Today I honour the life of one of my greatest teachers:
Anishinabe elder, Nii Gaani Aki Inini/Leading Earth (Dave Courchene) of the Eagle Clan, who transitioned peacefully today surrounded by his loving family.
Rest in sacred peace, mighty soul...
My most powerful memory of him was having the honour to undertake a Vision Quest/Rite of Passage in the wild of Manitoba years ago under his guidance. That experience utterly changed my life. In many ways it saved it too.
I had never experienced so deeply the aliveness of Mother Earth. At the time, I was already deeply communing with indigenous wisdom thanks to being a student under a Mohawk elder and her council of teachers. For two years, I experienced the deep medicines of fasting, sweatlodge purification ceremonies and many other learnings of the world of Great Spirit.
The sacred meaning of the world was immensely restored for me by those teachers and I will always hold tremendous gratitude for them.
Dave was one of my own teacher's teachers. I had always heard him spoken of as a mighty soul, almost as something legendary. And when I finally got to see him speak in Toronto, the power of his wisdom was definitely something to behold.
Yet, the Vision Quest, which saw me first journey to The Turtle Lodge, the amazing centre to regenerate traditional indigenous culture that Dave had founded in Manitoba, was of a whole other level.
I felt so honoured that Dave had decided to open the rites of passage to all peoples, regardless of race, religion or culture. And he did so at a cost of much criticism I am told. But he felt it so necessary that the indigenous wisdom he so deeply embodied be shared with the world. He knew it was vital for our species' survival. And that call is something I bear still powerfully in my heart.
Those three days spent on the land without food and water, receiving messages from Mother Earth, animals, the trees, the Sun, and so much more, changed me forever.
To this day it is still so hard to describe to others. To receive direct communication from Mother Earth in visions is something we all need to experience. As Dave always proclaimed, Mother Earth is the teacher of humanity and that is of the utmost importance for us all to experience. It has, in fact, become the great inspiration for the Gaia Awakening Institute project I am currently undertaking in Costa Rica to create a centre where humanity can restore such sacred relations with Gaia. I believe this is immensely vital for the survival of our species through the tremendous challenges before us.
My fondest memory of Dave was the Pipe Ceremony he gave us just before he sent us out to be on the land in solitude for the three days. It was a chilly and sunny morning in June and myself and the group of men, young and old, sat by the fire filled with a kind of trepidation at the adventure before us. To sit deep in the wild without food and water for days was a daunting mission and the weight of it was heavy.
Yet, Dave, like all great elders, had this perfect balance of stunning wisdom and absolutely masterful humour. No matter how dark the subject, he always brought a lightness that stowed the sacred fire in all our hearts.
After giving us a rousing talk to inspire our Quest on honouring the animals, who may come to visit us, as teachers bearing special messages, he was just about to lift his pipe when two eagles came soaring overhead. It was one of those magical moments that doesn't seem to make sense, seeing that he had just honoured the animals and then WHOOSH an eagle fly-by took place as if right on cue.
We all looked at the sky and then at Dave in astonishment. And Dave just laughed mightily, as he was prone to do, a laugh that would part the stormiest clouds and roared 'Looks like the Eagles are looking after you, boys!'
It wasn't the first time I'd witnessed nature respond to an indigenous elder with some uncanny sign of response but it was definitely the most blatant one.
I'll also never forget how at the end of the Quest, as we sat again around the fire and Dave raised the pipe to close us out, that a young indigenous man who had come to break an addiction to crack shared how on the second night, overcome with sickness, he had crawled all the way down from a hilltop in the forest to the sacred fire that remained lit the whole time we were on our Quest, looked over by Dave and other men who kept watch of us, praying for us in constancy.
The young man shared that he came to the fire, vomiting and utterly destitute, pleading for water and support. He shared that Dave merely looked over at him, laughed and said with fearless and ruthless humour 'Looks like the devil got a good grip on you, brother!'.
It wasn't uncompassionate. In fact, the young man shared how it made him laugh in the midst of his agony. And Dave then went to him with his rattle and prayed hard over him, pulling devils from his soul, bringing this young man back to balance.
I only saw Dave once more in Toronto for another of his legendary talks. He always spoke so clearly and poignantly about the need for humanity to connect once again to the world of Spirit and the guidance of Mother Earth.
I followed his teachings always through The Turtle Lodge, sharing them as much as I could, and even running some fundraisers for them through various events.
I watched how Dave grew increasingly in stature and influence, remarkably and deservedly so, hosting world leaders at the Turtle Lodge in the Indigenous Climate Summit initiative, to writing editorials in esteemed news publications to even sharing prayers on CBC Hockey Night in Canada. I am so happy so many got to experience the beautiful power of his soul.
I truly believe he is one of the greatest spiritual teachers that humanity has ever witnessed. He did so much for the world and for the regeneration of indigenous wisdom. I am certain his legacy will not only live on but his influence will now grow even more as he works the world from the spiritual realms.
That Vision Quest was one of the toughest things I've ever had to do in my life and also one of the most rewarding. But the toughest thing was going back to the city and civilization after witnessing truly how sacred the land is.
Dave warned us of that. He said that when we went back to society, cities and the land of humanity, that it would break us because we would see why we have grown so mad because we no longer let Mother Earth teach us and guide us.
Our loss of connection with the wisdom teachings of Mother Earth is the greatest devastation humanity has ever experienced.
Dave told us, passionately, that each and every day we need to go to Her, somehow, even if just for a moment to be with Her in a nearby park or with a tree in our backyard.
Every day he taught us we have to connect with Her as if our life depended on it because, as I had clearly now seen, it did. My Goddess, it did...
Dave leaves a magnificent legacy with The Turtle Lodge and all the initiatives connected to it that he spawned. He also leaves the legacy of the countless lives he touched.
I love you, Dave. You gave me one of the greatest experiences of my life that has forever inspired me. I honour you for all of my days and with every step I take in my own endeavours now to repair our relationship with the wisdom of Mother Earth, knowing you are with me.
May you rest in peace and continue to touch the world now with your eagle wings powerfully radiant and spread wide open to fly in the worlds of Spirit and continue to emanate your mighty wisdom to us...
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And for those wishing for a deeper dive into Dave's remarkable wisdom, please watch this documentary The 8th Fire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTFd1AIxHQY...
TO A FUTURE WHERE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES & INDIGENOUS WISDOM IS ONCE AGAIN HONOURED & REVERED AS BEING ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL EXPRESSIONS OF OUR HUMANITY, INSPIRING AND SUPPORTING OUR RETURN BACK TO HARMONY WITH MOTHER EARTH