Events focus on healing from within

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This article was published 17/04/2022 (1410 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A local initiative centred on family healing has planned a series of events this week aimed at supporting ’60s Scoop survivors.

A special drumming session, “Awakening Our Hearts,” will take place at Princess Park Friday to honour Earth Day from noon to 1 p.m. The drum circle is part of the Brandon Friendship Centre (BFC) Healing the Family Within, but the event is for everyone in the community, said co-ordinator Debbie Huntinghawk.

There is a prophecy that when 8,000 drums are played together, major healing of Mother Earth, Indigenous people and every living being in the world will take place, she said. The beats will create unity, respect, love, compassion, happiness and peace around the world.

“Eight-thousand drums are for the healing of Mother Earth, the healing of hearts and for ancestral wisdom. Eight-thousand drums for the survival, for the respect, for the self-determination, freedom, justice, the peace and dignity and of every Indigenous people in all the countries in the world.”

The event will also serve as an opportunity to heal from the COVID-19 pandemic and the heartache of witnessing the invasion of Ukraine, said Deborah Tacan, a cultural support worker at the Brandon Friendship Centre.

“We think we’re powerless, but you know what, we’re not. Our voices are strong and we can use that through our drums, through our songs, through our rattles,” Tacan said. “Anything that we do that helps connect us.”

It is important to honour Earth Day because Mother Earth needs healing, Huntinghawk said.

“If we don’t look after her now, then there will be nothing left for our kids or our grandkids. We have to start.”

Participants are encouraged to bring a drum or rattle while to the event.

Healing the Family Within will also be hosting a series of sharing and healing circles to help ’60s Scoop survivors and their families on their healing journeys. The sharing circles will take place on April 20, April 27, May 4 and May 18 from 1 to 4 p.m.

“They’re giving their pain a voice,” she said.

During the circles, survivors can share their stories and experiences as part of their healing path.

The final event, “The Wiping of the Tears,” will take place on April 28 at 6 p.m. at 205 College Ave. It will be hosted by Brandon Friendship Centre cultural worker Frank Tacan.

“The Wiping of the Tears” is an important ceremony, Frank said. When someone has lost a loved one, traditionally, the community would take care of the family as they mourn and grieve the person that has died.

When people arrive at the ceremony, they are wiped off with an eagle fan or eagle feather and if they are still crying, their tears are wiped off. Frank said there is a need to let tears go so people can move forward.

During the ceremony, an elder will fill a canupa (pipe) and pray for those coming in who will be standing on a buffalo robe. As the person mourning stands on the robe, they are cared for by the people around them.

“People are starting to let go, but they don’t know how. Standing on that buffalo robe is so sacred, it overwhelms you and the tears come,” Frank said. “It helps them grieve.”

Many people are grieving for more than one person and this adds to the mourning as they have been unable to properly honour dead loved ones due to COVID-19 public health restrictions for the past two years.

Everything comes together in the form of spirituality during the ceremony, he added, and it serves to wake up the spirit within individuals that are mourning and grieving. When people take this step in the grief process, they can start their journeys of healing.

He hopes the ceremony inspires people to be more open, talk about their life stories and honestly share how they have healed.

“These ceremonies really help you. For instance, if you are grieving for multiple people, you go on a vision quest and release that or you go to the sun dance and dance and release that; same with the sweat lodge,” Frank said. “We have to wake up that spirit so healing can happen.”

» ckemp@brandonsun.com

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