Coloring Workshops Create Space for Healing and Teachings of Elders

Healing through art is the aim of online coloring workshops that are being run out by the NWAC Resiliency Lodge.

Indigenous women are invited to have a cup of tea and enjoy meditative coloring as they listen to the teachings of an elder.

The coloring workshops are among hundreds that NWAC has held since last fall, many of them focusing on artisan crafts. More than 5,000 women have participated in the full range of coursed offered.

Each of the participants in the coloring workshops is sent a package, at no cost, that contains a tea bag, a language guide, COVID-19 personal care items, and the coloring package.

In one of the coloring workshops, NWAC President Lorraine Whitman who is also known as Grandmother White Sea Turtle, taught about the importance of marshlands in the ecosystem and how wetlands are essential to the environment.

In another, Ms. Whitman taught about the seven sacred teachings.

And, in another, she taught about forests and hunting grounds as sacred lands, and talked about sustainable forestry practices. In that workshop, the participants colored an original forest scene.

Adult coloring has become extremely popular in recent years. Those who color find it reduces stress and brings a sense of inner peace. It is a way of taking attention away from turmoil and allowing the brain to shut out negative thoughts.

At the same time, the elders who lead the workshops impart knowledge that restore the sense of tradition and culture that can be lost as Indigenous women deal with the adverse impacts of colonization.

The workshops provide a safe space for Indigenous women to gather and share their experiences, while relaxing and learning. More workshops will be offered in the coming months and years. They will also be held in person as the pandemic subsides and as NWAC builds more Resiliency Lodges across Canada.