“Healing, Storytelling & Plant Medicine” Workshop at Nelson Healing Center

Rita Pitka Blumenstein

Nelson Healing Center presents “Healing, Storytelling & Plant Medicine” with Yu’pik Wise Women, a two-day workshop with Alaskan native healers.

The workshop is scheduled for May 7 and 8 with Rita Pitka Blumenstein and Marie Arnaq Meade, both Yup’ik tribal members who will share traditional teachings about energy medicine, storytelling and song. On Sunday at 11:30 am, they invite the Door community to join them in a free, public, traditional outdoor fire ceremony and Blessing of the Children on the grounds of the Nelson Healing Center at 44 S. 2nd Avenue in Sturgeon Bay.

Blumenstein was the first certified traditional doctor in Alaska. In 2009, she was inducted into the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame. Grandmother Rita, as she is known worldwide, was a founding member of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers. She currently works for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.

Meade is an author and translator of Yup’ik, teaching the language and its conventional spelling system as well as Alaska Native Dance at the University of Alaska in Anchorage. She is a member of the world-traveled Nunamta Yup’ik dance group and also works with the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers.

The cost is $175. Call 920.818.0045 to reserve a space; class size is limited. For more information visit NelsonHealingCenter.com.