The Great Moon, kisteyihtowin (respect) and the way we relate

Cree teachings with Knowledge Keeper Marilyn Dykstra

February 25, 2024

This event has passed.

Five museum visitors look at towering exhibits in the “Indigenous Perspectives” gallery at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. The nearest is made of wood and features trees, animals and a plaque. Behind the visitors, a rounded theatre built of bent wooden slats is visible. Partially obscured.

Photo: Ian McCausland, CMHR

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.
Language and Accessibility:
This event is offered in English.

We are all related, but the way we relate is equally important.

During the Great Moon, we celebrate our responsibility to uphold our sacred teaching of kisteyihtowin (respect) and the importance of ensuring all are treated with respect and dignity. We also extend rights to others within Wahkowtowin.

Our earthly family members, and the natural elements, remind us of our interconnection every day. Let’s join together to drink tea, celebrate respect and honour our earthly family members.

Extend your hand in friendship to those around you – it’s part of the universal natural law that connects our spirits together.

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 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.

Marilyn Dykstra is a status Bill C‑31 First Nations woman from northern Manitoba. She has been immersed in a working matriarchal system that practiced 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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