Circle of relations

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	August 22 (4:00 PM) -28 (1:00 PM),2000 homebase: Prairie Christian Training Centre in the Qu'Appelle Valley, near Fort Qu'Appelle
I would be honoured to have one of my poems on the Women~Land~Spirit website. Grandmother's Land is, I think, the piece that best reflects my time at the Circle of Relations Gathering which was a 'coming home' event for me. Bernadette Wagner	Grandmother's Land Rolling hills like Grandmother's curves comfort me, take me home to my self to where I am born and reborn Covered with crocuses and gray-green wool this land speaks to me, lulls me as Grandmother's kleine Kind sharp accent of sage fills me Trees, green and full, whisper stories of the ancients as we wander a path over boughs and burrows, between poplar and willow, under dappled light and leaves As birds chirrup over head Grandmother pulls me close to an elm where young robins squeak excitement as they feed on insects and seeds A broken patch grows rows of beans and peas, potatoes and corn radishes and onions. At one end three stands of rhubarb await pies, raspberries redden for jam and crabapples sweeten to juice Grandmother's house fills with the scent of her magic when snow rests her land and back room bees make quilts to warm me On Grandmother's land the seasons follow one another. No matter what the land will remember. - Bernadette L. Wagner
Here are some of the paragraphs from my submission to the Women~Land~Spirit Anthology that I would be pleased to have shared on our web site. Ruth Blaser	In recent years as I walk Grandmothers Hills with women, I am coming to know it as land that holds joy and healing, that holds and respects broken and joyful hearts. Its vastness calls forth imagination and visions. It enables hearts of discernment and embraces hearts of gratitude. But I am also coming to know this land as vulnerable. Racism is deeply planted in the social fabric that surrounds it. Hard feelings, misunderstanding, ignorance and harsh judgments run deep between “white settlers” and Aboriginal people. These words were spoken by a Crow elder at a conference of Native American leaders and activists in Bozeman, Montana in the mid-seventies: “You know, I think if people stay somewhere long enough—even white people—the spirits will begin to speak to them. It’s the power of the spirits coming up from the land. The spirits and the old powers aren’t lost, they just need people to be around long enough and the spirits will begin to influence them.”¹ ¹ Sharon Butala. Wild Stone Heart, an Apprentice in the Fields: Toronto: Harper Flamingo Canada. A Phyllis Bruce Book, 2000, p.188. Ruth Blaser

In the context of the Circle of Relations Gathering Susan Sorensen was inspired by Sight and Sensibility	Sight and Sensibility: the Ecopsychology of Perception by Laura Sewell " A provocative blend of science, psychology, philosophy, and personal expereience, Sight and Sensibility shows how we may be able to restructure our brains visual neural networks in order to see more of the world. Sewell's urgent message is that as our perception deepens, not only are we blessed with an enhanced visual expereince, but if we see the world differently we will treat it differently".
These questions for reflection were posed by Sue Starr from Whitehorse	What meaning do I take from the words " living lightly on the earth"? How can I create personal intention from that meaning? How can I live toward that intention in my life....within my community? What sustains me along the way? Susan Starr

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We wish to acknowledge and thank the
following sponsors of this gathering:

Sacred Web Society, SK

Saskatchewan Lotteries

and the former Women’s Healthsharing