I am often asked how I embarked on this path of the heart, the path of Curanderismo, so when I was invited by my Yoeme/Yaqui relatives Cesar Barreras (Yoeme cultural/language educator) and Vanessa Niño-Tapia of Yo’FM Pursuing Ancestral Medicine, I eagerly accepted. During our beautiful platica, I recount a fascinating story, one that I hold close to my heart:
Being a Good Guest: Beyond Land Acknowledgments
As someone called to share my medicina on Native and First Nations lands, my prayer includes a call to the spiritual guardians of the areas I visit to look upon me as their relative. I also introduce myself, following traditional protocol, by first asking for permission to bring Curanderismo to the lands of Cree, Arapaho, Kumeyaay, and other Native relatives. In this platica with Dulce Garcia of Border Angels, I go more into depth as to why this is so important as we work towards our collective healing:
Pursuing Ancestral Medicine comment:
I also grew up in El Centro and even attended the same high school that Grace attended. I learned some curanderismo ways from my mother and from visiting curanderos for the first time at the age of 13. My older sister was cured by curanderos. During this time, I found out that I had a "don" and that don was to see what no one else could see. After learning about this don, the curanderos asked me to help them with healings. I didn't understand much but I did have lots of visions, and not only during the healings, but in my dreams as well.
Grace's story sounds very much like mine and I would love…