qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyui

opasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfgh
jklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvb
nmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwer
Aboriginal Studies Journals
tyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopas
Leslie Fehr

dfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzx
Leanne Halter

cvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmq
wertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuio
pasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghj
klzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbn
mqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwerty
uiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdf
ghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxc
vbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmrty
uiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdf
ghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxc
 The third place on the passport that we attended was the sweat lodge. It was a domed

hut with a pit in the centre, stones were heated up and brought in and then poured water on

the rocks creating steam in complete darkness. People brought tobacco as offering and a cloth:

blue-green, yellow or flowered, each representing a different member to pray for. The women

participating had to have their ankles covered with either a dress or skirt and no makeup. The

men generally wear shorts or underwear. The door closes and it becomes pitch black and the

sweat begins. They pray for the grandparents and family members. During the darkness, the

elders would sing, chant pray, and give words of wisdom in their language. This would go on for

20 minutes and then the door would open and we would get a small break and new rocks

would be brought in. The point of the actual sweating was to pray through the heat and

become reborn. The elders told us that the dome was the mother’s ribs and we were going

back into the womb, and coming out reborn. We then had a feast, including berr

There were 4 rounds, this was done traditionally first was to honour mother earth and

cleanse ourselves. The second round was to honour the women for being the backbone of the

family and the aboriginal culture. Thirdly is to honour the men and the support they give to the

first nations. Lastly we honour ourselves and ask for forgiveness and a final cleanse.

This was a new experience for me! I really enjoyed what the elders had to say. It was

very nice to see how they encouraged all people to pray to their creator not just the creator

that the elders worshiped. I however, was not able to “pray” through the heat, I thought it

would kill me. We were told to put our head down to the ground if the heat became too much

to handle and even the ground was hot, it was extremely uncomfortable. That was the most
I’ve sweat in my whole entire my life. I tried to learn a lot but it was very hard with the

language barrier but I did catch a few things and they prayed a lot for their spouses,

grandparents. I talked to a woman before going in and she said that this would be comparable

to me going to my church and worshiping and that put my nerves at ease because they weren’t

trying to force anything on us but letting us explore ourselves. I don’t know if i would do this

every week but I’m glad it gave it a shot.

 The Saskatoon city police put on a pipe ceremony at White Buffalo Youth Lodge in

Saskatoon. We got their and the women had to wear long skirts that covered the ankles and the

men wore everyday clothes. The men sat in the centre and smoked the pipe or just handed the

pipe beside them if they didn’t smoke it and the women sat on the outside of the circle and

observed. The women do not smoke because it’s not traditional for the men and women to

smoke from same pipe. The elder asked the spirits to join us through the ceremony and give

them guidance. After observing the ceremony we passed around some berries and had a feast.

In the feast we ate soup and bannock.

There were many cultural practices, the pipe ceremony itself was very sacred and I

really liked how they have kept that alive in the aboriginal culture. The tobacco was also very

traditional it represented many different things that were all said very fast and were hard to

catch.

I would find it very frustrating to be a traditional aboriginal woman, i understand that

there is tradition and I’ve been raised differently but being restricted as to what to wear and

not being able to participating got to me. Talking to a man though it was very interesting

because he told us that women had more power than men and that the men couldn’t handle

the power the women possess and that why the women just observe the men.
 We got to take part in a tipi raising ceremony at Wanuskewin Heritage Park this winter.

The tipi had 13 poles, rope and buffalo hide outside to cover the poles and wooden stakes. To

start, we took three poles that were already tied together to make a tripod. Each pole also has

a very specific meaning. These three together make the tips foundation. They are obedience,

respect and humility. The poles were supposed to mirror a family, without the other two poles

balancing on the third the tipi wouldn’t stand strong, nor would the family. If they stood

straight up and down, they couldn’t support a tipi. But balanced properly together, they are

able to reinforce each other. Every time that another pole gets added the rope ties around the

new pole, the rope binds all the teachings together until everything is connected. After the

foundation was up the buffalo hide wrapped around the poles leaving the top of the tipi open.

Then the pins are put in just above the doorway to keep the hide together. After that we all got

to go and sit in the tipi.

The tipi was so interesting because every part of it was so important in the building of

the tipi, each pin and each pole represented something. Everything related back to families and

giving thanks to the spirits or asking for protection. When i got to put one of the poles on the

tipi it represented cleanliness, he explained to us that it wasn’t in the physical sense of hygiene

but spiritually. The leader explained that clean thoughts came from a clean mind that was the

significance of the cleanliness pole.

This was very good experience and really gave me an idea of where the aboriginal values

really do lie. It’s really too bad that so much tradition has been lost over the years. However,

this wasn’t very ceremonial because it was inside the Wanusekwin centre and the young man
presenting it wasn’t overly enthusiastic. It would be very cool to see this done in summertime

with a life size tipi.