The Eagle Moon’s Tapahtamisowin Humility Lesson

Cree Teachings with Knowledge Keeper Marilyn Dykstra and Traditional Helper Peyton

Saturday, April 4, 2026

A large bald eagle in silhouette flies past a full moon against a blue-grey winter sky, with bare tree branches visible in the lower right corner. Partially obscured.

Photo: Lorie Shaull

Event details

Cost:
Free, registration required
Location:
Canadian Museum for Human Rights. The group will meet in Bonnie & John Buhler Hall, Level 1 and proceed together to Level 6.
Schedule:

11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Language and Accessibility:
This event is offered in English.

During the Eagle Moon, join us as we enjoy the eagle’s clean air while we practice our integrity as community members and support each other within Wahkowtowin. Humility teaches us to rise above the need for external validation.

This moon becomes a powerful metaphor for true humility, a quiet confidence that does not need outside validation. We also acknowledge our own limitations and how our strength is intertwined within our relations. We value others, show gratitude, and serve our elders. Our elders made sacrifices so that we can uphold our sovereignty through our stewardships and interconnections. We are all an important part of the circle and we do not practice competitiveness, but rather, walk together as equals. Not one nation is better than another; we all carry our own teachings and sacredness.

The eagle shows us how to behave when others lack humility and exhibit lateral violence. A murder of crows is an eagle’s counterbalance, yet they frequently bother eagles through coordinated mobbing – an example of lateral violence. That behaviour is a crow’s defense mechanism rooted in insecurity. The eagle often ignores the pestering and soars high into the sky where the air becomes thin and the crows cannot breathe. Eventually the crows give up while the eagle demonstrates a powerful combination of wisdom and physical endurance.

If we rise above violence, we too demonstrate integrity and leave insecurity behind. We are also honouring the ways of our ancestors. We are all on a learning path and one’s journey is not more important than another’s. Nation to nation, person to person, we are all sacred and part of the medicine wheel threads. In the end, no one group gets a bigger piece of the medicine wheel, so support each other on the path towards compassion and humility.

The first 25 registered and participating visitors will be given the opportunity to participate in a hands‐on activity.

Workshop

This workshop is part of a monthly Wahkowtowin and Ways of Being series led by Knowledge Keeper Marilyn Dykstra. Each month, we will explore a variety of moon, pole and tea teachings in the Inninewak (Cree) tradition.

Wahkowtowin – which translates to kinship – highlights how relationships, communities and the natural world are all interconnected.

Participants will discover and reflect on their connections with each other, with balance and with human rights through teachings and a traditional tea.

Traditional Helper Peyton will support the teachings while she continues her learning journey within Wahkowtowin.

Marilyn Dykstra is a status Bill C31 First Nations woman from northern Manitoba. She has been immersed in a working matriarchal system that practised Indigenous ways of thinking and being since she was born. Alongside her family, she has participated in many peaceful social justice movements.

Marilyn uses her matriarchal knowledge as a foundation for her work in the Indigenous community, which has been ongoing for over thirty years. She still follows her matriarchal teachings, but she has also spent her life learning traditional knowledge and passing the teachings on.

She is a pow wow dancer, knowledge keeper, and she carries the responsibility of a bundle. She happily participates in naming ceremonies, sweats, pipe ceremonies, moon teachings and more.
 

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