Timberlane County Park

“I thought I was going to die when I was diagnosed with breast cancer . . .”

… I went into severe depression. As I was sleeping one evening, three angels came to me. One angel watched over my body while the other two angels took my spirit. One of the angels was my mother. She said, ‘You have to come with me.’ And I thought, Oh no, it’s time for me to go and I am going to die. I pleaded with them and said, ‘I don’t want to go I cannot die. My daughter is in high school. I want to see her graduate. I want to see her get married. I want to see my son get married. I want to see my grandchildren.’ She said, ‘No, you have to come with us.’

“When I left with them, they took me to a bright light and my mother said: ‘Look at it.’ I saw my relatives dancing and holding hands. It was so beautiful. I started walking toward them to dance with them. They were doing a Round Dance sidestep. The angel, my mother, held me back and told me, ‘You can’t go.’ I said, ‘Why did you bring me here if I can’t go to them?’ She said, ‘We brought you here, so you could heal yourself and not to be afraid of dying. There’s nothing that is going to happen to you. We needed to show you this. This dance will help you with your healing. We are going to bring you home.’

“When I woke, I thought to myself, Wow, did this really happen to me? I immediately told my husband and daughter about my experience. I snapped out of my depression. I will never again feel sorry or pity for myself. I was given this message from my mother: I was going to live and be well. I will continue to dance the beautiful Anishinaabe Jingle Dress Medicine Dance to keep myself healthy.”

~Margaret “Judy” Kakenowash Azure, in Project 562 by Matika Wilbur

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This place is on the traditional territory of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ and Wahpeton nations. (Crowdsourced info compiled by Native-Land.ca. Please visit the nations’ websites to learn more.) We support indigenous land rights and the Land Back movement.

 

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