Elder Marie Oldfield on the Importance of True Traditional Peoples
Feb 25, 2025I spoke with someone recently who said they went through counselling but it didn’t seem to have worked for them.
I asked if, at the moment they were talking with that person, if they felt a bit better after the session was done. They said, yes, a bit.
So, I explained that it did help.
We have so many organizations, businesses, clinics, treatment centres, etc., in the business of mental health and wellness. Each of them bring and offer different tools.
In my mind, no one tool can do everything that is needed for our mental and emotional wellbeing. It takes a lot more….counselling, IFOT, treatment, and sometimes medication for a while.
The one thing that I see missing and not honoured or utilized enough are our traditional medicine and ceremonial peoples.
Over and over I have repeated this message.
We are NOT businesses, organizations, etc. We are people who offer ceremonies, truth, stories, life experiences, etc., in the hope that it may help.
We get the emergency calls or the calls to assist if the businesses, etc., are in needs of extra help.
But, we are not nearly as busy as we ought to be.
We are a valuable resource and what I struggle with is that a lot of our true traditional, ceremonial people are aging. It is a resource that will not be around long. We have knowledge to teach, ceremonies to teach and share with communities but it seems like we have been put on the back burner.
I find it very sad, frustrating and confusing. I have spoken to many, many True Traditional Peoples in the last while who are just as frustrated and confused about this.
We don’t have fancy letters behind our names, don’t have a business, aren’t tied to one organization or group. We do what we can, don’t turn people away, share and teach tools and a lot of us leave it up to the people we help to give an honorarium. Most of us won’t talk money. We have reached out. We have our names on lists as support people.
I am getting worried that one day, people will say…well, it’s too bad they aren’t still here….
