The medicine wheel

there is a web of interconnectedness between the individual and community and between the community and nature. This, in turn, means that everything is relational and by attending to the relational we can attend to the whole. Thus, an individual is only knowable as a member of a recognised community, and communities are only recognised through their constituents. This connection includes our relationship to the land and where we are born and live.

These beliefs and ways of being have meant that indigenous groups have often come into conflict with Western views of knowledge creation. Generalisation in indigenous thinking, for example, only takes place at the level of values, while learning is achieved through experience, ceremony and storytelling (Graveline, 1998). For indigenous groups, knowledge is a blend of mind, practice, trusted authority, spiritual values and local social and cultural organisation: a knowledge space (Turnbull, 1997). Tying everything together is the primary focus on nurturing relationships, not only with each other but also with the past and the future, as well as with nature. It is through ceremony, talking circles, wisdom councils and generally taking time to be with people that is so core to indigenous ways. This is a hard lesson for those working with tribal communities but a necessary one. Relating comes before anything else.

Table 3.1 illustrates the differences between Western models and indigenous ways of seeing which Peat (1986) discussed in his book Blackfoot Physics some years ago.

Table 3.1: Different ways of seeing the world

Western science

Linear thought logic and structure Fragmentation, dualism Material and concrete Fixed laws Knowledge as something to be processed and accumulated

Individual rights and justice Abstraction

Source: Based on Peat (1986)

Indigenous science

Being, experiencing relationship Connectedness Spirit and emergence Flux, change and transformation Coming to knowing through experience, watching and listening, ceremonies and songs, and entering the silence Obligations, dialogue and balance Stuff of life

The medicine wheel

A common – and the most widely recognised – symbol of indigenous ways of viewing the world is the medicine wheel, a circular symbol that encapsulates the essential holistic and participatory nature of this way of thinking (Bopp et al, 1985; Marsden, 2005).

It is a perfectly balanced shape without a top or bottom, length or width. It represents constant movement and change. It also represents and symbolizes unity, peace, harmony and courage. It is a testimony of the human being’s ability to survive and to maintain balance. The ultimate goal is to strike a harmonious balance in life. The circular form of the Medicine Wheel shows the relationship of all things in a unity, a perfect form, and suggests the cyclical nature of all relationships and interactions. Everything in the universe is part of a single whole. (From Teachings of the Medicine Wheel, Unit 2, Student Manual, Ontario Native Literacy Coalition, 2010: 3)

The circle, therefore, acknowledges the connectedness of everything in life, such as the four seasons, the four stages of life and the four winds; and it represents the continuous cycle and relationship of the seen and unseen, the physical and spiritual, birth and death, and the daily sunrise and sunset (see Figure 3.1). The wheel is usually divided into four coloured quadrants. The colours can vary, but the symbolism and concepts remain similar. The wheel moves in a clockwise direction, with the teachings always beginning at the yellow, or eastern, quadrant.

Figure 3.1: The medicine wheel

Source: Graveline (1998: 14)

The medicine wheel is used in different ways by different tribes and groups in North America. It is also interpreted in different ways. Some indigenous cultures use medicine wheels in prayer, in healing, in learning or in caring for the land and other sacred teachings. These teachings can be as diverse as the hundreds of indigenous cultures. Sometimes rather than being drawn as a picture or made into an artefact it is also represented in stone on the land or as a community garden.

Of all concepts contained in the teachings it is the importance of relationships that is crucial (see Figure 3.2). This is the idea that everything we do, every decision we make, affects our family and our community; it affects the air we breathe, the animals, the plants, the water, in some way each of us its totally dependent on everything else.

The Métis teacher and community organiser Fyre Jean Graveline has used the medicine wheel to develop a cross-cultural education course to engage students from all backgrounds in exploring oppression. In her wheel the East represents Knowing and Thinking, the Air; the South: Spirit and Culture, the Fire; the West: Relationships/ Emotions, Water; and finally the North: Doing and Acting, the Earth. The entire course is based on some core principles: (1) the principle of First Voice, which emphasises the importance of your own experience, with the implication that you should not talk about what you do not know from experience, (2) the principle of Storytelling, which is crucial for transmission of the Gifts of Cultures, through (3) the Talking Circle: the principle of speaking from the Heart and listening respectfully, and finally (4) the principle of Taking Action: that is, doing more than saying. These values and ways of being permeate the entire learning cycle.

In her book, Circle Works (1998), Graveline documents her experience and theirs, through their voices, of delivering the course to multicultural groups of students in Canada as she takes them through what she calls the four doors. The first door is Eastern door, where Eurocentric consciousness is challenged and where the question is asked: how do we know? How do we learn? The process unlocks the dimensions of White privilege. The second door is the South, which introduces the students to Talking Circles and other elements of aboriginal spirituality. The third door is the West and this focuses on learning to understand the self in relation through acknowledging all our relations. The final door is in the North, where action for change based on experience is taken.

Graveline’s work illustrates how the wheel can be used in teaching about oppression. Another practical application is the ‘Self-care medicine wheel’ (Figure 3.3) developed by Elsipogtog Health and Wellness Centre staff as a guide during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Elsewhere, through a process of participation and sharing, The First Nations Health Authority (2014) in British Columbia, Canada, came up with a reinterpretation of the medicine wheel to frame its long-term strategy for health.

Figure 3.2: Building our community connections

Source: Graveline (1998: 161)

Figure 3.3: Self-care medicine wheel

Wash your hands Go for a walk outside Practise social distancing Take a relaxing bath Do an at-home workout Eat a good meal and stay hydrated Get enough sleep Call a loved one Write a journal Find laughter – watch a funny movie List what you are grateful for Hold space for your feelings Listen to your favourite music

PHYSICAL Read a book Practise deep breathing Take a social media break Try a 10-minute meditation Establish and stick to a routine Learn something new Pray for your loved ones Make prayer ties Smudge Learn more about your culture Call an elder Be in nature

EMOTIONAL MENTAL

SPIRITUAL

Source: Based on Elsipogtog Health and Wellness Self-Care Guidance