GAIA MANDALA

First Nations’ families have long known of and grieved the loss of their children who died without recognition at Indian Residential Schools. They’ve suspected that their little bodies could be found. Then in May 2021, ground-penetrating radar discovered approximately 215 children’s bodies at the former Indian Residential School in Kamloops British Columbia, Canada. The discovery sent shock waves through our hearts. Wanting to be of service in some way to the healing of the Indian Residential School genocide, led Maggy Kaplan and I, to request an Earth Treasure Vase for British Columbia. We received the vase on August 20, 2022 after a beautiful hybrid dedication ceremony earlier in the month.

BC is unique in its relationships with First Nations and Indigenous peoples. There are 198 First Nations in BC, out of a total of 630 in all of Canada. Ninety-five per cent of BC’s land is on unceded First Nation territories, which means that First Nations people never agreed to give up nor sign away their lands to the Crown or to Canada. Our intention was for the BC vase’s journey and planting to unfold in an honorable and respectful way for the good of all. Healing our Earth and healing our relationships can’t be separated. The Earth Treasure Vase Global Healing Practice is dedicated to bringing healing and protection to the regions where the vases are planted. In addition, we would like to dedicate the Earth Treasure Vase for BC to:

We are both in a phase of life where we feel the call to be in service to all beings. From the beginning of our journey with the vase, we felt a deep resonance with this beautiful practice of sacred activism—a heart’s call to open to the intelligence of the vase and be guided by her in our journey during this time of planetary crisis.

We both feel our whole journey with the BC vase has been filled with many blessings. Some of the themes and messages we felt with this vase are as follows: She has a feminine quality and we used feminine pronouns with her. She seems to be imbued with the spirit of this land. She brings ease with humility, soft yet confident in her connection to Earth and all beings. She doesn’t always have a lot of words but quietly fills the space with love, like a warm hug. She is welcoming and has been welcomed wherever she’s gone, opening a space of wonder and prayer. From her initial calling to us to offer to steward, she guided us with visions that we each received in our own ways. We both experienced healing and maturing from stewarding her.

We were somewhat limited in our physical capacities by age and infirmity, yet our journey was meaningful and life-changing. We are both deeply grateful to our networks of friends and spiritual allies who responded so generously to help transport the vase, host ceremonies, and ultimately plant the vase, birthing her into the Global Healing Mandala of Earth Treasure Vases.

We would like to thank Laurelyn Baker, Little Shell and ETV Council member, who tended the vase before us; Alan Cogen who brought the vase to Vancouver from Boulder, CO, and Mahara Allbrett, blanketed Tsleil-waututh elder who welcomed the vase and invited us to bury her at Whey-ah-wichen, who attended the sealing and burial with us, with her step-daughter Rebecca. We thank Tracy Leach, St’at’imc Nation, for helping us craft a land acknowledgement for all of BC and Robin Clark, adopted Stolö elder for his encouragement, advice, and greetings to the vase from Tahltan Nation Territory. Thank you, Marita Sheeran, Earth Treasure Vase steward, for standing in for me at the burial and sharing your wisdom.

We wish to thank everyone who helped organize and host ETV ceremonies with us whether online or in-person: Carole Christopher SPEC Elder, Rev. Cathy Merchant, Founder and Interfaith Leader, Living Interfaith Sanctuary, Gaetanne LeDuc, Victoria, BC, Lynne Belfry ETV sangha member, Duncan, BC, Gesine Lang, Nanaimo, BC, Diane Park, Climate Change Group, Vancouver Shambhala Centre, and Lana, Eduardo, and the team at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm [meaning “place where we grow”] Garden, University of British Columbia Farm where the vase was welcomed as a guest to a Ceremonial Fire. Thank you to the many people who gave offerings and/or blessings to the BC Vase over her time with us.

And our deepest gratitude goes to our ETV Stewardship Support Circle, the ETV Council and, Cynthia Jurs for their wise leadership and loving guidance.

The BC vase was buried at Whey-ah-wichen: Facing the Wind/Cates Park, N. Vancouver, BC, Canada on April 21, 2024 on traditional, ancestral, unceded lands of the Tsleil-waututh people, who know themselves as The People of the Inlet which is Burrard Inlet, one of the southernmost fiords in BC. Because the intention of our vase was helping to heal the trauma of the Indian Residential School genocide and learning to become better allies with Indigenous people in B.C., it was important for us to honour this land and to bury the vase in a location related to our intention. The other intention was to support land and water defenders and the Tsleil-waututh people have been leaders in this as well as stewards of these lands and waters for millennia.

In closing we send heart-full prayers and offerings to Osa, Genie, Joan and Cetacea Vase for an auspicious burial, coming soon. Cetacea has touched both of us because we’re very aware of several endangered communities of Orcas here on the west coast. Just in the last week, an Indigenous community helped a stranded orphan baby Orca to free herself and they’re helping her to find her pod. Like all of our relations, this little whale’s survival depends on her relationship to her community and the waters in which they live. We are all connected.