Happy Tonics needs your VOTE to help us do our work. Officers and Board Members give of their time to educate and implement programs to adapt to Climate Change by promoting Sustainability of Native Plants, Monarch Butterfly and other pollinator habitat. Our mission is: Sanctuary for the Monarch Butterfly and Food Safety Issues.
Native bumble bee on autumn sedumsmall square foot garden
We are a small grassroots nonprofit that needs your help to WIN our Climate Change Native Habitat and Community Garden Shell Lake grant proposal.
This is not Happy Tonics first attempt to bring Adapting to Climate Change into national awareness.
We were honored to participate in the Green Effect grant process with National Geographic sponsored by Sun Chips in 2009. Although other worthy causes won, we believe that each of us must do our part to bring the message of adapting to climate change home. (National Geographic, Green Effect Winning Ideas for a Better World, November 2009, insert after pg. 6.)
We offer a women’s healing circle in season to promote the sacredness and sustainability of the natural world. This sacred time together supports womens’ environmental advocacy to activism on behalf of Mother Earth.
Donna Alena Hrabcakova, Art Therapist, at Red Lake Reservation, Michigan at http://www.rlnn.com/newsarticlesnov03/aboutRL.html is a student at the Center for Sacred Studies. She is studying under the direction of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers. Alena will be coming to Northern Wisconsin, in the summer of 2010.
She will give a talk about her work and studies and show the film: The Next Seven Generations. To acquaint yourself with the documentary, click on the following link at http://www.forthenext7generations.com/home.php
If you are interesting in attending a water ceremony, Alana’s talk and film, please contact diadeluz@centurytel.net We haven’t set a date yet. We would love to put an Eco tourism package together to honor the water at Wisconsin Point beach on Lake Superior.
thimbleberry learn about wild edibles with Mary Ellen
The film and feast will take place in Shell Lake where the Monarch Butterfly Habitats and Happy Tonics are located.
Gladyce Nahbenayash of Superior, Wisconsin, an enrolled Ojibwe member of Sault Ste. Marie Chippawa Tribe, of Michigan, was a guest speaker at the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Community College’s Environmental Film Festival on 28 January 2010.
Driftwood view of Lake Superior
Happy Tonics, Inc. is the sponsor of the II Annual Winter Film Festival throughout Northern Wisconsin. The tribal college, LCO-UW-Extension, NNAHA Environmental Health Services, Sustainable Living Institute and Institute of Museums and library Services are cosponsors for the program that is running November 2009 – May 2010. The film Flow was shown. Please see this film. It will bring each of us closer to the global water issue on a profound level at http://www.flowthefilm.com/
Gladyce spoke about the sacredness of water. She told us the following: Water is the gift of life. Water is sacred. Water is alive and guided by spirits. Water is the transporter of other energies. Sing to the water to resonate vibrational healing. Give thanks to the water in ceremony. Water assists us in power. Give offerings to the water spirits. Give tobacco ties for water ceremony. Do a water ceremony around the New Moon. Water spirit is feminine. Water ceremony is fluid.
I first read of the Water Ceremony in Mazina’igan, a Chronicle of the Lake Superior Ojibwe. The article “Nibi Wabo” a Woman’s Water Song was published in the winter 2007/2008 issue, pg. 20. We are reprinting the article but not the sing. The originators want the ceremony to be shared with women around the world.
Nibi Wabo Water Ceremony
Please honor the following request: It is important to be aware that, while the originators of the Water Song want it to be shared, [they] ask that it not be shared through the internet. Mazina’igan hopes this request will be respected.
At the end of February 2002 in the time of the Bear Moon, a ceremony was held in the backwoods of Kitigan‑zibi reserve. Thirteen grandmothers participated in this ceremony, among them Algonquin and mixed blood women. Between the thirteen, the four races of women were represented. This ceremony had not been done in one hundred and fifty years.
This was the time before the hand drum had come to the woman, the time when we still played the sticks. The grandmother who brought this vision to completion underwent a spiritual process that lasted four years from the time the vision was presented to her until the time of the actual ceremony. She has chosen to remain anonymous, and the other twelve women present are the guardians of the ceremony that we have been asked to pass on to the women of the world.
The ceremony includes a song, a ceremonial staff and led to a series of related teachings that we have received since then. These are not yet ready to be shared. It is time for the women to assume their responsibilities. We are the keepers of the water because we are more in tune with the natural cycles. Traditionally, in most cultures, the women are considered the keepers of the water. We have the connection and the ways and the ceremonies to bless and purify our waters as well as the waters that make up 70% of our physical bodies.
We are living in the days of the great purification of the Earth. We have the choice to sit by helplessly watching the events take place or to be active participants in easing her passage. It can be as simple as singing a song at a river bank, putting our hands over a bowl of water for our children’s consumption, giving thanks and blessing the water that goes into our morning coffee, or picking up the garbage at the beach.
We would like to share this song with the women of the world. Teach it to your daughters, granddaughters, sisters, aunties, mothers, and grandmothers. Teach it to all the women you know. Go and sing at lakes and rivers, wells and oceans and at the kitchen sink. Mother Earth is bleeding. It is our turn now to help Her, who has given us so much through this crisis. Let’s not wait to be asked. Let’s not wait to be forced.
Let’s do it now, together. The ceremony is a simple one. Women in a circle playing birch bark clapper sticks, is what was shown. The sticks are about eight inches long and about two inches wide. That is all. In areas that have no birch trees, seek out the branches of the trees that are traditionally connected to women or the water and use these.
Of course, it is needed much and at any time of the year, but the grandmothers have asked that the water ceremony be done particularly at the thirteenth moon which is the moon at the end of February/March. They have also taught us that all women’s ceremonies are best done at the new moon. It was also asked that the notes are not changed. Period.
It has been asked also that only women can sing this song because of the connection between our menstrual blood and the blood of the Earth, which is the water. It is to be sung one time for each of the seven directions—east, south, west, north, above, below, and within. It can be played on a hand drum, but in its original form it was played on the white birch sticks…
In February 2003 the ceremony was held again for the second time, and this time there were two or three thousand women (that we know of) around the world who were singing over the water ways of Mother Earth at the same hour. A sacred fire was held in Maniwaki (Kitigan-zibi) Quèbec for these women.
The countries included the United States, Canada, Guatemala, Brazil, Columbia, Germany, Holland, Japan, Italy, Senegal, New Zealand, Jamaica, and Mexico to name only a few. It is the music that purifies the water. The words were given in Algonquin/Ojibwa to the women in this community to pass on.
It is always best to preserve sacred things in their original form. According to the original vision, the thirteen grandmothers stood on the ice in order to absorb the teachings from the water under their feet. It was asked to bring the ceremony in for four straight years in the land where it was received so as to set it in time once again. On March 10, 2005 the fourth ceremony was held. All was done as shown. Thirteen women sang on the ice and an Algonquin elder sat in the center of the circle holding the Grandmother Staff and a Bald Eagle that was donated for the ceremony. That night women on every continent of the Earth sang in unison. We were about nine thousand or more. The feathers of the Eagle were distributed to spiritual elders and healers around the world.
The next Nibi Wabo ceremony should have been held on the thirteenth new moon counting from the tenth of March 2005. It always falls between the middle of February and the middle of March. This is the moon that opens up the door when the ancient Grandmothers are most easily accessed. (This door can also be accessed by all women when they are on their moontime.) And at this time (the thirteenth moon), it has been asked to have the full ceremonials, whereever possible. This includes a sacred fire lit right before sunset which burns for thirteen hours during the night. We include the men as the firekeepers, but if no men are available, women firekeepers are chosen. The women go out after dark onto the ice to bless the water and return for a traditional feast that ends with a giveaway ceremony. It is an opportunity for the women to spend the night together so they can share knowledge and teachings with each other.
This thirteenth door is actually open for the four days from the time of the last sliver of moon until the first sliver of rising appears. Hopefully one day we will be able to spend this full four days together with the women. Remember that this is a water ceremony, a woman’s ceremony. It is fluid. There is no need for rigid ‘protocol.’ There are no set ‘rules’ as to how it should be done apart from the Grandmothers’ requests. Every woman will add her own touch, her own wave or ripple. The water song can be done at each new moon or even every day to bless our water. It can also be done on each other, over our food and our animals—anywhere water is present.
The old thirteen moon calendars are also returning. Many women (and men) are having visions. Other water ceremonies are coming back, and new technologies coming through as we realize that in a very short time there may be no more drinking water for the next generations unless we act NOW. The elders tell us that if we don’t act now we may not have any clean water left within ten years. They tell us that it may already be too late unless women everywhere make the water their first priority. Pass it on.
In the Algonquin way, the spring, when the first water starts to run, is the time that the women offer tobacco ties to the water in thanks. In the summer, it is the time for the Rain Dances and the ceremonies of renewal. In the late fall in the time when the Aurora Borealis (northern lights) come out in the north, water ceremonies are also done. And in the cold of winter, the Nibi Wabo ceremony to honor the Grandmothers is held. It is good. It is necessary now more than ever. The elders tell us that if things continue the way they are, we may not have any clean water left within 10 years. They tell us that it may already be too late. Unless women everywhere make the water their first priority. Now.
Grains near Lake Superior
We will offer a women’s healing circle to promote the sacredness and sustainability of the natural world. Donna Alena Hrabcakova, Art Therapist, at Red Lake Reservation, Michigan at http://www.rlnn.com/newsarticlesnov03/aboutRL.html is a student at the Center for Sacred Studies. She is studying under the direction of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers. Alena will be coming to Northern Wisconsin, in the summer of 2010. She will give a talk about her work and studies and show the film: The Next Seven Generations. To acquaint yourself with the documentary, click on the following link at http://www.forthenext7generations.com/home.php
If you are interesting in attending a water ceremony, Alana’s talk and film, please contact diadeluz@centurytel.net We haven’t set a date yet. We would love to put an Eco tourism package together to honor the water at Wisconsin Point beach on Lake Superior. The film and feast will take place in Shell Lake where the Monarch Butterfly Habitats and Happy Tonics are located.
Brighter Planet LogoThe week of 18 January 2010, Matt Vaughan, of Brighter Planet, in Middlebury, Vermont, called to let Happy Tonics know that our grant proposal for Climate Change Native Habitat and Community Garden in Shell Lake, Wisconsin, was selected by Brighter Planet as a project for funding via the social media nonprofit organization. We are honored that our project is being sponsored.
We need your VOTES in order to win a grant of $999. Register at http://brighterplanet.com/ to VOTE on Climate Change Native Habitat and Community Garden Shell Lake grant proposal between February 1 – 15. There are not that many days before the VOTING begins. Please get ready now. We will remind you again starting next week.
Conservation begins with action. Thank you for playing a part in helping species besides ourselves survive in a world that is changing because of Climate Change.
Art work by Elaine DeAnn Brevitz Brown
Happy Tonics, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) environmental education organization and public charity in Shell lake, Wisconsin. We ask that you tell all your friends to VOTE for us too.
United we can do anything from the Grass Roots movement upward.
Bumble bee on blazing star copyright Cindy Dyer
Let’s make this world sustainabile from the earth up in the midst of climate change. Future generations of people, plants, animals and pollinating insects will thank us. Yes, even the bees can buzz their affection.
Des Moines, Iowa, USA – In October 2009, the Borlaug Dialogue and the World Food Prize Foundation hosted the annual World Food Prize. The World Food Prize Laureate is Dr. Gebisa Ejeta of Ethiopia for his discovery of a hybrid species of sorghum that is resistant to drought.
Windfarm in Iowa equals alternative energy
Happy Tonics was attending the 13th Annual Community Food Security Coalition Confernce in Iowa in 2009 around the time this event took place.
Bill Gates spoke at the Borlaug Dialogue event. Bill and Linda Gates Foundation donated a grant of $120 million to the “Second Green Revolution.”
The money is being given to Africa in part to grow drought hardy corn that 300 million Africans are dependent upon. Gates said the grant will be used in part to train African growers in the science of biotechnology. You can listen to Bill Gates speech at http://www.worldfoodprize.org/symposium/2009/video/gates.html
Collaborative efforts are ongoing between Monsanto and the Federal Government and the decision is to allow genetic engineered crops to combat world hunger in developing poor countries.
Monsanto, with approval of governmental partners including the White House, USDA Secretary Vilsack and Dr. Rajiv Shah, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will seek to plant genetically modified wheat in Africa. Africa is besieged with environmental threats to their wheat crop due of drought and disease. Wheat is one of the four most important crops in the world.
Happy Tonics supports local grown and organic crops. None the less, the public needs to be aware that GMOs are on the rise in the Global Food System.
12:00 p.m. Potluck (remember to bring your plate!)
12:30 p.m. Speaker: Gladyce Nahbenayash
1:00 p.m. Film: Flow
Irena Salina’s award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st century—The World Water Crisis. Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world’s dwingling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel. (64 minutes)
Save the dates for Upcoming Environmental Films and Sustainable Living Education!
Thursdays—February 18, March 11, April 22, and May 6. For more information, contact Amber Marlow, GIS Lab/Rm 508 or #534-4790, ext 156.
Irena Salina’s award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st century—The World Water Crisis. Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world’s dwingling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel. (64 minutes)
Save the dates for Upcoming Environmental Films and Sustainable Living Education!
Thursdays—February 18, March 11, April 22, and May 6. For more information, contact Amber Marlow, GIS Lab/Rm 508 or #534-4790, ext 156.
Native sunflowers at Damian Vraniak's prairie in Springbrook, WI, USA.
Happy Tonics is honored to announce that the Xeriscape Council of New Mexico has invited us to exhibit at the Xeriscape Landscaping and Water Conservation Expo on 27-28 of February as their guest. Officers plan to attend the conference on 25-26. Learn more at http://www.xeriscapenm.com/
Read all about the wonderful world of plant survival using less water. The world is facing climate change. Pollinators need our help. Insects are dependant upon reliable native plant species and crops are dependant upon pollinators. Happy Tonics promotes native crops.
Walk on the wild side and learn from nature. She is our best teacher.
Happy Tonics, Inc. is sponsoring the II Annual Winter Environmental Film Festival in Washburn and Sawyer County, Wisconsin. USA.
Life is a mystery in the understory.
The first host site was Lakeland Manor. The senior housing residence showed MicroCosmos a film produced in France. The movie shows the little seen world of insects in the USA and the rain forests of Latin America. Beautiful closeup photography. Event took place on 15 January 2010.
Darling Gretal goes to the movies
We had a good turn out of residents and guests. Oh yes, our little pets enjoy being with us during film viewings especially when cookies are served.
Buddy was more interested in the cookies that were served.Little Gretal goes to the movie
Quilters Mary Olsen, Marian Brincken, Myrna Atkinson and Mary Rachsler.
Shell Lake, Wisconsin, USA –
A year ago, in January 2009, the Sit and Chat Quilters of Friendship Commons Senior Center began stitching a butterfly quilt as a fundraiser for Happy Tonics, Inc.
The nonprofit 501(c)(3)environmental education organization and public charity implemented a Monarch Butterfly Habitat on city land in 2007.
The elders wanted to donate a quilt for a fundraiser to help maintain the habitat. The restored remnant tall grass prairie boasts native wildflowers and grasses for pollinating insects including butterflies, moths and bees.
The quilters celebrated their One Year Anniversary in January 2010. It is hard to believe that the ladies are about half way finished with the project. They meet weekly and work on the quilt for 3 hours at a stretch. Can you imagine having the patience and diligence to work on a project with this time requirement? I am amazed by their dedication and persistence.
Mary Olsen telling fabric story.
I visited them yesterday, February 11, 2010. I asked where the fabric came from. Mary Olsen looked up and said, “We brought in fabric from our homes and matched colors we wanted in the quilt.” Each butterfly has a story of course because each has a fabric history. Nothing goes to waste when one is thrifty. The quilters have lived through the depression, recessions and the booming 90s. They know the value of sustainability and raising milkweed for the monarch butterfly. The quilters surely know the value of not throwing things away.
The frame story.
Curt Atkinson drives Myrna to the center each week because his wife doesn’t drive. He helps her unload the frame each week and then the frame is setup by the quilters.
Myrna explained that the long boards for the frame were donated by Angie Klopp, a quilter up to a few years ago. No longer able to get about, Angie now resides at Terraceview Living Center in Shell Lake. Even the frame has a story.
Myrna called me last night to say, “The quilt is 93 inches x 103 inches. There are 42 big butterflies in the middle and 28 little ones around the edge.”
Stay tuned. The Butterflies are Free quilt will be auctioned off after it is completed. Happy Tonics members and friends will have an opportunity to help support the Monarch Butterfly Habitat in Shell Lake with an online auction in our eBay store. Visit the store at http://happytonics.org/store/ where we sell milkweed seed, books, and clothing that supports our mission.
Happy Tonics did the same thing in Shell Lake, Wisconsin, USA. We created a Monarch Butterfly Habitat, a restored remnant native tall grass prairie, where once buffalo roamed and tall grasses grew. The habitat is alongside of an old railroad bed on a narrow strip of land, on one half acre. The railroad bed is now a trail for foot travel, bicycle and horses.
Dennis Van Engelsdorp spoke about the importance of helping the pollinators especially honey and native bees including the beloved bumble bee. He suggests letting meadows grow. You can view the video on our Blog re: A Plea for Bees.
Let’s get beyond the written world. I would love to hear from you and learn what you are doing right now to help Green Up your corner of the world. Let’s turn the abandoned wasteland into something beautiful as a Pay it Forward act of kindness for generations to come.
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