The Sweat Lodge

My Background

• I studied for 7 years with a Native Turtle Clan Elder on the Tuscarora Nation
• I participated in classes, socials, and sweat lodges
• I also learned from elders visiting from other Nations, like the Lakota and Dine'.

More Background

• During my time there I learned to build and lead traditional Haudenosaunee Lodges
• My teacher asked that I pass along his teachings and their peoples wisdom as I make my way through the world

Another Lodge I Built

Building the Lodge

• Finding the Saplings
• Reciprocation/Making an Offering
• The Altar
• Orienting/Preparing

All My Relations

• We are in relationship with everything
• We give thanks for them, as they help us know ourselves
• The sustain us and teach us
• Lakota: Mitakuye' Oyasin

The Ancestors

• The rocks that heat the lodge
• They endure, before and after us
• They receive offerings too, for the wisdom they impart

(Cree) Every Stone Has Seven Faces

• Rocks can make sound
• Rocks have eyes and anyone can see with them
• Rocks can smell. They can pick up on a scent that was around 100yrs. ago. and pick up on the most subtle & delicate fragrance
• Taste - a rock can eat
• Touch - It has the ability to feel
• Emotion - it is emotional and has the ability to cause emotion in others
• Awareness - rocks are like people, with varying degrees of self-awareness

Sacred Fire

• Represents the Sun
• Fire of creation and transformation
• The crucible of relationship
• Receives our prayers

Path to the Lodge

• Connects the masculine (fire) and Feminine (Void/Lodge)
• Not to be interrupted except for entering and exiting the lodge

Embodying Lodge Medicine

• We are all one
• Every relationship is of value
• Pressure helps us grow
• Vulnerability is strength
• Love & Community
• Honoring & Giving Thanks

Every Part A Teacher

• Water
• Ancestors
• Heat
• Darkness
• Medicine Wheel/Rounds

Translation to Classroom Pedagogy

• Eastern Phrase: The teacher and the taught make the teaching.
• The classroom must be a safe container for thought, feeling and expression
• Rigor and challenge provide the pressure for growth and maturity
• Each person, perspective, and relationship is valuable
• Students can learn just as much about themselves as content from the class