On Sept. 7, Westminster United Church in Regina dedicated a medicine wheel in its Kâkesimokamik, “healing garden,” to local Elder Lorna Standingready.
Standingready, who is from Peepeekisis First Nation and is a residential school survivor, was an Elder for the United Church of Canada. She provided guidance to Westminster in their decision to create the healing garden, which broke ground in May 2023 and opened officially the following September.
Ingrid Thiessen, who attends Grace Mennonite Church in Regina, helped plant the native plants in the garden, which is on the church’s west side, on the corner of 13th Ave and Cameron Street, in Regina’s Cathedral Village.
“The plants were planted last year and will take at least three years to grow,” said Thiessen, who attended the dedication event on Saturday. Some plants in the garden—sweet grass, sage and white cedar—are sacred to Indigenous people.
Standingready was gifted two blankets during the event. One from Aly Bear, vice-chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations and Jonathan Pasap, Chief of White Bear First Nation. The second blanket was given by WUC Reverend Darrell Reine and member of the healing garden team Kathy Tice.
“Standing beside the medicine wheel you can feel what that means to an old lady. It means a very sacredness,” said Standingready, in response to the dedication.
Thiessen became connected with the healing garden initiative because she and a member of WUC are members of Nature Regina. Thiessen, who is also a landscape architect and knowledgeable about native plants in Saskatchewan, was asked to help with the planting of the garden.
“It’s my way of making amends to First Nations,” she said.
The idea for the healing garden came when WUC members learned about the National Healing Forests Initiative, a grassroots project created in response to the TRC that create spaces where Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples can come together.
WUC’s vision for its healing garden is to “co-create and nurture a healing garden that will bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples together in the spirit of reconciliation. The healing garden will be a place for all to connect with nature, and for reflection, healing, teachings and ceremonies."
Thiessen points out that the healing garden is about relationship.
“It’s not a one-off thing. WUC members are committed to do something every year,” she said.
- with files from CTV.ca
Richard DuBois, an artist from Pasqua First Nation, completed a mural for the healing garden in 2023. Credit: Katie Doke Sawatzky.
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