ROSE AUGER - CREE FROM EDMONTON CANADA

MEDICINE COMES FROM GRANDMOTHER SPIDER WHO WAS PART OF HER LIFE SINCE SHE WAS A CHILD. SHE ALWAYS PLAYED WITH SPIDERS AND WHEN SHE'S IN A MEETING SPIDER'S WILL GATHER. ROSE HAS BEEN FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHTS OF HER PEOPLE. SIX CHILDREN WHO FOLLOW "THE WAY"

BUFFALO MEDICINE LODGE IS PART OF HER HOUSE. SHE'S HEALED ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE FROM CANADIANS TO THOSE IN THE U.S. OSAKA BOUSKO CREE WOMAN WHO STANDS STRONG FROM CANADA. HE ANCESTORS WERE NOMADIC. HER GRANDFATHER, A TRAPPER, GOT VERY SICK. HER FATHER RODE BY HORSE TO GET A MEDICINE MAN TO DO A HEALING. I REMEMBER THE ROOM WAS DARK AND THERE WAS SINGING. SHE WAS ABOUT 4. THE MEDICINE MAN TOOK A BLOODSUCKER OUT OF GRANDFATHER'S ARM. SHE WAS SCARED AT THE AGE OF 4. SHE SAW SPIRITS FLYING IN. AFTER WHILE HE SAT UP AND FELT OK.

AS SHE GOT OLDER SHE BEGAN TO UNDERSTAND MORE. HER MOM WAS RAISED CATHOLIC AND KNEW NOTHING ABOUT THE OLD WAYS.

ONCE WHEN SHE WENT OUT TO THE RIVER, BEAVERS WOULD SWIM AROUND; BIRDS WOULD LAND ON HER HEAD. ONE DAY WHILE PICKING BERRIES WITH HER GRANDFATHER THERE WERE MANY BEARS. HER FATHER JUST TOLD THEM TO GO AWAY AND THEY DID. SHE WAS NO LONGER AFRAID OF THE ANIMALS AS SHE UNDERSTOOD THAT THEY WERE PART OF THEM.

HER OTHER GRANDFATHER WAS A MEDICINE MAN AS WELL. AND HE HAD TO HIDE IN THE HILLS TO HEAL PEOPLE. THE TB EPIDEMIC WAS COMING AND SAW THIS IN THEIR DREAMS. HER GRANDFATHER KNEW HE COULD HELP AND HE DID. BUT THEY HAD TO GO AND HIDE IN THE HILLS TO CURE PEOPLE.- THEY WEREN'T ALLOWED TO PRACTICE WHAT THEY KNEW. AFTER HE CURED PEOPLE WITH TB IT BAFFLED THE DOCTORS AND EVERYONE ELSE.

AS A SMALL CHILD SHE HAD POWER TO TAKE PEOPLE'S PAIN AWAY BY RUBBING HER HANDS OVER THEM. THEN SHE WOULD CARRY THE PAIN AND I CRIED TOO MUCH BECAUSE OF IT. SO HER ELDERS DID A CEREMONY AND ASKED THE SPIRIT PEOPLE TO HOLD OFF THESE GIFTS UNTIL SHE GOT OLDER. HER GRANDMA TOLD HER STORIES OF RELATIVES AND THE GIFTS THEY HAD AND THEY KNEW ABOUT HERS. THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME HER GIFTS WERE ACKNOWLEDGED. SHE LIVED AS A HOLY OF A LIFE AS POSSIBLE. HER GRANDMA SAID OTHERS COULD BRING RAIN AND ASK FOR THEIR SPIRITS BY RUBBING THEIR HAIR.

PEOPLE NEED TO LISTEN TO THEIR OWN INNER SELF, THEIR GUARDIAN SPIRIT. IF YOU'VE LIVED YOUR LIFE SERVING AND LOVING THEN YOU'LL ALWAYS BE TAKEN CARE OF.

TRY TO EMPOWER EVERYONE AROUND YOU - BE IT IN THE GARDEN, OR GETTING A JOB, OR MAKING A NEW RECIPE.

TO BE HUMBLE IS GIVING, AND TO REMEMBER THAT IT ISN'T YOU WHO DID THE CURING. SOMETIMES I LAY ON MOTHER EARTH AND GIVE THANKS IN TEARS FOR THE CHANGES THAT ARE HAPPENING FOR ALL OF US.

MANY OF US ARE RUNNING AROUND IN THE WORLD ASKING WHAT S MY DESTINY? THEY SAY DURING THE LAST STAGE OF PURIFICATION SPIDER WILL COME TO CORRECT THINGS.

PEOPLE KNOW I WORK WITH SPIDERS. THERE WAS AN ELDERS COUNCIL AT SANTA CLARA PUEBLO. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE CAME AND A SPIDER HOPPED ONTO THE LAP OF A HOLY MAN. THE ELDER NEXT TO HIM SAID IT BRINGS A MESSAGE. SHE WAS SICK ONE MORNING AND THE MAN WITH THE SPIDER CAME UP TO HER AND SAID ARE YOU THE ONE WHO WORKS WITH SPIDERS AND SHE SAID YES. HE SAID HE HAD GOTTEN A MESSAGE FROM THE SPIDER WHEN YOU WORK WITH SPIRIT YOU HAVE THAT GIFT. SHE WORKS WITH 126 SPIRITS. THEY ARE HER ANCESTORS, HER PEOPLE. THERE'S ONE GRANDMOTHER WHO HAS BEEN COMING TO ME CALLED EARTH BLANKET WOMAN. SHE SAID ONE WINTER WE HAVE TO MAKE SPECIAL TEAS AND MEDICINES IN ORDER TO BE HEALTHY.

SHE BELIEVES SHE HAS TO WE HAVE TO CLEANSE OURSELVES MENTALLY PHYSICALLY SPIRITUALLY AND EMOTIONALLY. IT'S AN INCREDIBLE THAT SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE HIV SHE TELLS PEOPLE WHO ARE AT THE END OF THEIR JOURNEY THAT LIFE CONTINUES AND DOESN'T END.IT'S VERY HARD FOR THEM IN THE BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND IT BUT SHE PUTS THEM IN CEREMONIES AND THEY ARE AT PEACE.

SHE WANTS TO BUILD A LARGER LODGE IN ORDER TO HOUSE TERMINALLY ILL PEOPLE AND TEACH THEM THAT THERE IS LIFE AFTER DEATH AND THAT WE ALL ARE HERE TO HEAL AND SHE WANTS TO TEACH YOUNG PEOPLE ABOUT HAVING A CLEAN MIND, BODY AND SPIRIT.

SANDY JOHNSON