Wellbriety Journey for Forgiveness
White Earth Indian School
White Earth, MN, June 10, 2009
Powerful Healing at White Earth
The Honor Guard with 5 Staffs
at the Opening. Joe Potter (front, right) carries the Wellbriety Forgiveness Staff. The White Earth Anishinabe (Ojibwe) Nation is situated on about 1100 square miles of land in northwestern Minnesota. Its name comes from Gaa-waabaabiganikaag, or "Where there is white clay" in Ojibwe. Before our visit in White Earth was finished we would be given two bricks made of that white clay to carry with us on the rest of the Journey––old bricks from the White Earth boarding school site of the late 1800s.
The event was held at the White Earth RTC building on the rez in White Earth, Minnesota. About 75 people showed up to carry on the work of talking about the historical trauma of the boarding school years––exposing it to the light of day so all of us, especially the youth, can go on. We were fortunate to have Erma Vizenor, Chairwoman of the White Earth Nation present to help open the day. Ms. Vizenor carried on our tradition of having tribal government behind the Journey. MC for the day was Andy Favorite, and he is a favorite. Andy is very knowledgeable about our history here in White Earth and with the treaties and other documentation that is out there. He is a historian and a good storyteller for the community.
Panel discussion in White Earth.
Andy Favorite is on the left The day at White Earth was blessed with an especially strong healing presence through ceremony. There were no fewer than five Eagle Staffs in attendance and they watched over us as the sharing of the old boarding school stories took place. It seemed like the Wellbriety Forgiveness Staff was among its brothers and sisters. In fact, the Wellbriety Eagle Staff was carried in by Joe Potter, who was one of the people who had gifted the Staff to White Bison over a year earlier at the National Conference in Minneapolis.
The White Earth Honor Guard blessed us with their presence along with the Eagle Spirit Drum––Henry Fox, Sonny Wadena, Greg Blue, Frank Stech, Dan Jourdain, and Lucas Hisgun. Earl Hoaglund was the spiritual advisor for this event. The Hoop was carried in by Dean Johnson, Martha Williams, Bryce King-Hanks, and Monte Bower. And we couldn’t have done it without the help of those who made this this event happen. Maintenance: Patti C., Al B. Jeff and Ted M. Volunteers: Gina B., Jean D., Dean J., Mary F., Lorna L., Char L. The Kitchen: Cindy and Char H. And Jesse F. for the sound system and equipment.
Don Coyhis (right) receives cedar
and 2 bricks of white clay from the
original boarding school site from
Bob Shimick during the gathering. The day’s healing work consisted of the opening ceremony, presentations, sharing of stories by both panel and participants, and the closing healing ceremony. The schools connected with White Earth in historic times include the White Earth boarding school, the Pine Point School, the Wild Rice River School, and St. Benedict's Industrial School, located in St. Joseph some 125 miles from the reservation. St. Benedict’s Industrial School was established in 1884 when St. Benedict’s Convent contracted with the U.S. government. That was how the Catholic Church became a part of the suppressive government system of the boarding school era.
Bob Shimick related one of the powerful and healing stories of the day. Bob connects religion with pain. He told us that in the 70s and 80s, just after the boarding school era was over, he had been called by the ancestors to go to St. Benedict’s school site and have ceremony for the spirits that are still there. He believes that the spirits were stuck here. “They have no belief system to get them to the other side,” he said. He said the ceremony was done at sundown. Four people showed up at his invitation, just enough to perform the ceremony. During the first round they prayed about why they were there. Nothing significant happened. During the second round the lodge was full of other (spirit) people. At the third and fourth doors, more and more different people appeared each time. Now Bob wonders if someone needs to go back and do it again. Doing that ceremony was part of his healing he told us. Maybe it is time for such ceremonies to become part of others’ healing.
The Eagle Spirit Drum Bob went over to the old boarding school site in White Earth after lunch and brought back some cedar from the large trees there and two white clay bricks that were part of the now non-existent building. He said, “Some of these bricks from here carry the story from the earliest days. Be mindful of the history.” He tells us that, where we are at right now, there have been 40 recent attempted suicides. Bob goes on to say that cedar is the spirit of truth. Those cedar trees witnessed the history he says. He requested that we on the Forgiveness Journey carry the bricks and the cedar along on our way.
Healing Ceremony There were so many touching, sad, and heart-wrenching stories shared at the gathering in White Earth. For example, Donna remembers being the one to get punished because the nuns wanted them to be quiet and passive. She would do the opposite. For seven years Donna did not see her family. Donna said she became a belligerent big mouth. She would talk in church when she wasn’t suppose to. The nuns would save up a collection of soap in a jar, make her chew on it and blow bubbles in class. Donna said the inside of her mouth was shredded because of the harsh lye. Donna is also left-handed. She told us the nuns would make her practice writing right handed. Donna said the nuns would bend her across the iron beds and whip the back of her legs with a rubber hose. She says she never learned, so the nuns gave up on her and told her she was going straight to hell. But she is who she is and they couldn’t change her, she said. However, she said that she grew up to believe violence was okay. She thought that if her man didn’t beat her, he didn’t love her. It has taken her a lifetime to unlearn.
Why we Journey There were so many other stories, and everyone of them was heard.
The White Earth region is the home country of three of us traveling with the Journey––Marlin Farley, Chris Young and Maria LaFriniere. “It was very good to get to my homeland and share this with the community where I was raised,” Maria exclaims. “I am glad some of my family was there to participate.” Maria goes on to speak about how she felt about coming home as part of the Journey. She puts it into perspective for all of us:
“Hearing some of the participants this afternoon and knowing the things that happened in their life and in their children’s lives gave me an awareness that this is exactly what the journey mission is all about. Because of the trauma of the boarding schools, this man abused his wife and children…because of that he was unable to raise his children in a healthy way and those children are now alcoholic and their lives are in turmoil. All of this poison is inside of us because we were taught not to talk about it. Now we carry it around inside of us and punish ourselves and others because we think we are not worthy of being heard. We do not even know how to be heard or what is even wrong. There is no one to tell because no one is listening. Today, some were heard because we were all there listening. The ceremony we all participated in today was needed by many.”
~ Forgiveness Journey Team
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Wellbriety Training Institute
