Tent of Many Voices: M08190501TMB

following the Lewis and Clark Trail since January of 2003 in this tent we invite many different presenters to come in and it's a story of the young woman who went with them with her small child and a story of all of the people they met along the way so with that said I would like to introduce our next presenters we have with us Emma George and Audrey ponzo and joining them shortly will will be Curtis Hall and they will be talking about traditional healing so let's please make them welcome I got to stand up good afternoon ladies and gentlemen it's honor to be here to tell you a little bit about the cultural lifeways of our people the AA s n there are many elements in the Native American lifeways it the way we live our life is a holistic way of life this morning when you get your first drink of water when you wake up in the morning and that sun rises over the hill all these different elements that were given to us by by the Creator have significance and um we believe that they were given to us by the Creator from the beginning of time on when we were here when we came upon Mother Earth originally our Indian people were given teachings to remember our creator and not to go away from that way and they're um they have great significance great meaning and they said that um when Columbus came the Indian people were childlike and that's a ultimate desire of Christianity to be like that and in that way we our teachings our values they were they taught about goodness they taught about respect one of the first teachings is respect beginning with oneself and to have respect for other things and um those are all significant and that was our Indian way of life but throughout history we've been um I was telling the group yesterday we're being Americanized and um told to forget our our beliefs that Creator gave us and um in doing that we're forgetting our creator and so it's for us it's very important to retain that because they are good teachings they are about Brotherhood when the white people came here we were told to um everyone is our brother and our sister when someone comes to your home you feed him so our people treated the people that came through here your ancestors good in that way what we were how we were taught Unfortunately today our younger people they're going away from the culture the cultural teachings the values and um it it's really important to retain those because they are rich the culture is Rich and it's beautiful and the the teachings are beautiful and they're from the Creator and um also another significant teaching is about our mother earth that we live upon her from the time we're born to the time we die we walk upon our mother earth today we're crossing paths no one walks the same path each has their own Road each one of us here you may have a companion that walks for with you sometime but you come into this world and you leave this world alone and on your road of life you have teachings you have gifts that are placed before you and sometimes people um bypass him or they overlook him and um on Mother Earth she is our mother she clothes us she feeds us all our needs she provides for right now where we're at at this point on our road and um this water that runs through her is like her blood like your blood and your body your bloodstreams and um like a like a heart when it's blocked a person gets sick they have a heart attack so in that way um we look at our mother earth and we also have to take care of her because she is our mother just like as if our mother was sick would you you know we would care for her we' try to help her and in that way our native people we look at Mother Earth and we respect and we honor her and we look out right now and we look at her beauty and we thank her we thank her for this life blood here we thank her for the food foods that we feed us and um those are some of the teachings I'd like to share with you and um I'll go ahead and pass some mic and we'll continue this presentation uh good afternoon my name is Audrey ponzo I have been um born and raised here in salmon and I know quite a few people you know that uh some of them are missing there's a the people that uh taught us at the schools were really nice and I thought great about them for helping us so now I thought about that and I thought well now it's my chance to go and um say something good for them and for ourselves and like uh I was talking about we're all crossing paths right now so um I decided to talk on traditional healing and like what Emma was saying again you know it comes from the mother earth it comes from the the Earth itself and it's got a lot of healing like the water for instance you know she was talking about we have a lot of hot springs a lot of places in the back Hills that we know of that uh that the Lami people and saguia time and up to now even we go to these Waters and we go pray that's that's why we go looking for these Waters it's important the last visit I had was about two years ago and um I'm one of those people that you call U traditional healer I taken in a lot of ceremonies so when I was up in the hills uh that was the first time I ever heard uh these rocks talk to me and the and the trees I only hear about them from people you know from way back and but this time I had an experience for myself and the Mother Earth was saying help help me you know heal me so that's what I did and what I come up with is one of our um I brought some uh herbs along and this is one of the what you call a cedar but it's a buffalo Cedar and um this is for um it's kind of used for incense but for us people it's for prayers this opens the Gateway from here to up there to uh so we can communicate with all the Spiritual Beings so um what it does is uh when you put it on a little charcoal it uh opens the mind and the heart so the only thing you have left is the truth and and and uh what you do is you pray and you ask for forgiveness and the cedar will bring selflove to oneself and that's how you communicate then you are one to one with everything that is out there it's really beautiful when it's done in the right place in the right time so right now I'm here to share with all of you people of what I know you know there's a lot of experts out there and there's a lot of uh um these uh trading people out there that who are really experts I thought you know they're really expert in whatever they do you know and I'm glad to meet uh people that are like that I'm always interested in other people's work so um but as of now and um this other one is is an important one to us Indian people is this mountain Indian Tobacco and it's grown out here in these valleys in these Hills and this one here is um is a key cre uh what they call a key to the Creator where we pray with and it's a passage way to the everland you know to the next realm so we are closer to everything that the the Creator made here and um the one true accomplishment it does is to talk with the Creator itself you're a one to one and so again it it it uh it takes a small ceremony and I was talking to one of those people that are out here and I was telling telling her that this is a ceremony in itself right here we're all gathered together and we all hope and pray for the future that things will come to a peace to an understanding there's a lot of uh ill will going on out there across the ocean back East to different countries a lot of things are happening a lot of our um the Earth Wind and Fire is doing a lot of things but to us Indian people what it's doing is is clearing out a lot of unwanted just The Unwanted because we all hope and pray for one good thing you know you know and and it's for the Next Generation to come that's what we all pray for I know I've been to the LDS church and and a lot of these other churches that that were trying to take me in when I was small so I visited almost all every one of them so um it's good to see all of you people here you know all combined and also um I have some other herbs this one should be an interesting one I call it a Ghostbuster specialty it's a one sort of a small bush-like cedar and this one is good for the Paranormal people who are really interested in ghost busting that is really s something it works and I got some real serious ones for the kidneys for the infection of kidneys um it's good for diabetic people um for failing kidneys for and it clears the blood veins is what it does and uh it's really a healing one if a diabetic took these medicines they wouldn't even go see a doctor and it's just right out here so we have all kinds of uh healing powerful plants this one's a uh I called it a women's medicine it's a white sage this one um deals with um with women who are on their menopause and and it clears the on the menes and it clears the blood veins it relieves tension and stresses and but it's more powerful when it's in a little ceremony you really clear everything out and it only takes a few minutes it doesn't take years or months or anything you get the healing right here and now I I was thinking about this when I was coming cuz I seen on um Little House on the Prairie last night and and this little girl that Laura Angel she was uh uh selling little little uh drugs not drugs but uh little herbs or whatever they were put into little bottles and I was thinking about myself and I thought GE I'm going to be like Laur Engles you know trying to sell my products but uh but the these are some of the things that I like to share with you because because doctor's visits are getting really Sky High and there are people who are on looking for other ways other remedies but I think uh us Indian people have really gone up to where you know people are turning to us for help and uh most of us are willing to take people who are really real because you know us medicine people we know who's not real and who's who is and I always tell them don't lie you know you lie to the Creator you're lying to me you know so don't lie to yourself be truthful be honest and this is where you get the healing and uh I got an interesting one here too it's a dried and grounded indant tea with berries it's really something different it's really really something it's got its own healing powers it's um this one is grown down in the OR in Fort Hall at the lower bottoms area it's on the low ground and it relieves stresses calms the mind and body and it soothes a spirit it really does this one is really good for people who are who are always on you know going to work back and forth you know never any time for anything and it just it's just like those um um those people that are on TV showing their um arobics and whatever and here you don't need to take aerobics just take the tea and you're there going on next you live again and then I have another one the last one I have I only brought so many is a the green peppermint tea and um this one is just common and most of all the people know uh of where to get it and everything and it's along creeks and rivers this one here Cs and nervous system where you feel happiness instantly and then it heals the spirit too so but with a small ceremony like our sweat lodges our our indan other ceremonies that we have then combin all of these herbs and you're really you get healed and um one other stuff I forgot to bring I couldn't find it was um was my herbs for uh cancer people this one heals you know uh like the the hair loss this one instantly replaces it cuz I had cancer I found out I I I had cancer and then they took care of that and uh and with these herbs my hair started growing back so I was really really grateful for all these herbs that we have that's why I I talk about them so much you know there is there is just a lot of love that the mother earth had for us that's that's just what I thought about then I have diabetes medicine where um people that are going on um what did they call that where they go into the hospitals and transfer their their bloodstream no no um yeah dialysis and and this is you know it cures a person before they even get to dialysis so that was really important I thought and uh so this is what I wanted to share is um these herbs that I have brought along and and you guys can come and look at it see what what what they are what it looks like and um s go uh Curtis Sam can maybe a touch upon a little bit of it good afternoon ladies and gentlemen my name's Curtis uh Sam I'm originally from the uh from the West uh uh uh small reservation they call F M dur reservation that's in Nevada and at this time over here they wanted me to say a little of the traditional ways of ceremonial Ways part and like uh myself I've been brought up in the Native American Indian ways of life you know so I've been brought up I grew up with a lot of things like that with so at this time I'm going to talk about the SWAT Lodge ceremonial ways our old people they used to uh use those as for long ago they um before you know the the the white white people came over to on this uh United States here during that time they used to have sweat lodges and also at that time they used to have uh they used to hunt with uh you know what they have with bone and arrows and they have their own ways of uh believing in certain part of the animal bodies they have to take care of after they get go out there in the in the mountains to get the maybe a deer elk or moose or whatever you know they have to take care of certain remains off of the animals to in order to have that good luck all the time so at one time at one point this uh couple of Warriors they went out there and one of them didn't do what he was supposed to do after he went and killed the after they went and got the a deer he got one and then he uh he didn't want to put away certain part of the animal's body away so that next time when he goes back out they'll have better luck always have luck brings good luck so when they did that he went home home and there they took the meat home and for the for the camp for the people and they shared that with them and the next next time they went back out they went back out there and then there they did that again they went up the mountains they hunt but other two they they found what they were looking for but this one couldn't couldn't get what he was there for you know the animal was right there not long not far from him he tried everything to get that Amo but he couldn't get it couldn't get it so he got disappointed and you know angry and wondering what happened so with that the other two they got their their meat what they went after to provide for the camp the people so they went home the three went home the rest got down to the camp so they asked one of the elders um what uh what did I do wrong in order to why can't I uh get my game why can't get what I what I was I went there for to get my game I couldn't get it it was was right there so the old the elderly man told him well you did something wrong up there in the mountains you you must you didn't do what you're supposed to do to hide hide the certain part of the remains of the the the animals that's why your Luck's not with you anymore you're not going to have it no more so there they um they talked about it and and uh the Chiefs told them while you good you're going to go up back up in the mountains go up there and you going to build yourself a SWAT Lodge and then in there you go in there with your friends and you guys going to pray pray and that's where you're going to get it back so that's how I've been told that story and when they did go in there and he did pray then they went back out they continue on hunting after that that's where he finally got back his luck again so that's how this uh sweat lodes became way back to up to now today it's a little different today we go in and we pray to the to the we call it rock rock Spirits we call it Grandpa rocks someone us call it Grandpa rocks which we build fire we we prepare our wood we stack our wood on there good and then put our rocks on and we light it but then we have to give offering offering to the fire to the Rocks because it's important our old people said that they have the keepers each herbs each herbs out here anywhere on this Mother Earth has got caretakers we we can't see them they're there they're around just like we're here they they're they're around us too they they're watching what we're doing what we're what we're who we are but they're careful they don't want to get close to us so that's why the old people said we have to give offerings we have to ask uh them for for forgiveness for I should say you know we we can't trans we can't TransPass against where they're at because they get angry some sometimes times he hurt us in such a way too when we do that that's why we always have to give offering to the fire in behalf of all these things that we go out here and uh get like all the herbs that she's talking about we have to give offerings we have to give offering to the the the caretakers of these herbs the fire we always have to give offerings to Creator to to the Sun up here talk to that sun because that's where where we're our our Spirits from that sun our Native American people our Spirits are from the Sun that's what our old people told us we back and so in that way in that sweat lodes we go in and then we sit down in a circle the rocks are hot some are mild some are hot some are extra hot and in there we pray sit down and pray we we sweat it out we sweat C out all the poisons off of our bodies whatever our bodies got in our systems and sometimes in there we use herb teas too like this here we use most of these herbs sometimes we use these inside there we drink it we pray to it and it drains out all the the the sickness that we have maybe arthritis whatever that we have it all just like what Audrey was explaining here all these sickness that we have we use that sweat lodge in that way too everything that we use is all similar the same way it's all the same so in there we do that then we come out we go four rounds but sometimes you know if we have to we go maybe five maybe six maybe seven because us Indian people we like to do that you know because it's like it's I should say it's just like it's it's dear to our heart we we like to enjoy it it comforted us cuz we were close to Mother Earth then and that is part of our our culture our traditional ways of prayers and these things are important because through those those ceremonies we pray for Mother Earth here like what these ladies were talking about earlier we pray for all these things here on Mother Earth it's important for us to always pray for this one Mother Earth because he like they were saying she's the one that takes care of all of us provides us everything here and sometimes a lot of people take granted take it granted you know of Mother Earth lot of pollutions all that things going on today you know that's why her mother earth is a getting tired she's getting tired and she's uh she's kind of angry at us people because we're not careful how we're we're taking care of our mother the Earth and you know all your people you've seen all these things happening all over the United the states here all kinds of chaos going on that's just that's just part of it so I thought I'd mention that part then I right now I'm going back to the Salt Lodge and our old people they call that one they're it's just like inside of a a lady's wound you're reborn again once you come out of there once you're through praying you're reborn again you're pure again that's the way that sweat LOD is considered to be told toward towards us uh Indian people it came long ways with this sweat lodge ways so I thought I'd talk about that part at this time and say that much at this time time's running short thank you okay that's just um that is some of the areas that we talk about when we talk about our Native American traditional healing ways and as I said before that it's a holistic way of life um they had mentioned about taking things from Mother Earth and providing offering and um that's what we call the giveaway in life there's a giveaway and um you don't just go out and take things um and that's so that's one of our teachings as well and um also another point I'd like to make as far as Lewis and Clark and the Expedition some people they were some of our Indian people they're angry with sakaia he said she brought the white people people brought Annihilation suffering Devastation to our people but prior to that time there were Indian people that prophesized before that they said that there were white people that were coming Indian people knew there were white people coming before that time and um these are the medicine people and so that was a part of the destiny and here we are today we believe in Creator um we believe that everybody anyone that prays to the Creator whatever way they go is good people have different ways um Creator gave the Indian people away they gave different people on this Earth different ways and we're sharing today with you our way um there's a purpose we believe there's a purpose for things when Lewis and Clark came they came across this land they came and they wrote in their journals and they said this is the most beautiful place it's like paradise to to Behold our mother earth yes we understand that we respect that when we look at that and in this place up here they call the LM high pass that place the water there it goes to the east East and it goes to the West there's no place like that only here flows into the Missouri and down into the Mississippi and then it comes down in here into the Columbia River and into the um Pacific Ocean this is a blessed place and um our people we live according to Cycles natural cycles we do not when that sun rises and sets that's a natural cycle when the spring comes through and then the summer and the fall and then the winter you cannot over jump one for the other they go according to cycles and that's the way our people lived here our people we lived according to the Cycles like right now um the choke cherries are not yet ready maybe in week they'll be ready when we went and gathered him it had to be for that certain time and so in that way we lived and our people we were called a that means salmon eers and um we ate the salmon and the salmon they didn't come up constantly all year they come through a natural cycle during a certain time period and it was during that time our people gathered this um a and it was according to the natural cycle and another thing as I had told you earlier there was a give away well our people the a we ate the salmon the salmon gave itself to us and when we ate it and turn it was blessed it was according to the natural cycle but at this time it's become more difficult for our people to go according to our natural cycle the spirit of the salmon they're fighting for their lives to come here the most farthest Inland into the United States to come home according to their natural cycle to spawn to give birth and go back out into the ocean all of these things these are a part of our culture these are a part of our beliefs and they're not they're being hindered they're being hindered by dams and all kinds of things and again we're going back to back to the lwis and Clark journals and about the teachings of Mother Earth we're sharing these with you today and another thing is that um we ask that you uh well before I go with that in the Lewis and Clark journals there were also mention of um there was also some mention of some medicine at that time um Saka Jia she was sick she was sick in the Great Falls area and they said that she almost died and they wrote in the journals Lewis wrote in the journals he says yes he goes we gave her this medicine and she got well well people that don't understand they wouldn't have known that that was uh our people's medicine for sicknesses and um so in that way on our road of life we have a purpose we have a Destiny and what is that message 200 years later when Thomas Jefferson said for Lewis and Clark to come on this Expedition he said it's going to take 800 years to develop this country that was 200 years ago when he said that our people we say that we live on the prayers of our old people we live on the prayers of our ancestors that we are here today and we that's how we live that's how we live our lives we're grateful for that that and today our Indian people we pray for our future Generations that they will have clean water clean air Mother Earth to walk upon we pray that for the future Generations today that they can continue on Upon This mother our mother earth in a respectful Manner and um those are some of our teachings that we'd like to to share with you and today we ask each and every one of you to make a effort from this gifts that we put on your path today and carry it with you to share this message on your road um our Indian people we say that we have two books of knowledge we have the white man's book that we were told and taught as a matter of fact we had a boarding school up here in the lmh High Valley we had a boarding school our young at that time our elders hairs was cut well at that time they were little kids and they were forced to learn the white man's ways they were taught those things and it was difficult and it was hard because we knew that these teachings were from our creator and we knew that they were good and that we have to hang on to them about Brotherhood and about love the values of teachings and today we share these things with our children and we hold on to them because Creator gave them to us and today we share some of these things with you today and I'll go ahead and pass this forward uh I forgot to mention too that uh also that I have participated about a couple years ago when it first started the Lew and Clark by Centennial of the governor's committee I've been on there for 3 four years already and so we were uh actually fighting to get our Museum here let this alahi Valley be noticed and have that seia um uh the the the sculpture out here to be to be where it's at right now it's really beautiful I was looking at it earlier and I thought this is really neat to have that here and all that hard work and all the Committees that that have sat on this and uh to see it come to life you know to see everything here and then later on the Discovery course came to be and they and they decided to help us Gerard Butler I remembered him you know and um he was really um really special person and um he was a real go-getter and um I see that um they're now so uhuh and um Emma was mentioning that uh Lo um Lois and Alfred naville and Alice Crow there are Elders here out here and they have helped with the with the picking of the place and uh the museum the all the things that it has here in Camille George here my aunt and we were all involved because this is some something that uh is very dear to us is this Valley our people are still buried here our people are still here and I remember that and so I thought I'd mention that along with what I had to say and uh and um I wanted to talk to you about a little bit about the ghost weed here that Ghostbuster specially called it actually it has a healing it opens the passage way to talk to the spirits and to let people like your loved ones who have died to let them go and it and it uh uh it it ends to um a closure so I thought I'd mention that it's really it's really powerful and uh maybe Curtis like to see something else fin I guess he wanted me to say a little more at this time again and uh kind of getting like I'm speechless right now but you know I'm going say a few more a few more words so uh you know like I was explaining earlier when we were coming this morning over the mountains to the valleys and I was looking along and uh you know myself I always uh when I travel you know when we travel we always travel with prayers too when we go somewhere to have safety all the time and uh when I was we was coming down over on over this morning I thought about you know the people that was here once a long time ago you know the the people the Indian people that used to migrate to these areas and I thought about them and I thought about and Audrey here and and Emma and all the rest of the people that you that that that's still here today and that's here at this time you know that they come back home you know to visit their loved one you know memories that they left that they had seen with them you know and those things are very precious to us Indian people too when we go somewhere like they did they came home here to talk to say a few words and those things for one day maybe two days they'll be here visiting with memories you know a lot of things that they seen when they were here at that time when they were little growing up here lot of memories you know those things go on like that you know with the Indian people like myself when I go back to Nevada I do that a lot of memories that that I go through you know it's just like a a back flash it goes back again you know to where we was at I know we're young but that's not there anymore today we have to go on you know live with those memories and go on in life cuz that's the way life is today we only have one life and we have to take care of it the best we we know how to survive and I want you people to understand that and I know you all thinking that same same way too about your your your lives too and we all want to get along we all have to get along because that's the way we've been brought up and so I thought I mentioned that at this time and like I said I'm almost kind of speechless to see anymore you know so at this time I'm going to say that much thank you okay we only have a minute or two maybe 30 seconds I just wanted to say something before we are so grateful um sakaia Nano and the Aika people for all the people that have come forward that have helped some way or another and put their time here and did the 200 Bicentennial to help um with the the history and um we just have probably have like 30 seconds for a couple of questions does anyone have any questions yes I can bring a mic around so everyone can hear you maybe more of a comment than a question I want you to know how grateful I I am to be here today I truly feel like I'm in the presence of royalty I appreciate it very much thank you uh anybody else yeah I would just wondering what the feathers are with the beautiful beads on it these are Swan not but it's a part these are a swan and I feel close to water I like the water and so I wanted something close to water it was a onean and it's part of my dense regelia you guys finished yeah okay I thank you guys for coming you did a wonderful job I want to thank you Emma George ladies and gentlemen Audrey ponzo and Curtis Sam thank you so much for coming and sharing e