The Voice of my People beats strongly; the Fire in our Souls Burns Brightly.  After all, our Passion for who we are is Written in the Stars. Wilwilaask, All My Relations

NIIT, WELCOME TO A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT TURTLE ISLAND'S INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
Knowledge is Freedom, Run With It!

The Song you are listening to is the Tsimshian "Warrior's Lament" - in honour of all Veterans alive or beyond the white veil.  You are serving and have served your country well. To my brother, Lt. Colonel Colin (Nisnawa), travel well bro' you, indeed served your country well.

 Wilwilaaysk, All My Relations.

RETURN OFTEN: This website is an ever evolving process and updated on a regular basis

The following pages are Vital, Valuable & Accurate Educational Tools about North America's Indigenous People. Browse through the many subject areas and learn, from a Native Perspective, about the rich cultural diversity, history, cultural & spiritual practices of North America's 'INDIAN' People.

Students Don't forget to acknowledge your source(s). Plagiarism is serious business particularly at the post-secondary level.

 PRE-EUROPEAN CONTACT & OTHER THINGS

Columbus Rant  (Honest Injun! It's not our fault we're called "Indian!")
Facts and Fantasy About Turtle Island's Indigenous People  ("Just the facts, ma'am, just the facts", Pre & Post-European contact, & yes, a lot of us actually pay taxes!!)
Indigenous History  (Off-beat & not so off-beat walk along Memory Lane: Here Come the Vikings and the Missionaries, Foreign Diseases, Germ Warfare, Alcohol, Bogus & Boring Bering Strait Theory. Horses, Warfare and Conquering, John Wayne)
Shannon Thunderbird's Thoughts  (The World in 2012, Commitment to Arts Education, Indigenous Work & the Workplace; Native Casinos/Gambling, When Native Cultures are Postcards, To Heal or Not to Heal, If you are going to Talk the Talk, then you'd better Walk the Walk, Indigenous Oral Narrative, What it is to be a Leader, the Strength of Shared Leadership, Native Identity)

POST EUROPEAN CONTACT  

Canadian Constitution (English Colonial Law, Ethnocentrism, Constitutional Timeline)
Indian Act  (Facts, Evolution, Amendments, Powers of Indian Agents, Meech Lake & Charlottetown Accords)
On Women  (The power of Humanity lies in its Matriarchy - A page for women of all ages, cultures and interests. Place in Society, Place in Ceremony, Women's Moontime, History, Challenges in Modern Times; Bill C-31, "Ghost People", Non-ownership of On-reserve land)    
Justice, Indigenous Rights & Restorative Justice (Is law justice? What does it mean? 60's Scoop, Indigenous Nation Building, Women's Rights, Sentencing Circles, Haudenosaunee Great Law.....)
Modern 'Indian' Wars  (OKA, Ipperwash, Gustafson, Burnt Church, Caledonia...the beat goes on)
Residential Schools  (Canada's Shame and and finally THE Apology, did it help?)
Royal Proclamation  (Where it all began...."At the Pleasure of the King....")
Self-Government, Sovereignty & Land Claims  (Is it self-determination or sovereignty? Issues & concerns, Theft of Land, Terms & Definitions, Tribal Environment: Asserting Indigenous rights, conflict between Native & non-Native land claims, supporting traditional lifestyle)

Warriors  (Dedicated to historical & contemporary Warrior Heroes who continue to impact the world with their wise words & brave acts. Visionaries, Warriors for Peace, Warrior Chiefs, Orators, Singers, Athletes, Dancers, Actors)

TRIBAL SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE 

Knowledge, Supernatural & Ceremonies  (Anishinaabe, Blackfoot Confederacy, Cree, Haudenosaunee (including Great Law), Lenape/Delaware, Masks, Mi'Kmaq, Plains, Smudging & the Four Sacred Plants Sweatlodge, Sun Dance, Powwow, Spirit Doctor, Universe, Visionquest, Wampum)
Colours & Their Meanings  (Colours when combined with Nature's gifts have special meanings)
Drum Teachings  (Drum is Female; Moonstone & K'oolgyet Na Hool Big Drums; Messages from the Drum....)
Elder 'Speak' - In Their Own Words  (Past & Present Tribal Elders, Leaders & Traditional Teachers speak their truths)
Medicine Wheel Teachings (What goes around comes around. Mindfulness + Courage + Wisdom + Accountability = Emotional, Spiritual, Mental and Physical Resilience)
Pacific Northwest Coast  (My proud heritage: Art, Beliefs, World of the Spirit Doctor, Land of the Totems, Button Blankets, Feasts, Culture Hero, Raven)
Prayers, Mantras & Sacred Thoughts  (A Message of Hope, "The Eye of God" (wondrous photos from space), Divine Discontent, Emotional Healing, Great Spirit Prayer, Journey of Life, Memories, Peace of Wild Things....)
Prophecies & Teachings (Hopi, Seven Fires (Ojibwa), Lakhota, Cherokee, Onandaga, Inuit, Internet)
Sacred Symbols & Meanings  (Ancestors, Animals, Circle, Drums, Four Elements, Land, Medicine Shields, Parfleche, Pipes & Effigy Pipes, Plants, Pottery, Power or Guardian Animals/Spirits; Rattles/Shakers; Sand Painting, Smudging (Sage, Cedar, Sweetgrass, Tobacco); Talking Stick & Circles)
Spirituality  (When we are victims...Five Native Ethics, Five Native Beliefs, Respect, Spirit, Soul, Balance/Harmony, Wisdom, Healing, Sins of Spirit, Memory and Powerful Song of Divine Discontent, Remembering Your Dreams, Four Agreements)
Women & Ceremony  (Patriarchal, patently predictably pathetic!!)

INDIGENOUS ORAL NARRATIVE, ART, MUSIC,
THEATRE, DANCE 

Aboriginal Art  (The importance of Native Art, its meaning, how it helps define Native culture. Also Thunderbird's Art - Not a lot of time to do it, but painting is my peaceful pursuit)
Animal Stories A-M  (Wide variety of animal stories & their meanings)
Animal Stories N-Z  (Wide variety of animal stories & their meanings)
Stories - Cosmos (Rainbow, Tsimshian Creation Story, Turtle Island, White Buffalo Calf Woman, Thunderbird)
Little Bear Recording Studio  (Sandy & Jeff's domain)
Magic & Wisdom of the Indigenous  Oral Narrative  (Native Stories are not "once upon a time" yarns or myths - they are the cultural grounding of wondrous people; about our Culture Heroes and more)
Music, Dancing, Theatre, Scripts (Why the arts are important to the cultural grounding of Indigenous people, Indigenous Theatre; A few stories adapted to script form for Drama Teachers)
Poetry  (Me and my Mom, 99 year-old Tsimshian Elder, Gandoox)
When Science & Native Stories Merge (Cosmos, Creation Stories (Tsimshian, Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, Mi'kmaq, Plains), Four Elements, Planets, Ocean, Sun, Rainbows, Fire, Air, Earth, Water, Milky Way, Moon, Aurora Borealis)

TRIBAL LIFESTYLE 

Environment  (Asserting Indigenous rights to hunt, trap and fish; conflict between Native & non-Native land claims; supporting traditional lifestyle)
Housing & Transportation  (Plank House, Longhouse, Tipi, Hogan, Chickees, Brush Shelters, Adobes, Wattle, Wigwam, canoes, sleds, dogs, horses)
Language & Cultural Groups  (Who's Who in Moccasin Country!)
Lifestyle, Gender Roles, Elders  (Pacific Northwest Coast, Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe (including description of the 7-point star Clan system, Blackfoot, Cree, Lenape/Delaware,  Mi'Kmaq, Plains, Inuit, Warfare, Social Systems)
Native Contributions  (Settlement of Canada, transportation, people, wealth, government, military service, language, sports, Food, Lifestyle, Medicine, Earth Wisdom, Healing properties of trees and plants)
Powwows, Protocol, Behaviour & Celebration  (Conduct & Etiquette; Powwows: Grand Entry, Descriptions of songs, dances, regalia, interaction with Elders, when money is a gift or a fee)
Two-Spirited People  (No Shame, No Blame, Magic people back before recorded time)

TEYA PEYA PRODUCTIONS

Shannon Thunderbird, Sandy Horne (Two of the Moccasin Trail's most Talented, Eclectic and Hilarious Performers for Children, Youth, Adults)

SCHOOL SHOWS (Great shows with Teya Peya Productions and Prologue to the Performing Arts)

Teya Peya's Workshops and Seminars  (Inspirit Medicine Wheel themes that cross all cultural boundaries.)

Speakers Bureau  (Inspirit Talks that elevate the soul and increase the Hope Factor; Lectures/Seminars on a variety of Indigenous topics)

Music, Theatre & Drums, Drums, Drums! (Teya Peya's fabulous, interactive shows for Adults + Rogue's Gallery)

Affirmations  (Ceremonies that unite, lift spirits - marriage (including same sex), birth, white veil (including 13 moon death ceremony), celebrations, anniversaries, and more....)

Life Coaching and Secondary School Tutoring  (Kate's bailiwick - she is a champion of teens!)

 MORE SCHOOL STUFF

C.E. Webster Public School (I "Medicine Wheel" with a special TDSB school, partnered with Prologue to the Performing Arts and ArtsSmarts.)

Thunderbird & the Aboriginal Education Centre (TDSB) (A wonderful TDSB partnership)

Foundation for Enriching Education & Avon Maitland (The Foundation and I have been partners for eleven years)

Some School Hosts of our Sweet Thunder Big Drum Medicine Wheel & Character Education Workshop (Mindful Medicine Wheels, drumming and singing with great students & teachers across Ontario)

PHOTO GALLERY

Rogue's Gallery  (Where we've been, who we've been with, and had a great time doing it)

MUSIC AND WRITING

Shannon Thunderbird's book, "Medicine Wheel & Character Education in the 21st Century"  (published 2010)

Wind Centre (Teya Peya' fabulous new CD of contemporary and traditional Native Music with Shannon Thunderbird and Sandy Horne (Spoons)

Little Bear Recording Studio (The recording 'crib' of Sandy Horne & Jeff Carter)

THIS 'N THAT

Thunderbird's Thoughts  (Occasionally I think about stuff!)

Interesting Links (Great Videos and Websites, including a website that has an article of mine on Mother Earth.)

FAME Touring in the United States (Bringing Aboriginal Education to Schools in Indiana)

Hanta Ho (Clearing the Way)  (For several years I was privileged to spend time with some special young men in an Ontario correctional facility. Unfortunately, the facility closed in 2012)