"Since working on a project with WHEAT in Sioux Lookout, Ontario I saw the need for educating and giving our people the tools to help healing happen in their communities. I saw Art Therapy as a safe, yet powerful tool to begin the healing journey through our stories with ceremony, with song, and our language, to help them understand who they are and where they come from. The Elders have taught me that if we want to heal our people, we need to do it ourselves, and in our own ways. And for this reason, I sat with the Grandmothers to begin to visualize an Indigenous Art Therapy program to educate not only our people, but also the non-indigenous people who work in our communities, to begin the art of healing, our way."
Linda Manitowabi , Anishnaabe-Kwe from Wikwemikong First Nation, BEd, ATDip Grandmother, Art Therapist, Cultural Teacher, Retired Anishnaabemowin Teacher - Elementary School, WHEAT Grandmother's Advisory Council Member
Photo: Linda at Ancient Spirals Retreat Centre Summer 2019
on the banks of the South Saskatchewan
at the Inaugural meeting of the WHEAT Grandmother's Council
Linda Manitowabi is a Cultural and Ojibwe Language teacher and has recently retired as an elementary school teacher. Linda is an Anishnaabe-Kwe from Wikwemikong First Nation. She graduated from Laurentian and Nipissing University, holding a Bachelor of Education. She studied Art Therapy at the University of Western Ontario and uses this modality within healing circles of Indigenous people. For many years she has been learning the traditional teachings and ceremonies of the Ojibwe Midewiwin Society. These teachings and art therapy help her connect Indigenous people with their healing journey. An avid hiker, Linda has also travelled extensively, learning from other Indigenous Nations on her travels.
Learn more about Canada's first fully Indigenized Art Therapy Diploma at https://www.wheatinstitute.com/indigenized-art-therapy-diploma