Some make admirable attempts to put spirituality back in place

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EDITORIAL

"The well-known failure of our people in the system was directly affected by the traditional approach of trying to fit our culture into our education."

This was a statement made to over 2,000 indigenous people from around the world by an organizer of the World Conference of Indigenous Peoples' Education held last month. The speaker went on to say there's a dire need to start thinking about how education fits into our culture rather than the other way around.

Originally, our traditional methods of education addressed the total being; physical, mental, emotional and spiritual growth were all equally developed. But, in the non-Native education system, only the mental process if given consideration.

True, we do need both kinds of education now more than ever. The "bookish" education is needed to take control of our own lives in the face of government policies and complex legalities. The other kind affords an all-important well of strength in the face of adversity.

Yet, when young people say they are through with drugs and "fooling around" and instead want to return to the old ways and their roots, many don't know where to start. There is no always an Elder to turn to.

That's where events like the Ecumenical Conference, hosted by the Good Stoney Band west of Calgary, come in. This is four days of sunrise ceremonies, Elder's prophecy discussions, sweatlodges and healing activity ? all based on worship of the Great Spirit.

Though the conference has been cancelled for the last three years, Chief John Snow thinks its high time to continue the tradition of Indian religion. He says Native people are just like Jewish people ? they live within a settled form of discrimination and have their own religion from which they gain strength.

God spoke to Moses from Mt. Sinai, and the Great Spirit speaks to us in the nearby mountains, the chief maintains. He believes that Natives have as strong a covenant with the Creator as the Jewish do, but it has been almost snuffed out by overbearing non-Native systems. It's the return of gatherings like the ecumenical conference that indicate we're starting on the long road back.

The chief invites everyone to the conference, regardless of colour or creed. If just one person who attends the conference goes back to his reserve, settlement or neighborhood to start a discussion group based on traditional beliefs, Chief John Snow will be a happy man.