Parenting is a gift from the Ancestors and a way to transmit sacred knowledge so there is a clear red road path. It begins in the womb when the child can hear our voices and all the heartbeats around them. The unborn being has a special gift to communicate with all worlds. After their birth, they’re guided through their spiritual connections. Some people call the guide spirits imaginary friends but others recognize them as The Little Spirit People.

We honour children’s spirit and gift of learning by providing non‐interference guidance because our ancestors have taught us that breaking the spirit of a child is breaking natural law. The gift of discipline is not to have power over others but to control ourselves and to foster children’s hope. The Convention on the Rights of the Child also promotes Ininew child rearing practices. The rights are not meant to be a prescription for children but a requirement for adults on how to provide the ultimate protection found in a traditional Ininew home. The gift of family and community remind us of our responsibility to the generosity of the generations.

After the traditional teachings, please join us for a fun guided painting class that focuses on the Ininew teaching “Little Spirit Boy” with Ininew artist Heather Endall. Once you pay your fee, all supplies will be provided.

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.