Native American Healer Presents Workshop on Mother Earth: Air, Land and Water at Nelson Healing Center Oct, 29
Presenting “Life and the Sacredness of Mother Earth” by Phillip Whiteman Jr., a traditional medicine man and Chief of the Northern Cheyenne People.
Phillip has also developed a strong connection with Door County by way of teaching regular workshops at Nelson Healing Center focused on Native American philosophy and the traditional Medicine Wheel model. Whiteman is not only a gifted teacher, but also a motivational speaker and a champion Grass Dancer known for dancing the “old style” of the Northern Cheyenne people.
On Saturday, October 29 he returns to Nelson Healing Center to present an all-day study on Mother Earth: Air, Land and Water and its connection to body, mind and spirit. Many of us are witnessing the standoff between big oil interests and Native American activists from more than 200 tribes who have come together at Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Echoing pipeline opponents’ concerns, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, recently cited the pipeline’s threats to drinking water and sacred sites posed by the fossil fuel proponents. Phillip Whiteman Jr. will no doubt touch on these controversies but intends to relate this struggle to a much higher relationship between mankind as a part of nature rather than an exploiter of nature’s bounty. In his words, “We are Spirits having a human experience.”
Phillip began his work focusing primarily on training horses. Two-time winner of Indian World Champion status in saddle bronc riding and 22 times qualifying in the Indian National Finals, Phillip knows horses. He is a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. What he learned in developing and teaching the Medicine Wheel Model of Natural Horsemanship, became the foundation for his work with people. He says it was the people who have called him to work with them through the Medicine wheel model.
In 2005, he served as Northern Cheyenne Culture and Language Consultant for Steven Spielberg during the filming of “Into the West,” a six-part miniseries produced by Dreamworks. His first CD, “Spirit Seeker – Stories and Songs for the Spirit,” has received national critical acclaim. You can find out more about Phillip at his web site, MedicineWheelModel.com.
The workshop he will lead on October 29 at Nelson Healing Center will run from 9:30 am to 4 pm. The course fee is $90 and lunch is included. Preregistration is required for the Saturday event as space is limited – call 920.818.0045. The Nelson Healing Center is located at 44 S. 2nd Avenue in Sturgeon Bay. Learn about services offered, classes and other learning opportunities online at www.NelsonHealingCenter.com.