The Rainbow/Holistic Approach to Aboriginal Literacy

by Ningwakwe (Priscilla George)

Acknowledgements
It is an honour to be selected to do a presentation at this “international gathering of writers, philosophers, critics, teachers, activists, technologists and performers to discuss the philosophy of literacy.”

I commend the organizing team – Frontier College, Stong College, and the Department of English, York
University – for their critical questions:

1. What are the many voices of literacy? How do voices articulate? How are they being heard?
2. Must traditional literacy understanding be transformed in the age of the electronic screen?
3. Has the professionalization of literacy studies divorced that study from literacy?
4. How do we connect academia to the literacy community and the electronic media?

Such overarching, visionary questions, along with the very name of this conference have literally opened the doors (of my mind) and brought me to speak to you about the Aboriginal concept of “energy.” “Living” means have a life force, “energy.” Jonathan Goldman, Director of the Sound Healers Association and President of Spirit Music in Boulder, Colorado, says:

Everything in the universe is in a state of vibration. The chair you may be sitting on is in a state of vibration ...”Resonance” is the frequency at which an object most naturally vibrates. Everything has resonant frequency whether or not we can audibly perceive it. From the orbits of the planets around the sun to movement of the electrons around atoms, everything is vibrating…. It is also important to note that, in alignment with this concept of sound, every organ, bone and tissue in your body has its own separate resonant frequency. Together they make up a composite frequency, a harmonic that is your own personal vibratory rate.