Audrey Tabobondung does. She says that her husband will say, your friends are up and making one hell-of-a-racket.
He is speaking about the crow, the blackbird that Audrey has revered in her art work, stating that they are the most intelligent of birds; citing that once when a glass jar, containing only a few inches of water was available, that she witnessed the resourceful ingenuity of this thirsty creature…it proceeded to take pebbles in it’s beak, drop them into the jar until the water level was high enough for the crow to drink it’s thirst away.
Her perception of art is presented differently from her colleague Chris, who takes wonderful shots of the Parry Sound area: The water-lily is exquisite. Audrey then shows me her photos and says”can you see>?”
It took me a moment and I wonder if you will see what she saw in her favorite fishing spot on Georgian Bay. “Can you see the 3 heads….the father , the mother ..the baby in that rock face?
“The Tree under the Clouds…What is it…..It’s a Buffalo.”
Clearly this Ojibwa First Nation resident of Parry Island, (never asked her age…but certainly a wife and grandmother, and Artist…who would be my mentor at the drop of a hat). Her vitality: Her healthy body, mind and spirit should be taught in a course(Life 101).
She continues to ask me questions.
” What does the tree trunk and it/’s bark reveal to you??” “It is a Dragon!”
“So your husband was the doctor with the pony-tail..? ” she asked. “He was different from the other doctors, the way he seemed to have a sympathy/empathy for people; he seemed to understand our First Nation need for culture preservation and tradition; he would have made “a Good Medicine Man”. She chuckled.
“Yes and we went to Shawanaga, The Healing Centre, to drop off his examining room equipment, when we decided to do just Medical locums. The director of the facility was very polite, citing that this was not their approach to health, however they would take the equipment.
We were told that their approach predated the spread of European Medicine & Scientific Bio Medicine.”
Her info went something like this:
The Centre Offers:
one to one counselling
family and group counselling
Circles
Sweatlodge
Traditional Medicines
Elders Speak of their knowledge of Health Treatments
Gatherings
Land initiation introduction????
I have never been but, I intend to go, possibly with someone whom I respect, like Audrey Tabonondung
Google it..if you are interested.
It is under SHAWANAGA HEALING CENTRE
(it is 35 kn north-west of Parry sound)
We were invited to attend a wend Sweatlodge and a general information time. It never cam to pass.
Possibly, this will come to pass for you.
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