October25,2010

To: ChiefLouiseWapachee
Councillors,
AnthonyHughboy
Darlene$hecapioBlacksmith
GerryBosum
SamR. Eosum
PatrickMianscum
JanieW. Mequish

From: RedfernMianscum.
BandMember

Re: Concerningthe Petition about the Sweat Lodge

I am writingthisletterconcerning
the petitionthatwaspassedaroundourcommunity
aboutthe
sweatlodgethat I builtat LanaWapachee's place.

I wouldliketo takethisopportunity to explainwhy I buildthe sweatlodgein ourreserve.lfeel

likeI wasnotgiventhe chanceto explainwhatthisceremony is about.We usethissweatlodge
to cleanseour minds,bodyandspirit,as wellas to prayandtalkto God.The lodgewasbuild?or
healingpurposes for our people.lt is a placeof prayerandhealing, we all agreethatthereis
onlyoneGodandwe allprayto himin ourownway.

Underthe CanadianCharterof RightsandFreedoms ggy.y,Sgtq_d$.$;-g,{$

clearlyexplains
the
rightsof conscience,
freedomof religion,freedomof thought,belief,opinion,andthe protection
of multicultural
heritageetc.As wellas the Quebec'sCharterof HumanRights
TheGCCEIandCRArecognize
W$/sl${.p$j",,*"q,ee. andrespectthe resolution 2010-08,that
eachindividualhasthe rightto freelypracticetheirreligious
andspiritualbeliefswithinthe
Eeyoulstchee,therefore; I havethe rightto practicemy spiritualbeliefsthathavehelpedme
withmy healingjourneyandthe healingmethodsof ourancestors whichI respectandshould
be protected.

I as a personhavenothingagainstanyotherbeliefor religion, I believethatanywayis rightif it

makesa personbetterand bringshimor hercloserto Godor Creator, We as childrenof God
shouldrespecteachothersbeliefs,ways,andshouldputthe importance on theworkwe do on
ourselves and notjudgeothers,goddoesnotjudgefor whatwe do hereon earthbutgaveus
the freewillto do whatfeelsrightby listening
to our hearts.

I am requesting
a meetingif we needto discussthisimportant
matteranyfurther,I canbe
reachedat 418-774'9924and by email,fSM

Thankyoufor yourunderstanding
andhopingto heara favourable
reply
Yoursrespectfully
'i- ,
r 1 : ' i : . .' : i ' *; :i"i
,i.. l,,tJ { iiLlt ii "

RedfernMianscum
 5t Barnabas'
AngliranChurch
3 Aspenl lest, ChurchPhoner819-75$-2559
lIVnswanipi,
Quebec ftectoryPhone:819-7$3-I422
JoY3C0 email:r@
0ctober26,2010 r^ yr-nrtr+ y k ;,r'c;i*1$)y,-ih C/J . C(r,"-i

To: ChiefLouiseWapachee& Membersof Ouje BougarnauCreeNationCouncil

Re:SweatLodgein communityof OujeBougamou

I am writingthis letterat the requestof RedfernMianscum,whom I understandhasbuilta

sweatlodgein the Ouje Bougamouterritory for the purposesof prayerand healing. I also
understandthat the presenceof the sweatlodgein the communityhascausedgreatconcern
amonga numberof the communitymembers,to the extentthat a petitionhasnow been
presentedto you, callingfor the removalof the sweatlodge.

I am a priestof the AnglicanDioceseof Moosonee,and haveservedGod'speoplein Cree

territoriesaroundJamesBayand inlandQuebecsince1994" Beforethat I servedas a prieston
Manitoulinlslandfor 5 years. In this periodof time, whileworkingas a Christianpastoramong
Ojibwayand then Creepeoples,I havebeenprivileged to accompanymanyon the spiritual
journeyin life. l havebeenhonouredto hearmanystoriesof peoplefindinghealingand
wholenessin JesusChrist.I havealsobeenmadea\,r/are
that traditionalceremonies
suchasthe
sweatlodgehave beenand continueto be powerfulvehiclesof healingin the livesof many
individuals.Sometimes
they are evena part of the healingjourneyin life of personswhom I
experience
as stronglyChristcenteredpeople,

I am certainthat as a Councilyou are all concernedto seethe very bestfor the peopleof your
community,and are distressed to seethe divisionand bitternesswhichhavearisenalong
religiouslineson the issueof the sweatlodge"HenceI would encourageyou to work for a
solutionto this divisionwhichwill respectand honourthe specialgiftsof healingin the way of
the sweatlodge,and all the specialgifts of healingwhich are at work in the livesof the people
of the community"

Thankyou for hearingmy voice.

May you know God'sguidanceand wisdomasyou dealwith this issue.

Yourssincerely,

t{$i,ri ,}.
The RevCanonCliff Dee.
Rector,St Barnabas'Church
Sentby Email

October
27,2010

Redfem Mianscum
CommunityMember Otlje-Bougonmou

The presentis in supportof yourchoiceto utilizethe "mitutsaan" sweatlodgein your

personalhealing; our eldershavetaughtmethatthe creatorhasgiftedus with
everythingwe requiredto livefull healthyliveswith a strongsenseof identity.
ThisSelf-awareness is integralto beinga wellbalanced individual,Manytimeswe used
healingceremonies
traditional for "therapy"the sweatlodgeor steamtent isjust one
example, whichis usedforhealingthat is spiritual,physicaland emotional in nature.
Theremanywayson howthe sweatlodgemaybe used,I wastaughtby manyelders
in ourcommunities thatsometimes the individualwentin alone,or justtheconductor
andthe individualthat wassick. TodayI feelthatwe haveso muchto dealwiththat
the usehasevolvedintohow it is usedtoday.

The impacts by our people,

of our colonialhistoryneedto be understood a by-product
is "lateralviolence",andthis mustalsobe understood by our people.In understanding
lateralviolence andhowwe internalized the worstvaluesof the Oppressorwe will
beginto understand and be awareandfreeourselves fromthisdynamic.

Thisis oneof the mostimportantissues to be overcomeby our peoplepresently.

It
manifests in all the prevailingsocialproblems we facetoday,domesticviolence,
suicide,
all dysfunctions that affectus as individuals,
families'communities
andalsoour
institutions'.

In mostcommunities, we havehighalcohol abuse,drugabuse,suiciderates,sexual

abusedysfunctionalfamiliesandhopelessness;onlywe cando something aboutthis.
Andit is apparent positive
that theseissueshaven'tfounda vehicletowardsreaching
formsof resolution
and reconciliation.

In TheSpiritof Healing

Lawrence MemberChisasibi
House,Community
 Octcber16,lnl$

Tu: ehiefandCouncil,
Oui*bcug*umsu
€resFirstl*atin*
Oulebougaurncu
Sand

Fr m: Marjorielcebound,$upporterof f,ree$pirituatity& Traditicns

82APineStreet
Waswanipi,QcJOYSCO
r phone:{SlS}.8S0-156g
Cellula

Watchia,

I am wrhingthis letter on behalfof RedfernMianscumandthe $weat Lodgehe built ln your community,

In Waswanipi,we havea swaat lodgefor sur communityrnernbersfor nearlyt*n y€afs noru;we make
this *vailablefor nur c*mrnunltyhealing.Thelodgeitselfrepr*s€ntsa placeof prayer,a naturalchurch
where p*ople c*n rtceive healing,guidance,forgiveness,and underutandingof the imBrrtanc* of Lif*
andSod.

We teach pecple abnut $acrednessof the land, GOD, Love, ftespect,Cornpaorinn,Humility,Truth,

Hon*sty,Wisdom,Caring,Sharingand manymoretaaching$thst comsrrith our $piritualteachings"

A re$ponsibilityis given ta the perscnsthat take care of the ladger, *lsn cornesth$ duty of Human
kindness,Family,Cornmunity.and Hation" Thesevalueshavs restoredindividuals.and familier from
alcoholism,drug addictions,family vinlence,suicideidaations,mental health, etc".. Today in our
g€neration;we utilire theseladgesfor healingpurBose$, whils nur grandfathers usedthenr tn lo*k fnr
food beca$seof starvations,the hardshipsthat sccurredin their time.

Ws aretaughtto respectall Heligions,and all &nliefsfcr thsy atl 6ood and alt arn frnm 6od"

Marjorielcebound

Supporter: MichaelGrant,
53 Tamarack
$tieet
Waswanipi,QCJOY3C0
Hsrnephone:{819}-753"2161
 A b e l 5K
. itchen
77SpruceStreet
Waswanipi, Quebec
JOY3c0

Phone:819-753-2097 [- mai|: gbeltkfrshs"*#"x|1a,f3{sgfrXj$nffi

October26,201^0

Redfren
Mianscum
Ouje-Bougoumou

petitionon Sweatlodge
Re:Comrnunity

DearRedfern,

T.his
isfurtherto oLrrmeetingyesterdayregar,dingthe petition,whichyourcornrnunitymernbors have
sendto youregarding the sweatlodge
locatedin the comrnunity, and yourrequestfor support.

I amawareof theconfusion andfearattached to thisissueof Indianbeliefsystems,asI encountered

thiswhenI wasworkingfor the CreeHealthboardto introduce traditionalmedicine
intothe health
services,Therewa$onedirectivethat wasveryclearfromthe eldersthat I consulted andlncluded the
conceptthatthis wasa community issueandeachcornrnunity shoulddecideon howlndianbelief
systern$shouldbe developed andimplemented locally,
Theystatedthat eachcommunityisdiffer,ent
andeachwouldprobably wantsomething uniqueto theircornmunity. Theyemphasized thattheelder,s
of the community, whoareawareof ourceremonies, shouldbe involved, andprovidedirectionto the
cornmunitv members, Asa person, involvedandwalking thisroad,I haveapproached thismatterof
nativespirituality
anditsevolutionon thisbase,

ln viewof the above,it wouldbe inappropriate

for me,asanoutsiderto interfereandbe involved at this
tir*e,exceptto offermy voiceandunderstanding in the futureuponan invitationfrornthe community"

Asthisistherootof lndianculture,I sentyouprayers tCIyouandyour

andallmy bestwishes

,ry,K;:)
cornmunityfor a decision by God,whichwillmeetallyourneedsandaspirations,
inspired

t Kitchen
,Y
October
26, 2010
To: ChiefLouiseWapachee
Councillors,
AnthonyHughboy
Darlene$hecapioBlacksmith
Gerry Bosum
$arnR. Bosum
PatrickMianscum
JanieW. Meguish

From: FritzMatti,CustomGunsmith,
andTeacher.

Re: Goncerning the Fetition about the $weat Lodge

I am bornin Switzerland,baptizedprotestant.
We werecalledhereticsby certainpeopleof our
townoftenjudgedandcursedseverely justfor whatwe were.
Aftermorethanhalfa centurygoneby I knowthatthosepeopleat thattimeonlybelieved to
understand but reallyhadno understanding abouttheteachingof the Christor the $piritof God
at thattime.I hopetheyopenedthe heartandlearnedon theirwaythruLifeto comprehend and
livethewonderful teachingsof Love,Truths,Respect,Harmony, WisdomandHumil1y.
Teaching sincethe endof winterin Waswanipi I was invitedseveraltimesto a Ceremony by my
Creefriendsandwaswellintroduced to the symbolism andteachings of the oldways,the
Heritageof the Aboriginal
Peoples.

I foundnothingbador evilfor thatmatter,onlysincerity towardsGodthe Creator,harmonywith

natureandeverything thereis. I founda sinceredesireto helpthe youngandold,prayingto
helpthelost,to findthemselves andleadthemto a betterlife.
Onedayin my workas a teacherI receiveda thaught,thedefinition of the worddiscrimination
thatgoesas follows:
Discriminatlonrs the non acceptanceof thedifference!
Thisis in no way a judgement; justa thoughtandI hopemywordswillbringabouta peaceful
solutionto thissituation"
Anybodycancontactme for moreinformation.

0c (819-463-0075