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| Hoop
Carriers in Chicago with Don Coyhis of White Bison. |
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It's
about relationships—working together to figure
out how we can get along together and heal together.
Don
Coyhis, 2003
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Medicine
Seeds
Chicago Wellbriety Day
The children of the Chicago Indian community
created a special Hoop for their Wellbriety Day gathering.
They asked if they could bring in their Hoop along with the
Sacred Hoop of 100 Eagle Feathers during the opening Ceremony.
"Sure they can..." was the
reply from Don Coyhis of White Bison. "We
would be honored to have their Hoop with us today."
There were two sacred Hoops with us for our celebration in
Chicago.
The Crickett Hill Drum (Ansel Dean • Mike Pamonicutt
• Robert Smith • John G. Coon • Jay Williams • and Warren
Perlstein) were graced by the presence of one young woman
who stood with the Drum to sing—Ellen M. Williams. The Drum
sang an Honor Song as the two Hoops were brought in together
to our Circle. Once the larger Hoop was tied securely to the
stand, the Sacred Hoop created by the youth of the American
Indian Center was carefully placed inside the larger Hoop.
The Coordinator of the Center's Youth Program—Positive
Paths—is Megan Bang. Megan shared with us that one of the
Community Leaders, Julia Brown Wolf, had assisted Megan and
the young people with the construction of their Hoop. Julia
Brown Wolf told the children the meaning of the Hoop they
were creating. She told them that in order for their Hoop
to be sacred, they must treat it as sacred. Each feather must
be blessed and tied onto their Hoop
in a good way. Yes, we were honored to have the youth
from this Center in Chicago bring in the Sacred Hoops today.
Sacred Hoop Carriers
—Chicago American Indian Center
Negwes White
Lucent Blacksmith
Lenora White
Michael Blacksmith
Michael Podlasek
Brandon Cresmo
Steven Podlasek
Michael Pamonicutt III
Our Day in Chicago
After the Opening Ceremony, Don Coyhis gave a presentation
about White Bison and the Gifts of the Sacred Hoop. He told
of the Journeys, Conferences, and Gatherings as this Hoop
has traveled from community to community. He shared about
a community vision:
"Every Community needs to have a vision
of wellness. You need to have this picture of the direction
in which you want to move. We human beings move toward and
become like that which we think about. Whether it's good for
you or not. So if that is true, is it important to think about
what you're thinking about? The first time I ever drank, it
didn't just happen. I was thinking about it. When I got sober,
I started thinking about getting sober. You move towards and
become like that which you think about. What is your Indian
Center thinking about? Do you have a vision? Are you thinking
about Wellness? Because how you are thinking today is how
it will be six months from now. We must start to create these
visions of wellness. For the babies, for the youth, for the
adults, and for the Elders."
After the presentation, Don showed the documentary
video of the Third Journey, which focused on Healing Native
Women and Children. Then the participants were invited to
share what they felt about the people they had seen and the
things they had heard on the video. Many of the fifty or so
people who gathered here today took the opportunity to share
with all of us at this time.
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| (Left)
Tara, (Right) Nancy Johnstone, (By the Stove)
Mariel Blacksmith preparing the breakfast
and lunch meals for today's Gathering! Thanks! |
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There had been many volunteers who brought food
and assisted in the preparation and clean-up for the breakfast
meal and the pot-luck lunch. There were also people from Indian
Health Services who had set-up in an adjoining room and were
checking blood pressure and doing other health testing throughout
the day. During the lunch break many people took advantage
of the offer and visited the Health Services for a check-up
and information.
Youth Struggling
for Survival
When we reconvened after our delicious feast, we were delighted
to have a group of people share with us. Youth
Struggling for Survival is the name of the group. The
organization consists of dozens of youth between the ages
of 14 and 25 in Illinois' two largest communities—Chicago
and Aurora. The Executive Director, Tekpatzin Blazquez, shared
with us about their mission:
"Youth Struggling for Survival is a youth
empowerment organization working towards the goal of obtaining
equality, justice, peace and power for all young people. Using
our natural gifts of dance, poetry, music, and art we merge
our spiritual, cultural and social awareness to create a sanctuary
for all young people—a place where their voices are heard
and their contributions required to make our communities fuller
and richer in spirit.
"In many ancient cultures, it was said
that if boys and girls were not properly initiated into manhood
and womanhood through the skills, teachings, and love of the
elders, they would destroy the culture around them. Compounding
the situation today in the 21st century is the lack of authentic
elders that were once the centerpiece of the village make
up. The lack of elder guidance forces many young people to
prematurely assume adult and elder roles in this society.
"We use a combination of ancient rites
of passage, mentoring, and community service programs and
outreach to troubled youth to achieve our goal of developing
young people into consciously awakened men and women who contribute
to their families, to our communities, and to our world. We
apply long standing indigenous traditions as well as modern
leadership and skill development to strengthen the spiritual
and physical well being of our youth."
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| Tekpatzin
Blazquez introduces the youth group from the
Chicago/Aurora area. Standing and Seated to
his left are Mentors Louise Blazquez &Alex
Sunheart. Members are Tanee Blazquez, Chris
Lim, Alma Montes, Chris Dino, Dolores Munoz,
Edmundo Clarion. (See story for more details) |
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On their website, www.youthstrugglingforsurvival.org,
there is a quote from Fredrick Douglass, the African American
abolitionist/editor who fought to end slavery in the U.S.
in the decades prior to the Civil war. "If
there is no struggle, there is no progress," he said.
We urge you to visit their site and to learn for yourselves
the value of their teachings and traditions. We couldn't help
but be reminded of the words of a Lakota Elder, Bill Iron
Moccasin, who shared with us this same sentiment during the
first Journey of the Sacred Hoop in 1999:
Bill said, "I want
to apologize to the young people. We are responsible for this
world you now live in. Your world is this way because we allowed
it to be this way. We made choices that created this insanity
and this world for you. I'm getting old now. It's too late
for me to clean up this mess. You will have to work hard to
turn this around. I'm sorry. I will pray for you to have the
strength to follow thru on what my generation has left undone.
It's all up to you now."
Youth Struggling for
Survival—Participants in today's Wellbriety Event
Chris Lim
Tanee Blazquez
Alma Montes
Dolores Munoz
Edmundo Clarion
Chris Dino
Tekpatzin Blazquez
Executive Director
Louise Blazquez—Mentor
Alex Sunheart—Mentor
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| After
the yarn exercise to demonstrate the role
of a warrior, the women are invited to come
into the circle. |
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Chicago Yarn Exercise
After the yarn exercise to demonstrate the traditional role
of men in our communities, Don Coyhis addressed those in the
circle. "The Elders always told us
that the small circle can change the bigger circle, just by
that small circle changing itself. So each time one of us
makes one change in ourselves, the community changes. If you
have a small circle of people who are working on themselves
like the women's circle who have been meeting here for 7 years
now, when that happens, then others see that. The men here,
they said that because of that women's circle, they starting
meeting and working on themselves. And maybe those circles
come together. It's about relationships—working together
to figure out how we can get along together and heal together."
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| Joe
Podlasek, Coordinator of today's event, shows
several members of the Crickett Hill Drum
group the miniature replica of the Sacred
Hoop that was presented to the American Indian
Center of Chicago in appreciation of their
support of the Wellbriety Movement. |
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Medicine Seeds
Many seeds were planted in the minds and hearts of the people
gathered for today's Wellbriety Day with the Sacred Hoop.
After the closing ceremony and the offering of tobacco and
prayers, we were packing away our belongings and saying our
farewells to new friends when we noticed a flyer:
Native Medicine Garden • At the American
Indian Center • Chicago
This is a community project dedicated to bringing
the sacred and medicinal green nations, their stories,
uses, and their relationships to humans, to the American
Indian Community of Chicago
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The flyer urged people to volunteer by helping
in the creation of this garden dedicated to the Spirit of
the Plants. How fitting somehow, that there be a garden created
from seeds here. That we hear so strongly from the youth here,
young people with old spirits who are trying to grow in the
garden in which they have been planted. It is the same way
the Wellbriety Movement has grown: from the seeds planted
during the Journeys and Conferences over the years. Wellbriety
Seeds born of the Gifts of the Sacred Hoop—Hope, Unity, Healing,
and Forgiving the Unforgivable.
Good luck to all the "seed planters." May your
Gardens be richly blessed!!!
Vette Middleton
Richard Simonelli
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