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Featuring PaShawOneeBinace (Ralph Johnson) and WeQuenGwayWin
February 14 -15, 2026
Ishpiming - Universal Healing Conference
PaShawOneeBinace (Ralph Johnson) continued to share Anishinaabe Sacred Teachings as he hosted the Ishpiming: Universal Healing Conference at the Toronto Metropolitan University. Honoured Guests, Ga'Ga'Ba'A'NeMaNook (Shirley Atwell) and ZoonGweBines (Dennis Windego) joined Ralph in creating a powerful protective circle in which to share Wisdom and Healing.
Their teachings expand our understanding of Bimaadiziwin: Living a Good Life.
Deepest gratitude is offered to all who entered the circle and opened their Hearts to listen and share.
Ishpiming is a continuation of work supported by WeQuenGwayWin.
June 25, 2019
Traditional teachings, knowledge at the forefront of Elders’ Conference in Lac Seul
These teachings are taken from an article in The Sioux Lookout Bulletin written by Tim Brody.
To read the full article, visit:
Ralph Johnson (PaShawOneeBinace) from the Ginoosha Clan (The Great Northern Pike), shared,
“We’ve met as an elder’s group over the course of a few years and we talked about important things that need to be brought forward and we’ve asked for support in different ways from different organizations.”
Commenting on the goals the conference aimed to address he said, “You’re looking at the high suicide rate, drugs and other things, issues that Anishnabe people have to deal with; most of the people that gathered were sweat lodge keepers, ceremonial keepers, languages keepers, and each one of us are doing something.”
Johnson said the group of elders wanted to work together to have more of an impact, which led to the idea of the Elders’ Conference.
“It’s important to know too, that we operate out of our traditional clan system. That system existed prior to European contact before the treaties were signed. It’s important to talk about the relationship that we have to all Canadians, not just Anishnabe people as a whole.”
“It’s still assimilation policy that’s being instituted. The only way you’re going to receive funding is you have to play by their rules, you have to get their permission, you have to incorporate either as a body and we don’t want anything to do with that. We want Ontario; we want Canadians to acknowledge that we’re a nation of people. We have our own ways, we have our own institutions.”
“Having a place where these teachings can happen, whether it’s a facility where people can come and learn about these things, you’re talking about a healing camp where people can live comfortably, come and stay there and learn. So we talk about not just for this one area, but to be able make it possible so those things are in every Anishnabe community up north. That’s our vision. So that’s why we say we need a blank cheque, because we have to do a lot of work. The government really put a lot of emphasis, a lot of resources to work suppressing our way of life. The same amount of resources have to be directed toward reviving those things rather than continuing on with their assimilation.”
Johnson spoke about the differences in philosophy applied by western health care versus Indigenous health care.
“When they first started introducing, talking about bringing Suboxone and Methadone into the communities, I remember putting an article in the paper that our sacred institutions, sweat lodges, are the most effective in dealing with that type of addiction, yet no effort, no resource were put toward our way of healing, instead they put up Suboxone clinics and Methadone clinics in every community where people are getting sicker and sicker, just replacing one addiction for another. It’s like the current system is killing our people.”
“One of the critical things, important things that we tried to bring out on the first day is the treaties that were signed, a lot of people used the paper, but that wasn’t the only thing there. The pipes were there. The drums were there and the version of the treaties held by our people is still strong and it doesn’t nowhere reflect the written word of the intentions of our elders, ceremonial keepers that participated in those treaty arrangements. The rest of Canada has to know that because they can take steps today, not tomorrow, they don’t have to wait for the government to take action, as a moral obligation, each individual can step up to the plate."
Please follow the link and read the comments made by the other Elder's who attended this conference.
Media Inquiries
For interviews, media requests, or general inquiries, please use the contact page or PaShawOneeBinace (Ralph Johnson) at pikeclan@hotmail.com