Horse therapy

Thunderhoof designs

I never met a horse I didn’t like. My father grew up on a farm with horses – I’ll get him to share a fond memory. I love a good horse story, too. I’ve been told that horse is a strong “power animal” according to shamanic tradition.

For all native peoples the arrival and domestication of Horse shortened the distance of journeys making travel easier. This made it more possible to visit with distant clans and communities, which increased the ability to communicate and to strengthen relationships. It also enabled people to experience the world beyond their immediate environment.

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Two worlds pedagogy

Sioux lookout
In Ontario (Canada), Ways of Knowing is bridging Aboriginal and Western qualifications as of last month. Brock University joined together with the Northern Nishnawbe Education Council in Sioux Lookout to make it happen.

The new program aims to deliver teacher education to 24 Native communities throughout Sioux Lookout District. The Bachelor of Education Program, which includes Indigenous knowledge and a land-based curriculum, embraces a “Two Worlds” pedagogy that reflects both Anishnawbek and mainstream ways of knowing.

The really cool thing was that the land mass area is so large that the teachers enrolled in this accreditation program will have to fly in to meet together to meet the requirements of the program!
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Micro-loans, macro-benefit

Skara Brae
I run a small free loan charity. The idea is to loan small (and very small) sums of money and allow repayment to be made over time without any interest. The charity derives it name from our first son who unfortunately died after only one day of life in 2002.

This micro-loan concept isn’t original to me, obviously. Today, The Tyee (like the tyee salmon for which the online magazine is named) reported the Big Power of Small Loans.

Microloans are based on character, not collateral, and the principal is to allow people, often women, with few assets or a poor credit history to access small loans for self-employment projects.

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Tonal language

Are you tonedeaf? Does it matter? [Well, it does to these people.] Music therapy is beneficial to health, if you are an active (musical) or passive (nonmusical) participant, according to a Los Angeles Times article today. It goes on to say not all studies on music therapy are clear, but brain studies show that the “ancient” part of the human brain that governs basic drives such as hunger, thirst and sex also ‘lights up’ to music.
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