spiritual Guidance protection & support

Traditional Elders may be recognized as an Elder when they have seen 52 winters. This age is chosen because of its relationship to the 52-year cycle of the Pleiades around Mother Earth and the Medicine Wheel holds the multitude of teachings of this cycle. Everything of power in the Indigenous tradition is honoured with the basis being a circle. The circle teaches us unity, equality, and eternity and the remembrance through implementation will help us return to authentic ways of living in balance with Mother Earth and All Our Relations. 

An Elder is an individual who is honoured for having experienced a profound understanding of the inner and outer world, expressed simply and compassionately for all two-leggeds, four-leggeds, water beings and the sacredness of Mother Earth and all her elements. Elders hold all to be sacred and not just specific things; everything is interconnected. Elders embody spiritual principles and practices, not on special days or at special events, but on a daily basis. When a male Elder is referred to as Grandfather, it is a term of respect for an aspect of the Creator, personified by wisdom and all the elements displayed in the sky and the cosmos; a female Elder is referred to as Grandmother, also a term of respect as an aspect of the Creator, personified by knowledge, the Earth and the birthing process.

To understand these basic principles is to begin to unlock the mystery of the power of traditional Elders and to perceive their influence as the bridge between these opposing cultures of spirituality and industrialism. By virtue of the choice that Elders have made to follow a spiritual path, they are essentially immune from the political machinations of the legislated Indigenous and those writing the laws. This is critical in understanding the potential which exists through the Grandmothers and the Grandfathers for developing meaningful policies which will lead our Western society out of the chaos and confusion.

It is important to know that Indigenous Elders gain their wisdom and knowledge from the spoken word, passed on from generation to generation; not written words, which often express a truth held by the writer. Their connection to spirit and the Ancestors offer limitless knowings as they wholly understand the interconnectedness of the physical and spiritual ‘worlds’. For an Elder, there is no separation as they live by the teachings of the Medicine Wheel which allows for a communication system foreign to many. Elders are raised in a tradition of story-telling having deep psychological and esoteric meaning; stories that instruct as well as direct; stories telling of the past, how their meaning relates to the present and what the future holds for humanity. 

Traditional Indigenous Elders are usually the keepers of sacred objects, such as wampum belts, or sacred bundles or sacred tablets, which tell of the past, present and the future. Grandfather William Commanda (Algonquin of Maniwaki, Quebec) held three sacred wampum belts; and now that he has walked on they remain in his family. As the inspiration for the birth of Elders Without Borders, he is now in Spirit the one who rebirthed this sacred circle and resurgence of Elders Without Borders. We give Thanksgiving for this. 

A Pow-Wow is a traditional gathering where tribes would come together in ceremonies and celebrations supporting socialization, intertribal connections, trade, and discussion. This would be a gathering where dancing, eating, and storytelling were the custom.

Each year EWB, along side WBFIT Center, and Earth's Harvest host a Summer Now Pow Wow honoring the traditional ways of coming together in peace and love. Connecting to discuss our present state of being, building community, educating one another traditionally and innovatively, and of course honouring in dance, food, trade, and storytelling.

Pow Wow are an opportunity to teach, share and learn by all attending. It is a way to remember the magic of ceremony, and how by bringing ceremony into our life we slow down and begin to awaken a knowing within us that only lays dormant waiting for this exact opportunity.  This opportunity is what the WHOLE needs to heal Mother Earth and all that she encompasses and to protect, through preservation, a home for the next 7 generations. 

We open the ceremony with the lighting of The Sacred Fire and close collectively, therefore all attending are not spectators though participants. Dances will be open to all choosing to participate and will encourage with teachings the medicine of dance.

Music will be honoured in a variety of ways. Collectively we will play honoring the medicine of sound and the individual instruments and there will be singing as it is a way to effectively carry prayer.

Pow wows are a gathering of tribes to honour in ceremony and celebrate unity and equality. Not only does the NOW POW WOW honour the traditional ways, we are starting new traditions that include the practice of ONE NATION. The medicine wheel is traditionally represented by the colors red, yellow, black, and white and this is partly in recognition of the colors of the races of the world. Today many of us are a rainbow of colors, known as intertribal and it is upon this time that the prophecies of many indigenous tribes declare that we will need to come together to ensure preservation or succumb to the inevitable if we continue as so.