Beaded portrait on bandolier bag and statement by Rhonda Besaw. Visit Rhonda’s website for more information about her artwork.
Traditionally how would we as Abenaki people have responded to an outbreak of illness within our community? We well know and remember the sorrows of our ancestors who were decimated by disease when the Europeans arrived. With no natural immunity to diseases such as smallpox, it became apparent that we needed to isolate and distance ourselves from the carriers. It meant we had to stop accepting the “gifts” of smallpox infected blankets and become wary of those praying for our destruction. We had to depend upon each other. We depended upon the healers in our community.
We reached out to the ones who were the dreamers, for the dreams carried messages to us. The healers were often Women of Bear and Turtle clans. Such esteemed Women were not only proficient in the physical art of healing through the use of plants and herbs, but had the gift of second sight. Their dreams could hold portent of a cure or warnings of what to avoid. Combined with ancestral knowledge, such a Woman was sought out by those suffering within the community.
Such a Woman was Grandmother Doris Minckler (1926-1997), also known as Grandmother Mourning Dove. For many years, her door was always open to those in need of physical and spiritual healing. She also had the ability to see someone’s soul and share with them their spirit name. This is the name with which we introduce ourselves to the One Who Comes to Us. It is a comfort and a source of strength to know one’s true name.
Unlike allopathic medicine, where an office visit is limited to minutes, a pill is given and the patient goes home, the medicinal care provided by someone such as Grandmother Doris encompasses the mental, spiritual and the physical. The tea is made with prayer and love. The herbs and plants were harvested with thanks and love. This changes the nature of the tea, the plant, to something otherworldly, something sacred. This is where the deep healing begins. All healers know this and humbly accept that they are but a hollow reed. We give great thanks to all such healers and the late Grandmother Doris.