Healing must start now

Page 15

Before aboriginal people can heal the deep emotional wounds they suffer today, they need to recognize the problems they face are a result of the traumatic lifestyle they endured as children.

That was the message shared by Native American psychologist and author Jane Middleton-Moz at the recent Healing Our Spirit World-wide conference in Edmonton.

She told a standing-room only crowd of more than 1,000 that Native children will grow to adulthood repeating the cycle of abuse; expressing their outrage and the feelings of neglect. She noted it was a similar scene taking place around the world.

But before the continued problems of abuse, both physical and spiritual, can be stopped, Native adults need to ensure their children aren't put through the same trauma.

"We do not need to do to ourselves and our children what was done to us. As adults we are responsible for our children," said Middleton-Moz, an Indian originally from Washington state.

She warned that aboriginal traditions and rituals could be lost if spiritual powers and holistic healing methods are not handed on to Native children. "But we have to heal ourselves," she said, stirring the audience to premature applause. "And we have to start now."

Middleton-Moz commended Canadian Native organizations for setting the stage for other aboriginal peoples seeking to retain their spiritual healing traditions.

"I hope and pray other cultures of the world will be able to share this effort of healing, and I believe the indigenous people of this planet will once again be the teachers of healing," she said.