a little book of smudge

This little booklet gently urges us towards our original place ‘of good mind’. A lovely gift and a gentle introduction to Indigenous ways of knowing and sharing. They are wrapped with love and each set has a gift inside.

This little booklet gently helps you become familiar with Indigenous spirituality as it pertains to the act of ‘smudging’, ‘communicating and connecting through the smoke of our medicines’, ‘oién:kwara’, ‘atisamán’, ‘eligp’ta’q’. Using our medicines, using our ancestors’ language.

Inside you’ll find a Smudge Prayer, instructions on how to grow tobacco, suggestions on the process of using feathers in smudge, Dawn’s recipe for Cedar Tea, and gratitude prose for our four sacred medicines.

If we don’t keep teaching each other, we will forget, and if you’re just returning home to culture and knowledge, this will be a gentle start. “My only hope is that by spreading gratitude and love, we will help each other strengthen our connections with Creation and each other and move forward with new generations of empowered, kind, and humble Indigenous spirits”.

“We must learn to see each other the way the Moon sees the Sun, vastly different and equally important. This way of thinking is important when living ‘with Good Mind’.

About the Author:

Dawn Setford (Mary Francis Whiteman) Iehstoseranónnha is Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk), Wakhskare:wake (Bear Clan), and a Feather Keeper whose familial territory is St.Regis/Akwesasne. Her family was one of several Akwesasne families that settled on the banks of Moira Lake, Madoc, Ontario.

Dawn is the founder and president of the Indigenous Arts Collective of Canada (a Canada Not-for-profit Corporation) and owner of Pass The Feather. In taking inspiration from the Haudenosaunee Seventh Generation Principle, Dawn Iehstóseranonnha, founded the Indigenous Arts Collective of Canada in 2012 to preserve and revitalize endangered Indigenous art forms and enrich lives through Indigenous arts and culture. In safe and inclusive spaces, through community-based learning, she engages, [re]connects, and empowers Indigenous women by promoting the transfer and conservation of cultural knowledge; securing the capacity for the next seven generations to retain and cultivate intrinsic cultural connections. Seven years later she launched her first Indigenous Women's Arts Conference.

Dawn is a community-engaged visual and media artist who advocates for equality and facilitates the creation of informed opinions of Indigenous cultures.

Dawn's background in the arts, business marketing, and management is combined with her graphic and web design skills to produce organic and Indigenous-inspired branding for organizations and entrepreneurs.