Millions across Canada and beyond will lace up this month to partake in the 44th annual run to commemorate Canadian legend Terry Fox. Yet, few are aware of Fox’s Métis heritage, or the Fox family’s embrace of their Métis identity in their advocacy for Cancer research. According to Lorelei Lyons, founder of the organization 2 Metis Women, Terry Fox is one of many examples of the active, yet often unrecognized Indigenous presence in today’s culture.
“We are not people of the past. We’re here now – we have things to contribute to society, and we have things to teach people,” says Lyons.
Over the past 15 years, Lyons’ company, 2 Metis Women, has been doing just that by offering hands-on explorations into the vibrance and continued relevance of Métis peoples and culture today.
Lorelei Lyons, co-founder of 2 Metis Women. | Photo courtesy of 2 Metis Women.
As she recalls, Lyons launched 2 Metis Women to fill a gap in Indigenous awareness education within the community.
“[For] 30 years, I worked as a youth engagement worker with the Brigham School District with the Indigenous Education Department,” she explains. “Fifteen years ago, I started to get requests to do some cultural competency work in and around all Indigenous knowledge, but in particular the Métis culture.”
To date, 2 Metis Women has reached tens of thousands of people across BC through more than 500 workshops.
The medicine wheel
Sash weaving is one of a number of
workshops that Lorelei Lyons runs
celebrating Métis heritage. | Photo courtesy of 2 Metis Women.
2 Metis Women’s workshops are built around the principles of balance, self-care, mindfulness and community building, drawn from the Indigenous medicine wheel. The medicine wheel is a symbol used across Indigenous nations whose circular shape reflects the cycle, evolution and interconnectedness of life – both in the natural world and in human contexts.
“I base my values and structures on the medicine wheel and its four quadrants representing physical, mental, emotional and spiritual [dimensions],” Lyons explains. “It’s also a very good [basis] to build community, to bring people together and [promotes] connections to community and also environment, how to connect with Mother Earth and how that can help us become happier and healthier.”
The medicine wheel not only underpins the organization’s overall offerings but also orients many of 2 Metis Women’s individual coaching and group work. In both cases, the wheel is used to engage participants in an ancient yet often new framework in pursuit of balance and self-learning.
The Métis Sash
On September 11, 2 Metis Women will host a Métis Finger Weaving Workshop in partnership with Burnaby Library. The workshop will be an opportunity for people to connect to themselves and their values through Métis culture. The sash, Lyons explains, bears multiple uses within Métis culture and can be both practical and sentimental.
“The sash, historically, was very useful as a way [to carry out] various tasks. Now, we use it as a way to show our pride. If you choose to wear it across your heart, you’re to think that the Métis people are [with you] protecting your heart. If you choose to wear it around your waist, [it can symbolize] the Métis community is here hugging you.”
Through the finger-weaving workshop, participants will create sash friendship bracelets and learn to use color to convey meaning in a way that honors the longstanding tradition.
“We’ll teach them about the different colours of the sash and why specific colours are chosen,” explains Lyons. “[Sometimes] people come up with their own ideas of what those colours represent. It’s important to make sure that they understand that they do not just pick any [random] colours. It’s about choosing colours that mean something and then being able to speak to [your choices].”
For more information about 2 Metis Women and the event, visit: https://bpl.bc.ca/events/m%C3%A9tis-finger-weaving-september-11
