Ken Turner in the cultural space at the Miywasin Friendship Centre. Turner is one of the co-facilitators of the men's circle at Miywasin.--NEWS PHOTO SAMANTHA JOHNSON
reporter@medicinehatnews.com
A men’s circle has been running at Miywasin Friendship Centre for a little over a year. The circle runs in the evenings to accommodate those who work, and began as a sharing circle where men would get together to talk.
The group has shifted from wanting and needing support to the individuals providing support, sharing what they’ve learned with family and others.
Co-facilitator Ken Turner says, “When I started at Miywasin there wasn’t lots of male participants. The opportunity came to run a men’s circle. Everything we do at Miywasin we try to do with an Indigenous focus. When we do groups, we start off with smudge, then move into a talking circle with introductions.”
The group has addressed different topics and has progressed from only sharing.
Turner explained, “We’ve gone out to pick medicines and different things. Connecting to culture is key because in the urban community lots of people are disconnected from their home community.”
Turner has been with Miywasin for close to two years and spent most of his life in Calgary.
“I do lots of programs here at Miywasin to connect to culture. It’s part of my role here, I’m a cultural addictions counsellor. I see it more as being a recovery coach, helping people.
“The culture piece is really important to me because it is connection, and much of what people are struggling with is disconnection. Working with just the men you have to look at it from a different point of view. When the men are together, they tend to be more open to talk and share.”
David Restoule is the other co-facilitator and says the group is “an immense support for them in a cultural sense and for self-esteem. Building them up, having a sense a pride in their culture. Speaking from my own experience, we aren’t proud of our heritage early in life. Sometimes that will cause them to have hard times. Supporting them in this way is giving them a solid foundation to connect themselves in life.”
Restoule attended a similar group in Ontario about 15 years ago and is proud to be part of this one and be there as one of the male leaders. He says it is paramount to have pride in one’s culture and heritage to move forward and be a light in the community.
“We started drumming recently with the big drum,” said Restoule. “Lots of those things bring a sense of pride and belonging.”
The group started off with hand drums and learned a couple of songs. Turner’s office is in one of the suites and has a living room with no furniture where the group can set up a circle of chairs to drum.
Turner added, “The big drums, the guys get pretty excited. We’ve been doing drumming and singing and learning more songs.”
