I believe I was in my senior year of high school when I first heard the term treaty, but it wasn’t until my first year at the University of Regina that I learned what the term treaty meant. Through my Indigenous Studies 100 class, I learned that the treaty is a sacred promise between two sovereign nations – and by sacred, it is alive and the creator is the heart of it. In this class, I learned a term that also means a sacred promise to one another, similar to what treaties mean – Kihci-asotamâtowin. Similarly, the textbook Treaty Elders of Saskatchewan states that , “In the pipe ceremony, treaty parties signified their oneness in the undertaking that nations represented in the treaty would place their new relationship created by treaty in the hands of the creator.” (p. 31) With that, the term kihci-asotamâtowin ties into both treaties and the pipe ceremony, as the pipe ceremony symbolizes the creation of the sacred promise and the treaty itself is a sacred promise.
Some Indigenous ceremonies I have participated in in the past include smudging, attending powwows, and watching traditional Indigenous jingle dances and hoop dances. Although I have participated in these ceremonies, I never had the chance to learn more about the culture or the meaning of the ceremony beforehand. With that being said, I was glad to learn more about the pipe ceremony and the Indigenous culture prior to the date we had the pipe ceremony scheduled. One thing that we learned before the pipe ceremony was the term kihci-asotamâtowin and figuring out how it connects to treaties and the pipe ceremony. Because of this, I was eager to participate in the Indigenous pipe ceremony as I thought it would be a good start to my miskâsowin process as a treaty person. Unfortunately, I was unable to participate due to my moon time falling on the day of the ceremony. This had me questioning as to why women cannot participate in these ceremonies while on their moon time, which then encouraged me to do some more research on the topic. Through this research, I learned that in the Indigenous culture, that moon time itself is considered to be a ceremony; moreover, a ceremony of purification. With that, although I did not get to experience it, I did learn how much they value women and fertility, as moon time and pregnancy is considered to be too powerful for the medicines used in these traditional ceremonies.
Fortunately, I still had the chance to hear Elder Alma speak once the pipe ceremony was finished. One thing she mentioned that resonated most with me was the fact that she doesn’t like saying goodbyes, but instead, she uses the phrase “kitiwam kawapamitan” which translates to “see you again”.