Waskamatsiwin–Everything that’s alive is sacred. As Eruoma Awashish, an Atikamekw from Opitciwan, another Indigenous group in Eastern Canada, said in the CBC Gem series, “Telling Our Stories”,

“Waskamatsiwin is a philosophical concept. It could be translated as to live in full consciousness within the harmony of the Circle. For me the word expresses our entire worldview, how we see ourselves in relation to the world. How we interact with the world. We aren’t in the centre of this circle. We are within it.”

This is very different from the spiritual colonialism of Europeans and Canadians. They don’t claim to be dominant or in the centre. It is enough to be part of the world of nature.

Steve McComber, Kanien’kehà:ka from Kahnawake said

“spirituality is the application of ritual, song, dance, people, laughing, singing, and being happy for what our Creator gave to us.”

Saige Mukash, Eeyou from Whapmagoostui, added

“Spirituality would be us communicating with the spirit world. Communication with ceremonies, and also an understanding of where we all fit into the Circle.”

Another woman said,

“Bears play an essential role in our spirituality. It is also said that they speak the language of men. The bear is our equal. Our brother. Our protector. Many nations also respectfully call them Nimisho, my grandfather. Like all living and non-living beings the bear is a part of our circular world-view.”

It was interesting for me to consider Indigenous spirituality as we drove through eastern Canada