A Sad Day: A Great Teacher has passed on
Today, at the age of 97, Grandfather William Commanda, Keeper of the Sacred Wampum Belts, died at his home at Kitigan Zibi in southern Ontario. I had the enormous honor of meeting this extraordinary man at a gathering at his home a few years back. It is difficult to express the aura that surrounded this humble man, but it was palpable even at a distance. All at the gathering held him in reverent respect.
Perhaps a thousand folks, mostly Algonquin, but including other first-nations representatives, and visitors from as far away as New Zealand and South America, gathered for 3 days on his land. Each morning would begin with a prayer and I was able to arrive early enough on the last morning to participate in it. Inside the sacred circle where the fire had been burning since the beginning of the gathering, a number of elders were seated. A young Lakota man led the prayer, and knowing that there were non-natives in the audience, explained the ceremony. It was a ceremony to welcome the rising sun and the start of the new day. It was deeply moving.
Afterwards, folks gathered for a teaching by Grandfather, who began with a prayer, as all things are begun. He first spoke in Algonquin, then in French, then in English, for the Algonquin people have had to be trilingual. Later, he asked if he could sing a song, which he did in Latin! (He had had to learn it in the schools which native children were forced to attend). Each day he did a teaching from one of the three sacred Wampum Belts, the oldest of which is the Seven Fires Prophecy Belt.
Grandfather had a dream which he called "The Circle of All Nations." It is an effort to bring peace and understanding to all peoples of the world, built on First-Nation principles. I am the possessor of a book about him in which this dream is described. It is inscribed by Grandfather. I shall treasure it, as I will treasure meeting this most remarkable man.
May his spirit find peace and may his dream become a reality.
Perhaps a thousand folks, mostly Algonquin, but including other first-nations representatives, and visitors from as far away as New Zealand and South America, gathered for 3 days on his land. Each morning would begin with a prayer and I was able to arrive early enough on the last morning to participate in it. Inside the sacred circle where the fire had been burning since the beginning of the gathering, a number of elders were seated. A young Lakota man led the prayer, and knowing that there were non-natives in the audience, explained the ceremony. It was a ceremony to welcome the rising sun and the start of the new day. It was deeply moving.
Afterwards, folks gathered for a teaching by Grandfather, who began with a prayer, as all things are begun. He first spoke in Algonquin, then in French, then in English, for the Algonquin people have had to be trilingual. Later, he asked if he could sing a song, which he did in Latin! (He had had to learn it in the schools which native children were forced to attend). Each day he did a teaching from one of the three sacred Wampum Belts, the oldest of which is the Seven Fires Prophecy Belt.
Grandfather had a dream which he called "The Circle of All Nations." It is an effort to bring peace and understanding to all peoples of the world, built on First-Nation principles. I am the possessor of a book about him in which this dream is described. It is inscribed by Grandfather. I shall treasure it, as I will treasure meeting this most remarkable man.
May his spirit find peace and may his dream become a reality.
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