Sacred Berries Ceremony

From May 15, 2020:

Bozho and a very good Rainy morning to all, from the Bodewadmin Longhouse... an early summer, ancient and current women's teaching that can all be active within ... providing valuable focus in and on the women's seat of the soul, the woman place. A proven and worthy tool by which to live in harmony with the Creator and the natural world.

 

Migwech!

My love,

Minisa


Yes, Jaguar Woman, there IS a strawberry-demen teaching and yearlong right of passage ceremony for the young girl becoming woman. The sacred berry is representative and guardian of the life carrying qualities of the womb and the potential of 'new life coming' medicine. 
 
The other berries, which follow later in the season, represent the certain cellular division 'medicines' of the 'new life coming' and as a metaphor of the young girl becoming woman capable of 'Carrying Life and the Waters of Life'.
 
In the demen-spring or early summer ceremony she and a circle of women will pray and prepare to seek, greet, offer thanks for the gift, gather and invite the 'medicine' to join in and with, the girl's body through the coming 13 moons, at which time the demen give-away ceremony will be seated and complete, with a feast prepared for all participants.
 
Through this time, the 'young woman becoming', will observe a 13 Moon strawberry fast. She will then be offered the demen and other traditional foods, at the conclusion feast to FEED and NOURISH her life and herself, the life of the circle, her people, and ALL life, 'in a good way'.
From this time onward she will be woman, having merged with this beautiful and powerful 'medicine', assisting her transition into the beauty and responsibility of an adult woman.

Migwech Creator, Sekmekwe, Gizes and all of the Demen for these and all of the gifts, known and unknown, spoken and unspoken ... mine (and) breathed alive.

Respectfully retold, in the appropriate season.
Dawn Woman 1IK

'Anishnabe Star Knowledge' by Minisa Crumbo Halsey:

Bozho Nikon, Hello. My bone, 

Let us, Anishnabé, begin by ‘making a prayer’ of gratitude and thanks for all of the gifts: 

Nengosek: the Star Beings 

Sekmekwe: our Mother Earth 

Gizes: our Father-Sky Sun 

Debek-Gizes: the Grandmother Moon 

Mamogosnan: Creator … we pray that we might see clearly and be seen clearly … and walk the straight path laid down for us in the Seven Grandfather’s Teachings, which give us the Good Ways by which we might live ...

To read entire article:  Anishnabé star knowledge - Potawatomi.org

Hownikan-March-2024-Digital.pdf (potawatomi.org)

Flowering Moon

Meaningful Teachings of the Drum

Let us sit beside our inner fires, warm ourselves and listen to the heartbeat 

and song of Sekmekwe - Heart Beat of the Mother Earth.

-- Dawn Woman

Meaningful Teachings of the Drum

As First Nation’s People, we have always been told that the first drum beat we hear, is when we are inside our mother. That drumbeat we hear is known as the heart of our mom. In cultures all over the world, there is known to be a drum that is significant to them.

Drums have always been a part of human life since the beginning and have great importance in First Nation culture. There are many stories as to how the drum came to be but for now, we will focus on just a few for today.

Drum Teachings with Howard Walker:

Cree Elder Howard Walker Speaks About The Drum.

Three Little Winters of Spring - an earth wisdom story ...

From April 4, 2020:

Bozho! Greetings all, from the Spirit Horse Ranch!

Smiling talks: let us gather together and think on a medicine wheel tale.

It is a windy day, here on the land ... which recalls an earth wisdom story told to me many years ago. It is the story of the three little winters of spring. Now, even though stories are traditionally told in the winter when we are are spending more time inside by the fire, our time now, seems to describe now. In many ways this is truly a little winter with accompanying vision quest qualities. Our collective retreats at this time bring opportunities of deep rest and healing. The spring medicine wheel season continues to radiate rays of inspiration and illumination which can and will penetrate and permeate all historic, tender and even hardened layers of memory and condition, all the while delivering the benison of light and love, capable of stimulating mental processes for future plans (and present), and able to plow the deepest furrows of every fertile and fallow field, be it of day or night, dream or vision.

The Winds
These are some of the gifts of spring. Ordinarily, there is more outward movement but spring this year, seems to be temporarily holding onto the hands of winter for a few more weeks ... at least the hands of: the little winters of spring. Let us give them our full attention, sit with them and allow the strong winds of spring to reach back, on and into aspects our innermost being, loosening and tearing away those limbs of our sacred flowering trees that may be dead, dying or diseased; no longer wanted or needed, winds which are scattering green winds of pollen, and driving southern rain clouds to the fields, forests, ponds and gardens.

RedBud Winter
This one comes first, when the redbud trees bloom ... when spring has truly seated sometime in the third week of January. Then a warm spell.

Dogwood Winter
The second little winter comes when the dogwood trees bloom. Then a warm spell.

Blackberry Winter
The third and last winter comes when the blackberries bushes bloom. It can seem to be the coldest and most unnecessary of the little winters ... but it is the last.

The Rains
The cold, hard, male rains come ... drumming the Mother alive and calling upon the return of her heartbeat to bring send sap rising, invite sprout and shoot, unfurling bud and leaf..softening, melting ice, moistening and warming the world once more..and so, the world is renewed once again and life begins anew with us in the northern hemisphere and reversed, down under.

Provisions and activities for personal ceremony come forward as we visit the shelving of memory and practice, selecting this or that according to interest or need, that we fashioned through decision and discipline for just such times as these. Provisions and activities, sacred all, fashioned in solitude or circle...to bring solace, lift the heart and lighten the mind, are our proven and worthy tools. We will sit in circle once again. Review these things and add to them ... there will be new stories to tell ... reach out to our brothers and sisters ... and in these times of relative inactivity for some of us, remember: BEING IS A DOING. Prayers and blessings to all who are or have ‘walked on’, to the caretakers and ones most heavily burdened, may they and we know good health and the restoration of balance and harmony, all ways, all days, now and forever more.

Migwech
That’s the way it is with me.

Curiosity, restlessness, patience
Inventiveness, endurance and bravery
Remembering, being breathed alive and a sun ceremony
Water song, traveling song..silent prayer songs and groans of the heart are all heard.
The drum..redbud singers and dewebenkwe rock!
A purification fire, inside on a cookie sheet or outside, w/ sema offering
Smudging and fanning off, self, others and the room, remembering to open a window
Basketry
Sage, ginger and sassafras teas..green tea, chaga thunder, miso
Wild onions and eggs, dandelion greens in salads, corn soup,  fry bread ‘n salt pork
Moon time
Collecting and drinking clean rain water
‘Putting Down’ some sema, tobacco ... tobacco down-prayers up
Offering plates
Being breathed alive
And always, the inner vision quest of:
Gratitude

Migwech, Mamogosnon, prime Creator for ALL of the gifts.

Dawn Woman

Heart of Mother Earth

The Heart of Mother Earth loves and cares for us all, all ways, all days ... now and forever more. 

AHO!
Grandmother

Excerpt from 'Spirit Talk': The Mother Earth and all beings that live upon and within her body have their own unique medicine ways and it is of these ways that we seek to learn the languages, uses, and songs. Our Mother is a sentient being with an evolutionary path of her own, and when sufficiently sensitized it is possible for us to feel her heartbeat through the soles of our feet and entire being.

New Deal in KS: Rich in Relics of Indian Life (MKBMA)

Eagle Dance, ca. 1948
Screenprint

10 1/8 x 7 1/2 in.

Private collection, promised gift to USD 259 Wichita Public Schools

Woodrow “Woody” Crumbo
Bodéwadmik (Citizen Potawatomi)
Born 1912, Lexington, Oklahoma
Died 1989, Cimarron, New Mexico

New Deal in KS: Rich Relics of Indian Life (MKBMA)

Sacred Berries Ceremony

 From May 15, 2020:

Bozho and a very good Rainy morning to all, from the Bodewadmin Longhouse... an early summer, ancient and current women's teaching that can all be active within ... providing valuable focus in and on the women's seat of the soul, the woman place. A proven and worthy tool by which to live in harmony with the Creator and the natural world.

 

Migwech!

My love,

Minisa


Yes, Jaguar Woman, there IS a strawberry-demen teaching and yearlong right of passage ceremony for the young girl becoming woman. The sacred berry is representative and guardian of the life carrying qualities of the womb and the potential of 'new life coming' medicine. 
 
The other berries, which follow later in the season, represent the certain cellular division 'medicines' of the 'new life coming' and as a metaphor of the young girl becoming woman capable of 'Carrying Life and the Waters of Life'.
 
In the demen-spring or early summer ceremony she and a circle of women will pray and prepare to seek, greet, offer thanks for the gift, gather and invite the 'medicine' to join in and with, the girl's body through the coming 13 moons, at which time the demen give-away ceremony will be seated and complete, with a feast prepared for all participants.
 
Through this time, the 'young woman becoming', will observe a 13 Moon strawberry fast. She will then be offered the demen and other traditional foods, at the conclusion feast to FEED and NOURISH her life and herself, the life of the circle, her people, and ALL life, 'in a good way'.
From this time onward she will be woman, having merged with this beautiful and powerful 'medicine', assisting her transition into the beauty and responsibility of an adult woman.

Migwech Creator, Sekmekwe, Gizes and all of the Demen for these and all of the gifts, known and unknown, spoken and unspoken ... mine (and) breathed alive.

Respectfully retold, in the appropriate season.
Dawn Woman 1IK

'Anishnabe Star Knowledge' by Minisa Crumbo Halsey:

Bozho Nikon, Hello. My bone, 

Let us, Anishnabé, begin by ‘making a prayer’ of gratitude and thanks for all of the gifts: 

Nengosek: the Star Beings 

Sekmekwe: our Mother Earth 

Gizes: our Father-Sky Sun 

Debek-Gizes: the Grandmother Moon 

Mamogosnan: Creator … we pray that we might see clearly and be seen clearly … and walk the straight path laid down for us in the Seven Grandfather’s Teachings, which give us the Good Ways by which we might live ...

To read entire article:  Anishnabé star knowledge - Potawatomi.org

Hownikan-March-2024-Digital.pdf (potawatomi.org)

Flowering Moon

Meaningful Teachings of the Drum

Let us sit beside our inner fires, warm ourselves and listen to the heartbeat 

and song of Sekmekwe - Heart Beat of the Mother Earth.

-- Dawn Woman

Meaningful Teachings of the Drum

As First Nation’s People, we have always been told that the first drum beat we hear, is when we are inside our mother. That drumbeat we hear is known as the heart of our mom. In cultures all over the world, there is known to be a drum that is significant to them.

Drums have always been a part of human life since the beginning and have great importance in First Nation culture. There are many stories as to how the drum came to be but for now, we will focus on just a few for today.

Drum Teachings with Howard Walker:

Cree Elder Howard Walker Speaks About The Drum.

Three Little Winters of Spring - an earth wisdom story ...

From April 4, 2020:

Bozho! Greetings all, from the Spirit Horse Ranch!

Smiling talks: let us gather together and think on a medicine wheel tale.

It is a windy day, here on the land ... which recalls an earth wisdom story told to me many years ago. It is the story of the three little winters of spring. Now, even though stories are traditionally told in the winter when we are are spending more time inside by the fire, our time now, seems to describe now. In many ways this is truly a little winter with accompanying vision quest qualities. Our collective retreats at this time bring opportunities of deep rest and healing. The spring medicine wheel season continues to radiate rays of inspiration and illumination which can and will penetrate and permeate all historic, tender and even hardened layers of memory and condition, all the while delivering the benison of light and love, capable of stimulating mental processes for future plans (and present), and able to plow the deepest furrows of every fertile and fallow field, be it of day or night, dream or vision.

The Winds
These are some of the gifts of spring. Ordinarily, there is more outward movement but spring this year, seems to be temporarily holding onto the hands of winter for a few more weeks ... at least the hands of: the little winters of spring. Let us give them our full attention, sit with them and allow the strong winds of spring to reach back, on and into aspects our innermost being, loosening and tearing away those limbs of our sacred flowering trees that may be dead, dying or diseased; no longer wanted or needed, winds which are scattering green winds of pollen, and driving southern rain clouds to the fields, forests, ponds and gardens.

RedBud Winter
This one comes first, when the redbud trees bloom ... when spring has truly seated sometime in the third week of January. Then a warm spell.

Dogwood Winter
The second little winter comes when the dogwood trees bloom. Then a warm spell.

Blackberry Winter
The third and last winter comes when the blackberries bushes bloom. It can seem to be the coldest and most unnecessary of the little winters ... but it is the last.

The Rains
The cold, hard, male rains come ... drumming the Mother alive and calling upon the return of her heartbeat to bring send sap rising, invite sprout and shoot, unfurling bud and leaf..softening, melting ice, moistening and warming the world once more..and so, the world is renewed once again and life begins anew with us in the northern hemisphere and reversed, down under.

Provisions and activities for personal ceremony come forward as we visit the shelving of memory and practice, selecting this or that according to interest or need, that we fashioned through decision and discipline for just such times as these. Provisions and activities, sacred all, fashioned in solitude or circle...to bring solace, lift the heart and lighten the mind, are our proven and worthy tools. We will sit in circle once again. Review these things and add to them ... there will be new stories to tell ... reach out to our brothers and sisters ... and in these times of relative inactivity for some of us, remember: BEING IS A DOING. Prayers and blessings to all who are or have ‘walked on’, to the caretakers and ones most heavily burdened, may they and we know good health and the restoration of balance and harmony, all ways, all days, now and forever more.

Migwech
That’s the way it is with me.

Curiosity, restlessness, patience
Inventiveness, endurance and bravery
Remembering, being breathed alive and a sun ceremony
Water song, traveling song..silent prayer songs and groans of the heart are all heard.
The drum..redbud singers and dewebenkwe rock!
A purification fire, inside on a cookie sheet or outside, w/ sema offering
Smudging and fanning off, self, others and the room, remembering to open a window
Basketry
Sage, ginger and sassafras teas..green tea, chaga thunder, miso
Wild onions and eggs, dandelion greens in salads, corn soup,  fry bread ‘n salt pork
Moon time
Collecting and drinking clean rain water
‘Putting Down’ some sema, tobacco ... tobacco down-prayers up
Offering plates
Being breathed alive
And always, the inner vision quest of:
Gratitude

Migwech, Mamogosnon, prime Creator for ALL of the gifts.

Dawn Woman

Heart of Mother Earth

The Heart of Mother Earth loves and cares for us all, all ways, all days ... now and forever more. 

AHO!
Grandmother

Excerpt from 'Spirit Talk': The Mother Earth and all beings that live upon and within her body have their own unique medicine ways and it is of these ways that we seek to learn the languages, uses, and songs. Our Mother is a sentient being with an evolutionary path of her own, and when sufficiently sensitized it is possible for us to feel her heartbeat through the soles of our feet and entire being.