Sharing the Sacred Pipe in Unama’ki – Eskasoni Cultural Centre (Nova Scotia), August 9 at 1 pm

An Invitation to Eskasoni in the traditional territory of Unama’ki:

Sharing the SACRED PIPE

Eskasoni Cultural Centre (Sarah Denny Cultural Centre)

August 9, 2017 at 1 pm

All are welcome!

A pipe that unites the people

A pipe that bridges the young people with the elders

Taking back what was taken from us –

Taking back our way of life

Contact: jane.meader@gmail.com

  Nikma’jtut (My Very Dear Family), Please come join us in Eskasoni in the traditional territory of Unama’ki, where the eastern doorway to Turtle Island is located, to welcome and honour a Sacred Pipe for the healing of our people. We are blessed to have the Pipe and the Elders who carry this Pipe in our ancestral lands for ceremony and teachings on Wednesday, August 9, 2017 at the Sarah Denny Cultural Centre at 1:00 P.M. Last November, First Nation Elders and Knowledge Holders from the four directions in this country were called together by Regional Chief Isadore Day in Ottawa to discuss First Nation health and wellness broadly, with a specific focus on the Health Accord. As Elders we made a joint statement at the end of this historic gathering. Based on a vision received by one of the Elders, a Sacred Pipe was commissioned to help address critical health needs of the nation, particularly the crisis of depression and suicide among all young people in this country. Over 2.9 million young people in this country are in a state of depression today. Suicide is the result of a total loss of hope by an individual, a mental illness caused by circumstances and environments we as a People are forced to endure. Federal governments find ways to delay funding to northern and rural communities, women’s programs, and children’s programs on and off-reserve. What has not been done is to invoke the Spirit to help us overcome these obstacles to our health and well-being. It is time that Elders and Grandmothers lead, that the Spirit be recognized and allowed back into our communities to help restore the health and well-being for all peoples. Over the past 500 years, colonization has claimed most of the Sacred Pipes that were central to our health, culture, spirituality and nationhood. As part of our People’s ongoing cultural revitalization movement, the new Pipe was commissioned and unveiled February 15 of this year at the Turtle Lodge in Manitoba as a first step in the journey to represent the return of the many Pipes that were taken from our people or destroyed throughout the centuries. This Pipe is here to represent all the Pipes that were taken and never returned. The Circle of Elders is now carrying this Sacred Pipe in the four directions. We began in the North with a ceremony at the Chief Drygeese Centre in Dettah, Northwest Territories on March 18, having been invited by the Chiefs of the Yellowknives. We knew the Pipe was going to go North because this sharing of the Pipe in the North was seen in a dream by Cree Elder Ed Sackaney before the invitation from the Yellowknives even came. The Pipe has now been invited to come East this August, through an invitation from Elders and the generosity and support of the Chiefs from the Mi’kmaw Nation. The Pipe is a gift that we were given not to impose on anyone, but is there for people who have the faith in its power. It goes where it is invited. Sharing the Pipe is about taking back our power. It reflects the need to value our spirituality and ways of knowing. This Sacred Pipe is a spiritual gift from our ancestors to help us live in peace in our homeland. We have many ways of approaching the crisis we are facing. The important thing is to create a spirit of unity amongst ourselves. Negotiation and advocacy by our First Nations organizations is a part of advocating for our sovereignty and nationhood. What we are saying as Elders is that we must not overstep the spirit that is the guiding force. Let us come forward as Knowledge Keepers reflecting our leadership as the First Peoples in our homeland, with our gifts, our strength of spirit, and offer this positive reminder of the reality we face and solution to our dilemma, with kindness and faith in the Spirit and our way of life. We must believe and act like the true leaders of our homeland. It is through prayer and ceremony that we ask the Spirit to give us the strength and courage to fulfill our duties and responsibilities that are defined through our original instructions, our spiritual laws, our natural laws, and our ancestral knowledge. Mi’qmaw Grandmothers of Unama’ki