Sharing the Migration Moon with a Fan Down Ceremony and Potluck Feast

Cree Teachings with Knowledge Keeper Marilyn Dykstra

October 4, 2025

A flock of Canadian geese fly in a V formation against a clear blue sky. Partially obscured.

As an Ininew person, I honour all life. I’m especially mindful of the geese who will be migrating south for the winter and the Goose Dance that’s held to honour our winged family and their sacrifice. They teach us about the difficulties that we face during change and that we are never truly alone. When a flock member is sick or injured, two others stay behind as support so their weaker family member can easily transition to the going home star and sit with the ancestors.

Nobody has all of the answers but we can look to nature for teachings. Geese share the responsibility of the formation; they too have to work with respect to find happiness and health. Creature teachers remind us to practise our sacred ways from the pipe, the natural law and our ancestors. Our Elders take refuge in the strength of the young and the young take refuge in the knowledge of the Elders. Generationally, we share the same burdens as geese and we act with compassion and respect.

We show geese respect and gratitude because they bring us medicine. This month, Traditional Helper, Peyton will assist with a Goose Fan Down Ceremony. The Fan Down ceremony encourages us to migrate away from ways that no longer serve our wellness and to bring new healthier ways of being.

We will then join together for a potluck feast to honour the animal who has given up its life for our healing. Please be mindful that pork and nuts cannot be brought to the potluck feast.

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 C‑31 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.

Find out more about this series