Embeddedness of Indigenous Knowledges in Song and Fire

Indigenous knowledges weave wholism, interconnectedness, and relationships into all aspects of Indigenous ways of seeing, being, knowing, and doing. When one understands that they exist in an interconnected web of life, they may see how taking care of oneself is intimately connected to taking care of all of one’s relations. These relations not only mean human beings, but also the plants, trees, flyers, swimmers, crawlers, animals, land, water, sky world and all else in creation.
Through their Indigenous identities, Kelly (songcarrier) and Al (firekeeper) will share through stories, song, and fire what they have learned about how these knowledges are experienced within ceremony and healing. Since 2002, Kelly has brought Indigenous song into ceremonies, community events, and within a federal prison; not only for the purpose of singing, but as a means to invite spirit and healing and convey connectedness and movement to relational ways of being. For over 15 years Al has learned sacred teachings of the fire and how fire is present at all Indigenous ceremonies. Having been firekeeper at many ceremonies and gatherings, including a federal prison, Al has learned how spirit of the fire is connected to the spirit of the fire within oneself. Kelly and Al are deeply committed to facilitating the ignition of the Fire Within through song and ceremony as a means to help incarcerated Indigenous women and Two-Spirit individuals move toward healing and balance in their lives.
While colonization has violently impacted Indigenous peoples and intergenerational trauma is experienced by many Indigenous peoples in Canada (and around the world), it is through returning to Indigenous knowledges and cultural teachings that balance and healing within oneself and all one’s relations becomes possible.