Patch Adams named honorary chief at powwow

Page 1

The sky was clear with a slight breeze in the air as hundred of dancers and guests moved to the beat of the drum while making their way into the powwow arbor at Saddle Lake powwow grounds on June 27.

Wearing a traditional headdress reserved for chiefs, Dr. Hunter 'Patch' Adams kept in perfect time with the drum as he moved with the crowd.

Before the people assembled, Elder Joe P. Cardinal performed a special ceremony in which Adams became an honorary chief of Saddle Lake. Cardinal said that he was really honored to perform the ceremony because Patch Adams is known all over the world as a medical doctor who spreads kindness and love.

Adams' life story was told in the film Patch Adams. He was portrayed by Robin Williams.

Cardinal said that Adams also received the name Ki-mah-ma-guss in a ceremony the day before. It is the Cree word for butterfly.

"The butterflies are so beautiful to look at. They go to all the flowers and help them grow. I believe that the Creator made them just to bring beauty to the world and this is the way we see our guest Patch Adams. We see him bring love to the world and that is what we all need," said Cardinal.

"Compassion is a powerful feeling in the world, and the greatest thing that God gave us in this world is the gift of love. That is why when you attend a powwow, you see parents dancing with their children, children dancing with their grandparents, brothers dancing with their sisters. You do not see them fighting, and that is what we call love. The Elders believe that kindness and love are the only things that can guide us in life, and from these two qualities everyone learns to get along. The man we honored this evening displays the qualities that we need in life today," he said.

Cardinal said that one of the reasons he admires Adams is for the hospital he founded that gives people medical attention for free. Adams founded the Gesundheit Institute in northern Virginia in 1971.

"He's been all over the world trying to heal and help people who are sick. He had compassion for people who were poor and I ask the people to try and take some of these qualities and use them. By doing this they will also contribute in the name we've given Patch," Cardinal said.

"The only thing that will heal you is love. We must give love to our children, to our brothers, and sisters, to our neighbors and to our people. That is the only thing that will heal us."

Adams was visibly moved as he accepted a blanket from the chief of Saddle Lake, Chief Eddie Makokis, and with it draped over his shoulders he addressed the crowd.

"Great Spirit, Elder Joe Cardinal, Chief Eddie Makokis, and my new family of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation and all the nations present at this gathering, I thank you for this great honor that you've given me. And when the Elder Joe P. Cardinal told me that the name I was given meant butterfly, I was so happy that this creature was chosen as my name, because this creature has no ability to fight. It has no ability to cause harm to anyone and its only job is to spread the flower's seeds. I'm very grateful tonight and thank you. I so much want to be a messenger out there for all of us, brothers and sisters, who want to say that 'Yes, there is something great in life and that greatness is love.' So I promise you, my new brothers and sisters, that I will be always be honored for this name," he said. "It is humbling to be honored. I'm honored for the cause of love and I'm thrilled that love stands up and says that it is good. The name is me. I do not know how they got it, but I'm a man with no ability to cause harm to others. I always want to be beautiful and to spread love everywhere."