Healers come to Bigfork

In another week, Bigfork will play host to a one-of-a-kind event aimed to share and preserve ancient rituals and healing ceremonies of the world's indigenous cultures.

One People Again will take place from Aug. 3 to Sept. 13 in Bigfork, with most events held at the Swan Lake Guest Cabins.

These teaching events are being organized by Chief Dancing Thunder of the Florida Susquehannock Tribe who has been teaching Native American spirituality throughout the world for nearly 40 years. The event will include ceremonies and teachings of indigenous healing and healing arts.

"We are living in a time when the prophecies of the indigenous cultures worldwide have said that all the original ceremonies and rituals must be given back to the peoples of the earth openly and in their original state," Chief Dancing Thunder says in an invitation for the event.

Groundwork really began for the event four years ago, when Jill Mehall opened Creative & Native and Chief Dancing Thunder walked in.

Both had a connection to Pennsylvania and spent the next three or four hours in the store talking. Two years later, he came back for a seven-week stay and while here, did a medicine wheel teaching.

"Like everything else, no one signed up," Mehall said. "But I ended up turning people down. So many people, families wanted to learn."

It was partially that outpour of interest that made Mehall and Chief Dancing Thunder think there might be a response to something bigger.

"Our blood and our DNA are so mixed together. We are a rainbow people. So many people today are seeking to find peace and a connection to Mother Earth. So, we started working on this," Mehall said.

In addition to Chief Dancing Thunder, nearly 25 other healers and medicine people will be here for the event.

They hail from throughout the world including the Netherlands, Germany, Siberia, Austria, New Zealand and Russia.

"The question I get asked every day is, 'Where are the natives here?' People come to Bigfork and there is no existence of Native Americans," Mehall said. "I wanted to see that presence, especially on sacred ground."

The event has blossomed in its size and magnitude and continues to grow. Invitations went out all over, including to local tribes, Mehall said. It will perhaps be bigger than even she can realize.

Registrations have been pouring in from parts of Europe, Rhode Island, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and Michigan. She's heard from a church of 500 people in California that plans to come.

One producer from Hollywood and one from New York want to film it. Two local people will also be filming parts of the event.

"It's getting bigger, bigger, bigger and bigger," she said. "We're all people. We're all looking for the same things in life. We live for love. We all just want to be loved. All this shows."

Some of the key dates of the month-long event are within the first week.

"Everything here is done in honor to the Creator and respect," Mehall said.

On the evening of Aug. 6 there will be a concert by Grammy winner Joseph Fire Crow from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. All events take place at the Swan Lake Guest Cabins unless they are otherwise noted.

Another important event will be an ancient blessing ceremony for the Flathead Valley on top of Blacktail Mountain on Aug. 7.

Aug. 8 will be the date where people can come out and meet and greet Chief Dancing Thunder and the other healers and medicine people.

The schedule is jam-packed with daily teaching events, but with a few free days. Other events include a kids' day Aug. 22 for youth to come learn. Children from the Ravenwood Learning Center will attend that day.

On Aug. 24, those in attendance will join the United First Nations by satellite for peace and Mother Earth prayer day.

Among the teachings will be a sweat lodge, which will remain at the site. One of the goals of the event is to educate people about the sweat lodge and how it is supposed to be used. In fact, Mehall has invited local emergency service people to attend. This is in light of two deaths in a sweat lodge in Arizona last fall. No one under 21 will be allowed in the sweat lodge.

"I want people to understand it's not supposed to be a torture chamber for endurance," Mehall said. "This is a very holy thing, very sacred and there's a right way to do it. It's time for sharing that knowledge with everybody."

Though organizers are not charging for the events because of their spiritual nature, a donation of $50 or what the attendee is able to contribute per session is encouraged. This will help with the costs of putting on the not-for-profit event.

"If you are called to come, come," Mehall said. "No one will be turned away."

The site of the Swan Lake Guest Cabins is located between milepost 78 and 79 on Montana Highway 83. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own chairs and blankets. Those who are traveling to the area are able to camp out in tents for $10 a night. For more information on lodging, call 837-1137

The hope is that this will become an annual event. The sweat lodge and medicine wheel will both be permanent fixtures at the site.

"All of this is about the Spirit," Mehall said. "There is so much interconnection. Life is so simple if we make it simple."

For more information and a complete schedule of events, visit www.onepeopleagain.ning.com or call Creative & Native at 837-5669.

Due to the amount of people expected to come, Mehall is seeking assistance from community members who may have extra blow-up mattresses, sleeping bags or other bedding to help accommodate the teachers. Those with bedding supplies can contact Mehall at the store.