4 Sacred Medicines Medicine Wheel Teachings English First Peoples Ms. Graham 4 Sacred Medicines The Four Sacred Medicines are used in everyday life and in ceremonies. Tobacco is the first plant that the Creator gave to First Nations
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Presentation Transcript
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4 Sacred Medicines Medicine Wheel Teachings English First Peoples
Ms. Graham<br>
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4 Sacred Medicines The Four Sacred Medicines are used in everyday life and in ceremonies.
Tobacco is the first plant that the Creator gave to First Nations Peoples. It is the main activator of all the plant spirits.
Three other plants, sage, cedar and sweetgrass, follow tobacco, and together they are referred to as the Four Sacred Medicines.
Elders say that the spirits like the aroma produced when we burn tobacco and the other sacred medicines.
Traditional people say that tobacco is always first. It is used as an offering for everything and in every ceremony. “Always through tobacco”, as the saying goes.<br>
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North: Wisdom North is white on the medicine wheel.
Night Season: Winter
Stage of Life: Elder
Place: Mind
Animal: Deer
Cedar
Tree of Life for Coast Salish Peoples
Yellow Cedar and Red are harvested by coastal First Nations to create a variety of implements for daily use and ceremonial purposes.8 Almost every part of a cedar tree can be used, including the roots, the bark, the wood, and the withes
widely valued for its healing abilities.
In addition to everyday use, cedar is used for a variety of ceremonial purposes.
cedar also plays an integral role in the spiritual beliefs of coastal First Nations.<br>
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East: Humility East is yellow on the medicine wheel
Morning Season: Spring
Stage of Life: Baby
Place: Spirit
Animal: Eagle
Tobacco
Traditionally tobacco is throught to open up the door to communication.
When we make an offering of tobacco, we communicate our thoughts and give gratitude for the gifts we receive.
it is said to be the main activator of all the plant spirits. It is like the key to the ignition of a car.
Tobacco is always offered before picking medicines.
When you offer tobacco to a plant and explain why you are there, that plant will let all the plants in the area know why you are coming to pick them. When you seek the help and advice of an Elder, Healer or Medicine Person and give your offering of tobacco, they know that a request may be made as tobacco is so sacred.
We express our gratitude for the help the spirits give us through our offering of tobacco. It is put down as an offering of thanks to the First Family, the natural world, after.
Traditional people make an offering of tobacco each day when the sun comes up. Traditional tobacco is still grown in some communities. For example, the Mohawk people use traditional tobacco that they grow themselves and that is very sacred to them.<br>
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South: Trust South is red on the Medicine Wheel.
Afternoon Season: Summer
Time of Life: Youth
Place: Emotion
Animal: Coyote
Sweet Grass
Used in prayer, smudging, and purifying ceremonies.
Braided, dried, and burned to attract positive energy.<br>
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West: Introspection West is black on the medicine wheel.
Evening
Season: Autumn
Stage of Life: Adult
Place: Physical
Animal: Bear
Sage
Sage is used to prepare people for ceremonies and teachings.
More medicinal and stronger than sweetgrass, it tends to be used more often in ceremonies.
Sage is used for releasing what is troubling the mind and for removing negative energy.
There is male sage and female sage.<br>
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SMUDGING-Smudge Ceremony<br>
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Works Cited Ojibwe Teaching - Fourdirectionsteachings.com
Cedar (ubc.ca)
The Four Sacred Medicines – Indigenous Website (northernc.on.ca)<br>
