[Continued; to read entire article, go to the website.]Most indigenous people would agree, until the mainstream “gets it,” change in the world will not occur. These days, Philip Whiteman Jr., Northern Cheyenne, and Lynette Two Bulls, Lakota, are doing their best to help the mainstream "get it." The good news is that they do, and are asking for more.
Taking the concept of the medicine wheel and universal principles of spirit, Whiteman and Two Bulls developed the Medicine Wheel Model and have taken it on the road. Their program has nothing to do with religious practice and everything to do with helping people deal with stress, decisions, and how to identify thought processes that interfere with their lives.
Linear thinking versus circular thinking are explored in the program, as is the hierarchy inherent in American business and life. “With linear thinking, we rely on logic, institutions, and others to try to protect ourselves. Circular thinking originates from the earth, the universe, and the Creator; we are all connected and all safe,” Two Bulls explained at a recent conference. “The Medicine Wheel Model is about social change; it’s about having to look internally before you can work externally. We teach ways in which you can stay connected to your own spirit and community, while maintaining that connection to creator, that guide within you, that healing and wellness. You can reconnect back to it, and the healing comes from that.”
There are other programs based on the Medicine Wheel, but Whiteman and Two Bulls’ program is uniquely designed for all people. Participants learn or relearn that without a spiritual basis, linear thinking interferes with the natural ability to experience life and emotions in a full and complete way. From the youth in the annual Northern Cheyenne Fort Robinson Spiritual Run, to veterans’ organizations, schools, women’s groups, and more, people of all races are learning how colonization and generational trauma affects thoughts and actions.
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/08/04/linear-versus-circular-thinking-medicine-wheel-training-masses-156132
Stephanie Doty
Weary of Wonderland
August 4, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
