The last phase of our three-year
Wanakwi Project was
completed with twenty-seven volunteers from the Marquette community
including fifteen youth from the Juvenile Court. Summer volunteers,
Heather and Mike Engberg, once again traveled from Oregon to assist
us. This year's efforts focused on removal of the toxic Knapweed plant
from a designated Lake Superior shoreline six miles east of Marquette.
Special thanks to our friends from Project Weave and the Central Lake
Superior Watershed.
Wanakwi is an Ojibwe word translated "to protect
and defend."
Mental health consultations and support services continued in
2003 for leaders with United Methodist Church, Lutheran (ELCA) clergy
and families and representatives of the Presbytery of Mackinac.
Special thanks to Dr. Jonathan Kniskern for his assistance in this
work. The Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan also made use of
CTI cervices during this past year for the Emmaus Project,
a training and consultation workshop in Houghton, Michigan.
The Janus Project seminar series continued in 2003
with a three-day winter continuing education event for physicians
on "Self Care: Nutrition and Exercise." This experience involved
a ten-mile cross-country ski to a remote cabin. In August, the Institute
facilitated our second annual summer seminar for hospice workers
and medical professionals on end-of-life issues. A thirty-mile kayak
trip framed that experience. Drs. Mike Grossman and Larry Skendzel
continue to provide creative, supportive leadership in these ventures.
In August 2003, the seventh Spirit of Place ecumenical
kayak trip took place on Lake Superior. Nine participants from six
states joined Lee Goodwin, Jon Magnuson and a kayak guide, Stewart
Joseph, for a five-day journey. Group discussions focused on the
writings of Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk and social activist.
In September, sixteen clergy and friends, including four Dominican
priests, a District Judge from Vancouver and a stockbroker from
Chicago joined John Rosenberg and Jon Magnuson on Washington State's
Columbia River for a continuing education event entitled Eden's
River: Fall and Redemption on the Columbia. This experience
focused on the interface of spirituality and the environment. Representatives
from the Chinook Indian community were special quests. Reference:
John Rosenberg's article "Crafting an Ethic of Place." www.elca.org/scriptlib/dcs/jle/
Special thanks to CTI friends, Carl Lindquist and Nancy Royce,
for sharing their gift of music at the Institute's Autumn
Celebration Benefit Concert in October. Our appreciation
to Bo and Irene Clausen who joined us from Chicago that evening.
Also, our many thanks to volunteers who assisted us in the Institute's
midsummer Celebration for the Wanakwi Project and
Presque Isle in July.
CTI's Director served as instructor and facilitator for NMU's
continuing ed course The Cross and Sacred Pipe. Sessions
were held at the Marquette American Indian Center and involved Native
American leaders from the area. The course was sponsored by NMU's
Native American Studies Department, the first of its kind for the
University.
CTI's Tai Chi Series continues it's fifth year with
weekly classes and monthly workshops. This is an ancient form of
Chinese exercise and meditation, developed by Shaolin monks, based
on the images from animals and the natural world.
OUR THANKS to the folks who quietly continue
to help underwrite, financially,
the pro bono work of the Cedar Tree Institute in Northern Michigan.
*1/3 of our services are provided at no cost.
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