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#Kahkewistahaw #FirstNation holds 1st #TeaDance in 80 years

The First Nation invited Cree lodge keeper Ken Saddleback from Maskwacis, Alta., to teach the community about the tea dance during a traditional gathering this month.

August 12, 2025

"It's been 80 years since the Cree community of Kahkewistahaw First Nation held a tea dance so this year they decided to include it in their week-long traditional gathering earlier this month.

Tea dance leader and lodge (ceremonies) keeper Ken Saddleback, a member of Samson Cree Nation from Maskwacis, Alta., drove almost 1,000 kilometres to the community about 170 kilometres east of Regina, and brought along some of his family, to help teach about the old dance.

Saddleback said back in the day they used to call it the drunk dance.

"You can act crazy and dance any style. It's just to make people laugh," said Saddleback.

Saddleback said long ago, a grandmother had a vision that showed her a sickness would come after new people arrived on their lands and millions would be wiped out.

By doing the dance, people hoped the sickness would think they were crazy and pass over them, said Saddleback, and in his home community they have two to three tea dances a week, sometimes even every day."

Watch: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6864766

#TraditionalCeremonies #IndigenousTraditions #IndigenousPeople #IndigenousPeoplesDay #FirstNations #CulturalHeritage #CulturalPreservation

Apachetas: Stones of Prayer in the High Andes
In the highlands of Peru, along ancient trails and mountain passes, you’ll find apachetas small piles of stones placed with reverence.
These are not random cairns. They are offerings to Pachamama (Mother Earth) and the Apus (mountain spirits), built by travelers to ask for protection.
Source: https://orangenationperu.com/5day-tour-in-cusco-machu-picchu/
#Apachetas #AndeanSpirituality #Pachamama #IndigenousTraditions #SacredLandscapes #PeruCulture #MountainSpirits #MastodonTravel

I've done this. And yeah, it's not for the faint of heart!

via @thenarwhal

Finding myself in blood, flesh, veins and bug bites — life at a hide camp for #TwoSpirit #IndigenousYouth

By Kierstin Williams

Kierstin reported and photographed this story at Niizh Manidook Hide Camp over six days in May 2024

June 27, 2025

"It’s my first time tanning my own deer hide. At #NiizhManidook Hide Camp, I’ve learned to slow down, listen and be in relation while immersed in brains and skin..."

https://thenarwhal.ca/two-spirit-indigenous-hide-camp/

#TwoSpirits #BrainTanning #IndigenousTraditions #TEK #BeingInNature #NatureImmersion #Nature #GBLTQ #IndigenousPeoplesDay #AnimalProducts

https://rackenzik.com/chinese-shamanism-heritage-vs-belief/

#ChineseShamanism
#CulturalHeritage
#IndigenousTraditions
#ReligiousStudies
#Anthropology
#Folklore
#IntangibleCulturalHeritage
#Spirituality
#ChinaHistory
#Ethnology

Explore Taquile Island: A Hidden Treasure on Lake Titicaca
Nestled on the crystal-clear waters of Lake Titicaca, Taquile Island is a peaceful retreat known for its unique culture and stunning landscapes. This tranquil island is famous for its traditional weaving techniques, which have been passed down for generations.
Source:https://www.cuscotudestinotravel.com/
#TaquileIsland #LakeTiticaca #PeruTravel #CulturalHeritage #IndigenousTraditions #ExplorePeru #AndeanCulture

Discover the World's Most Inspiring Ways to Find Peace, Healing & Happiness

#PeaceAndHappiness #GlobalHealing #CulturalWellness #Mindfulness #ForestBathing #Ubuntu #Hygge #Friluftsliv #Ayahuasca #IndigenousTraditions #StressRelief #SpiritualHealing #TravelForWellness #InnerPeace #HealingAcrossCultures

https://youtube.com/shorts/X9jJjJGxYuw?feature=share

Why #Montana’s #TwoSpirit people are challenging a state law that defines sex as binary

“It’s scary, in our reservations we have a lot of suicide already because of just being who they are,” Steven Barrios.

By Nicole Chavez, CNN
December 4, 2023

"As they fight to reclaim their history, some in Montana’s Two-Spirit community are challenging a state law that defines sex as binary because it 'infringes' on their spiritual and cultural beliefs.

"The law, #SenateBill458, defines 'male' and 'female' based on the presence of XY or XX chromosomes as well as reproductive systems. The legislation, which took effect in October, inserts those definitions of male and female in several parts of the state’s legal code, impacting driver’s licenses, demographic records and the state’s anti-discrimination law.

"In October, attorneys representing the Two-Spirit nonprofit #MontanaTwoSpiritSociety along with a group of #transgender, #intersex and #nonbinary #Montana residents, filed a lawsuit in Missoula County District Court challenging the law.

"They argue the state’s definitions of sex 'improperly categorizes many Montanans, excludes others from legal recognition entirely, and deprives them of the benefits and protections of myriad state laws.' The complaint also argues the law violates Montana’s individual dignity, #EqualProtection, privacy and freedom of speech laws.

"David Herrera, co-founder and executive director of the Montana Two Spirit Society, said it was important for the group to join the lawsuit because limiting gender goes against #IndigenousTraditions and cultures.

"'We don’t ascribe to just simply biologic definitions. We acknowledge that there are different genders, and our cultures have always known that there are more than two genders. In some of the Indigenous cultures, there may be as many as four to six different genders,' said Herrera, a 61-year-old who is Two-Spirit and adopted Blackfeet.

[...]

"Two-Spirit is an umbrella term that emerged in the 1990s, referring to people in many Indigenous and Native American who historically had both a masculine and feminine spirit, and who filled specialized social and spiritual roles. Some Native American people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex or gender non-conforming also use the term to self-identify.

"Prior to #colonization, Two-Spirit people had roles of honor in healing and ceremonies, but as Indigenous people were forced into assimilation that part of their tradition was lost.

“For folks that were seen as being Two-Spirit, men dressing as women, or women dressing as men and warriors, that went against the teachings of the church and so they were seen as an abomination or deviance. In some of the histories, our Two-Spirit people were actually murdered and killed, while in others, they were forced to subscribe to specific gender roles,” Herrera said.

"Steven Barrios, a 71-year-old enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation and co-founder of the Montana Two Spirit Society, said the organization supports efforts to fight back against the state’s new gender definitions.

"'We’ve already been traumatized through so many things that the government has done to us and so we just figured it’s time – we have to step up and reclaim what’s rightfully ours and not let the government take that away from us,' Barrios said.

"Barrios added SB 458 and similar legislation could add more challenges for Two-Spirit youth."

#Decolonize #NonBinary
#GBLTQI #Activism
#Reclamation #Indigiqueer #MontanaLegislation #TransRightsAreHumanRights

As insect invaders approach, researchers use a combination of indigenous knowledge and Western forestry science to save a valuable tradition

By Willy Blackmore Nov 25, 2019,

"Suzanne Greenlaw doesn’t like chainsaws. She moves quickly through the chest-high ostrich ferns, frilly leaves heavy with rain, as the orange saw sputters and then chokes. 'She gets all freaked out,' says Gabriel Frey, laughing as he yanks the starting cord again with one heavily muscled arm, the saw whirring to life. Putting the bar to a trunk of shaggy, gray-tinged bark, he begins to cut, the grinding sound of the saw echoing through the damp, green-lit stand.

"The felled tree is one of three that Frey and Greenlaw carefully picked out of the woods on the cool, damp July day in far northern #Maine. Plenty of logs are hauled out of the forest there, in #AroostookCounty, which is home to a chunk of the #NorthMaineWoods, a 3.5 million-acre expanse of commercial timberland. But Frey and Greenlaw, and the stand of gray-barked trees, are part of a tradition that’s far older than any timber camp or lumber mill. The trees are #FraxinusNigra, commonly known as #BlackAsh or #BrownAsh, which have forever been at the hearts of the lives of Maine’s indigenous tribes.

"Greenlaw, a #Maliseet forestry scientist working on her PhD at the University of Maine, is at the forefront of the effort to protect the state’s brown ash. The trees are at risk of being wiped out by the emerald ash borer, an #InvasiveSpecies that has been killing ash trees in North America for the better part of 20 years. With the help of Frey, a renowned #Passamaquoddy basket maker, as well as the broader #Wabanaki basket-making community, the married couple is fighting to preserve the rich tradition the tree supports."

https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/25/20976144/emerald-ash-borer-baskets-wabanaki-invasive-pest-maine-tradition-trees

#IndigenousTraditions #IndigenousWisdom #EmeraldAshBorer #SaveTheTrees #ClimateChange #InvasiveSpecies #MaineWoods #IndigenousPeoplesDay

#Mishoon Completed in #WestportMassachusetts

"Weeden, of the #MashpeeWampanoag Tribe, and Andre StrongBearHeart Gaines (No Loose Braids), of the #NipmucNation, have served as artists-in-residence at a 'mishoon burning' at the Westport Town Farm on Drift Road, guiding the construction of a traditional Wampanoag mishoon, or canoe, that would have been familiar to his ancestors here hundreds of years ago."

May 31, 2023

"We've done (these things) for thousands of years but over these last few hundreds of years, you can't even light a fire without a permit. You can't do a lot of things — I can't even beat a drum and sing, and that's my form of worship. And that is the #Wampanoag experience. We have to walk it every day."

#SettlerColonialism #NativeAmericanTraditions
#Nipmuck #IndigenousTraditions
#Massachusetts #PreservingNativeAmericanTraditions

Charlestown Traditional #Indigenous #CanoeBurning First Time In 400 Years

Nov 5, 2022

CHARLESTOWN, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — "Indigenous tribe members gathered in #Boston for a traditional canoe burning for the first time in four centuries. Members burned a large piece of white pine and carved out the inside to create a #mishoon, a traditional canoe.

"Andre StrongBearHeart Gaines Jr. of the #Nipmuc tribe said his group waited for five months to perform their graft inside Boston for the first time in 400 years.

"'My ancestors weren't allowed to do things like this anywhere near the city over the last 400 years,' Thomas Green, a Massachusetts tribe member, told WBZ's Kendall Buhl. 'We did not disappear, we did not die off, we are still here.'"

In the 1670s, a law made it punishable by death for an indigenous person to enter the city of Boston unless accompanied by a musketeer. The law banned indigenous people for almost 330 years. The ban was repealed in 2004."

#SettlerColonialism #NativeAmericanTraditions #Nipmuck #IndigenousTraditions #Massachusetts #PreservingNativeAmericanTraditions