WIIKWEMKOONG—The Wikwemikong Health Centre hosted a Wellness Gathering titled ‘Celebrating and Achieving Mino Maadiziiwin’ recently at the Wiikwemkoong Arena hall featuring guest local speakers talking on health and wellness matters.
Harvey Bell Jr., a noted ‘local celebrity,’ spoke to the audience about the teaching behind the eight-pointed star. Moving clockwise, each point represents: wisdom, humility, love, honesty, bravery, truth, respect and ‘beyond.’
When speaking on respect, Mr. Bell said it is important to have full respect for oneself and once that happens, “you’ll never let anyone else disrespect you.” He told the story of being in a hotel elevator with a couple and their young child. He could see them eyeing him up, looking at the long braids he sported at the time. The couple began to converse in French and he caught the woman saying the word ‘sauvage’ (savage in English).
He turned to them and demanded an apology for calling him a savage, which the woman finally did. He also observed, to his horror, that the man who had also been part of the disrespectful conversation appeared to be of First Nations descent.
Mr. Bell said he sees among his community people with a lack of respect for themselves. He spoke on the dangers of drugs and alcohol and how it should have no place in anyone’s life.
Mr. Bell spoke of his own life experiences, tragedies in fact, and how the eight-pointed star saw him through.
In July 2012, Mr. Bell’s six-year-old son died tragically, drowning at King’s Bay Beach on what should have been a joyous occasion—a birthday party.
“I was so angry,” Mr. Bell shared. “I thought about what I’d like to do to the family who was supposed to be watching him that day.”
He told the group that his mother placed medallions around the house, representing the teachings of the star to remind him of how it is he has chosen to live his life.
“Had I not had that day, I’d probably be in Kingston Penitentiary right now.”
“This star has shown me a lot and taken me a lot of places,” he added. “You can change your life when you use the star.”
Dr. Roy Jeffery next spoke on how traditional healers and medical doctors can work together to treat a patient.
He said his first inkling at the wisdom of grandmothers came when he was a young boy, spending summers with his grandma at her country home and being wowed when she helped him catch a big pike after his older brother, who was supposed to take him fishing, ran off with a friend to spend the day on the river. Grandma stepped in and saved the day.
“That was my first inkling about the wisdom of elders,” Dr. Jeffery said, adding that it’s been his good fortune to have elders as part of his life’s work.
Dr. Jeffery told the story of a nokomis (grandmother) he’d been looking after for over 30 years. One day, he received a panicked call from her son saying that his mom had become quite ill.
“When I got there she was pale, frightened,” he said. “It was clear she had a bleeding ulcer and low blood pressure.”
The nokomis was placed in hospital and her son kept a constant vigil, trying hard to find traditional medicines to help his mother’s condition. Despite their best efforts, she weakened to the point that she suffered a heart attack.
That night, Dr. Jeffery continued, the nokomis crossed over, seeing her father and her relations and could see that they were well. “She made the choice to come back as she had unfinished business,” he said.
That same night, her son dreamt of his father, who had passed on, who told him he had to keep helping his mother.
The nokomis, upon her waking, told her family that it was her goal to see the spring when the birds returned—her favourite time of year.
The son expressed his frustration to Dr. Jeffery that despite his best efforts, his mother was still afraid so he called a traditional healer and told him about his mother’s return from the afterlife.
‘What courage that took,’ the healer said. ‘That should be recognized.’
The son took his advice and placed cedar and a small white feather above her headboard to show her courage.
“The next day I saw the incredible power of traditional medicines,” the doctor said. “Her face was transformed. Gone were the lines of worry and she was happy. She was well again. The fluid on her lungs had even disappeared.”
The nokomis passed away a few days later, but her load was lightened.
“You can’t really use a pill to achieve wellness,” Dr. Jeffery said, adding that while there are major advancements in medicine, it is not holistic. “There are many other factors that need to be achieved in order to achieve wellness.”
Western physicians need to step back to allow First Nations patients to reconnect with their traditional sources of strength, the doctor added, noting their “immense power.”
Other speakers throughout the day included Mary Ellen Flamand on ‘natural remedies,’ and Chris Pheasant and Maigan Fox on their healing journeys.
