35. Elder Dr. Dave

Nii Gaani Aki Inini, “Leading Earth Man”, Dr. Dave Courchene Jr. Sagkeeng Nation. Founder of Turtle Lodge International Center for Indigenous Education.

Would you like to talk with me about Land + Spirit?

35. Elder Dr. Dave

I’ve spoken about Dr. Dave before and I assume I’ll be speaking about him at length in the future. He is continuing his Teaching Circle work from Spirit and is available to all who answer his call to be in right relationship with Land + Spirit.

He has been teaching me over and over again about communication with and for the Earth. Sharing love for the Earth and sharing love about the Earth is the message he is repeating to me and the lesson I am learning until I am able to embody that truth in the world.

This is for you too. This is for everybody.

▶︎ Get the Wahbanung book

▶︎ Find out more about Turtle Lodge

▶︎ Learn more about the Holy Sh!t Handbook

View fullsize

Click image to read summary in lightbox.

---

Transcript

Lezley (00:00):

Hi folks. Welcome to a special episode of the podcast. Yeah, but it is a little bit different. I'm sharing two episodes from the Holy Shit Handbook, which is a membership program that I have for those who are reconnecting on a reconnecting path, a spiritual path, a healing path, and who would like a little more focus and direction on the spiral, the spiral of healing. Every month there are four, three or four classes or programs that are released. One is a monthly message that is spirit guided. It's channeled through beloved presence or Morin, or both Beloved Presence and Muireann. Then there is a chatting with dead celebrities where I talk with someone in the spirit realm, and it could be someone of my choosing, it could be someone of your choosing, and it could be someone who insists on being heard, which happens. So together we walk a spiral path of healing and coming into relationship with our spirit, and they are small and simple exercises to help you get in touch with an experience your spirit in the world of form. So check it out. Yeah, links in the description notes. You can find it on the website@belovedpresence.ca slash Holy Shit handbook. It is a very emotion based like I am, but I have been guided repeatedly to leave my expressions of emotion in my recordings. Apparently that's where the juice is. So yeah, check it out. Thanks.

Lezley (02:24):

Hi folks. Welcome to this month's chatting with dead celebrities. Today I'm going to talk with Nii Gaani Aki Inini, Leading Earthman, Elder Dr. Dave Courchene Jr. from the Anishnaabe Nation in Manitoba. Dr. Dave is a world renowned, respected educator and knowledge keeper for the Anishnaabe nation. He's shared stages with the Dalai Lama and is an international devoted teacher to sharing indigenous knowledge and carrying a message of peace, hope, and kindness and stewardship of the Earth. He has been a champion of sharing indigenous knowledge and sacred laws with whomever is guided on the earth to learn. He's really been very impactful in my life in a very short time. In 2002, he founded the Turtle Lodge in Manitoba, which is the International Center for Indigenous Education and Wellness. It's a sacred lodge recognized internationally and by the assembly of First Nations as one of the most important gathering places for Indigenous education and revitalization of language. He published Wahbunang, which is a book of teachings from not only himself, but Elders of other nations who have shared their knowledge and their teachings of the natural laws, the sacred, eternal laws that exist on the earth and exist at the intersection of spirit and land. I'm very grateful for his presence in my life. I'm very grateful that I heard his call. So dear Dr. Dave Miigwetch, Merci, Tapadh Leat.

Lezley (04:30):

So Dr. Dave is also called Nii Gaani Aki Inini, which means Leading Earth Man. And I want to preface my conversation with him with this information slash vision slash communication that I've been having with him on a fairly regular basis because I talked with him a couple times already. Every time I think about him in my daily life, he gives me one of two visions, and the one is of him in, I assume they're white, kind of suede clothing. They're like pants and a shirt. It's very simple. It looks like a very, very light gray, but I assume it's like a white, it's called, it's like a wait suede, and it's traditional pre-colonial, pre-contact kind of clothing or post living. By the way, if it's not clear, Dr. Dave released his body a couple years ago in 2021. So he is in the Spirit realm. But anyway, he gives me the same vision over and over again and he's walking on a path that an easy path.

Lezley (05:58):

And everything in this vision is important for me to see and to share that this path that he's walking on is an easy path and it's a well tread path. This is not a sparsely walked path, and it's by a clean, beautiful, slow moving river. And it's on the plains and there are trees, stands of trees, but it's not a forest, it's very plains. It's not woodland. But he stands on the path and he looks at us and he holds his hand, his left hand on his heart, and he kneels down and he puts his right hand on the dirt, the ground, and then he takes that hand from the ground and he brings it to his mouth and a fist as you'd blow on your hand when it's cold, he brings it to his fist and then he blows it out, blows his hand out.

Lezley (07:11):

And I keep seeing this over and over again and I keep getting more information from this vision because his hand still stays on his heart as he does this. So this is communication with earth, sharing, speaking for the earth from heart, sharing, love for the earth, sharing earth love for us. It's all of these things together that he is encouraging. And I use that word a lot because I kind feel emotional right now because he is never overbearing and he's never demanding. He's just always encouraging. He doesn't even direct me to do anything. He doesn't tell me ever what to do. He just encourages. And encourages is the root is from the heart. He is very emotionally and spiritually connected. I think, I don't know, I didn't know him on earth obviously, but he lived his life from an emotionally connected, heart led spirit led way, which I feel very seen and understood by him because I have lived my life hiding my very emotional, sensitive, spiritual self.

Lezley (08:43):

It comes out to people who I know and trust, who I feel can love me. Even though showing and sharing sensitivity and emotion and spiritual belief is not really accepted in our society. It's not encouraged. We're encouraged to be logical and factual and realistic, whatever that means. And it just means the death of magic and spirit and beauty in the world, or that's the way I felt. That's the way it felt to me to have to hide all that. And Dr. Dave just keeps encouraging me that that is a gift. That is a gift. And everyone who carries that heart spirit connection on the earth right now is encouraged to share that from the heart. So that's why I'm doing this kind of stuff. The second vision that I keep seeing from Dr. Dave is a circle around a fire at night and it's giant.

Lezley (09:58):

The circle is enormous, but this is his circle that he's leading because oh, Nii Gaani Aki Inini means Leading Earthman, and he is still doing this work on the spirit side, he's still doing this work and he's actually more impactful because he's no longer restricted by the world of form. So what he tells me, what he's telling me and has been telling me is that he has a circle that is a call. His circle is a call to the earth, to all on the earth to come and learn. And this is the basis of Turtle Lodge that he created with other Indigenous nations and Knowledge Keepers and Elders. Together they created Turtle Lodge, and it was with this vision of sharing Indigenous knowledge and Natural Laws and sharing how to live on this earth in a rooted, respectful, loving, reciprocal way in an Indigenous education way.

Lezley (11:21):

And that's what this circle is about. This circle is a call for all who feel guided towards this vocation because it really is a spiritual calling, quite literally. He's calling spiritually and to join the circle. So I'm just going to put it out there. Chances are if you've stumbled across this recording somewhere, you're probably called to this circle. I'm just going to put that out there. Have you been dreaming of an Indigenous man teaching from sitting in the north of the circle, teaching and telling stories, and in a giant circle at night with a fire in the middle? Is that familiar to you? Does that resonate? Have you been called? Do you feel guided to reach out, to learn Indigenous Knowledge and Natural Laws and how to live in relationship with the earth in traditional Indigenous ways? It's just, if that resonates with you, you're probably called, this is primarily about Dr. Dave

Lezley (12:39):

We're going to speak with Dr. Dave. Oh yeah, he's also, he said that we're entering the time of the eighth fire, and it's already been decided. It's already happened. The choice has been made that we're not going down the destruction path. I know it's hard to see right now, and it doesn't feel that way, but he's very insistent that the path towards connection with earth is the path that happens, that it's already happened. I don't know what we're going to experience here in this time here on the planet now, in the world of form, we may be going through the decision, the deciding time. I'm not really sure how space and time works with the Spirit realm. It's all very everything everywhere, all at once. So I am, and he says that it is not if, it's just when, that this is the only, excuse me, this is the only choice.

Lezley (13:55):

This is the only result that happens is that we come back into wholeness with one another and with the earth, it's the only ends, it's the only outcome. So it's not a matter of “if“ just “when” and from his perspective where he sits, where he exists now in his Presence, it has already happened. And oh, so that's part of this circle is bringing that perspective and that Presence and that Knowing and Being of this choice already happening, this result already happening, that this circle is bringing that into the world of form because he holds so, he holds the vision so beautifully and completely for us. And when we're in circle with him, we carry it together into the world of form. Great. Lezley cries, Lezley always cries. He just showed me that vision again, of sharing it with the earth, sharing it, that vision of him with his hand on the ground. And he does not want me to edit out my tears. He wants me to share this emotion with the world because he says, this connects deeper than words so vulnerable. Though I'm most afraid I'm going to be scoffed or dismissed or devalued because I'm so emotional. Women have been dismissed and disregarded

Lezley (16:14):

For centuries because we've been considered emotional or hysterical or whatever. He says, don't worry about that. Alright, I will not include

Lezley (16:33):

My nose blowing. So earlier Dr. Dave encouraged me to find my Song, to ask Spirit to help me find my Song. And it's been happening since he asked because, well, since he suggested, since he encouraged me to do that. So I asked immediately, and it's starting to come through and it's beautiful and I'll share it with you when I feel comfortable and I can speak it with comfort and with courage and heart because it's a bit of a struggle for me right now. But yes, he's encouraging everyone to ask Spirit for their song. And it's really like it's a prayer, right? And it's speaking, it's sharing our spirit with the world.

Lezley (17:47):

He encourages everyone to come into ceremony first and ceremony. He talks a lot about, and I'm learning about ceremony from him, and he's not teaching specifically Anishnaabe specific ceremonies. He's encouraging people of all nations to come into relationship with their own ceremony. And ceremony is the act of making something sacred, making relationship sacred, making an action or a conversation or an undertaking sacred. And it's all of life is sacred, meaning whole and holy and spiritual. All of life is ceremony reminds you. Ceremony reminds us that we are in sacred spiritual whole relationship with one another.

Lezley (18:54):

And it's like an affirmation of that into the world of form from spirit that we are recognizing that we are in spiritual and physical sacred relationship with one another. It's really powerful and it's simple, and he encourages everyone to find their own ceremonies that come from their heart. There has to be a heart connection to it. He'd spoken to me earlier about how ritual is the action of ceremony without the heart connection. So whatever ceremony that you are involved in, whatever way you practice, connecting and creating sacred wholeness and recognizing relationship with the world of form and spirit together and all of us equal and whole in this oneness, this whole oneness that exists. It's got to be heartfelt. You have to feel the juice in your body. I love that. I just want to share how interestingly different Dr. Dave is from other “dead” that I've talked to in the past because he is repeating the same information to me over and over again in slightly different ways.

Lezley (20:36):

I feel I am a, I'm noob in this. I'm very young and I'm being taught as a very young person and he's going over and over the same information to make sure that I understand it fully and integrate it fully and absorb and become that information, become that knowledge before he'll move on. So it's interesting because he's a Teacher and he's being a Teacher with us. And yeah, we're learning, I'm learning basics in this circle. I sit in the east and I laugh. I'm like, Ooh, what does the east mean? East means noob. East is beginning and that's fine. East is also communication. And he agrees. Yes, you're beginning and it's communication. And he says, I'm sitting in the right spot. So it's fine.

Lezley (21:54):

Yeah, I'm super grateful. He's in my life, super grateful for Dr. Dave. And I don't know if I've said this already, but when I am in communication with Dr. Dave, it's in the circle and he's always sitting at the north. So I've had some small pushback about sharing this reality, this new experience or really old experience. It's been my experience since I was a child. I've felt this way and been in relationship with the Earth in the World of Form, in this Kinship, Love, Connecting Presence, Beloved Presence. It's why everything I do is called Beloved Presence. I've been this way since I was a child. It's only very recently that I've shared fully with the world. And there is some pushback. There's some people who outright say that I'm full of shit and this is garbage. And I was just thinking about that while I'm in communication with Dr. Dave and he's gentle and supportive and he says that the only thing that I need to be sure of is that I am connected and following the guidance of spirit.

Lezley (23:41):

And he says that if I am at peace with that, then I don't need to worry about anything that anyone else says. And I know that this is something that gets talked a lot about and we get told and given that advice. But I don't think that I've had this level of peace and connection and groundedness around anything that I've done before. Not any pursuit or path that I've walked has been so peaceful and nurturing and grounding as this. Dr. Dave is reminding me that we can only ever invite, we can only ever offer the invitation. We can't make anyone see our way or walk our way or come join us. We can only ever offer the invitation and keep the offer open even when the response is hurtful or mean.

Lezley (25:03):

And this is what is happening. He keeps going over and over the same things. And I keep getting deeper understanding. He was saying, I am asked to just put one foot in front of the other led by Spirit. And then once again, he showed me that vision of him kneeling down with his hand on his heart and his other hand on the ground and then bringing it to his mouth and then blowing it out. And he said that that is connection to earth and heart and what I'm bringing out into the world. And that is a symbol of walking where we walk in connection with the Earth and our Bodies. And then what we bring out into the world doesn't come out of our mouths or our hands are doing until we are connected with heart and ground. So it, he's explaining to me how that's a reflection of listening to our bodies and being in our bodies. And our bodies are the tool of Spirit to teach us and inform us and guide us in our path walking forward. We connect with ground, we connect with our bodies. We are centered in our hearts and feeling in our Bodies for Spirit, for the Guidance of Spirit. And then we share that truth to the world. We share from that place. I didn't think there was so many ways to explain this vision he gave me, but he just keeps explaining more and more.

Lezley (27:08):

Thank you. So that was interesting. I kind of got distracted. My mind went down a little rabbit hole of stuff that's not great or been bugging me or whatever kind of issues at work and other things. And then I'm like, okay, focus, focus. And I focus on who I'm communicating with by pulling a picture of them. And I have a picture of Dr. Dave Nii Gaani Aki Inini, and I pulled it up and connected with him again. And he was just very kind and said that I'm only responsible for what I can control. And he says, that's very little.

Lezley (28:15):

The only thing that I can control is how I express Spirit in the world. And he says, that's really it. That's all. And if I keep focused on that, then everything else will fall into place. And I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful to him. Thank you, Dr. Dave. So I think that's it. Thank you, Dr. Dave. Thanks for listening. Check out Beloved Presence, check out the Podcast. Check out the Holy Shit handbook. Check out whatever's going on. All the links are around. Come join me. Come. Let's talk. Let's talk about this. Let's talk. Let's talk about bringing this vision to reality, this vision of Connection with Earth, and sharing love and kinship in wholeness with the Earth. It's my favorite thing. Thank you, Dr. Dave.

---

You might also like…