Indigenous Magic for Turbulent Times
Part 1: Meet Christin Dennis, Aamjiwnaang Knowledge Carrier
How do we survive these troubling times? Christin Dennis offers his own answers through stories of perseverance and survival. He explains how he overcame loss, racism, bullying, and alcoholism
by embracing his people’s wisdom and transforming himself through the magic of the sweat lodge. As an artist and knowledge carrier, he now disseminates what he’s learned to all people who need it. And his answer to the question of what each one of us can do to help is both unexpected and deeply moving. Listen to Part 1 of our conversation with Christin Dennis in this episode of Grounded Magic.
Christin Dennis is a member of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation in Southern Ontario, Canada. His traditional name is Gzhiiaqwat (She u quot), which translates to Fast-Moving Cloud. He is an artist and a musician. He is also a survivor of the Sixties Scoop, in which indigenous children were forcefully taken away from their families and communities and adopted into primarily Christian, Caucasian homes.
Christin’s art reflects on the current era in Indigenous culture, focusing on the sweat lodge and carrying the traditions of old into the contemporary world. He tells the stories of indigenous heritage and the importance of preserving traditional values.
For Christin, art is a means of expressing his passionate interconnection with "the spirit of all that exists." A spiritual healer as well as an artist, he stresses the importance of traditional teachings and spiritual growth. As such, he has facilitated sweat lodges for many years. Christin emphasizes that awareness of self and one's place in the world is important for members of both Native and non-Native cultures. Perhaps paradoxically, he uses cutting edge technology to make a statement about the distinctive place of ancient Indigenous cultures in a complex, contemporary, multicultural world.
By understanding and embracing the teachings of the ancestral past, Christin seeks to preserve a way of life, document its core value, and help build a vision for our future.
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