group discussion (15 minutes)
• Group discussion for 5 minutes
• 2-3 minutes for each group to present thoughts

31. Discussion questions
1. Family is very important to both authors.
Using the quote you were given, discuss how
the author’s perspective on family differs from
your own perspective or belief.
2. The history of aboriginal people has been
altered due to colonization. Consider your
quote and discuss how the path of indigenous
family has been altered.

32. Quote 1
“My father listens to us when we say something
because he knows that we have just come from
the heavens and he has been here longer.”
- Hill, 2009 (pp. 43)

33. Quote 2
“The fire is the heart of all men. We carry that in
our hearts and she (the grandmother) had tended
my fire. I would see her again. She was to show
me that women are the keepers of the
ceremonies. She taught me about respect and
assisted in the healing of my soul through the
understanding of family and women.”
- Snowboy, 2010 (pp. 49)

34. Quote 3
“When the white people came here and your
people started to move out of their longhouses
and made houses like your white brothers, they
separated their families. Whenever you separate
yourself, there will be darkness.”
- Hill, 2009 (pp. 98)

35. Quote 4
“They didn’t want the people to be united and to
work together for the needs of their people and
their communities. They (the church) wanted
everyone to just worry about themselves and their
nuclear family, that’s it, this way you become
weaker and more vulnerable and easier to be
forced to bend their values.”
- Hill, 2009 (pp. 97)

36. Quote 5
“We need to question if the direction or advice
given is against our own inner values of right and
wrong, not necessarily what our religion or family
expects from us but if it feels right to us.”
- Hill, 2009 (pp. 77)

37. Quote 6
“As Native people, we never had incest or rape
from our spiritual leaders, nor did our ancestors
rape and molest the non-native or native children.
Children are considered gifts, little spirit beings
that have been given to us from love shown by the
creator.”
- Hill, 2009 (pp. 71)

38. Temptations of life and
returning to ancestral
roots
“Once a person is connected to heart, spirit and mind and
working in unison, then you are functioning as a healthy
human being. Until then you are only functioning as a partial-
being and therefore out of balance”.
- Hill, 2009 (pp. v)

39. Temptations of life
• Lack of guidance from family and community
• Loss of identity and direction
• Questioning
• Insecurities and pain
• Acceptance of modernism
• Needing to conform
“People have become so distant from
their original self or their own spirit that
they become someone who is cold,
mean and distant just for the sake of
fitting into society.”
- Hill, 2009 (pp. 21)
Source: http://mosaicwine.wordpress.com/

40. Returning to ancestral roots
• Sense of identity and self-worth
• Connection to the Creator and his creations
• Purpose
• The Peace Maker
• Good mind and good heart
“It’s important to teach children
about their identity.”
- Snowboy, 2010 (pp. 66)
Source:
http://edmortimer.wordpress.com/2011/
08/03/chief-looking-horse-speaks-at-
protecting-mother-earth-gathering/

41. Any final questions or
comments?

42. References:
Frideres, J.S. and Gadacz, R.R. (2005) Profile of Aboriginal People I: Population
and Health. Chapter 3. pages 54-88 in Aboriginal peoples in Canada.
Herry, A., Waldram, J., and Young, T.K. (2006) An overview of Aboriginal Peoples in
Canada. Chapter 1. pages 3-23. in Aboriginal peoples in Canada: Historical,
cultural and epidemiological perspectives, 2nd edition. Toronto: University of
Toronto Press.
Hill, W. Understanding life…What my ancestors taught me through my dreams.
(2009) Pittsburgh: Red Lead Press.
Snowboy, H. A Cree Shaman’s story: voice from the wilderness. (2010) Ottawa:
Baico Publishing Inc.