It is customary in traditional circles to honor those who have come before you
and those whose teachings you walk with.
This section is an honoring, while also being here for those who wish
to have more information. Read all, or none, or some – as you choose.
If for any reason, these words offend you, my apologies. Please remember – this
is my story. It is one of many stories. All stories are a reflection of source.
Perhaps in the offense, there is something to learn for both of us.
Thank you for your time and attention….

Teachings

In the Traditional Circles I am familiar with, we reflect – who are we, without those who come before us? Who are we, without those who contribute to us? Who are we, if we do not take care of this place and space for those who come after us?
I am taught, human knowledge belongs to everyone – it is not owned by one person. We are to honor our lineage, to honor those who help us learn – both the excitement and the challenges. This way we remember all and walk with wisdom.

Throughout the years, I am humbled and honored to train, walk, sing, drum, dance and share teachings with Indigenous Elders from my full ancient lineage – in the physical and spiritual realms and with Indigenous Elders of the land of my physical birth, Turtle Island. This includes participating or assisting in ceremony, sitting in silence or in conversation with Elders from many nations and traditions. As a traditional Indigenous Medicine person … training is continuous – self awareness is continuous – knowledge acquisition is continuous – taking knowledge into action is continuous.
The world is constantly changing – thus nature and her people are constantly changing. As such, we learn to recognize those changes and assist people in and through those changes. I am all ways learning from the land, from all people in this world, all people I serve and all life experience.

There are so many people whom I could mention…and it is important to highlight a few key people. Know as you read this there are many, many who contributed along the way and whom I hold dear in my heart, as I carry forward what they shared with me. Their names are contained within the spaces between the words and on the whispers of the wind.

The Story so far

Early days…

I was born a child who remembered. I heard the murmurings in the early days … of my Elders and Ancestors, of the Ancestors of the land, of the Ancient Ones, the forest, the rocks, the water and the ‘animals’. I was visited in my dreams often – sleeping and waking. I saw our loved ones in spirit form (others called ‘ghosts’ – to me real and alive) and knew they were leaving this world before the adults received the call. I sat beside or on the laps of the ‘old people’ in the family – mesmerized by their stories of life, their trials and tribulations, their joys and resilience. As I grew, I soon learned there were things you talked about and things you didn’t. Things you could do – and things you couldn’t. Things you could speak and things – if you spoke, people were afraid or mad. And so, I became a child who ‘forgot’ – who chose to forget.  I became a child of cultural and community conditioning.

The wounded healer…
As time progressed, despite all the support Spirit sent my way in various forms, I continued to choose to be like others around me. On one hand I looked like I was doing ‘well’ in society – going to school, involved in community, involved in athletics, off to university. And so, suppressing who I was, I inevitably ended up in difficulties – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. I would fall down, and I would find a way to pick myself up. Over and over again I would do this, until I fell so far down, I thought I would crack…only to find my way out would be to journey further into me – to take the spiral path down into my core – to find the me I had hidden oh so very long ago, who would help me take the spiral path out into the very soul and fabric of the totality of the Universe.

The remembering…

Nature
Nature and all her people have, and all ways will be my Elders, my companions, my friends. I have spent long hours in observance, in silence and in active listening. I have watched and listened as the plant kingdom tells me which medicines need to be prepared for imbalances people will experience in the coming season. I have listened to the whispers on the wind, as they take me to honor a recent death of one of their people or direct me to where I will find the perfect medicine. Some of my most challenging skill development and learnings on universal principles has happened with the guidance of nature’s people … you do not know how to fully track energies until you are able to track your teacher, a beautiful red fox, across the outcroppings of rock in the Canadian shield.  She would begin there, often, waiting for me to find her, twitching her tail at me to ensure I would ‘catch the ripple’.  Once mastered, she would then lead me in other dimensions.

Stories within the genetic memory revealed in human history
At the age of 10years, I sat on the bed with my cousin Helena. She would tell me stories of our family … of how we used to walk with reindeer, how sometimes the reindeer still come to our home in Finland, how the long cold dark of the family would soon come to end, how Santa Claus came from our people. Then years later, I ‘discovered’ our names were Sami, before they were Löytömäki, our name change corresponding with a resettlement of the Sami people,  There were others in the family – searching like I was, living experience like I was, illness that ran in our family was often metaphor for lost teachings and fractured spirits. When I ‘came out’ … some celebrated the claiming of our name and our ancient identity, some were relieved for someone was like them, and some thought I was crazy and couldn’t understand … and choose to still not understand.

Honorable Mention….

Acceptance
At the bottom of a deep dark hole – or what at the time I thought was the deepest it could ever get – I found a branch … offered through a Shoshone Elder, Grandmother, channeled by Lori Wilson. And the proverbial crack in the cosmic egg occurred. The shell I created around myself for all those years was broken wide open, the light rushed in and the journey of remembering began in a big way. I thank Lori Wilson for reminding me that I could communicate with all inside of me, and all surround me…for opening the doors I had closed, re-establishing communication with my Ancestors, the world within me and the world surround me, and for planting the seeds for the re-turn of our Medicine Ways to the world. For with the flood of light – came all the Ancestors, Elders and Ancient Ones (AEAO) of my full blood lineage on both sides – ready, waiting and eager to begin the training of the one who was eager to listen and to act.

Now do not mistake – this was no easy task. The path of a Traditional Medicine person is arduous and requires constant dedication. And with this stepping in, came the crumbling of the false edifice I had created around myself – that I once believed to be real and true. And…I knew, this was what I had to do.

Building the foundation…finding others, claiming my self, my identity
I owe a large gratitude (Chi Miigwetch) to Jan Sherman and Sandy Benson for their friendship, sharing and contribution to the raising of our youth. To all the men who sat at the Community Drum, to all the women who sang in the Women’s Circle, to all members of the Guelph Native community all those many years ago.  A huge gratitude to Jean Becker, who saw me, and supported my call and work in community.  You who opened your arms and hearts to myself and my youth – birthed us to better understand the many original peoples of this land, to our original peoples and our collective inter-connection. You provided light and laughter during many years and helped us find our way. Know all your names are written between these words and in my heart, with prayers for you and yours every day.

I would not be the person, nor the practitioner I am today, without the guidance and support of Dr. Leslie Korn and Dr. Rudolph Ryser of the Center for Traditional Medicine, and the Center for World Indigenous Studies. You both were guiding lights. Being of mixed blood, walking with much trauma (individual, familial and intergenerational), I was confused about the world I lived in and where life experiences were calling me. I was confused about ‘re-claiming’ what was mine. Was I Indigenous enough? What could I ‘claim’ and if so, how? You helped and continue to help me stand solidly in my Indigenous roots – so my tree of life can grow and bloom strong. You also helped me find a way to merge all worlds – the scientific, energetic, quantum, Traditional, Indigenous. Under your auspices I learned how to integrate all – clinical practice and spiritual offerings. Through the teachings you shared – you showed me a way out of where I was, and a way to all that is. And you planted the seeds for the future. You helped me find a way to bring the integrity and ethics of the Ancestors, Elders and Ancient Ones, into best practice offerings in ‘this new ever changing’ western world.

Elina Helander, Sami Elder… How do I express words to share my gratitude with you? So often tears still well up when I think of our exchanges. How amazing for both of us – to realize the full impact of the teachings of our Ancestors. You – trained orally by your Father and Mother…helped me, a young woman born on another land, stand in the fire of her blood line, the one trained ‘old style’ … through the AEAO we share the natural world with and through the AEAO in the Spirit realm. Thank you for acknowledging and accepting me – and in that – helping me accept who I am and how I am to serve.  Thank you for being the guiding light you are.

I am also humbly grateful to both Kenneth Cohen and Dr. Lewis Mehl-Madrona, for your willingness to answer your phones all those years ago. To come and share with our community. To become friend and inspirator – you helped me frame, describe and bring further into the world all I am.  You provided me models of how to balance all worlds.   It matters not whether our connection in the physical world is constant – for you both – are all ways guiding, reminding and assisting me to move forward.

I give thanks, Sat Nam, to Sat Dharam Kaur, Nirmal Singh and Daya Kaur for sharing with me your years of teachings. For uplifting, challenging and encouraging me to deepen and broaden my understanding and sharing of Kundalini Yoga teachings. It is a privilege every time we cross paths.

To all of you, every day, you and yours are in my prayers – you are a part of the service I provide and the transformation I assist with …. Your imprints ripple and continue to strengthen the web of life in all ways

Putting the teachings to the test…
Life continued … raising youth as a single mother, running a business, keeping a practice alive, providing a community meeting place, being a multicultural safe haven, bringing Elders into community to share with others, facilitating groups, events, talking circles, sacred fires and continuing to learn, grow and evolve.
One day, death arrived on my doorstep, falling into multi-system organ failure, dying and returning to life … to a severely damaged body. It was here all my teachings – my ability to listen, follow and act – were put to the test. Showing me how to fight to stay alive, how to surrender to death, only to find being given a choice to return. The western medical system did a wonderful job at keeping this body alive, creating medical stability and saying I was ‘cured’, kicking me out before my body came out of shock and refusing to help me when my pain escalated to levels I wish on no person – telling me my pain was ‘all in my head’.  A gift in disguise.  From this rebirth it has taken 15 years before I restored full balance in all aspects of my being…and once again attained full vital health.  You also would add a severe fall on my face in the final two years – at speed – to help break up the hard entrenched damage and see with new eyes.  Another story soon to be told….

And here – in this journey – I solidified the truth of all the teachings you Ancestors, Elders and Ancient Ones had shared with me through a lifetime. Here – I learned the incredible and amazing ability of the human body to restore itself. Here – I learned the full value of life and of death … and the full cycle of living and dying … and the relations we have along the way – with our self and others surround us.

Moving forward…
Here I stand now – knowing what I know today – knowing that tomorrow is a new day and there is a vast potential to learn more … and … knowing that if there is a day that arrives where I no longer have something to learn, it is the day I will return home.

I give thanks and praise to all the teachers, guides, mentors and Ancestors, Elders and Ancient Ones (AEAO) along the way.

When I died, I was given the opportunity to return.  I chose to return, with a commitment to restore right relations within and surround me, to follow the guidance of the AEAO, to represent them in the best way possible and to share with those who are receptive, willing to learn and willing to act.  I am here to serve all.

Blessings…Sandi