My Langara Reconciliation Carving Journey: Truth and Reconciliation

Showing posts with label Truth and Reconciliation. Show all posts

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Rattles, Song, Prayers, Peace & Standing Rock

Where to start...
Every week there's so much to tell and sometimes I just get overwhelmed.

Let's start with last week..
Last week Shane Pointe let us shake a special rattle. We did this as we stood in a circle and held the others hand as we passed the rattle.

He had told us a very personal story and impressed upon that we had a mighty task upon us of how to honor the missing and murdered women.

I started to cry, but he said "No more tears" as we finished the shaking of the rattle and him singing beautiful song/prayer. He told us he had called on the beautiful souls of the women and asked them to help us.

As he took the rattle back and was putting it away..he chuckled his sweet laugh and said "the last time I did this(referring to using the rattle) I was with the Dali Lama."

"Wow!!" I can hear him so clearly. When you have been around him for a bit as we have been blessed, you can hear his voice so clearly and the funny things he says to break you out of the sadness. Because in this course there's a lot of sadness and I am struggling to deal with it.

That said I have made friends and have been blessed to be able to talk through my concerns with trusted new friends. We are becoming a little community and I am grateful.

Moving on...
This week we watch a film from Bella Bella and it told the story of Frank Brown. Wow! (I hear Shane's echo...ha! ha!)

This is the movie we saw.
http://webcat1.library.ubc.ca/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=3948893
but it's not online.

It was very moving...it's the butterfly effect, we have no idea how the actions of one can have profound effects on others.

This film below is from 2012, the one I saw was much older and showed and told the story of Frank Brown's early life and the amazing journey that he and his family and community have been on and how it has affected so many others. It's not on line, but I hope someone will put it on because it needs to be shared.

Here is some info about Frank Brown
http://www.lawlessons.ca/sites/default/files/handouts/Handout-2-6-5.pdf

I haven't read this link all but thought it looked interesting to share.
http://www.biodiversitybc.org/assets/Default/BBC_Staying_the_Course_Web.pdf

Here is Frank Brown's Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/frank.brown.75033?fref=nf

There's a lot of great videos about the sacred canoe journeys so I will make another post about them.

On a side note it was very cool to see and hear Ian Reid- he carved one of my favorite masks. And just look at this now I see that I met Pam Brown at the MOA this year, amazing how we are all connected.
https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/07/meet-yagis-he-eats-tankers.html

So now to get back on the path about what I was sharing today...

Yesterday I gave everyone in my class a little peace prayer flag, as a way to connect.
https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2015/11/have-you-heard-of-peace-prayer-flag.html

#PeacePrayerFlagProject #PeaceFlags#ClimateJustice #SocialJustice #Refugees #Poverty #Child #Mother #FAMILY #EARTH #LOVE #PEACE, #EnvironmentalJustice #SocialJustice #Harmony #StandingRock #CleansingOurWaters #SaveMyCoast #PeaceDay

Posting my Peace Prayer Flags for International #PeaceDay !!
https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/09/posting-my-peace-prayer-flags-for.html

I posted this video in 2012 but it's even more relevant today. We need peace and harmony and to respect the water and all living things if humanity is to continue.

Standing Rock, we need to pray very hard for them, for us, FOR THE WATER, for the people that were hurt yesterday, for the police who hurt the water protectors and for the horse the police killed.

Sending out bundles of love and praying for peace.

I know we are facing some dark times but music has helped through out history. Here are some songs that have inspired me. This video about the power of song has some very interesting concepts and I hope you will consider it.

https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/02/pt-1-great-songs-that-have-inspired-me.html
https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/02/pt-2-great-songs-that-have-inspired-me.html

https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/02/pt-3-great-songs-that-have-inspired-me.html
https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/02/canada-do-you-know-what-environmental.html

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Ya, it's Awesome! It's Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!!

One time when my daughter and I were going to one of her ballet exams, we had to cross the path of a marathon. I always remember we went past this one guy and he was singing to all the runners...

"Ya, it's Awesome! It's Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!!"

and when ever I am really feeling joyful, that little song pops into my head and that's what I was singing yesterday.

I was a hard day in someways but then it got awesome.

I was feeling really stressed. With the LNG being approved and fears that the Pipeline will be too I was feeling quite defeated. I have been working really hard on my blogs and painting and efforts to raise as much awareness as I can. When Christie Clark and Catherine Mckenna announced it was going ahead, it was like a punch in the stomach. I cried.

Anyways fast forward, I got to class and it's so wonderful because Justin brings food. I am very grateful for the fruit and muffins and coffee. It is really really wonderful and it really starts the day off right.

We spoke of Orange Shirt day and it's significance to remember the children who attended Residential Schools and how they were affected. We stood and held a minute of silence in remembrance.

https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/09/remember-today-is-orange-shirt-day.html

Justin told us that next week is going to be hard. To prepare ourselves because we were going to be dealing with VERY difficult material, next week we deal with issues related to Missing and Murdered women. It is going to be very hard and I am nervous. I get teary thinking about it and it triggered me I must admit. But then he read a passage from Oh the Places you'll go. That made me happy. I love Dr.Suess. Such wise wise words. This is one of my favorite videos.

Shane Pointe was there and he opened with a lovely song and then we got into groups and had discussions about Cultural Appropriation and Cultural Appreciation.

Pretty heavy topic, a lot to take in.
https://mylangaratrccarvingjourney.blogspot.ca/2016/09/cultural-appropriation.html

I had done my readings and some research. They shared a great video with us. I need to find it and then I will share it but now I want to tell you about the afternoon and why it was AWESOME!

OH, first I should tell you we stopped for lunch and I was melting down. I was gifted though because I have made friends in this class and one of them stayed with me and listened to me and I felt so much better. THANK YOU FRIEND!! You know who you are!!

So after lunch Aaron started to show us how to sharpen our knives but before he did it Shane showed us some very very very special tools. He told this fabulous story about them but I can't do it justice so I will just show you them. They are truly amazing.

Here they are. Shane is not a tool maker, he is a carver. He told this really great funny story of how he wanted an axe and went to a dear family member to ask for one. Maybe I can get him to tell the story again...on video...I will ask...it was really good...I loved hearing it.

The great part about the story was it taught us about cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation and I will expand on that later but I want to show you what else made the day AWESOME.

I finished my knife.

I messed up my lines so don't look at them too much..

So the image below is our first assignment. This isn't mine. I have to make something similar. I hope I can. I know I can. I have made the middle part already.

Okay, so that was my AWESOME day. It had sad and stressful moments and I was SUPER EXHAUSTED when I got home but I was SUPER HAPPY too!

I am really really excited about my future and what I can create.

Next week is going to be hard. Please send us love and light as we deal with this difficult subject but I am going to work hard this week to prepare myself.

Okay, so that's all for now. Have a great day and take care of yourself.

Sending love and light!

Tina

Related Links:
https://mylangaratrccarvingjourney.blogspot.ca/2016/09/the-energy-was-bigger-than-us.html
https://mylangaratrccarvingjourney.blogspot.ca/2016/09/aaron-nelson-moody-splashing-eagle.html
https://mylangaratrccarvingjourney.blogspot.ca/2016/09/dr-justin-wilson-aboriginal-studies.html
https://mylangaratrccarvingjourney.blogspot.ca/2016/09/what-does-reconciliation-mean-to-me.html

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun-UBC MOA Exhibit

We were really blessed and got to go see Lawrence Paul's exhibit at the MOA this summer.
Here's some of my photos.

Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun: Unceded Territories

From the UBC MOA Exhibit
"Vancouver artist Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, of Coast Salish and Okanagan descent, is showcased in this provocative exhibition of works that confront the colonialist suppression of First Nations peoples and the ongoing struggle for Indigenous rights to lands, resources, and sovereignty."
http://moa.ubc.ca/portfolio_page/lawrence-paul/