Closing Ceremony

Helen invited Nancy Cooper and Eileen Antone to formally close the Institute.

Nancy shared her poem:

The wounds created by beauty never heal
May I bleed forever
Remembering your shores

Eileen Antone, a member of the Onyota'a:ka (Oneida) of the Thames community, was invited to close this year's Institute with the traditional Iroquoian Thanksgiving Address. She invited everyone to stand in a circle and join hands. Eileen then gave thanks for all our relationships with each other and with Creation.

Eileen also gave thanks for bringing us together at the Institute so that we could share with each other information and activities that are important to the work of Research in Practice.

It was important to give thanks to the Creator for bringing us safely to this conference. It was also important to give thanks for the journey we were about to take back into our home communities so that we can all continue this work.

The closing was an opportunity to take the positive energy we have built together with us as we return to our communities. It was a time to remind us of that energy, and of everything we are thankful for. At the end of the Thanksgiving Address Eileen led participants in a traditional Unity Stomp dance. We danced in a counterclock circle. Eileen called each line and we replied.

The essence of the song is that there is a fire in the center of the circle. This fire represents the Creator. As we go around in the circle, we turn into the center to raise up the spirit of the Creator and to acknowledge that we too have the Creator within each of us.

Creator, we raise you up.
You are with us.
This is good
Yes this good.

We danced counter-clockwise, keeping the spirit of the fire close to our hearts, to help us remember. As one, we danced, we sang, we gave thanks. It was a truly wonderful teaching and learning experience for us all.

Ya w^, Megwech, Thank you