Incorporating native traditions into our lives

Shannon Crossbear, Native American Elder, shares advice on how parents can benefit from incorporating native traditions into their family's lives
Parenting Tips | Incorporating Native Traditions Into Our Lives
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Incorporating native traditions into our lives

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I hear people talk a lot about how they wish that they had the traditions that our tribal people have. I have to tell you that we haven't always been able to have those traditions and that we really had to go through a process of reclaiming them. There were a lot of people in the community saying, 'Oh I wish we had our coming-of-age ceremonies;' for example, or 'Oh I wish we did this, this way.' The question really was 'Then why aren't we doing it?' It isn't a matter of waiting for permission, it's really a matter of saying, 'Now we are going to reclaim these processes, whether it be coming-of-age, or welcoming a child, or for people as they get older for entering into what they call 'the wise women's circle,' that these things can happen, but people have to make a decision to be able to say, 'If not me, then who?'

Shannon Crossbear, Native American Elder, shares advice on how parents can benefit from incorporating native traditions into their family's lives

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Shannon Crossbear

Native American Elder

Shannon CrossBear is a beautiful, powerful, spiritual Ojibwe and Irish woman. Shannon is an enrolled member of Fort William First Nation of the Lake Superior Ojibwe, which is located in Ontario, Canada.  She has lived on the shores of Lake Superior for the majority of her life and currently resides within the boundaries of the United States in Hovland, Minnesota. Wabagoness, her given name in Ojibwemoin, is a daughter, sister, mother and grandmother. Shannon has been a story teller for an audience of relatives and friends for many years.  As a columnist for the Cook Country News Herald she wrote over 200 hundred article under the heading Mino- Biimadizawin (the good path/life).Her purpose is to demonstrate and promote gentle healing. She expresses her commitment to healing through her business Strongheart Resource Development. Conditions within Ms. CrossBear’s family of origin and community cement her commitment to improving conditions for children, their families and communities.

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