Elders' Wisdom Series: Between Two Worlds
Summary
TLDRReg Crow Shoe, from the Piikani First Nation, introduces the importance of smudging in Blackfoot culture, emphasizing it as a sacred ritual that formalizes storytelling. He highlights the oral tradition of sharing stories about relationships with nature, people, animals, and the universe. Reg also discusses the link between traditional teachings and modern health practices, drawing parallels between Indigenous perspectives on sickness and Western preventive health measures, particularly in relation to stress and conditions like Bell's palsy. His message underscores the value of integrating both Indigenous and Western knowledge for a balanced life.
Takeaways
- đ„ Smudging is a vital practice in Blackfoot culture that sets a formal space for storytelling.
- đ Oral stories in the culture emphasize relationships between humans, nature, animals, and the universe.
- đż Smudging rituals make the stories more formal, bringing them into a sacred context.
- đ Blackfoot culture values stories because they preserve experiences and interactions between living and non-living entities.
- đ» The concept of 'ghosts' in Blackfoot culture represents unseen forces like sicknesses, connecting spiritual belief with health.
- đŹ Emotions, such as fear and respect, are fundamental parts of the creation story and guide how people should live their lives.
- đ§ The story of an elder who experienced paralysis (interpreted as Bell's palsy) teaches the importance of living a healthy, stress-free, and respectful life.
- đŁïž Talking badly about others and living an unhealthy lifestyle are considered to invite 'ghosts,' leading to illness or imbalance in life.
- âïž The traditional oral knowledge about ghosts and illness aligns with modern preventive health guidelines (stress reduction, healthy living, and positive behavior).
- đ Bridging traditional knowledge with modern health practices can help young Indigenous people navigate between both cultural and scientific systems.
Q & A
Who is the speaker and what is their cultural background?
-The speaker is Reg Crow Shoe from the Piikani First Nation, and his Blackfoot name is Alec I Seen, meaning 'dear chief.' He speaks the Blackfoot Piikani language and comes from an oral culture where storytelling is essential.
What is the significance of smudging in the speakerâs culture?
-In the speaker's culture, smudging is an important ceremonial practice. It creates a formal setting for storytelling and is a way to connect with the Creator through the rising smoke. This makes the stories told in this context more formal and meaningful.
How does the speaker describe the relationship between storytelling and their culture?
-The speaker emphasizes that storytelling in their culture is deeply connected to nature, human beings, animals, and the universe. These interactions create experiences and stories, which are passed down orally. Stories serve as a way to explain relationships and teach life lessons.
What role does emotion play in the speakerâs cultural stories about creation?
-Emotion is central in the speakerâs creation stories. They believe that Creator first experienced emotion because of loneliness. This emotion was passed on to humans as part of creation, along with respect and disrespect, which guide how emotion should be used.
What cultural belief does the speaker mention regarding sickness?
-The speakerâs culture views sickness as ghostsâunseen entities that affect people. For example, an elder in their community believed her face was paralyzed due to negative emotions, stress, and bad behavior like talking negatively about others. This was seen as a punishment from these 'ghosts.'
What preventive health practices does the speaker mention from their cultural teachings?
-The speaker mentions three preventive practices from traditional teachings: living a stress-free life, exercising, and avoiding negative talk about others. These practices are believed to prevent sickness, which is viewed as being caused by 'ghosts.'
How does the speaker relate traditional knowledge to modern health practices?
-The speaker connects traditional teachings about sickness to modern health guidelines. For instance, their traditional belief that negative emotions and stress can cause physical illness, like face paralysis, aligns with Western medical advice on preventing Bellâs palsy by reducing stress and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
What example does the speaker give to explain how traditional and modern health beliefs can work together?
-The speaker gives an example of Bellâs palsy. Traditional teachings about respecting emotions and avoiding negativity align with modern advice on managing stress to prevent Bellâs palsy. This shows that traditional and modern approaches can complement each other in health care.
Why does the speaker emphasize the importance of blending traditional and modern knowledge?
-The speaker stresses that young Indigenous people can benefit from both traditional and modern knowledge. By integrating cultural teachings with modern health guidelines, individuals can find a balanced approach to living a healthy life.
What is the main message the speaker conveys about traditional stories and health?
-The speakerâs main message is that traditional stories about health and well-being are valuable and align with modern health practices. By respecting both oral traditions and written medical advice, individuals can lead healthier lives, rooted in both their culture and contemporary science.
Outlines
đż Cultural Significance of Smudging and Storytelling
Reg Crow Shoe introduces himself, sharing his Blackfoot name, Alec, which means 'dear chief' in his language. He emphasizes the importance of smudging in Blackfoot culture, explaining that smudging creates a formal space for storytelling. In this oral tradition, stories serve to reflect relationships between nature, humans, animals, and the universe. These stories gain a formal status during the smudging ritual, making them more than casual narratives. He then proceeds with the smudge, using sweetgrass, which he says connects the participants to the Creator, ensuring the stories are told in their authentic form.
đ Creation Stories and Preventative Health in Indigenous Tradition
Reg Crow Shoe shares a story from his grandmother about creation and the symbolic meaning of sickness in Blackfoot culture. He recounts how emotions, like fear, were part of creation, and how ghosts, representing sickness, can impact peopleâs lives. A specific example is an elder whose face became paralyzed due to stress, bad behavior, and negative talk about others. The lesson from this experience emphasizes living a healthy, respectful, and stress-free life to avoid such afflictions. He later draws a connection between this traditional belief and modern preventive health advice, such as managing stress and staying healthy, illustrating how both Indigenous wisdom and Western medicine offer valuable insights for well-being.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄSmudge
đĄOral Culture
đĄStories
đĄCreator
đĄGhosts
đĄPreventive Health
đĄBellâs Palsy
đĄRespect
đĄWestern Health System
đĄTraditional Knowledge
Highlights
Reg Crow Shoe introduces himself, mentioning his Blackfoot name and its significance.
Explanation of the importance of smudge ceremonies in Blackfoot culture, emphasizing its role in storytelling and formalizing stories.
Description of oral culture in Blackfoot tradition, where stories preserve relationships between nature, humans, animals, and the universe.
The smudge ceremony allows stories to transition from informal to formal, becoming sacred and meaningful.
As part of the smudge, smoke is believed to connect people with the Creator, ensuring stories are told accurately and respectfully.
Reg Crow Shoe shares a traditional story about medicine men and preventive health in Blackfoot culture.
Comparison of modern health systems and traditional knowledge, highlighting a disconnect young Indigenous people experience between these two worlds.
A creation story is shared, explaining how emotions, respect, and disrespect were part of the world's creation.
The story of an elder with Bell's palsy illustrates traditional beliefs about sickness, stress, and bad behavior as manifestations of ghosts.
Traditional preventive health focuses on maintaining emotional balance, avoiding stress, exercising, and speaking well of others.
The elder explained that disrespect and stress caused her sickness, linking her paralysis to the concept of ghosts in the culture.
Reg Crow Shoe identifies a similarity between traditional knowledge and modern health guidelines, particularly concerning Bell's palsy.
He highlights how modern preventive health strategies, like stress reduction and exercise, mirror the oral traditions of the Blackfoot people.
Reg Crow Shoe encourages young Indigenous people to embrace both traditional and modern knowledge for a holistic way of life.
He emphasizes that both traditional oral culture and modern written systems have value and can be used together for a better understanding of health and well-being.
Transcripts
okay my name is reg crow shoe I'm from
bikini First Nation my Blackfoot name is
Alec I seen that in our language it
means dear chief
that's a Blackfoot pecan II language and
that's the language I speak I just want
to say that I want to start out with a
smudge in our culture smudge is very
important smudge when we like to smudge
it sets a formal place where we can tell
stories in a formal way and in our
culture stories are important stories I
would say we're a oral culture and
stories talk about relationships between
nature other human beings animals and
the and universe we live in
and every time they interact those
interactions create experiences and
stories so those are what we're talking
about today because those stories we
bring them to the smudge and Wonder
smudge they become formal stories not
just any stories but a formal story so
for oral culture our practice with the
smudge is important so that we can talk
about an oral story so with that I'm
gonna start with a smudge so this is
much much I'm gonna put the herbs on it
or the sweet grass and as this
smoke comes up the smoke connects us
with creator so that we tell the stories
the way we hurt them I used to bet the
beer
I will not be not dose okey dad's got
your mother Patricia quick Oh kiss from
walking on ups at oak any target
syndicate okay
coconut regatta teennick see I need
Manny stop see mcdabble quit it Oh cheap
way maps one more sip I'm not a setup
your money Tapia won't you be good
stupid she's our to Nyx's okay no father
I don't in hama
Nico quacks no fire away now six not
value to it
doctor doctor cheaply as any Chianti
okay Tom a comet Anna Christie quick
it's just cenote spend accomplished
systems so Axl to cynic is it a beaming
no nice rock amongst I got oh you got
oxy Scott Oprah comet and there's the
watching ban oxy battlefield sunlight
I just wanna talk a little bit about I
was I heard stories about our medicine
men and how our culture talked about for
example preventive health but I also
know in a world we live in today we have
a written system and through our health
agencies and services who they give us
guidelines for preventive health so
those are were our our young people and
our elders are stuck between those two
worlds I always think about the story
that I heard from my grandmother about
creation there was many parts to
creation but one part I always heard was
in our culture we talked about ghosts
ghosts were things that were represented
at like sicknesses that we couldn't see
so when I was young asou die younger
societies we had an elder elderly person
dead that her face was paralyzed on one
side but she was our teacher and she
said we need to understand that emotion
and fear were part of creation so we
need as in our creation story
creator had emotion first because he was
lonesome and when he had emotion we were
given that emotion from creator as a
part of creation but we were also given
respect and disrespect as to use when
that emotion was given so she said
sickness was our ghosts that are
represented as creation and when they
hit you you have fear so you need to use
respect so as respect the old lady said
we need to look at the ghost that
affected her when her face was paralyzed
she said I didn't I I did I was
stressing myself out I wasn't living a
good healthy life I was getting involved
in a bad talk amongst other people so
those are three protocols she said I
have to stay away from because that's
the reason why this ghost twisted my
face so that's how I understood the
paralyzing on the face you you don't
talk bad about other people you exercise
live a good life and try and live
stress-free and then this ghost won't
twist your face and that was my
understanding from our traditional
knowledge and stories later on maybe
about 10 years ago we were meeting with
health services in a Western in the
Western setting through writing and
policies and so on and they were talking
about preventative health and as they
talked about preventative health they
were talking about the cases of Bell's
palsy on the reserve so those cases of
bounced palsy
they said the preventative health needs
to be to live a stress-free have
exercise and not to engage on these the
same thing of talking bad and so on so
as I heard that and read it in
preventive health all of a sudden all of
a sudden the two clicked this is what
how I heard it from our oral system and
our belief systems as a elder talking to
me about ghosts but then I see it from a
written perspective from health services
saying here is preventative health so
that's how we need to use both
information to help our young indigenous
people understand that both ways are
good and they can use both ways as a
good way of life and yeah
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