Chapter 1 Orientation

The Sun shines on us all.

White Eagle Sun Dance Chief, William Nevin (1949 - )

All mystics speak the same language and come from the same country.

Louis Claude de Saint-Martin (1743-1803)

A decade of Sun Dancing has convinced me that a Sun Dancers’ Journey can start in the most unlikely places; the depths of the gutter, the pews of a church, a politicians’ office, or as far away as the Arabian desert. My Sun Dance Journey began on the outskirts of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 1964 when I was ten years old. Despite the passage of fifty years, I can still see my young self there, a small figure wandering off under the cloudless turquoise sky, exploring the beige dunes in that Sun blasted landscape. That desert place, beside the fallen stones of the abandoned Turkish fort, on a hill above the black topped Mecca Road, is still vibrantly alive inside the cave of my memory.

View from the old Turkish fort along Mecca Road

I was not thinking; this is where the Prophet Mohamed once walked, and centuries of faithful Muslim Hajj pilgrims have traveled, or that Lawrence of Arabia once roamed this land. I was just an ordinary American expatriate kid, enjoying an afternoon of freedom and adventure in the Bedouin wilderness, away from the crowds and humidity of the Red Sea port city we called home for ten and a half years. 

My father, Andrew N. Fetterolf, downtown Jeddah, 1961

My parents, brother and sister, were napping after our family picnic, lolling in the shade beside our battered little Fiat car that day. 

  At the Turkish fort, my sister Karen, above, and my brother Craig beside me.

After reconnoitering the area on my own, I decided to climb a nearby hill. While struggling to reach the summit, the force of the Wind struck, and then I felt The Presence come over me, like a luminosity. It was the Sun Light but not just the light of the Sun. Hairs rose on the back of my neck, and goosebumps broke out on my arms, as these things still do, in moments of heightened Awareness. Although I was frightened, I sensed this was not dangerous, but important, requiring my full attention. A Truth was being revealed. And I understood then that whatever we call that Power; Allah, God, Jehovah or Great Spirit, is as Real as our noses are. And the Sun shining on our faces, is how we relate to that Spirit. Names can take us closer towards It, or exile us from It.   

Mecca Road leaving Jeddah 

Overcome, I fell to my knees, weeping with a combination of awe and gratitude; a potent mix of emotions which has overwhelmed me each time It has revisited since that day. Unable to put into words what had happened to me, I never mentioned that event to anyone. But as the years have passed, I see what a crucial difference this encounter, and its very physicality, has meant to me. It removed, once and for all, the curse of doubt from my life. It was the turning point, my first moment of Great Certainty. 
This type of firsthand, felt sensation seems to initiate all the mystics, whether the paths we take are in the footsteps of Muslim Sufis, Christian hermits, Tibetan monks or the Sun Dance way. My spiritual conscience was awakened that afternoon, and it has guided me through many forms and places since. 

Looking back, perhaps it is not so surprising to end up almost four decades later, beneath the same blazing Sun, albeit on the other side of the world, at the White Eagle Sun Dance in Elsipogtog, Canada. In hindsight my stumbling, fumbling steps look almost logical in their progression. After all, wasn't it the same Omnipresent Sun, which laid claim to me that day in the desert? Why not learn to sing and dance my prayers, with the People who never left the land I was born in, that my ancestors came to, in search of religious freedom? So much irony resides in the weaving of all these threads, but I must not get ahead of myself in telling the story. 

My parents spent a total of twenty-one years in the Middle East. After ten and a half in Jeddah, they spent another ten and a half years in Beirut, Lebanon. That's where I'd been sent to boarding school, because there were no high schools for us then in Saudi Arabia. After my graduation in 1972, I wandered several years before returning to the United States to attend New York University and get my bachelors degree in journalism and Middle Eastern studies. I spent a good many years living and working and visiting Switzerland, England, Venezuela, France, Spain, Turkey and Israel. During those times, before I finally returned again to the USA and married at age 33, the Sun remained the only constant. My Awareness of its' spiritual significance waxed and waned, rather like the Moon's passing through its' phases. Something was always urging me on, something I could not ignore or escape, leading me inexorably, towards what became the Sacred Tree, in the Sun Dance Arbor, where at age 48 I would find my spirit self revitalized, beneath that same Sun once again. 

Light is awareness...The spark of life is the spark of Light. The purpose of life is to generate Light.

Chokecherry Gall Eagle in Beyond the Lodge of the Sun

(The rest of this chapter deals with my young adult years, work, marriage & children. 1960's - 1990's, with emphasis on my spiritual life as this is a spiritual memoir.)

Introduction

Before you read this it helps to have some explanation about who wrote it, what it covers and how it differs from previous Sun Dance books. You also deserve to know why I have been reluctant to write about this subject, despite its great value and obvious merit.  

Let me say up front that I have come to these ways as an outsider. I was not born on a reserve (aka reservation) and do not carry a status card from any band. Although this may disqualify me in the eyes of some, I believe it has given me a broader perspective from which to appreciate the larger meanings of these ceremonial ways. Whether insider or outsider, all can benefit from seeing the Sun Dance in its widest possible context, and this book explores the global wisdom inherent in this ceremony, and those who celebrate it. During these divisive, politically polarizing days, we need unifying, universal practices more than ever. The facts unite us. We share the same Sun. Beneath its eye we are all One People, on one Earth.

I have never pretended to be Indian or Native American, although some people have assumed I was, because of my devotion to protecting these ways. Born in North America to parents of German, French, English and Scotch Irish heritage, my cultural background was white, Anglo Saxon Protestant. Economic necessity took my family to Saudi Arabia, in 1962, when I was eight years old, and since then I have lived and worked in many other countries. Having long considered myself an expatriate, I became accustomed to being treated as a minority, and my outsider status does not trouble me as much as it might if this was my first experience with another culture. My interest in global possibilities and the transcendence of ethnicity, labels, racism and religious intolerance is what drew me towards the Sun Dance in the first place.     

Some may accuse me of exploitation, or worse, for writing this book. I realize I risk being ostracized by the very people who have been kind enough to accept me, and my participation, in their spiritual practices. I hope they can see into my heart, and know that my intentions are only to honor them and these ways. I know we cannot forget the sordid history that continues to threaten our cross-cultural friendships, but there is much we can do, on a one-to-one basis. The political pendulum will go on swinging; between times when the other groups we belong to will be more open and accepting, and other times, when some specific issue(s) will cause anger and defensiveness again. But nothing will take away the good days we have shared.

I have no control over the future or politics, but it is within my power to share my personal story of learning and acceptance. Since becoming involved with the Sun Dance in 2001, I have kept copious notes in my journals, always hoping to write about the ceremonies, but my hesitance to go public has grown in proportion with what I have learned. Besides the difficulty associated with doing justice to a subject as sacred as the Sun Dance, we dancers are given explicit instructions about not bragging or showing off. This is wisdom I cherish, and hesitate to contravene in any way.

I am also the first female to write about what has traditionally been a men’s ceremony for centuries. I do not wish to make it harder for the women (and men) who come after me. Some tribes continue to exclude women dancers, and the last thing I want is make it any more difficult, for Sun Dancers of any gender. So, why do I persist in writing this book? Because for all these challenges, the ones we faced to become Sun Dancers in the first place were even greater, and they prepared me for this task. After so many years of ceremonies, prayers and deeply appreciated guidance, I understand it is my job to simply tell my own story, to the best of my ability.  

The backgrounds of my potential readers varies considerably, and meeting the needs of such a diverse audience will be almost impossible. Those who are new to these ways will require more background information than this modest memoir, culled from a decade of journal entries, can provide. A Recommended Reading List has been included for those who wish to learn more. At the other end of the reader spectrum are my fellow Sun Dancers, who know more than I do. Hopefully, they will write their own books. As we do in the fourth round of every Sun Dance sweat lodge, I ask for Forgiveness, for any mistakes or misinterpretations I have made.

Since this ceremony is never to be photographed or videotaped, less than one tenth of one percent of the worlds’ population, has ever heard of it. Books and word of mouth are how this wisdom spreads. Few will have the privilege to attend a genuine Sun Dance. Of those, how many will feel called, to become a supporter, or a Sun Dancer themselves? The numbers are small but they inspire me to pen these pages.

I owe so much to the Sun Dance. It saved my life. It cured my despair and restored my joy. Having witnessed how much healing this ceremony has also brought to others, I feel obligated, in a good way, to leave this offering of a written account, in return for all that has been received during a decade of dancing. It would be wrong to hoard this ‘medicine’ when so many people are suffering. As our MicMac elders say, Omset Nogama, meaning We Are All Related. The Sun Dance is a beautiful example of what can happen when that wisdom is taken to heart, and put it into action, on a daily basis.

All my experiences with this ceremony are confined to one place; Elsipogtog, the Big Cove Mi’kmaq reserve in New Brunswick, Canada. My leaders and teachers are White Eagle Sun Dance Chief William J. Nevin and his wife Connie Francis Nevin and our Women’s Leader Evangeline Francis. The Blackfoot Sun Dance Chief, Keith Chief Moon and his Blackfoot wife Karen Russell transferred this ceremony to William and Evangeline, in the right way. Each has decades of experience dancing with other tribes. 

Finally, let me add that without the encouragement of William Nevin, and his wife Connie, I never would have dared to write this book. William has assured me, ‘The spirits sent you here for this purpose.’  May all who read these words feel blessed by our Creator, and the sacrifices of the Sun Dancers, who have vowed to have no enemies. 

The profits from the sale of this book will be used to pay annual Sun Dance expenses. 

Those interested in dancing, supporting or donating will be put in contact with our Sun Dance Chiefs. 

Write to C. Davidson, P.O. Box 73, Prudence Island, R.I. 02872 USA 

Email wisdomwheelwoman@gmail.com

( A word on terminology. For decades I used the term Native American in describing members of North American tribes. I did not know any better. Books I collected were filed under that category, as this one will probably be too, although the term Native American is as controversial and undesirable as the older word Indian has become. Christopher Columbus called the people he met Indians, because he was looking for India, and this misnomer has persisted for centuries despite how incorrect it is. Some indigenous people continue to refer to themselves as Indians, out of long habit, but unless you are one of them, it is best to call each tribe by name, and spell it correctly. That is why you will see Mi’qmak and Migmaw, rather than the more common MicMac term, in these pages. My friends refer to themselves as First Nations people or aboriginal people and I encourage others to do the same.)

Dedication

Dedication

Creator of Us All,

Great Spirit that flows through all things,

**** that part of Spirit You permit to flow through me,

Cynthia Manyfeathers Eagle Answers Woman,

I use it to send You a voice, of prayer and thanksgiving.

Please guide my heart, mind and hands as I seek words to describe experiences You have given me.

Help me leave a good account that can serve others when I am gone on to the Spirit World.

Please guide the hearts and minds of all who choose to read this book.

Let them be blessed by the Sun Dance stories and come closer to Your Wisdom.

Help me to offend no one, but rather to honor All That Is good and true.

I thank You and All My Relations. 

M'set nogomag 

This book is dedicated to the Sun, the beautiful Earth, and the Universe we share, and to all Sun Dancers, their families, friends and supporters, past, present and future.

I wish to salute those I have had the great honor of joining in the Arbor for these last ten years  in Elsipogtog. This book is dedicated, in particular, to our Mi’kmaq (Micmac) Sun Dance Women’s Leader, Evangeline Mary Sock Francis (1950-2009). She has gone on ahead to be an ancestor to us all. 

These pages are my humble attempt to honor her last wish, for more ‘documentation’ of the Sun Dance.  My prayers go out to her extended family, her biological children, her godchildren, her grandchildren and great grandchildren,her siblings and blood relatives as well as her many Sun Dance brothers and sisters.  

Equally great gratitude is due to our White Eagle Sun Dance Chief, William Nevin and his wife Connie, without whom these Sun Dances would never have happened. We owe them more than can ever be repaid in this world. My prayers will continue to go out for their entire family, especially Kayla, Tony and Thunder. These children have shared their parents, and the very beds in their home, with so many people over the decades. Their personal sacrifices have helped to ensure that the Sun Dance ceremonies were done in a good way each year on the Elsipogtog reserve. May Creator continue to reward the Nevin family, and their loved ones, for their great generosity and continuing kindness to us all.

Tremendous gratitude must also be extended to our irreplaceable Blackfoot Elders from Alberta, Canada; Keith Chief Moon & Karen Russell. They have given so much of themselves, and traveled so far each year, to assist at the Big Cove Sun Dance, as well as others. May Creator continue to bless them, and their families, and to continue to help them, as they help others.  My prayers will be with them too.

And a very special thank you must go to my dear husband, Malcolm Fergusson Davidson, my Fire Keeper, who is also our Sun Dance Fire Keeper for these many years. He has shown me love in a form I can understand. Without his support, my participation in these ceremonies would not have been possible. May Creator continue to bless and protect him, and everyone in my extended family, especially my children Mira, Naomi & Michael who have had to accept my many absences over these years of fasts and ceremonies, to my sister Karen, my brother Craig, my mother Lynn and my father Andy, who has passed on.

Special appreciation is also due to my fellow Wisdom Wheel CircleKeepers, who have kept the Faith; praying, eating and sipping water for me, and so many other fasters and dancers, over the years. My debt to them, and all they've taught me, is also incalculable.   

Last but not least, this book also needs to be dedicated to the great Lakota visionary, holy man and healer, Black Elk. Although he passed without seeing it happen, his vision, at age nine, of a Flowering Tree, with all the races dancing in peace around it, is alive and well in this world, thanks to each and every Sun Dancer. We will continue to do our part, to keep this dream alive. Each time the Trees of Life are covered anew, with our prayer ties and prayer flags, the Tree is flowering.

The Tree that was to bloom…the roots will stay alive, and we are here to make that Tree bloom. ..The people will know the true facts. We want this Tree to bloom again in the world of truth that doesn’t judge. 

Black Elk (1863-1950)

Upon suffering beyond suffering: the Red Nation shall rise again and it shall be a blessing for a sick world. A world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separations. A world longing for light again. I see a time of Seven Generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the Sacred Tree of Life and the whole Earth will become one circle again. In that day, there will be those among the Lakota who will carry knowledge and understanding of unity among all living things and the young white ones will come to those of my people and ask for this wisdom. I salute the light within your eyes where the whole Universe dwells. For when you are at that center within you and I am that place within me, we shall be one.

Crazy Horse, Oglala Sioux Chief (Crazy Horse said this as he sat smoking the Sacred Pipe with Sitting Bull for the last time, four days before he was assassinated.)

If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace.....Treat all men alike. Give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow. All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers. The Earth is the Mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.......Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade....where I choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to think and talk and act for myself, and I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty.

Chief Joseph, Nez Perce

I do not see a delegation for the Four Footed. I see no seat for the Eagles. We forget and we consider ourselves superior. But we are after all a mere part of Creation. And we must consider to understand where we are. And we stand somewhere between the mountain and the Ant. Somewhere and only there as part and parcel of the Creation.

Chief Oren Lyons, Oneida in an address to the Non-Governmental Organizations of the United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, 1977

Table of Contents (for the forthcoming book of same title)

Every Day Is Sun Day

The Wisdom of the Sun Dance

by Cynthia Manyfeathers 

Table of Contents 
(Please note only portions of this book are being shared in this blog. If you'd like to read the entire book, please leave comment to order a finished copy.)

Dedication

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1

Orientation

Chapter 2

Disillusionment

Chapter 3

Bereft of Everything Something Good Comes

Chapter 4

Invitation to Dance

Chapter 5

First Four Years : As a fasting pledger

Chapter 6

Second Four Years : As a leader helper, wisdom keeper

Chapter 7

Crises & Continuity: The passing  of our Women’s Sun Dance leader

Afterword / Epilogue

Recommended Readings

Preface

Traditional ways and traditional leaders are stronger than most people thought, and are gaining strength with every passing day… and the traditional faith has remained the cohesive cultural and moral force of the people, in spite of the adoption of, or accommodation to, non-Indian ways.

Ethel Nurge in her book The Modern Sioux

During the spring of 2009, as she was being treated for cancer, at a New Brunswick hospital in Canada, our Women’s Sun Dance Leader, Evangeline Francis (1950-2009), said to me, ‘We need more documentation of the Sun Dance…’ Neither of us realized then that this would be our final conversation in this world, but her words had the ring of authority which the dying speak with, when making last requests of the living.

At the time I was still hoping and praying she'd be cured. Her cancer had been reversed once before, a dozen years ago, when she first went out West to Sun Dance, with the Lakota Sioux. Her request that day began to galvanize the old journalist within me, since she was asking for a kind of help I knew I could offer. Being an irrepressible journal keeper, for more than 30 years, I'd certainly taken plenty of notes over the years we'd danced together. 

My ten hour drive home to Rhode Island after that visit with Evangeline gave me time to reflect upon the nine years we’d known each other, and all the good that had come, for so many others, from those shared ceremonies. Our relationship started in May of 2001, when another woman Sun Dancer, Two Feathers (aka Diane Jeffries), took me up to the Elsipogtog reserve, (Big Cove in English), in New Brunswick, for a four day spring fast, for my pipe. (I'd already done two four day fasts under the guidance of Two Feathers, in Connecticut at that point; one that autumn and the other during the wintertime.) Two Feathers was the teacher who'd come into my life, after my initial medicine wheel teacher, Susan Grace Lawton, had gifted me a pipe, which I'd first refused to accept...

Every time I touch my heart now, I can feel Evangeline’s smooth, wooden pipe stem, and the pipe stem of our Blackfoot Women's Leader, Karen Russell, resting upon my chest again. The combined energies of these powerful women had vividly penetrated my entire being, during the summer of 2001, when I returned to Elsipogtog to support the first Sun Dance I’d ever seen. During the 'dance out' blessing, these women had leaned their pipes on my heart and zapped me, in a good way, with a bright flood of energy. I have yet to fully understand that moment but I treasure it, and these women, whose blessings and teachings brought many to turning points just as significant as mine was.

These memories bring tears to my eyes, along with a sense of divine purpose, which powers my fingers to type these words. Unbeknownst to me, that first time in 2001, the Sun Dance is seen as the spiritual highlight of events on the Elsipogtog reserve calendar. The faithful gather in the July heat on those Sunday afternoons when the Sun Dance ceremonies are ending. All the supporters, family, friends and spectators encircle the Arbor, along with the sick and the lame, to await the final dance out ceremony, and the blessings of the Sun Dancers. After four hard days without food or water, the dancers touch their pipes and fans to each person present, freely bestowing their blessings, without hesitation or discrimination of any kind. 

Since that day in 2001, when they blessed me, I have never missed a White Eagle Sun Dance. And thanks to the invitation, from Karen and Evangeline that year, I became one of the Sun Dancers, still dancing faithfully a dozen years later. 

As Evangeline continued receiving her cancer treatments in 2009, I took out all my journals and searched the pages, to see how much I actually written about the Sun Dance. I realized then that the ‘documentation’ she'd asked for already existed, if I'd just excavate it and reassemble it, in book or blog form, that others could share.    

So this is my humble attempt, to honor Evangeline's final request, and to honor the Sun Dances. Here you will find records from my journal notes, taken during the years we danced together, at the White Eagle Sun Dance. For clarification purposes, some introductions and explanations will be included, to orient readers to a subject and a culture too few are familiar with. 

It is my hope that this documentation helps to protect and preserve some of the history and the teachings from our White Eagle Sun Dance leaders; Evangeline Francis, William (and Connie) Nevin, and our Blackfoot sponsors, Keith Chief Moon and Karen Russell. May Evangeline’s final request continue to be fulfilled, as others come forward to add their accounts, so the documentation of the Sun Dance can grow. The Sun Dance ceremonies strengthen us, and we can strengthen them and our communities, by saving such positive stories for all the people who need the medicine and the wisdom these ceremonies offer to everyone under the Sun.

Since starting this project, I have learned that the name Evangeline comes from the Latin word "evangelium" meaning "gospel" which came from the older Greek words "eu"—"good"—and "angela"—"news". These meanings certainly fit our Evangeline, the ceremonial leader we knew and loved, who helped bring forth the good news of the Sun Dance. 

Timeline for my Stories of the White Eagle Sun Dances

2001, age  47

Spring, first trip to Elsipogtog/Big Cove reserve, for May fast with my teacher Two Feathers.

Summer, return to be a supporter/helper, for Two Feathers & the other dancers, met MigMaw and Blackfoot Sun Dancers for the first time. 

During public sweat Lodge, I receive msg.s for in Clarence Pattles nephew Eugene. 

While making my flesh offerings, at the North side of the Arbor during the 3^rd day, Karen & Evangeline, the Women Leaders, invite me to dance.

During the dance out blessing, their pipe stems electrify my heart.

Autumn return for October fast.

First Four Years : As a fasting pledger from 2002-2005

2002 East Year ‘New Beginnings,’age 48

Spring 2002, we hold a four day Bear Fast and build our own Lodge at home.

Summer, my first Sun Dance as a dancer

Autumn,  returned to Big Cove for the fast

2003 South Year,  age 49 

Spring the May fast

Summer the Sun Dance

Autumn the October fast

2004 West Year, age 50, 

Spring fast in May

Summer Sun Dance in July

Autumn fast in October

2005 North Year, age 51

Spring fast in May

Summer Sun Dance in July

Autumn fast in October

Second Four Years : As a leader helper from 2006-2009

2006 East Year, age 52

2007 South Year, age 53

2008 West Year, age 54

2009 North Year, age 55

Helped out at almost every May & October fast. 

2010 Another 4 year cycle begins:
East Year, as a leader helper, age 56

2011 South Year, age 57.

2012 West Year, age 58

2013 North Year, age 59.
At this point, I will be the same age Evangeline was, when she passed. I pray to Creator for the help necessary so that, by then, the book Every Day Is Sun Day: The Wisdom of the Sun Dance, will be done, and available to others.
My intention is that it will continue raising funds, for the continuation of the Sun Dance we all owe so much to, once I too have passed on. 

Writing a Sun Dance book, one day at a time

Welcome to a new Sun Dance blog, born on this first day of 2012. It is my hope that these ceremonies, the Sun and our Creator, will help you find what you are looking for...in a good way. 

This blog is my humble attempt to protect and preserve the memories of our sacred Sun Dances, which continue to be celebrated each summer, across Canada and the United States. 
As it is forbidden to film or photograph these ceremonies, the Sun Dances are not well known in today's world, despite the many good things that come from them; including healing of all kinds, continuing sobriety, and recovery from all sorts of traumas. 

I wish to leave a written record of the White Eagle Sun Dances in particular, for those are the ones I am most familiar with, having taken part in them since 2001. Held continuously since 1999, in New Brunswick, Canada, on the Elsipogtog First Nation reserve, these ceremonies are lead by William J. Nevin, a Migmaw (aka MicMac) Sun Dance Chief, and his leader helpers from many other tribes. 

During the last decade, participating in the White Eagle Sun Dance ceremonies, has been my greatest honor. I will remain eternally grateful, to all my Sun Dance sisters and brothers, for the opportunity to join them in the Arbor each July. (And to help with the preparation fasts, each May and October.) Our families, friends and supporters must also be remembered and saluted here too. Thanks to them, and their many contributions, these ceremonies continue to spread their blessings within, and well beyond, our individual communities. 

These writings are my effort to give something in return for all the received blessings. It is also my intention to honor the dying wish of our Women's Sun Dance Leader, Evangeline Francis, who told me, 'We need more documentation of the Sun Dance,' during our final hospital conversation, before she passed in 2009. 

To these ends, I am going to review, rewrite and share in this blog, 10 years worth of documentation, in the form of my personal journal entries and notes, kept during the years we danced together. Hopefully, one day, these blog entries can be published under the same title, Every Day Is Sun Day: Honoring the Wisdom of the Sun Dance. The world needs the 'good news' these ceremonies can provide to those most in need of hope and help.  

I am not saying that all the worlds' problems can be solved if everyone becomes a Sun Dancer, but despairing people need to know some of us do care. Some of us are praying for your healing and for Mother Earth's, and we have been willing to go without food or water, for four days, and to make other sacrifices as we dance our prayers, on behalf of others... 

In addition to doing what we can for those in need, we Sun Dancers also take a vow to have no enemies. This is another 'wisdom' the world could use... I'll explain more about these things in future entries. In keeping with that vow however, I want to say at the outset, it is not my intention to offend anyone by writing about the Sun Dance. After ten years of dancing myself, I am very aware of the respect and care these ceremonies deserve, in written and spoken communications. So do not fear that this will be some 'tell all' blog. 

Neither am I claiming to be an expert on anything, except my own Sun Dance experiences. This blog is simply an account of one woman's spiritual Journey, and an homage to those she met along the way. I hope my readers will help make this a better blog (and eventual book) by asking me questions and contributing clarifying comments.  

Perhaps you will also join me, and support the Sun Dance ceremonies, in whatever way you can. That's all for now. More to come. 
   
Omset nogama, a Mi'kmaq expression, which means in English, 'All My Relations'