Detoxification, ceremony, and intuition.
Primary concepts are: BALANCE AND CONNECTION The Red Road does not refer to skin color. It refers to being in harmony with all of creation. Connection Balance
Use of traditional resources: Elders, Leaders, Community Doers Invite Elders of the community, neighboring communities, state, or from other places to be a part of gatherings. Allow space for intergenerational transference of knowledge. i.e. berry picking. Engage healthy role models of all ages to be a part of events to model or coach healthy life skills. Drumming, singing, and dance groups. Story circles: Contemporary and traditional.
Engage the community support network Identify natural helpers, family, or support networks to visit. Organize a network of helpers to bring food, supplies, clothes, wood, goods, or care packages. Have a volunteer group to do chores to support the individuals or families in need (including elders.) Create opportunities for people to get out of their normal lives such as recreational, harvesting, subsistence, or other self sustainability learning activities (community gardens.)
Traditionally the Elders would send someone over to split and stack wood or visit and do dishes for an individual/family in need. The helper would then report back to the Elders on how they were doing. Based on the news the Elders would activate certain types of helpers and support to assist the person/family in their time of need. ~ Doug Modig
Cryotherapy Traditionally: jumping into a Bay or sitting in a river at sunrise. Modern: Cold Showers, lowered thermostat in the house. Fasting Reduced intake of food and drink. Obstaining from altering substances and activities. Cycles of eating based on the season and food available. March The month of chewing on leather meant reduced food stores. Journeys At points of inner growth journeys would facilitate the physical need for exploration and understanding self. Shorter journeys could be accompanied with fasting.
Physical activity- Nomadic and Semi-nomadic people Long distance walking regular activity. Stimulates blood flow, oxygen flow, increased enzymatic release in planter reflex, and promotes lymphatic drainage. Strength training for successful living Competitions, dance, games, and warrior training. Always getting ready.
Ceremony: Traditional interventions to balance the mind, body, and spirit. Ceremony was ritualized to occur in harmony with the cycles of nature, increasing the potency. Tools to conduct ceremony were obtained from the environment and what was available, whether found, made, or traded for. Materials were chosen for their ability to balance the event or transitionary period. Each culture s worldview defined when a ceremony was needed, what kind of ceremonies took place, and the components necessary to accomplish the purpose. There is a deep need for the return of ceremonial practices, especially ceremonies to repair culture, rebuild healthy communities, and live in harmony on Earth.
Ceremonial support: Some of our important ceremonial times include birth, rites of passage, marriage, death, food harvests, Solstice, trade festivals, and moments of joy. Capacity for ceremony has not been lost;; it is imprinted in DNA and language and are available to us today if we learn to listen to our elders, teachers, youth, and ancestors. We can remember through our pre-contact values, songs, dances, arts, languages, and stories. Activities such as offerings of food, smudging with medicinal plants, sweat baths, and fasting create a positive energy. Prayer has the power to change your emotional, mental, behavioral, physical, and spiritual state. It is a way of putting things into perspective and connecting to outside of you. Prayer can be scripted or it simply can be an open discussion.
All people have intuition and capacity for visions. Specialized practitioners e.g. Sleep Doctors. Currently a lack of mentors to talk to about unseen things, leaving people lost and vulnerable. Traditional Healers and Medicine People use these tools to help people, communities, and nature to heal and be in balance. Open discussion question and answers.
Photo by: Meda of Dr. Rita s Mortar and Pestle
Public Law 95-341 95th Congress Joint Resolution American Indian Religious Freedom. Whereas the freedom of religion for all people is an inherent right, fundamental to the democratic structure of the United States and is guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution; Whereas the religious practices of the American Indian (as well as Native Alaskan and Hawaiian) are an integral part of their culture, tradition, and heritage, such practices forming the basis of Indian identity and value systems; Whereas the traditional American Indian religions as an integral part of Indian life, are indispensable and irreplaceable; Whereas the lack of a clear, comprehensive, and consistent Federal policy has often resulted in the abridgment of religious freedom for traditional American Indians; Whereas such religious infringements result from the lack of knowledge of the insensitive and inflexible enforcement of Federal policies and regulations premised on a variety of laws; Whereas such laws and policies often deny American Indians access to sacred sites required in their religions, including cemeteries; Whereas such laws at times prohibit the use and possession of sacred objects necessary to the exercise of religious rites and ceremonies; Whereas traditional American Indian ceremonies have been intruded upon, interfered with, and in a few instances banned; Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of American in Congress Assembled, That henceforth it shall be the policy of the United States to protect and preserve for American Indians their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise the traditional religions of the American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, and Native Hawaiians, including but not limited to access to sites, use and possession of sacred objects, and the freedom to worship through ceremonials and traditional rites. Approved August 11, 1978