By Wendy McDonnell

Spirituality is an aspect completely void from education.  Many schools mandate for social responsibility or anti-bullying, preaching that the school mascot is essentially the school “god” that all need to rally around.  Although cultures throughout the world are more diverse than ever, they fail to appreciate the very essence of their being.  Their spirit.

After listening to the Grand Chief Eddie Benton-Banai speaking about “Indigenous Knowledge: The Anishinaabe Perspective”, I was honoured to hear some basics in First Nations spirituality.

Basically, First Nations throughout North America embrace the duality of life.  Both hands, both eyes, both arms, both legs, both sides of the brain, both sides of the heart, both lungs, both kidneys, a duality that coexists with perfect harmony.  One-side fires, the other responds.  Our daily existence depends on the firing of both sides in order to achieve complete synchronicity.

This duality needs to also include the coexistence of a physical and a spiritual.  A duality that completes our lives, complements our being.  Many great thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Einstein, and Da Vinci also all knew that their inspiration came from the spirit.  There was no selfish exploitation of their creation, it was a mutual gift for all to enjoy and revere.  There was an acceptance within themselves of their duality, and all greatness was possible.  Their memories are kept alive today and are quoted daily for their inspiration. Yet education fails to include this power in its teaching.

The Elder spoke of the atrocities that First Nations still face today.  One teacher spoke of how she cannot receive a loan to buy a house or start a business on her reserve due to the humanitarian nightmares of the Indian Act.  Another was recently fired from her teaching job due to teaching too much First Nations culture in her classroom.  No one has been fired for celebrating Christopher Columbus culture, although he was responsible for essentially committing a holocaust on the First Nations of North America.  Where is the humanity in learning about and celebrating historians who had no compassion? As Raffi (the children’s singer sings), “We don’t want to learn about war no more”.

In order to raise a generation of children that will honour the next and past seven generations, children need to be able to hear the whole story.  Not just “His” story, the story of the complete being.  The complete being that exists in all four colours of the world:  The duality of the spiritual and the physical.

Share with children the 50,000-year-old spirituality of the First Nations.  It is very simple and will probably sound very similar to teachings from a variety of different cultures.

1)      The clan system believes in protecting the unborn and deceased in complete equality with those that are living.  Love and respect is shown for both the past seven generations and those seven generations of the future.

2)      The human family is but one and comes in four colours.

3)      Earth is mother.  Honour and protect her.

4)      Breath comes from spirit. Body is from the earth and will return to the earth.

5)      Language is given by the Creator and is to be respected.

6)      All descendants are from the original person therefore the route to knowledge is eternal.  ALL ARE CONNECTED TO ALL – past, present and future.

7)      The heartbeat of the earth and the connector to the earth is the drum.

The 4 commandments of the First Nations are RESPECT, RESPECT, RESPECT, RESPECT – the body, mind, spirit and Earth.

Satisfy a child’s insatiable desire to fulfill their duality: To be complete.  Teach them all the spiritual messages from all the great leaders from all the four colours.  Help them develop an understanding that embraces compassion instead of rules.  Help them empower themselves to look after the next seven generations.  They will never be alone.  Their spirits will be with them.

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Articles by Wendy