Sacred Circle Workshop: Art of Healing

In many indigenous cultural traditions of North America, indigenous people use medicine bags as an everyday part of life to maintain a sense of tribal identity and wellbeing. Being Isleta Pueblo, my mother also had a practice of giving some of her dearest friends a handmade pouch filled with items that were sacred to her - and sometimes words of encouragement and love - as a token of well wishes from the heart. In this workshop, we will make our own versions of this idea and customize them for ourselves or loved ones.

This workshop series builds on the exhibition, Sacred Circle: The Work and Words of my Mother, curated by Michaela Marchi. Michaela Marchi is a multi-ethnic educator, singer/songwriter and a stage IV colon cancer survivor living with Lynch Syndrome, a hereditary genetic condition that puts one at high risk for multiple cancers. Besides being a long-awaited tribute to her late mother, this exhibition is the first chapter of her exploration and understanding of what it means to be the first in three generations on both sides of her family to survive a cancer diagnosis. She recognizes the importance of ethnic identity, creative endeavor, and a profound connection to nature as foundational tools in the process of self-healing and achieving a sense of wholeness and wellbeing. Her primary interest is to promote intergenerational healing and support others in becoming self-advocates when it comes to cancer detection, care and treatment.