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RemaTREE.Arting
Honoring Sacred Nurturing
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Last month, we gathered on the land for a beautiful time of Land-Centred Healing as we celebrated our RemaTREE.Arting retreat.
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We began our sacred journey together by soaking our feet in juniper and sage medicines, allowing their gifts to cleanse, ground, and reconnect us with the Earth beneath us. Opening into ceremony, from this place of connection, we set our intentions, honouring Mother Earth and all Earth Mamas in their light and shadow.
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We came together in circle, sharing songs, stories, EcoArting experiences, and nourishing feasts. We created spaces to reawaken our connection to the sacred nurturing energies of nurturing, protection, care, and belonging
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that live within each of us.
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We were deeply blessed to learn, create, and heal together, as we honoured our peaceful, sustainable, inclusive, and Indigenist ways of knowing.
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We celebrated the wisdom of our ancestors, our connections to the land, and the diversity of all our relations,
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including our two-spirit, gender-fluid and Earth-loving ancestral teachings.
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As always, we were reminded that healing is never an individual journey.
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LIFE as Medicine with VIDEA and
Club Inclusion
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This spring, LIFE as Medicine was honoured to partner with VIDEA to deliver three-creative arts workshops at Club Inclusion in Halifax. VIDEA (Victoria International Development Education Association) is a Canadian feminist and human rights organisation. VIDEA partners with Indigenous communities and youth to end global poverty and promote climate, gender, and social justice. Club Inclusion is a Drop-In Club in the HRM where everyone is included! Club Inclusion makes sure that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs), physical barriers, and Autism can grow, connect, and thrive as individuals and as a community.
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The LIFE as Medicine workshop series, based on the theme of Spring, brought together imagination, storytelling, and community connection. Participants were invited to create clay animals. Working with their hands people shaped animals and beings that held special meaning for them. The process encouraged exploration, playfulness, and self-expression. The following week we brought our creations to life through colour. Participants painted their animals, selecting colours, patterns, and details that reflected their vision. The room was filled with laughter, conversation, and concentration. In our final session, together we created a landscape for the special beings and animals to inhabit. On craft paper we created a rushing river, using paint, and moss, and stones, shells and fairy lights.
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Throughout the series, participants demonstrated incredible imagination, patience, and engagement. More importantly, the workshops created opportunities for connection, confidence-building, and shared experiences. The creative process encouraged participants to explore new ideas, support one another, and take pride in their accomplishments.
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Wela'lin to everyone who helped make this series such a meaningful and memorable experience. We look forward to creating together again soon.
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From left to right: Ana Karis (VIDEA), LIFE as Medicine Grandmother - Jean Tait, LIFE as Medicine Collaborator - Stephanie Garvey, and Lili Coyesloiselle (VIDEA).
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GrandMother Jean Tait painting in the rapids at Club Inclusion.
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