FISHERY COMMITTEE MEETING

Port au Port Bay Fishery Committee Meeting with John Finn, MHA , Stephenville , Port au Port -Thursday,  July14th, Town Hall, Port au Port East......

From left back row: Victor James Muise., Michael Hackett, Aiden Mahoney, John Finn, Bob Diamond & Bill O'Gormon. 

Front row from left: Jerome Hoskins, Mary McCormack, Wayne Hounsell and Katherine Hoskins.

HONORING THE WARRIORS OF THE FLAME

KEEPER OF THE HERITAGE

GRAND ENTRY REGALIA....

This was made for me to wear  at the grand entry at the Pow- Wow:

CHILDREN'S DRUM GROUP

White Wolf Spirit, (Wipe's Paqtism jijaqamij) ,Children's  Drum Group, Port au Port East.. NL.

MAKING DONATIONS FOR THE 2016 POW WOW

MAKING DONATIONS

Please note that there have been several people asking about the best way to make donations to the Powwow. There is now a special account set up to do so. You can make a deposit of any amount to:Account # 39922-20-4, which is located at the Leading Edge Credit Union, St. George's Branch, Transit #68163 839.email transfer can also be done through bsgcrc@gmail.com or you may mail directly to Bay St.George Mi’Kmaq Cultural Revival CommitteeBox 6, Site 7, RR#1Flat Bay, NL  . A0N 1Z0

Why are donations needed ???? 

Because there are significant costs involved in organizing a Powwow which accommodates so many people (roughly 7,500 in 2015). There have been many people, especially those who live away, who say that they wish they could help in some way. People who are local can help by making donations (monetary, grocery, etc.), attending fundraising events,items for auctions, volunteering at fundraising events, volunteers for fire keepers and lodge keepers,mowing and other grounds work in the weeks before the Powwow.The only financial assistance for the powwow comes from applying for specific funding. Donations from individuals, community bands,businesses and invited guests , go a long way in providing for the necessary up-front costs such as food, field maintenance, rentals, etc.Again, we thank you. Without our faithful supporters, we would not be able to make the Annual Bay St. George Mi'kmaq Powwow the great success that it has been known to be!

Note, Our Pow Wow Coordinator Cassandra Beanland office is in Flat Bay Band Building E-mail (Bsgcrc@gmail.com),She is now has a website for the Cultural Mowio'mi Committee and should be soon posted up at your connivance in the near future : Phone #.1-709-647-1370...

Birch Creak Signers is our Host Drum Group and Stoney Bear Singers our guest Drum Group.This will be the only two Drum Groups in the arbor on Saturday and Sunday.

Wela'lin ..Thank you and looking forward to 2016.

BASKETS BY SA'KE'J

Please  click this link and TURN  UP  THE  VOLUME




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A DREAM COME TRUE

A dream come true.. with Piktol Sakej Mius and Jasen Benwah As a young man Piktol Sakej Mius (Victor) had a dream to bring the Mi'kmaw Language back to his people. He had managed to retain some of his Ancient Mi'kmaw Language and when I met him in 2012 , he said; "I keep trying to find a way to bring the language back to the people. I have to find a way". I was and still am chairwoman of the Mi'kmaq Burial Grounds Research Restoration Association. The MBGRRA is a volunteer not-for-profit under the societies act since 2004. The society works alongside communities to protect sacred sites and under e) of MBGRRA's objects our Board is mandated to support specialized training and public education via exhibits, publications, documentaries, work shops, curriculum development, lectures, ceremonies, etc. (in all Mi'kmaq districts; (directly related to Mi'kmaq Language and Culture). When I returned to Ktaqamkuk in July of 2013, I stayed at Victor's home and we talked about how we might bring a 5 day Mi'kmaw Language-Culture Camp with on going lessons to the community of St. George's. The plan to do exactly this was formulated during the week of the pow wow. Victor introduced me to some caring people who he thought might volunteer in putting the final touches on the plan to make his 'dream come true'. I spoke with Terry Mius, Paula Cutler, Tami Park-Tighe, Odelle Pike and Anne Hart; and we began to put a frame around how we would proceed. After meeting with these people I had a profound sense of fortuitous hope and called an MBGGRA board meeting and requested the directors to pass a resolution. Once the resolution was in place, we proceeded to apply for a language-culture grant through Canadian Heritage under the Aboriginal Language Incentive program known as ALI. It took many telephone conferences to help get the ball rolling. At the end of 2013, MBGRRA was positioned to send off the ALI grant application. In May of 2014, MBGRRA received an official letter from Canadian Heritage advising us our grant application for St. George's had been approved. In 2015, MBGRRA received a grant to bring a 5 day Mi'kmaw Language Culture Camp to Flat Bay. In late 2015 MBGRRA applied for another grant to bring a 5 day Mi'kmaw Language - Culture Camp to the Benoit First Nation in 2016. In addition, we aspire to certify 20 people to teach basic Smith-Francis orthography. We will approach those who completed a 5 day Mi'kmaw Language- Culture Camp and continue to excel in learning their Mi'kmaw Language and Culture. Source: Delina Petit Pas , chairwoman MBGRRA

THE HEALING JOURNEY

"Eig nnueie'l glusuaqann ugjit TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) aq IRS(Indian Residential School) system gisna Residential School".

I often regard those drifting toward suicide as "Shadow People". Why?

They are ready to fade into a state of nothingness , of non-being , because during their lives they felt that they were , indeed, nothing , worthless, and invisible.

Until this attitude is changed , no one will be able to reach those who are in such depths of despair....those, our very own, Shadow People.

The suicide rate among indigenous people far exceeds that of any other group of individuals. This is not surprising. Actually it would be a great surprise if suicide rates were low.

I quote from my recent Face Book post:

When a person's identity is ripped from them...when they are not permitted to speak their own language, when they are beaten for being "Indian", this brutal level of abuse causes a trauma which seldom heals, and indeed, is likely passed from generation to generation.

Think of it this way....Pick up a plate. Now throw it on the floor. If it is made of glass it will smash, right? Now tell the plate that you are sorry, that you will buy it a new beautiful cupboard in which to sit. But, the plate remains BROKEN. Many indigenous people are broken.

The healing process must come from within them , and they are making a Journey in that direction.

But, the white brethren who caused the problem has to help , and to be patient with the process of this Journey.. , I hope that helps....but that is how I personally see it.

A holocaust was perpetrated on this continent from the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico. The number that the white people murdered ( in one way or another) is uncountable.....tens of millions I would guess.

This psychologically injures not just a race....but individuals.

Yes! There was a holocaust. Thousands of cultures were destroyed and obliterated. Tens of millions died , in horrific ways, one way or another.

It may have been worse for the living.....they became as nothing.

How does one recover psychologically from a state of nothingness? How does one move forward to embrace life? How does one encourage one's children to be citizens of this world of conquerors, of people who considered themselves superior, and who thought that we were worthless ?

How, again I ask, does one move forward from that level of trauma?

Again I quote:

We were a proud free People before governments gave us toilets. The People had dignity. The white people came, wanting land, wanting gold, wanting to move cattle, to settle, to build cities. And culture after culture was decimated, ground into the soil by white boot heels. ......

And then it is thought that to toss money at the situation will repair it..

The problem of high level of suicides among indigenous people was caused initially by 500+ years of white colonialism , sweeping across the North American continent and destroying lives like some great plague.

Spiritual Healing has to come from within . It has to come under the guidance of professionals of our own culture. It has to come with the support of our community , and our own people providing a safety net.

Many indigenous people feel worthless. We have to again learn to embrace our self worth.

We have to accept that we are important to this world, and that our existence offers something positive to the world. How does one take these ideas and manifest them in reality?

Centres of counselling need to be established. Indigenous people should be trained to staff these centres , and to be the Healing Facilitators.

These centres can be located in medical centres, other government buildings, or in our own facilities.

Why should health care providers be of the same nationality as their clients?

There will be more awareness of root cause of the trauma which leads to suicide. These medical professionals will not just listen and prescribe, but they will UNDERSTAND.

Having local Healing Centres will also provide opportunity for indigenous communities to be supportive , and to help provide some sort of safety net for at risk individuals.

Individuals who are at risk should have a hot-line which they can contact at any hour. They should be able to telephone, email, or Skype for help.

Despair can be passed from generation to generation , unless there is conscious intervention to stop the cycle.

Also, studies have indicated that memory of trauma can be embedded in DNA and thus be passed to one's descendants .

So the Healing Journey will be a slow process.

Yes, we will need good housing and water and sewer systems. Yes, financial aid will be necessary.

But throwing money at this situation is not what is going to fix it.

Systematic annihilation has a traumatic affect on a race, and its people .

The Healing Journey, through and past , our trauma may be a long one.

We ask for your help, your understanding , and your patience.

Many people think that those who are suicidal are cowards. This is NOT so. Those who chose that route do so because they truly believe it is their last option.

Sometimes the world is a very cruel place .

People are unable to deal with the level of pain that life on earth gives them.

First they may become alcoholics. This numbs the pain, and can help one to become unconscious.

They also turn to drugs , as these , too, numb and help one achieve an unconscious state....in which one does not feel, and thus experiences no pain.

Finally, they choose to leave life .....the other option , of staying here on earth, just hurts too much.

When dealing with potential suicides one has to realize that we have to help those individuals to acquire that which was lost , or never had, it: Nourishment for the soul.Wisdom and love from birth, they are here for a reason,make it simple and easy to connect to the sprit of our first mother.

Mi'kmaq: Pikto'l Sa'ke'j Miu's
Victor James Muise
Descendant from : Phillipe Muis and Family

MAKING DRUMS

March,10th,2016......
Scott Butt, a well known  artiest:and drum maker.
Step by step showing Port au Port Mi'kmaq Children's Drumming and Singing Group  , to mantle a hand drum with natural babish or hides.
The children were all so excited...
There was dancing and chanting after the teachings:

WHEN SOMEONE GOES THROUGH TRANSITION

In our  Mi'kmaw culture, when someone is dying we all gather and we do something called Apiksiktatultimk , (And act of Forgiving each other).

When the person is about to pass we try to hold back our tears so that they can go through  transition into the spirit world. 

Once someone passes we hold a 3 day wake.

 After the person is buried we gather and have a feast and an auction to help the family of the deceased, to pay for funeral costs.

There's more to our culture around death.

When the rain falls upon the deceased blessings are passed down to generations   before us and we humbly embrace  the good memories of the passing,,,,

It reminds us all to show love in our path to being happy,  in sad times and mourning.  

When you cannot find a smile,  then we all have to move on in our journey that will never end..,,the living and the dead .

POWWOW 2016 WEBSITE

To reach the Flat Bay Powwow 2016 website please click on the link below:

Flat Bay Powwow 2016

SUPPORT OUR POWWOW , 2016

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BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS 2016

Yup, I'm 186.
I had  three birthdays cakes. I sure did enjoy. Every one else had my day planned, except me , but  I had fun...
Wela'lin..Thank you kindly every one , for you wonderful wishes..Oh,  and I almost forgot.... thank for all the gifts ,,,, 

____________________________________________________________________________

OMG.... Another surprise.... two more cakes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Port Au Port Peninsula, In Mi'kmaw (Pukt aq Pukt Kive'same'k).
Name Of Group ,White Wolf Spirit,(Wipe's Paqtism jijaqamij),Pronounced-- ( wa-beg-buck-dissim-jid-juck-ha-mij ).

OMG ....Surprise Birthday gathering . This is  part of the Miuse Clan..
Wela'lin ,Thank you my loved ones.
 Brother Lin told me brother Pat was having meeting. 

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WHO ARE THEY ?

SHARING KNOWLEDGE

NEW TWEETS

I have posted a few new tweets to Twitter. Please go to:  MY TWITTER ACCOUNT

CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION

AVAILABLE IN 2017

DRUMMING TOGETHER

Presenting:Port au Port Mi'kmaq Children's Drumming and Singing Group  </p>
FROM: Port Au Port Peninsula, In Mi'kmaw (Pukt aq Pukt Kive'same'k) </p>
Name Of Group ,White Wolf Spirit,(Wipe's Paqtism jijaqamij), </p>
Pronounced-- ( wa-beg-buck-dissim-jid-juck-ha-mij ) </p>

OLD LOG CABIN FOR SALE

20 X 16 Painting .....

This painting will be going on auction for the 2016 pow wow ,to raise money...

It is called "Old Log Cabin For Sale".

OUR TRUE IDENTITY

Our True Identity

If a reader listens to any hypothesis about life itself ,or with regarding things above us and below the earth, then we as humans have questions from those senses. If it is true or false, nothing we do or say and write could be 100% truth.

However, what humankind has discovered we have reason to believe some of the truth. My investigation on earth in different places, times, and cultural patterns has stirred me to write this book of stories, legends that other people see in humankind of the past.

My friendship with spirituality supervised and supported my life in all aspects ,and I call this friend Mother Earth. This is my long wish.... to prepare a book of knowledge of our grandmothers and grandfathers of yesterday. This may help our grandmothers and grandfathers of tomorrow, which are our YOUTH. It will give them some insight in the law of nature and the responsibility we carry as humans.

In the cycle of life, On the MEDICINE WHEEL( NOT MI'KMAW) there are four main directions, but there are three not maintained a lot. They are the earth. In addition, most important, yourself. Truly your health in body, mind, and spirit , plus freedom , are of great importance. Then by reading this book, it will surely help us with our own lives.

This book is also prepared to encourage the Aboriginal Youth to write stories of oral legends, poetry, etc. I grant the success of elders are to nourish the Youths' well being.

To The Many Nations and Religions of the World

It is my wish to maintain my Indian prayers and my own spirit, traditions, historical values, and tribal knowledge, for the next generation so our Youth across the world to respect and not forget special events.

It is an inspiration for me to do a cultural ceremony in Mi'kmaw custom of the Algonquin Nations, which are first to forage across North America.

Their land extended from Hudson Bay South to North Carolina and Tennessee, from the North Atlantic Seaboard to the Northern Plains . They are a proud and noble people and I have made a Medicine Wheel ,to represent the Algonquin Tribes. They are Cheyenne, Cree, Blackfoot, Arapaho, Ojibwa, Mimic and one for each individual tribe.

The Medicine Wheel is part of creation (NOT OF MI'KMAW CULTURE). There are four basic colors of man; everything in life is divided into four...... four directions, four seasons, four different times a day, and main stages in life.

Here is a ceremony, that is sacred , each representing life itself.

The ceremony signifies spiritual strength and healing, We should never forget that it was the Creator who gave us life, no matter what nationality we are. We should connect our prayers to our leaders, the environment. and in addition, to Mother Earth, then open the doors to the four oceans of the world to give nourishment and health. We should pray for our Youth, for the strong and weak, the young and old, people on the street and at sea, and for those with sickness. In addition, let us pray to end poverty and to end the worst enemy of some people , alcohol and drugs, guns,which are made to cripple mankind on their Journey.

I will send a message with my Drum (the heartbeat of Mother) as we enter the year 2016 , to the Youth of the World.

In our societies we should prepare you for special events and reflect our thoughts, the mothers of the earth, to woman who gave birth in such a humble way, our first entry to Mother Earth and to our sacred water, with out it we, as a species ,will not survive.

Since December 12th is the feast of our lady of Guadalupe, who appeared to the Indian boy in Mexico, in 1531, let us remember how the blessed Mother loves each one of us, and let us imitate her in a way that we are all children of the same creation ,no matter where we are no matter what nation or religion we are from.

Love for our children comes before all else and it's a sacred bundle you have for life.

Every gathering is for sharing . Why not each time share time with an Elderly person who is lonely ,or the homeless that we must help with a silent cost that will return to you in glory?

It will make us feel a little better.... better in Body, Mind, Spirit, like the eagle across the sunset.

Traditional spiritual elders in 1950 and 1960 were extinct across the island and parts of Canada...Our elder shared much wisdom with our people, in respecting one's well being and Mother Earth.

Their knowledge and oral teaching will be tools for the next generation, witch are Grandfathers' and Grandmothers' last resort to hold on some cultural practices and sacred Mi'kmaw Language.

I have begun to write .

Oh, Great Spirit, as the sun rises to the East, we , the Aboriginal People, who are in relation to this land, hold in trust, our self and Mother Earth, as we know it. Grant us wisdom as we seek a path for tomorrow. Let our drums send messages of hope, and then the eagle will fly to watch over our youth.

This is an ultimate force, that YOU ,the youth ,can take responsibility to manage the future Generation and all creation.

Being here today fulfills many purposes. Reading this book is important and we are fortunate that we have retained enough culture that will never forget our identity.

Today we take steps: cleanse our hearts; cleanse our hands; cleanse our eyes; cleanse our minds.

Therefore, we can unite, as sisters, brothers , , and this will start to give us wisdom and strength to take a course to listen to the teaching of the Circle of Life.

The Mi'kmaq are part of Algonquin speaking people of eastern woodlands, which extent is forgotten. In the medicine wheel our respect for life itself was the beginning and still is our Spiritual tool to maintain our dignity as the First People from Hudson Bay South to North Carolina and Tennessee, from the North Atlantic seaboard to Northern Plains.

The Aboriginal community was reconstructed over past 200 years. They would live in groups or clans with as many as several hundred per clan. Each had its chief or leader who was called Saga more. This was a person with great fighting or hunting skills and was raised from birth.

It was his duty to assign each family with a particular place in society.

Their stories of there lives were passed down and elders would stress the importance of family ancestry.

Elders were mental storehouses for genealogy..

It is my great concern that the protection of our traditional and spiritual beliefs, our sacred pipe, songs, ceremonies, language, still can hold good health for our people. It is to simply expect change and make progress, still keeping our core values and principles alive.

WRITTEN BY: PIKTO'L SA'KE'J MIU'S / VICTOR JAMES MUISE JR. 111TH

Dream Weaver

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THE VOICE

I offer to you a new blog called "THE VOICE". It's purpose is to investigate and to embrace our sacred language. Please click on the link at right, under "SA'KE'J SITES".

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Pusu'l Puna'ne msit wen

Happy New year Everyone