JL Crowe has participated in the last 2 circles of From the Heart. In this process we looked at the 7 teachings and celebrated them through a variety of creative expression. We started with raising the tipi here at Crowe followed by the first ever hide camp where we processed a turkey, weasel and 3 deer hides for students to use in traditional crafting. During hide camp we made traditional tea from rose hips, cedar, wild mint and elderberry. We made animal tracks out of plaster to gift to elementary classes that participants of from the heart painted them.  In the following weeks we would come together weekly to work on different forms of art from beading, painting, leather work and more. We chose to share out our process through an art show and put a call out to our school to celebrate all the amazing creativity that happens in our school. We also wanted something that could bring people together in times were we all have felt very disconnected. We had other groups from different schools join us throughout the process during hide camp, trips to Nancy Greene and for the art show. The process from all the schools who participated will be put into a documentary that will be shown at the Capital theater and then available for community viewing on YouTube. 

 

As Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth and community navigate truth together with courage and mutual support, the intention to be led From the Heart deepens. After issuing a community call to action in our first cycle, and contemplating the relationship between activism and wellbeing in our second, this third process invites personal and collective consideration of moral and ethical life.

 

Cultural teachers near and far bring the inspiration to look at ourselves and our relationships with both an appreciative and a thoughtful eye. We seek ways of being that build our strength and bring us together. We are inspired by the the resilient joy of Two-Spirit and Queer teachings, stepping into the knowledge that authenticity and freedom in identity and relationship is a right, a responsibility and a challenge to systems of control and conformity. We offer gratitude to the brave ones who come before us, we are humble before those who lead us with wisdom, and we care for each other and the generations who will follow. 

 

We show up, we celebrate each other’s uniqueness, we recognize that persistent joy and connection allow us to continue the work of building better futures, even as circumstances may bring hardship and grief. Add your art, your joy, your music, your words, your dance. Everyone is welcome, everyone is needed. Pause your thoughts, breathe here and now, create, and join us in truth and right relations.