Students at West Elgin Secondary School got an introduction to First Nations culture last week.
Erik Mandawe, Indigenous liaison at Western University, came to the school to lead a workshop on smudging.
“One of the things that holds us back from learning about ourselves is us,” he said.
Mandawe's workshop explored a variety of topics including the history of drumming in First Nations culture, and how items like sweetgrass, tobacco, sage and cedar are used as medicines.
At Western, he is a member of the Purple Spirit drum group.
“We ask for guidance from our elders and they show us procedures,” he explained.
The drum used is a circular one, symbolic of First Nations culture.
Mandawe also explained the medicine wheel used in First Nations culture.
In one of its applications, a simple circle is divided into four quadrants, representing age classes: infant, toddler, adolescent, youth, young adult, adult, grandparent and elder.
“Each of these life stages comes with corresponding responsibilities,” he said.
Programs like his are now trying to teach students how to rebuild the cycles that the medicine wheel represented.
He demonstrated how medicines like tobacco, sage and sweetgrass are used.
Sage is used smudging and is burnt to produce a light smoke.
Smudging is a symbolic way of allowing the smoke to come in contact with a person. In first Nations culture, it's considered a form of spiritual cleansing.
“You can smudge your space, your home, cars...” Mandawe said.
Sweetgrass, which grows on Walpole Island, clears the mind, Mandawe said. The medicines and how they are used, in part, define who First Nations people and elements of their culture.
Several of the students who attended the workshop indicated they would be interested in following up with more workshops involving Mandawe and understanding First Nations culture.