Have you found any videos in which she elaborates on the alleged trickster dimension? Kevin, do you have any further comment on this?Ī: Professor McAdam focuses on Wesakechak as a lawgiver and culture hero only. In light of Professor McAdam’s above comments, it’s obvious that Wesakechak is an important and key figure in Cree sacred tradition. This is how come our connection to the Creator was so sacred, so powerful because of these laws. So these laws are to guide and govern Indigenous people in everything that they do. And he told the people: “These are the laws that the Creator gave us that we must follow.”. And the people are to follow these laws for all time. … When he gave the laws to Wesakechak, the Creator told him: “Give these to the people to follow for all time.”Īnd he came down that hill. And when he was done, after he was done singing, it was then the Creator gave him the laws of the Cree people and the Saulteaux people. And one of those songs is a woman’s song. And he turned to the four directions and he sang those four songs. And when he got to the highest hill, he sang the four songs to the four directions. And when you will go, when you get to the highest hill, I want you to sing four songs.” And the Creator told him: “Go to the highest hill. The most significant of those places are Cypress Hills. Those stops along the way are very sacred places now for the Cree people. And along the way, there was animals that joined him. These are the very short versions of these teachings.) Everything that I speak about here - it would take a long time. (If I am to tell this teaching, it would take a very long time. It was the spirits that told this story about Wesakechak.) So Wesakechak made his journey from the north. the Cypress Hills in southern what is Saskatchewan now. This is a teaching that was told about Wesakechak. In her “Wesakechak” video, Professor McAdam explains, in part: In 2014, Professor McAdam released a series of “ Cree Teaching Videos” on YouTube. Wesakechak was also a “trickster,” but let’s first look at Wesakechak as a revealer of sacred laws from the Great Spirit, the Creator. RELATED: Gluskap: Trickster, Transformer, Teacher McAdam says she “shares nêhiyaw laws so that future generations, both nêhiyaw and non-Indigenous people, may understand and live by them to revitalize Indigenous nationhood”-although “the spiritual laws can never be written down.” She is a law professor at the University of Windsor and a co-founder of the international movement Idle No More. Professor McAdam, also known as Saysewahum, has also published an important book on the subject: Nationhood Interrupted: Revitalizing Nêhiyaw Legal Systems. Q: Kevin, you told me about this video: Sylvia McAdam, “Wesakechak,” about the Cree sacred lawgiver. They cause the crooked branches to become straightened, the fruitless trees to become fruitful, and gradually transform this great wild, uncultivated field into a beautiful orchard producing wonderful abundance and outcome. They are like unto Gardeners, and the world of humanity is the field of Their cultivation, the wilderness and untrained jungle growth wherein They proceed to labor. … The mission of the Prophets of God has been to train the souls of humanity and free them from the thralldom of natural instincts and physical tendencies. God has sent forth the Prophets for the purpose of quickening the soul of man into higher and divine recognitions. The Encyclopedia Britannica says “Often the trickster serves as a transformer and culture hero who creates order out of chaos.” In some ways, that definition could also describe the transformative power of a holy messenger or divine prophet, as in this passage from a speech given by Abdu’l-Baha in Montreal, Canada in 1912: Therefore the whole idea of a trickster will require some explanation, to the best of our ability. ![]() Tricksters are important figures in sacred Indigenous traditions-even though they’re utterly unfamiliar to most non-Indigenous people. In our continuing series on Indigenous messengers of God, we want to explore that connection a bit more. ![]() In what ways does a messenger of God resemble the familiar figure of the trickster in Indigenous myth and belief? Could tricksters fulfill the same function in tribal cultures as prophets and founders of religion do in other societies?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |