3:5 – Healing Through Acceptance

Describe how King uses the cyclical paradigm of the Medicine Wheel (and a little help from Coyote) to teach us to understand, or at least to try to understand the power behind the stories we tell ourselves.

In order to understand Thomas King’s novel Green Grass Running Water, I had to read much of it aloud to myself. The Medicine Wheel also influenced my understanding. I wanted to learn more about the Medicine Wheel so I found more information about it on the National Library of Medicine website. The Medicine Wheel, described by this website, is referred to as the “Sacred Hoop” that has been used by generations of Native Americans for healing purposes. It embodies Four Directions, Four colours – red, black, white, and yellow, Father Sky, Mother Earth and Spirit Tree that are in a constant circular cycle. Something interesting noted about the Medicine Wheel is that it takes on different forms. This definition made me think about interconnection and how everything relates to one another, especially the saying that “everything happens for a reason.” As we have discovered from our readings in this course, this interconnection is central to Indigenous Peoples’ ideas, views, traditions, and practices. The Four Directions of the Medicine Wheel are North, East, South, West but they can also represent life stages, seasons, aspects of life, natural elements, animals, and ceremonial plants that are natural medicines – sweetgrass, cedar, sage, and tobacco. Reading more about the Medicine Wheel has opened my eyes to a different view on health. Reading about the Medicine Wheel has also given me a new admiration for Indigenous beliefs as nature, humanity and tradition are all connected with no divide. Dragonfly Consulting Services Canada’s section on Aboriginal Worldviews describes how interconnectedness is present in Aboriginal culture’s despite their differing cultural perspectives, traditions and practices. Interconnectedness is “a spiritual doctrine and provides guidance for the human journey through life.” The description continues by emphasizing that while there are different circles within interconnection, like community and family for example, within these circles “there are multiple reciprocal relationships.” I think this is important because this description explains that while there are differences, in the end everything is still connected.

I think that King’s usage of the symbol of the Medicine Wheel in his novel emphasizes the importance of this interconnection in Indigenous culture. I recognized that along with the Four Directions, King’s novel is also split up into four parts. I think that in King’s usage of the Medicine Wheel a need for healing is evident. The Medicine Wheel represents healing and interconnection in Indigenous cultures, but I think King’s weaving of it into his novel portrays an emphasis on the need for healing in Indigenous cultures from the injustices, pain, and suffering they have experienced. Along with this healing, I think a need for an acceptance of difference is emphasized. Although we all may not understand Indigenous traditions, ideas, medicine, stories and much more, we can be open to learning about them and accepting them even if we do not follow them. I think this is extremely important and thinking back to the interconnectedness of all things, this means we as human beings are all connected no matter the culture we are brought up in or what we believe in. This relates to stories because it is in our own stories, and in those of others that we can relate to, that we find meanings, a sense of belonging, and a healing. Whether we learn from our own personal experiences or from the stories of others, stories teach us more about ourselves and the world around us. Thinking about stories always makes me think of how they cannot be taken back and I think this also represents how our experiences cannot be undone, whether positive or negative, and that they shape our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Contemplating this more, I think that all of this stresses that recognizing and accepting interconnectedness is crucial.

Thinking about Coyote, I think a connection between teaching, learning, acceptance, and healing is evident. Coyote’s constant questions and wonderings in King’s novel made me think about how we as humans do this as well with things we do not understand. I think that King, shaping Coyote in this way, portrays that it is okay to question the decisions, ideas, and choices of others and ourselves, but that acceptance of our undeniable connection with the natural world is what can heal the divide between cultures. Recognizing that the stories of others are just as important as our own is crucial, as is learning from our mistakes and the injustices suffered by Indigenous cultures in order to promote a future world where everyone can be respected equally.

I am interested to know if anyone had any different interpretations of the Medicine Wheel in Green Grass Running Water and if it changed anyone’s ideas about healing and interconnectedness? From my own experience, listening to the stories of others often influences my own choices even if I am not consciously thinking about the story I heard. Does anyone have any experiences similar to this?

Works Cited:

“Aboriginal Worldviews.” Dragonfly Consulting Services Canada, http://dragonflycanada.ca/resources/aboriginal-worldviews/. Accessed 9 Nov 2016.

King, Thomas. Green Grass Running Water. Toronto: Harper Collins, 1993. Print.

“The Medicine Wheel and the Four Directions – Medicine Ways: Traditional Healers and Healing – Healing Ways – Exhibition – Native Voices.” U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/exhibition/healing-ways/medicine-ways/medicine-wheel.html. Accessed 9 Nov 2016.