Teachings

The following teachings is for all ages and can be incorporated at anytime.

*Elders and Indigenous community members can help with these teachings by adding additional wisdom, perspective, and stories.

- TEEPEE TEACHINGS -

with permission by Jessica Bird

A member of the O’Chiese First Nations in Treaty 6 Territory

Yellowhead Tribal College Employee

*The information enclosed was created and compiled by Jessica Bird. With her consent she has give permission to share these teachings for this website. Additional permission is required to be shared in public gatherings.

The Cree people use 15 poles to make the structure of the tipi. For every pole in that tipi, there is a teaching. So there are 15 teachings that hold up the tipi. Other Nations use 16 poles, and maybe more, I don’t know. All I know is what I know I was taught and that is the teachings for 15 poles with the conclusion of the 16th “pole”.

OBEDIENCE - Obedience means accepting guidance and wisdom from outside of ourselves, using our ears before our mouth. We learn by listening to traditional stories, by listening to our parents or guardians, our fellow students and our teachers. We learn by their behaviors and reminders, so that we know what is right and what is wrong.
RESPECT - Respect means giving honor to our Elders and fellow students, to the strangers that come to visit our community, and to all of life. We must honor the basic rights of all others.
HUMILITY - We are not above or below others in the circle of life. We feel humbled when we understand our relationship with Creator. We are so small compared to the majestic expanse of our Creator, just a “strand in the web of life.” Understanding this helps us to respect and value life.
HAPPINESS - After the tripod is up, the fourth pole completes your doorway. This fourth pole teaches us happiness. We must show some enthusiasm to encourage others. Our good actions will make our ancestors happy in the next world. This is how we share happiness.
LOVE - If we are to live in harmony we must accept one another as we are, and accept others who are not in our circle. Love means to be good and kind to one another, to ourselves.
FAITH - We must learn to believe and trust others, to believe in a power greater than ourselves, whom we worship and who gives us strength to be a worthy member of the human race. To sustain our spirituality, we need to walk it every day. Not just sometimes, but every day. It’s not just once a week; it’s your life.
KINSHIP - Our family is important to us. This includes our parents, brothers and sisters, who love us and give us roots that tie us to the lifeblood of the earth. It also includes extended family: grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, and their in-laws and children. They are also our brothers and sisters and give us a sense of belonging to a community.
CLEANLINESS - Today when we talk about cleanliness, most people think hygiene, and that’s very important. But years ago, when old people talked about cleanliness, they meant spiritual cleanliness. Clean thoughts come from a clean mind and this comes from our spirituality. With a clean mind and sense of peace within we learn not to inflict ills on others. Good health habits also reflect a clean mind.
THANKFULNESS - We learn to give thanks: to always be thankful for the Creator’s bounty, which we are privileged to share with others, and for all the kind things others do for us.
SHARING - We learn to be part of a family and community by helping with the provisions of food and other basic needs. Through the sharing of responsibilities we learn the value of working together and enjoying the fruits of our labor.
STRENGTH - We are not talking about physical strength, but spiritual strength. That was instilled in us when we were young people through fasting. We must learn to be patient in times of trouble and not to complain but to endure and show understanding. We must accept difficulties and tragedies so that we may give others strength to accept their own difficulties and tragedies.
GOOD CHILD REARING - Children are gifts from the Creator. We are responsible for their well being, spiritually, emotionally, physically, and intellectually, since they are blessed with the gift of representing the continuing circle of life, which we perceive to be the Creator’s will.
HOPE - We must look forward to moving toward good things. We need to have a sense that the seeds we are planting will bear fruit for our children, families and communities.
ULTIMATE PROTECTION - This is the ultimate responsibility to achieve the balance and well being of the body, mind, emotions and spirit for the individual, the family, the community and the nation.
CONTROL FLAPS - The control flaps on a tipi teach that we are all connected by relationship and that we depend on each other. Having respect for and understanding this connection creates and controls harmony and balance in the circle of life. When we don’t know how to use the flaps, it gets all smoky inside the tipi, and you can’t see, which is like life – because if we can’t live in balance, we can’t see clearly where we’re going.
CONCLUSION – POLES. For every time that a pole is added, a rope goes around to bind that pole into place. You have to be there and see it to appreciate that teaching. That rope is a sacred bond, binding all the teachings together until they are all connected.

- MEDICINE WHEEL TEACHINGS -

To further support the wholistic and interconnection view that many Indigenous people incorporate in their worldview. Many cultures incorporate aspects of the Four Directions, also called the Medicine Wheel. The Medicine Wheel, Sacred Hoop or Sacred Circle (Say Magazine, 2020) are based on the First Nations concept used by many Indigenous cultures. It teaches people to be balanced in the four aspects of their life, which are: emotional, mental, spiritual and physical.

It is important to know that the Medicine Wheel colors and interpretations may vary among Indigenous cultures and/or region, so it is always best to know the territory and treaty you live in on, in addition to the Indigenous cultures around you. For example, Cree, Stoney, Ojibway. In Treaty 6 territory, the cultures that reside here are the Cree, Stoney and Saulteaux (Ojibway).

To explain the symbolism of the Medicine wheel, the circle represents connectedness and that everything is connected. The quadrants and lines on the circle have important and respectful teachings and interpretations. They include:

Four Directions: East, South, West and North.
Stages of life: The East represents a baby, the South represents youth, while the west is adulthood and the North is elderhood (Four Directions Teachings).
Seasons: There are four of them, Winter, Spring, Fall and Summer
Elements: Wind, Earth, Fire and Water
Colours of human race: yellow, red, black, white (Raven Tales, 2012)
Plants or sacred medicines: Tobacco represents the East, cedar for the south, sage for the west, and sweetgrass for the North (Stepping Stones, 2020). These are the most common medicines that are used in First Nations in Alberta.
Times of the day: sunrise, noon, sundown and night (Raven Tales, 2012)

Books for students

The Medicine Wheel : Stories of a hoop dancer

Anderson, Teddy Innerebner V. & Jessika, illustrator (2014)). Victoria, BC: Medicine Wheel Education Inc.

All Creation Represented: A Child’s Guide to the Medicine Wheel.

Perreault, J. (2018). All Creation Represented: A Child’s Guide to the Medicine Wheel. Retrieved from: https://scholar.google.ca

Video

http://www.fourdirectionsteachings.com/main.html

Learning Activities

The following resource provides information and activities from Grades 1-6:http://www.fourdirectionsteachings.com/cree_learning_activities.html

Teachers Pay Teachers. Use and adopt workbooks and activities available through this resource, information and activities can be narrowed down by grades: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Browse/Search:medicine%20wheel

Teacher Resource

Scholarly article: The Cree Medicine Wheel as an Organizing Paradigm of Theories of Human Development by Annie Wenger-Nabigon

Lastly, the information in this section provides a very high level breadth of information to explain the Medicine Wheel. The teachings go into further in-depth teachings and details, and are only taught when people are ready for them. These teachings can only be given by an Elder or Knowledge Keepers who have the permission to teach them.

- SEVEN GRANDFATHER TEACHINGS -

(Wellness Universe, 2020)

The Seven Sacred Teachings, also known as the Seven Grandfather teachings are a set values to guide people on how to conduct themselves towards others. They can apply to anyone and any culture around the world (Empowering the Spirit, 2020). Each value is associated with an animal to remind us of the importance of them and to be stewards of the environment (Today’s Parent, 2020).

The teachings are:

Wisdom - Beaver

To cherish knowledge is to know wisdom

Love - Eagle

To know love is to know peace

Respect - Buffalo

To honor all of the Creation is to have Respect

Courage - Bear

It takes courage and bravery to face life's problems and to overcome challenges and to do what is right.

Honesty - Sabe

Also means “righteousness” to be honest with your yourself, in words and action

Humility - Wolf