The goal of this awesome project is to encourage Native girls and women to be more aware of and connected to their traditional culture. During this awesome event, there will be two main thrusts: the teaching of women's ceremonies, and a hands-on Ribbon Skirt making activity.

Until shockingly recently, Native culture was suppressed and in many cases even illegal on Turtle Island (North America). Our Indigenous people are recovering this culture, with its spirituality tied to its many traditions and rituals. Native people are proudly recapturing these traditions by retelling and living into them in daily and periodic routines.

JT Shining Onesided is a respected Ojibwe leader who curates many of these traditions. We will bring her to the event to share teachings about Native ways and ceremonies. Among these traditions, she will lead us in a Moon Ceremony. The Moon Ceremony honors the phases of grandmother moon, Nookomis, and involves cleansing and smudging related to a woman's moon time. She will also share about the Berry Picking Ceremony, a tradition used with the coming of age into womanhood.

In addition to the teachings, an Ojibwe Ribbon Skirt making workshop will be held, where women will be able to make their own Ribbon Skirt. This clothing is a sacred garment that ties a woman to the land, her Creator, her identity, and her place in Indigenous society as a woman. It is a symbol of resilience and perseverance, reflecting the survival and adaptation that Native people have endured and brought forward during a long season of colonization. The colors have specific spiritual significance, and reflect the identity of the woman wearing the skirt.

During the event, the day will be steeped in smudging, singing, and prayer to Creator as a whole gathered group, with smaller group breakout sessions for Ribbon Skirt making and receiving teachings. A meal of traditional Native foods will be provided.

We anticipate hosting up to twenty women during the day.