Jake Pine’s 25 years of traditional healing
Submitted by Leslie Knibbs
Traditional Healer Jack Pine from Garden River First Nation, along with his wife Mary, have a mission to “help individuals live a healthy and long life with traditional medicines.”
For more than 25 years, Pine has travelled across North America practicing traditional medicine, helping others deal with physical problems, spirituality, emotional and mental issues.
Recently, Pine and his wife visited Sagamok Anishinabek First Nation to provide care. This recent visit was Pine’s second visit to Sagamok this year. Providing traditional healing for others keeps Pine and his wife on the road most of the year with requests from Health Centres and Cultural Departments from many First Nations requesting their services. According to Mary, Jake and her travel so much, they “only return to their new home on St. Joseph’s Island to do laundry,” she said with a chuckle.
Prior to visiting Sagamok, Jake and Mary filled a request to visit Webequie First Nation, an Ojibway community on northern Eastwood Island on Winisk Lake, 540 km north of the city of Thunder Bay. Jake and Mary spent five days at this fly in community of 600 members doing teachings and practicing healing. Webequie is a community that still holds close a traditional lifestyle. For a Traditional Healer to be invited to a community such as Webequie, which clings tightly to tradition, is a clear endorsement of the worth of Pine’s practice of healing.
Aside from providing ‘one on one’ healings to those who are in-need, Pine offers traditional teachings to those gathered at his visits.
In his teachings, he speaks of the role of men and women….how they must be in balance. He stresses without this balance, something is not right. Pine tells others to listen to and seek out the Grandmas and talk to them, “listen to their teachings,” he said. When speaking of children, Pine told others to “ask a child what he or she learned” when they make a mistake. Making choices and mistakes are key learning tools according to Pine.
When providing a healing, Pine “talks with the spirit helpers.”
“They show me what medicines are needed for any sickness in the body and they show me how to take care of it,” noted Pine.
Personally having taken part in a healing, Pine spoke with the spirit helpers while drumming, with tobacco burning throughout the ceremony. After completing the prayer, Pine instructed his wife on what medicines were needed for myself. Mary offered six bags of traditional medicine all with clearly marked instructions on when and how to use and prepare. All of the medicines came directly from Mother Earth.
Following his visit to Sagamok, Pine and his wife will travel to Little Traverse Bay to practice traditional healing, just as they have been doing for the past 20 years. Jake only asks those requesting his service to “tell me the needs of your people” and he will come. Some of the First Nations Pine has visited and continues to visit with his traditional healing include Munsee-Deleware Nation, Henvey Inlet First Nation, Sagamok First Nation, Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, and Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians to name just a few.