It’s been a long year since I started working on my tipi grounds in the woods. I had a vision that I was going to build a place in my woods to host Native American healing ceremonies. Originally my plan was to just plan one for April 8, 2024 when we will have a total eclipse of the sun and my woods will be in the middle of it. Well not exactly the middle but still within the totality zone. I had the realization that if I didn’t plan something much sooner I would be much too old to work on it as 2024 approached. I was 64 at the time. In 2024 I will turn 69.
I started one year ago. I hadn’t held an axe or a chainsaw in at least 5 years. I began getting myself in shape and used to working in the Texas heat by splitting 5’ long oak logs to have the wood we would need for the fireplace in the first tipi. It was very slow going at first but I kept at it. Then I found where it just felt right to build my tipi pad. Trouble was it had about 35 oak and Cedar trees standing there. It took me about 5 months to cut down all the trees, trim and burn the slash and haul the best logs to a sawmill to get lumber for shelves, furniture and a deck. I have enough cedar deck boards to build a 14’x24’ deck.
A Navajo elder in New Mexico sewed my tipi cover. I got my 30’ long tipi poles from Wisconsin. I picked up my tipi in March on my drive back from a ski trip in Colorado. I have been anxious about seeing the tipi standing in its rightful spot. During the week I mentioned that I wanted to put it up to check it out while talking to a neighbor. He and his wife volunteered to help me. They worked hard. I rewarded them with a dozen fresh homemade tamales.
I still have a lot of work to do in order to ready to host the first ceremony this October but I have new joy in my heart and spirit seeing the tipi all set up.
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loginI am leaving it up for a few days because it is a good place to sit and meditate about what else needs to be done to be ready.