Powwow Summer by Nahanni Shingoose

Author:Nahanni Shingoose
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: James Lorimer and Company Ltd., Publishers
Published: 2019-08-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17 I am Relating

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River walked down the stairs into the church basement. The strong summer wind blew the door open. She walked through several doorways and finally into a room. A guy and three girls, all around her age, were unstacking old wooden chairs and placing them in a circle.

“Ahniin!” the guy said, smiling ear to ear. “I’m Geoff.”

“Hi,” River responded quietly.

“You’re early.” That was the girl with large beaded hoop earrings. “My name is Mel. Wanna help us with the chairs?”

“Sure, yeah, no problem.”

People started wandering through the doorway, maybe four or five at a time. In no time at all, the circle was full of teenagers. Most of them had been there before, she could tell. They walked right in and sat down as if they had done it a hundred times before. Everyone seemed comfortable around one another.

“Okay, peeps, we’re gonna start,” an elderly woman began. She didn’t introduce herself.

This must be Elaine, Noki’s friend, River thought.

Elaine picked up a bag from beneath her chair. She pulled out a shiny seashell and placed some sage inside. She used matches to light the medicine and passed the bowl to Mel, who was sitting on her left. Mel held the shell for Elaine to smudge herself. Elaine wafted the smoke rising from the bowl up over her head and body. She smudged her ears, her eyes, her mouth and her heart. Mel handed the shell back to Elaine and took her turn smudging. Elaine walked around the circle, offering the smudge to each person. One by one, they each smudged themselves, clearing their minds and opening their hearts. When it was River’s turn, her hands were shaky.

Elaine talked about the smudging and the sage. How the sage came from the earth. How it was a woman’s medicine. She reminded everyone about cleansing their spirits. About opening up their ears, minds and hearts. So they could listen in a good way, and speak with soft and kind words.

“When you put some medicines in the smudge bowl, like tobacco, you are praying to the Creator,” explained Elaine. “The smoke takes the message to the Creator.”

Oh, so that’s how you pray, River thought.

Elaine continued, “I see we have a couple of new people today. So I’ll remind everyone that only one person speaks at a time. That will be the person holding the eagle feather.” She brushed the tip of the eagle feather with her aged hands. “What is said in the circle, stays in the circle. You have the right to pass if you are not ready to speak. And Geoff will offer you the smudge if you need it. Maybe we can introduce ourselves again to the group, so the new people can meet us.” She passed the feather to Mel on her left.

Mel started. “I’m Mel. Like I said last week, I’m in the middle of dealing with Mom and her mood swings. The other day she sat us all down and told us that she went to the doctor.

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