LOCATION: Medicine Wheel Garden behind the Notre Dame Campus
TIME: The fire will be kept from 7 am to 7 pm, Tuesday June 1 – Friday, June 4
CEREMONY: The fire will start with a Sunrise Ceremony at 7 am, Tuesday, June 1 with Elder Una Swan
SACRED FIRE:
A sacred fire is lit when someone passes to help them find their way home. It is traditionally held for four days and four nights as to allow spirits to wander and visit relatives. Everything also happens in fours within many Indigenous cultures – the four directions, four sections of the medicine wheel, the four seasons, the four stages of life (children, youth, adults, Elders) etc…
- Masks and social distancing is required (spaces are marked) as per current public health guidelines to maintain proper distancing.
- Staff and students are invited to attend the sacred fire to offer tobacco and prayers to honour the 215 children. Please keep in mind drop offs and short visits are permitted, but to maintain distancing, but we must avoid gathering and extended stays. There are four colored sections to the Medicine Wheel and with distancing, one person can stand in each colour. Please limit your visit to no longer than 10 minutes.
- Elder Una will be using a pillar candle to light the candle and put it in a glass enclosure and transport to her home. It will remain lit until she returns the next day. This will be repeated throughout the four days.
COVID 19 PROTOCOL:
- We recognize that many members of our community may want to visit the fire, pay their respects, and make an offering. In keeping with the current public health orders, we ask that if you choose to visit the sacred fire that you keep your visit to no more than 10 minutes and consider attending at various points throughout the week.
- The use of masks and appropriate physical distancing is required at all times while visiting the site.
- Please consider visiting at some point during the week as opposed to all attending on the first day. This will ensure we are not gathering in contravention to the public health orders, while providing necessary space for those who wish to briefly visit the site to honour the 215 children.