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Photograph by: Chris Schwarz, Edmonton Journal

Spiritual adviser brings hope to the lost

Smudges, sweat lodges help Gary Moostoos help aboriginal clients heal on Boyle Street

BY FLORENCE LOYIE, EDMONTON JOURNALMARCH 13, 2010

Smoke from the burning sage fills Gary Moostoos's tiny office at Boyle Street Community Services as he smudges with Whitford Skani.

Skani is seeking guidance and healing from the Creator for himself and his extended family because he has recently lost two relatives -- first cousins who were brothers and died within 21 days of each other.

Moostoos will later take Skani's offering of tobacco to a sweatlodge ceremony on the Enoch Reserve where he will say prayers for him and his family again.

Smudging is an important part of Moostoos's work as Boyle Street's cultural adviser with the Indian Residential Schools Resolution program. He has worked at the centre for a year, going from one day a week to three days as demand for his services grows.

"I wouldn't be able to do the work that I do without the smudge because it is very emotional, sensitive work. I am doing the Creator's work," he said.

At least 70 per cent of the people who use Boyle Street's services are aboriginal. Many have had experiences with Indian residential schools, mostly bad.

Moostoos believes all aboriginal people, no matter from what culture, have an innate ability to call on their traditional beliefs to heal.

"As aboriginal people, we have inherited instincts in us to combat whatever life throws at us. It is just that the residential schools played a big part in taking that ability away from us," he said.

Moostoos, 49, knows this from experience. His parents and several of his siblings are survivors of the era of residential schools.

"When I was growing up, I never heard the word love because my parents were not taught that way. My mother used to tell me stories of how she was whipped in residential school if she showed love toward her brother in the schoolyard.

"They were taught that they were boys and girls, and boys and girls do things to each other that are not right. When I hear those kinds of things here, I can understand what the community members are struggling with. All those residential school teachings that were instilled in them were not right. I am here to turn those negatives into positives," he said.

Moostoos used to abuse alcohol and drugs but quit on his 21st birthday. He remembered the day clearly.

"I woke up and looked in the mirror. My hair was standing up all over the place. I said to myself 'Do I go out and party? Or do I do something with my life.' '

He began working as a liaison at the High Level Hospital. He was the voice and interpreter for aboriginal patients in the hospital and nursing homes.

He worked closely with aboriginal elders who taught him spiritual healing through native medicine and ceremonies. He had only planned to work there one year, but stayed for 12.

"It was like I was in therapy for 12 years. They healed me. They helped me in my healing journey," he said.

Afterwards, he worked for eight years with abused and neglected native children in group homes, passing the elders' teachings on to them.

In 1999, he was approached to put on the First International Residential School Conference in Edmonton. He thought it would draw about 800 people. More than 3,000 participants attended the three-day conference at the Shaw Conference Centre.

A year ago, he started working at Boyle Street.

"It was scary when I first came here. It was like, 'Oh my God. Is this the place I am supposed to be at. I told myself I would give it a week and if I didn't feel comfortable, I would leave. After a week, it felt better, so I said I will give myself two weeks. A month later, it felt like home," he said.

"It seems like the elders and the children prepared me for what I see here and the part I play here. Today, I am helping our community members who are lost in alcohol and drug addictions.

"A lot of our community members don't feel worthy enough to present themselves to the Creator so they come to me. I tell them: 'I will walk with you, but I can't walk for you.'

"I will show them how we open our hearts and our minds. It can be a very sensitive moment and many of them weep."

In addition to teaching people how to smudge, Moostoos organizes round dances, healing circles and takes people medicine picking. He invites people to join him at sweatlodge ceremonies at Enoch. He keeps a supply of towels and swimming trunks in his office for those who are homeless and don't have such things to wear in sweat lodges. He arranges for transportation as well.

To participate in a sweat lodge, you must have been sober for four days.

For many, the experience is so profound they remain sober afterwards because they come away with a sense of dignity and respect for themselves.

Moostoos said he believes one of the reasons mainstream treatment centres fail many aboriginal addicts is the lack of native spirituality.

"One thing is always missing and that is the spiritual peace that comes to them from traditional teaching," he said.

Moostoos said he enjoys his work and wouldn't change anything about it.

"I wouldn't change it because I wouldn't be able to be here. My grandmother told me on her death bed: 'Share you life so others can live.' "

"I share my life here so they can overcome," he said, motioning to the drop-in centre's crowd.

"Sometimes there can be 300 people out there and there will be all this commotion and noise. But as soon as I light the smudge, everyone calms down and becomes quiet because they smell it and respect it."

floyie@thejournal.canwest.com