Welcome to the site of Kakaway and Associates, where we offer teachings based on traditional Indigenous values of family and spirituality. Here you can explore the different modules, or levels, that we offer. Our program was designed to deal with dysfunctional behaviours while maintaining a traditional way of life within contemporary society. The different levels are synonymous with going back to school. We start off with basic, traditional teachings, and each subsequent module builds upon the previous lessons.

This is the first level where participants are taught about the sacred circle and the four sacred directions. Smudging is introduced and participants are taught about some of the protocols to be aware of when leading this purification ceremony. Males and females have different roles to play in life, therefore, basic teachings begin at this level.

Length: 2 days.

The framework for this training session is based on the restoration of holistic health. Traditional teachings have been available to us since the beginning of time and have not changed. They may seem somewhat different in various communities, but their goals are much the same: they show that life is a gift. Traditional teachings explain how everything that exists must be in harmony and balance; they teach about maintaining the equilibrium of the spirit. The teachings also show that people need to constantly develop and adapt. Life is revealed as a journey that is packed with events that determine the paths we take. Our choice is simple: we can live in chaos, or we can preserve our traditions.

In this level, participants learn about age-grade teachings. They are conditioned to sit on the floor or ground in a ceremony and they are given instructions about protocols inside the sacred circle. There are up to eighty years of teachings at this level and the participants are taught about the four stages of life and the rites of passage associated with each stage. There is a fifth stage called the "passage home" which speaks about our journey to the other side.

As Indigenous people, we are blessed with ceremonies, such as sweats, fasts, vision quests, teachings of traditional law, age grade teachings, rites of passage with each stage of life, traditional medicines, traditional healing practices, and feasts. The participants who take Traditional Life Skills will discover how these ceremonies restore balance and harmony in their lives. Some of the more salient topics we will explore in this session include:

• Smudging and the power of prayer
• Traditional listening skills
• Protocol of life givers on their cycle
• Stage One – name giving, moss bag teachings, smudge, prayer, and songs
• Stage Two – puberty and rites of passage, fasting, male and female roles
• Stage Three – ceremony, fasts, feasts, healing medicines, traditional law
• Stage Four – right to correct and maintain balance, traditional roles
• Stage Five – all levels teach about the Passage Home
• Knowledge Keepers
• Traditional teachers – use the following skills: ceremony, guidance, traditional healing, age-grade teachings, and prescribing traditional medicines
• Ceremonialists – use traditional knowledge to perform ceremonies
• Healers – their treatment is holistic. They can explain the unknown. We must follow proper protocol to access their services
• Helpers – there are different types of helpers and protocols
• Self-assessment tool is optional
• Sharing a traditional meal and making spirit plates
• Certificates of completion

Length: 5 days.

Participants start in a classroom, but they will go out to the land where our medicines are found. They are taught how to prepare willow offerings, pray with them, and put them out. With willow offerings, they will have tools for helping loved ones overcome addictions. They also learn the difference between a spirit and a soul. They will learn the different smudges used in accessing a spiritual connection, and medicines for protecting their homes.

We should know about prayers and the gift of life. There are no shortcuts, and we need to understand our role and commitment to Creator. There are protocols and laws in accessing a pipe and stem. They are different bundles, smudges, and tobacco used, in meditation while opening our souls to Creator in a humble way.

Participants will discover these teachings help prepare them for a sweat lodge, vision quest and fasting ceremony. Some of the more salient topics include:

• Maintaining balance and harmony
• How to achieve balance in contemporary society
• The different smudges used in accessing a spiritual connection
• Controlling your conscious and subconscious in a humble way
• The roles of male and female helpers
• The meaning of songs (calling, prayer, sending home, animal spirits, and Creator)
• Seasonal teachings
• Old time and contemporary offerings: willow, money, sugar, berries, coloured cloth, tobacco, fat, and food
• The presentation of graduation kits
• Certificates of completion

Length: 5 days.

Lateral violence stems from colonialism, residential schools, and the Sixties Scoop. It is found in cyber-bullying, alcohol and drug addictions, mental illness, low self-esteem, gang violence, sexual abuse, and systemic racism. Isolation, boredom, and despair can be contributing factors to high suicide rates. In order to deal with this epidemic we need to return to our culture. Some of the topics we cover in this module include:

• The smudging ceremony
• The different smudges used in accessing a spiritual connection
• The women's marking ceremony
• The root causes of suicide
• Addictions leading to suicide
• Values past and present
• The difference between religion and spirituality
• Rites of passage for youth, adults, and elders
• The role of elders when dealing with suicides
• Offerings that help in the grieving process
• Cutting and peeling a set of 40 willows
• Tying, smudging, and putting out traditional offerings
• The importance of the fasting ceremony
• Other ceremonies used to restore balance
• Our passage home
• Certificates of completion

Length: 5 days.

Indigenous people are guardians of the land and always maintained a close connection to it. The impact of historical practices that separated children from their families robbed them of their culture. Our children and youth need to learn about "spirituality" from birth so they will know their roles within their families. Traditional parenting shapes an understanding of our values and instils pride into Indigenous families. Some of the more salient topics we cover include:

• Assisting our youth to develop a balanced sense of self
• Teaching the importance of traditional names
• The role of a helper
• Learning about male and female roles in a traditional family
• Introducing a youth's rite of passage – vision quest
• Preparing for a mate (story of meeting parents with a helper)
• What happens when youth start dating?
• Marriage as a rite of passage for adults
• Explaining the difference between a senior and an elder
• Examining the role of an elder in a traditional family
• Expanding one's knowledge to include survival, kinship, and traditions
• Manuals as required reading
• Certificates of completion

Length: 5 days.

In our communities, many of our youth are faced with boredom, poverty, lateral violence (including cyber-bullying), family violence, and low self-esteem. This can have a negative impact and lead to substance abuse and addictions. Our traditions can help an individual make healthier choices when they are confronted with challenges in their lives. Some of the more salient topics we cover in this module include:

• Explanation of the marking ceremony
• Explanation of the smudging ceremony
• The story of our first smudge
• The story of our deal with Creator
• Gifts our Creator gave to us
• What we were born into today
• The root causes of addictions
• Our value systems past and present
• Conventional forms of treatment
• Traditional forms of treatment
• The different smudges in accessing a spiritual connection
• Learning the difference between a soul and a spirit
• Traditional and contemporary offerings
• Helping a loved one with addictions
• Protecting yourself and your homes from addictions
• Certificates of completion

The fee for the Level One Module is $3,200, while the 5-day Modules are $8,000 each, plus travel & expenses.

If you are interested in hosting any of these workshops, please write to us for further details at .

 

Robert Kakakaway

As Founder of Kakakaway & Associates, I believe in the value of a good education. After acquiring my B.G.S. degree, I went on to earn numerous counselling diplomas and certificates, but at the end of it all, I didn't know a thing about my culture. I was lost!

So, I went to the bush and listened to nature and the animals. They told me my name was "Koppi-nook-sik." They told me if I worked for Creator they would guide and protect me. That's when the real education began. The plants and animals taught me about Creator's law, natural law, traditional law, and ceremony. They offered me smudges and a sacred pipe which would become my lifeline to the spirit world. They gave me teachings only found in the spirit world and acquired through ceremonies. I feel honoured to share these teachings with anyone who wants to learn from them.

 

Vanessa Kakakaway

I am from the Whitecap Dakota First Nation in central Saskatchewan. I teach traditional life skills, traditional offerings, traditional parenting, suicide intervention, and dealing with addictions workshops. I also teach about the protocols around ceremony and age-grade teachings. These traditional teachings are very helpful when dealing with everyday problems. I have been facilitating traditional teachings since 2002. I have travelled here and there learning about my culture and I've seen our people do many of our ceremonies differently but the end result was always the same. It was a great honour to have been able to sit in many different ceremonies with our Elders and learn about our traditional ways.

My teacher, Phillip Auger, who is originally from Paddle Prairie, Alberta is a great inspiration for me. His patience and his love for Creator and all of creation has helped me realize that life is simple and to never give up on my faith. Robert, my husband, who is originally from White Bear First Nations, is also a good teacher. I am very grateful that he is a part of my life because he has always been by my side offering me guidance with his patient and understanding ways. We've travelled to many cities and Indigenous communities together for the past sixteen years and I'm grateful for my dream job.

Although I am not sure what the future holds, I try to live each day to the fullest. And now that I am a grandmother, I want to leave my grandchildren with traditional teachings so they can make healthy choices when they are confronted by challenges in their lives. I am grateful for everything that I've learned so far and I know there are many more lessons I have to learn. I try to keep an open mind because I know there is more than one way of doing things and everyone has different teachers, so I will continue to learn as I travel to different Indigenous communities across Canada.

 

Thou Shalt Not Be An Indian

 

Torn Between Two Worlds: A Residential School Survivor's Story

Kakakaway & Associates
511 Sandy Ridge Place
Whitecap, SK
S7K 2L2
Ph: (306) 244-1081 ♦ Fax: (306) 244-1071