A project
The end of term brings final presentations. A Saskatchewan Urban Native Teacher Education Program (SUNTEP) group chose to play with the tool blacklight. They told a story of the creation of the medicine wheel.
Mixing a natural animal soundscape with Electric Powwow The Creator: 4 Medicines a piece of disarming simplicity emerged to reveal untold depth. There was no narration just movement, sound & image. They affectionately called the music "dubstep powwow". The presentation ended with members of the class making a medicine wheel which glowed in the blacklight as seen in the photo.
Within the written documentation was a deeply personal statement. Shared with permission.
"A personal account that I had with a Sacred Eagle was last August. Last August my 18-year-old cousin was traveling from Saskatoon to North Battleford when a tire blew. They did a 180 and landed in a ditch. My cousin got out of his vehicle and noticed there was an Eagle sitting on a fence watching him. He immediately called his dad to let him know he was okay. The next day I awoke early August 3rd to go to work on bright sunny day, I was having a happy day that day when I went on my break at 11:30am for lunch. I had 11 missed calls and multiple text messages and voicemails. The night before, my cousin had went to a party out by Cochin and on their way back to North Battleford, my cousin became rowdy and upset so his cousins let him out to cool off on the high way and drove away to give him space. When they returned for him there was ambulance on scene. My cousin had been hit by a car and was killed instantly. Apparently he was standing in the middle of the road waiting when a car hit him. There was a four day wake that was attended where a member of the family was to sit with him by his casket for the four days while someone attended to a fire outside that was never to be allowed to go out. On the fourth day we buried my cousin which was one of the hardest days of my life; it was the day before my birthday, August 08, 2011. As the drum was playing in the background with sad songs and healing songs, my cousin was being buried. After they laid him to rest, I looked in the sky and soaring high above us on a clear sunny day was an Eagle, taking him home. It was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen. It’s been a hard year having first Christmases without him, his 19th birthday just passed and we’re all still coping on a daily bases. Today I am writing this on Easter Sunday and am having a difficult time writing this, but I feel it’s necessary to share my account with a sacred Eagle that took my cousin home 8 months ago. I dream of him often and whenever I see Eagles or traditional drum music I think of him.. My heart hurts for him still and I’m learning how to cope with it every day."
A powerful example of transforming painful life experiences into an act of creation.
:: Note :: ... not the first time this student had opened herself to the "work" required to play ... it is a high aim to persuade yourself that your studies and your life are one ... i call it "journey work" ... thanks to all students who take the journey...
