These four days, December 27-30, 1982, are etched in the heart of my soul! I can see everyone present during our all-night Pipe Ceremony and where they sat in the Chapel of the St. Paul Residential School on the Blood Reserve, Kainai Nation, in Southern Alberta.
I can feel the flesh offerings given at the beginning of the Pipe Ceremony. My spiritual brother, Tyrone Eagle Bear, who joined in shedding his blood, and sat beside me that night, long gone to the Other Side Camp. In fact, most everyone who sat in that Sacred Circle, from sundown to sunset, has gone on to the Other Side Camp!
The summary of what was concluded during those Four Days is very simple but very profound. This Universe we live is organized by Natural Laws. These Physical and Spiritual Laws are inseparably connected and interrelated.
The Physical Laws are easy to understand. If you jump off a 50 story building, you are going to get a headache. If you drink a glass of water filled with arsenic, you are going to get a stomach ache. If you drive a car 100 miles an hour into a concrete wall, you are going to get smashed up.
The Spiritual Laws of how we become healthy, wise and joyful individuals and communities are just as real. In fact, the Spiritual Laws are the foundation of the Physical Laws. In essence, understanding, wisely implementing and sharing these natural Spiritual Laws for culturally-based, holistic Human and Community Development has been our work for the past 34 years.