![]() ![]() ![]() This form of praxis makes the balance achievable. Moving into the “doing” phase of the north requires taking the knowledge gained from all the directions and enacting that knowledge. According to Absolon, 5 in following the path of Medicine Wheels “the fourth direction involves creating a healing movement towards change – this is possible only when the other components have been acknowledged.” 6 In the north, one uses the gift of movement to do or actualize the vision. In the west, one uses the gift of reason to figure it out. In the east the gift of vision is found, where one is able to “see.” In the south one spends time in which to relate to the vision. ![]() The following Medicine Wheel diagram (Figure 1) reviews the gifts of each of the directions as informed by Cree Elder Michael Thrasher. Some of these rings include: seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter), times of day (morning, afternoon, evening, night), stages of life (infant, youth, adult, elder), and life givers (earth, sun, water, air). These rings of teachings have significant meaning independently but are all the more powerful when understood as a collective of interdependent knowledge teachings and practices. A ring of teaching is created by considering a part of the teaching from each of the four directions. Within Medicine Wheels there are many, many “rings” of teachings that exist. behind us or around a corner), Medicine Wheels can be used to help us see or understand things we can’t quite see or understand because they are ideas and not physical objects.” 3 Calliou reminds us that “Medicine Wheels can be pedagogical tools for teaching, learning, contemplating, and understanding our human journeys at individual, band/community, nation, global, and even cosmic levels.” 4 “Just like a mirror can be used to see things not normally visible (e.g. There are many different ways that Elders and traditional teachers have expressed the four directions: the four teachings, the four winds, the four cardinal directions, and many other relationships that can be expressed in sets of four. Around the spirit world of the four directions is the Creator above and Mother Earth below, whereby “a three dimensional sphere is created which mysteriously contains, reflects, and possesses within itself the perimeters and powers of the entire universe, indeed of reality itself.” 2 The final drawing resembles a compass for human understanding. These points symbolically identify the power/medicine of the four directions (east, south, west, north) using four different colours. Superimposed on this circle are four equidistant points. The wheel drawing simply begins by making a circle. Therefore, there is no “right” or “wrong” way of representing or using Medicine Wheels: all forms hold particular meaning to the various Indigenous nations while all transmit a common understanding of the interconnectedness and interrelatedness of all things. While there is some variation in its teachings and representations, the underlying web of meaning to Medicine Wheels remains the same: the importance of appreciating and respecting the ongoing interconnectedness and interrelatedness of all things. In many Indigenous cultures, the Medicine Wheel 1 metaphor contains all of the traditional teachings and can therefore be used as a guide on any journey, including the educational process. This knowledge is crucial to creating a culturally relevant space, pedagogy, and environment for teaching Indigenous children. ![]() Indigenous knowledge thus becomes important to understand. These concepts are then illustrated with an example of Medicine Wheel pedagogy in practice through the Anishinaabe Bimaadiziwin Cultural Healing and Learning Program, an Anishinaabe culture-based school.Ī key question that needs to be addressed in the creation of an Indigenous, culturally relevant educational process is how to create a schooling environment that reflects Indigenous culture and instils traditional values while providing the students with the skills they need to “survive” in the modern world. A focus on its applications to education is addressed through pedagogy and the transmission of Medicine Wheel teachings. This article explores the teachings of Medicine Wheels from an Anishinaabe cultural perspective. ![]()
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