TT at the North American Indigenous Games. 2008

 

Five Therapeutic Touch practitioners set an historical precedent by helping treat 322 people at the bi-annual North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) between July 28 and August 8, 2008 in Duncan, BC.  Our participation was the brainchild of the late Hugh Peters. His partner, Judith Schweers, took charge of the venue, a “wellness tent”, for the six days of the games.  In addition to five TT practitioners, there were six practitioners of other modalities who treated people in the tent.  With 4000 athletes and their entourages coming from all over the US and Canada to compete in sports ranging from archery to lacrosse to wrestling, the need for treatment was great, and the response we got was more than I could have hoped for.  For me, it was a transforming experience.

 

We were part of about 1500 volunteers, both Native and non-Native, who helped make the games a success.  Marie Preissel, the only Native in our TT group, participated in the “Tribal Journeys” event which preceded the games. This involved 109 large canoes of athletes and dignitaries who came from all over North America and paddled into Cowichan Bay accompanied by drumming, chanting, tossing eagle down, and other protocol. Judith and Laura Mousseau also were drummers at the Tribal Journeys.

 

In the months preceding the games, the officials checked each of us out, and gave us ID tags as part of the medical team.  With much anticipation, on the Monday morning that the games began, Judith Schweers and Ted Drabyk unfolded their massage tables and immediately began treating a group of teenage basketball players from Saskatchewan. None of us knew what to expect since no one has ever offered TT to young athletes at a major event like this as far as we know. 

 

As soon as Brenda and I arrived a little later that morning, we started treating athletes of all shapes and sizes, not stopping for eight hours except for a short lunch break.  We did this for two days, each treating about 45 people.  Later in the week, after Ted, Brenda, and I left, Erin Cathro joined Judith in the busy tent.   

 

We found that the healees had tremendous, youthful, infectious energy and were generally in good shape except for some sports injuries (they were, after all, athletes). They were very receptive to healing themselves and were truly curious about the energy work they experienced. Some wanted to learn how to do TT on their friends, or brought in their coaches and chaperones for treatments.  The BC senior men’s lacrosse team, a bunch of tough characters, soon learned to relax and became our most committed healees, coming back every day for more treatment. 

 

Some of the healees had surprising emotional and physical scars for ones so young. The environment and training conditions were probably not ideal in the far-flung isolated communities of North America, yet they had learned their disciplines and made the long journey to Vancouver Island.  Some had never seen an ocean before.  A lot of them had travelled for days on busses and slept on cots in unfamiliar surroundings, so by the end of the treatment they were peacefully sleeping on the cozy massage tables.  Many had never been away from home before, so we also acted as stand-in parents helping to relieve home-sickness.  We offered them compassion and care, and the response was evident.

 

On local TV, an interviewer asked athletes what was the best part of the Games, and they replied: “Winning medals, and the free massages!”    (I am not making this up.)

 

When it was all over on Friday afternoon, the wellness volunteers had logged 282 hours.  The conditions were less than ideal, since we were working in 30 degree+ heat across the street from a concrete saw, often crowded by healees waiting their turns with typical unbridled teenage exuberance.  Yet, we were able to centre and treat people and make an important connection.  It was one of the more gratifying experiences of my life, so far. 

 

The next NAIG is in Wisconsin, in 2010.  Does that year mean anything to you?  Some of us have a dream of treating athletes that year too….

 

Alex Jamieson, with help from Brenda Jamieson, Erin Cathro, and Judith Schweers.

 

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