The Red Road to Wellbriety


Book Description

"Time and again our Elders have said that the 12 Steps of AA are just the same as the principles that our ancestors lived by, with only one change. When we place the 12 Steps in a circle then they come into alignment with the circle teachings that we know from many of our tribal ways. When we think of them in a circle and use them a little differently, then the words will be more familiar to us. This book is about a Red Road, Medicine Wheel Journey to Wellbriety--to become sober and well in a Native American cultural way."--Back cover.







RECOVERY 2.0


Book Description

"The feeling was electric-energy humming through my body. I felt like blood was pouring into areas of my tissues that it had not been able to reach for some time. It was relieving and healing, subtler than the feeling from getting off on drugs, but it was detectable and lovely, and of course, there was no hangover, just a feeling of more ease than I could remember. I felt a warmth come over me similar to what I felt when I had done heroin, but far from the darkness of that insanity, this was pure light-a way through." - Tommy Rosen, on his first yoga experience Most of us deal with addiction in some form. While you may not be a fall-down drunk, anorexic, or a gambling addict, you likely struggle with addiction in other ways. Workaholism, overeating, and compulsively engaging with technology like video games, texting, and Facebook are also highly common examples. And if you don't suffer from addiction, chances are you know someone who does. Through more than 20 years of recovery and in working professionally with others, Tommy Rosen has uncovered core elements of recovery and healing, what he refers to as Recovery 2.0. In the book, he shares his own past struggles with addiction, and powerful, tested tools for breaking free from the obstacles that stand in the way of a holistic and lasting recovery. Building off the key tenets of the 12-Step program, he has developed an innovative approach that includes • Looking at the roots of addiction; your family history and "Addiction Story" • Daily breathing practices, meditation, yoga, and body awareness • A healthy, alkaline-based diet to aid with detox, boost immunity, increase vitality, support your entire recovery, and help prevent relapse • Discovering your mission, living on purpose, and being of service to others Recovery 2.0 will help readers not only release their addictions, but thrive in their recovery.




Tradition, Performance, and Religion in Native America


Book Description

In contemporary Indian Country, many of the people who identify as "American Indian" fall into the "urban Indian" category: away from traditional lands and communities, in cities and towns wherein the opportunities to live one's identity as Native can be restricted, and even more so for American Indian religious practice and activity. Tradition, Performance, and Religion in Native America: Ancestral Ways, Modern Selves explores a possible theoretical model for discussing the religious nature of urbanized Indians. It uses aspects of contemporary pantribal practices such as the inter-tribal pow wow, substance abuse recovery programs such as the Wellbriety Movement, and political involvement to provide insights into contemporary Native religious identity. Simply put, this book addresses the question what does it mean to be an Indigenous American in the 21st century, and how does one express that indigeneity religiously? It proposes that practices and ideologies appropriate to the pan-Indian context provide much of the foundation for maintaining a sense of aboriginal spiritual identity within modernity. Individuals and families who identify themselves as Native American can participate in activities associated with a broad network of other Native people, in effect performing their Indian identity and enacting the values that are connected to that identity.




Kiss of the Fur Queen


Book Description

Born into a magical Cree world in snowy northern Manitoba, Champion and Ooneemeetoo Okimasis are all too soon torn from their family and thrust into the hostile world of a Catholic residential school. Their language is forbidden, their names are changed to Jeremiah and Gabriel, and both boys are abused by priests. As young men, estranged from their own people and alienated from the culture imposed upon them, the Okimasis brothers fight to survive. Wherever they go, the Fur Queen--a wily, shape-shifting trickster--watches over them with a protective eye. For Jeremiah and Gabriel are destined to be artists. Through music and dance they soar.




Think Indigenous


Book Description

A guide to integrating indigenous thinking into modern life for a more interconnected and spiritual relationship with our fellow beings, Mother Earth, and the natural ways of the universe. There is a natural law—a spiritual intelligence that we are all born with that lies within our hearts. Lakota spiritual leader Doug Good Feather shares the authentic knowledge that has been handed down through the Lakota generations to help you make and recognize this divine connection, centered around the Seven Sacred Directions in the Hoop of Life: Wiyóhinyanpata—East: New Beginnings Itókagata—South: The Breath of Life Wiyóhpeyata—West: The Healing Powers Wazíyata—North: Earth Medicine Wankátakáb—Above: The Great Mystery Khúta—Below: The Source of Life Hóchoka—Center: The Center of Life Once you begin to understand and recognize these strands, you can integrate them into modern life through the Threefold Path: The Way of the Seven Generations—Conscious living The Way of the Buffalo—Mindful consumption The Way of the Community—Collective impact




Wisdom Lessons


Book Description

Great-Grandmother Mary Lyons, Ojibwe Elder from Minnesota, is a spiritual advisor, storyteller and wisdom keeper. She travels and teaches internationally with the Indigenous Grandmothers of the Sacred We. She is the founder of the Minnesota Coalition on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, an Indian Child Welfare Act Expert Witness and a Native American Family and Child Advocate. She was a keynote speaker at the Parliament of World Religions in Utah and at the People's Climate March in New York City in 2014. She is a winner of the Congressional Angels in Adoption Award, nominated by Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota. She currently serves as a 4-Core Grandmother Council member for the women's sobriety group Women of Wellbriety International, which she co-founded. Grandmother Mary was one of many Native children removed from her home and placed in an institution; she has first-hand experience the negative effects on children and families of alcohol and drug addiction. After her own recovery, guided by her ancestors, she has dedicated her life to helping others, including fostering and adopting many children with family difficulties, disabilities and fetal alcohol syndrome.




My Decade at Old Sun, My Lifetime of Hell


Book Description

My Decade at Old Sun, My Lifetime of Hell is a simple and outspoken account of the sexual and psychological abuse that Arthur Bear Chief suffered during his time at Old Sun Residential school in Gleichen on the Siksika Nation. In a series of chronological vignettes, Bear Chief depicts the punishment, cruelty, abuse, and injustice that he endured at Old Sun and then later relived in the traumatic process of retelling his story at an examination for discovery in connection with a lawsuit brought against the federal government. He returned to Gleichen late in life—to the home left to him by his mother—and it was there that he began to reconnect with Blackfoot language and culture and to write his story. Although the terrific adversity Bear Chief faced in his childhood made an indelible mark on his life, his unyielding spirit is evident throughout his story.




The Wisdom of the Native Americans


Book Description

This collections of writings by revered Native Americans offers timeless, meaningful lessons and thought-provoking teachings on living and learning.




Teaching the Way of the Medicine Wheel


Book Description

The Native American Medicine Wheel is a philosophy that addresses the four elements of the human condition and helps the individual create and find balance that ensures healthy recovery from the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual struggles we encounter in an oftentimes confusing and hostile world. The book has numerous spiritual quotes in the Seneca tribal language of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people. The full color photos of the animals that depict the cardinal directions, the moons, and the various insightful gifts one receives from following this spiritual, logical, and philosophical path, are vibrant and alive. The love of her traditions and dedication of the author is evident on every page and in every word.