Episode Transcript
[00:00:22] Speaker A: Welcome back to the wow Within. I'm Jen Potter, your host, where we tell amazing stories about people who have gone through amazing journeys to get to where they are today. Today I'm joined by a good friend, Tamika Jones, who is a life coach and is here to talk more about her inspirational story. Thank you so much for being here today, Tanika.
[00:00:43] Speaker B: Thank you for having me, Jen.
So excited.
Thank you.
[00:00:47] Speaker A: Absolutely. And you know how much I adore you, and I would love for you to tell our audience a little bit about who you are and what you do.
Hello, everyone.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: I am Tamika Jones, and I am a life coach.
I am originally from Tampa, Florida, but grew up in South Carolina, Myrtle Beach, S.C. and I spent 23 years in the Air Force, and I recently retired back in 2022.
And that's where the magic happened. After retirement, I started my journey, my own personal journey, self love, and just kept going ever since. So I am a life coach. I'm also an author, I'm a mother, I'm a nurse, and also I am apparel brand owner. So I do have my own apparel.
All women empowerment, all things women empowerment.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: And those are all of the reasons why I adore you so much, because we are so similar in, you know, taking over the world. And, you know, when I first met you and you started telling me about all the things that you did and, you know, really embracing woman empowerment, and it just. It really hit home for me. And everything that you do is so inspirational and so empowering. And, you know, having you back here, we. We started talking about, you know, some of the problems that are facing. Many people in our audience are facing about, you know, imperfections, unworthiness, and they feel that they're not good enough. Right. And I think that's why we. We. We took on this role as really trying to empower women. And so how did you embrace your own flaws to lead to this impersonal empowerment?
[00:02:43] Speaker B: Good question. So one of my flaws that I.
It's not a flaw anymore. It's my superpower, but it's my birthmark, Jen. I struggled. I struggled for so long hiding behind this birthmark of mine. It's a darker pigmentation that covers my neck, my back, my arm and my chest. And all my life, I just hid from it.
I didn't wear tank tops, swimsuits, none of those things, right? But once I stop hiding, once I stopped hiding from that flaw, I started owning who I am. And that makes me me.
I was able to walk in my purpose and passion in life. I was Able to step outside of Tameka. Right. And it was a form of liberation, Right. To know that I don't have to hide anymore. My flaws are what makes me, me, me. Right. There's only one Tamika, one Tamika in this whole universe.
So that helped me to say, okay, this is me. God made me who I am, and I'm going to step in it, boldly step in it, and take a step and continue to step.
So that's one of my flaws that I overcame, or not even overcame, but just turned it into my superpower. That's. Yeah, I love that.
Yeah.
[00:04:03] Speaker A: And I love how you look at it as a superpower. And I do something very.
But when. When we're in that. In that place where we feel that, you know, we're going to be judged, what are people thinking of me?
And it's so hard for us to. To get out. Right. Like, we're so stuck in our own heads, because that is. That's something that is. It takes over your entire body. You have a birthmark that's there, that's absolutely beautiful. That makes you uniquely you. But when we're stuck in that. In that place, it's really hard for us to see the other side.
But you clearly turned it into a superpower.
And if there were some words of inspiration or steps that other people could take to get to the other side, how would you guide them?
[00:04:55] Speaker B: So just to go back a little bit about the birthmark. So I think the insecurities and all the things came from me. My childhood, being called Blackie or leprosy Girl, you know, so those things kind of played in the back of my mind as well as to why I didn't. You know, and also, my mom, right? She. Every second and every moment, she would say, hey, you gonna put a jacket on to cover up? Not because she was embarrassed, but because she was so worried about society's harsh judgment. But, you know, so she tried to protect me. But in the end, you know, I thought. And what I heard was, you're not worthy enough. You're not beautiful enough.
Right?
So the steps someone can take to start seeing their imperfections because they're not imperfections. Who to say you're perfect or you're not perfect? No one. Right. But yourself. Right. And even that is a lie.
[00:05:48] Speaker A: Right?
[00:05:49] Speaker B: So just shift the narrative. You got to start telling your story. And that story needs to say. Or it needs to start with, I'm not broken.
I am becoming. I'm a becoming woman. I'm not.
[00:06:08] Speaker A: I. I really, really do love that and, and, and taking those steps. Now is this something that you would suggest we do daily, like a daily affirmation when, like when you're feeling, you know, or you are in your place. How. What, what was it that you did to get to that other side?
[00:06:29] Speaker B: So for, for that for this in particular flaw or anything or my self love journey that I've gone on after the military, I actually hired a life coach. And for me, having a life coach and a therapist is super dope, right? Because the therapist, right, Help you unpack the shit, right? And then your life coach walks with you through it, help you throw it in the trash, get rid of it, and then walk past that trash can like a boss.
So I had both. But it was a life coach that helped me walk with me, held my hand through my, my journey and I journaled I meditations. I'm the affirmation queen.
All those things is help me to become the best version of myself, right? To help women. And that's what it's about, right?
[00:07:25] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely.
And I love that you, you did say therapist and life coach because those are two things that I am so big on because you can have one and I think having one is a step in the right direction. But when you have two to both work on your past, in your future and like you said, someone to hold your hand, I feel that for me personally, things started getting clearer and my, my visions became clearer, my intentions became clearer and, and I felt like I could really own my power because I was really taking the steps to dig deep and work on me. And everybody's journey is so different, right? Some people may not believe in that, but I think everybody should have a life coach and a therapist.
[00:08:08] Speaker B: Everybody super dumb.
[00:08:10] Speaker A: What do you do, right, like, because your job is to empower and motivate people and, and that's what keeps me going. It's. It gives energy that I personally need. And I think so many people, you know, everybody should have someone like yourself to just be a cheerleader for them. I, I'm always so inspired every time I talk to you. Like every time I listen to you talk, I'm like, oh, tell me more. Because I just. Energy that you create, right? Like we said it before, even when we were off air, like, my dog could hear you talking and she was like, oh, who's that? You know, and could feel your energy and I just absolutely love it.
And so when we were talking previously too, we also, you also mentioned in a previous conversation and we did talk about this about a Flaws method to help women transform their self perception. Tell me a little bit about this Flaws method.
[00:09:05] Speaker B: Oh, so my Flaws method. I came up with this method when I was going through my own journey, right? And basically the FLOSS method is for women who want to take the next step in life, right? And each letter is an acronym. And let me break it down for you. The F, face your fears.
The l love yourself first.
The A, accept and approve of yourself.
And then the W, work on your struggles. And then the S is step into your purpose. So. So let's go with the F, right? Face your fears.
You can't conquer what you don't or won't confront, right?
So many times in life we go through things and for me, as I told you before, it was speaking. I was so afraid to speak. I'm still nervous. But hey, I'm here, I'm doing it, this is me. And however it comes out, it's going to come out. But I'm doing it and I'm doing it scared, right? So you have to confront that fear face on. But guess what? Because guess what? The more you confront it head on, the quieter it gets, okay? So we have to face that fear, whatever it is for you. Face it head on and face it scared. But just face it, right?
L love yourself first.
You are your first priority. If you don't make yourself a priority, guess what?
No one will.
And I had to, yes. I had to step back and say no. And just, you know, sometimes even with the boundaries, setting healthy boundaries, and just say no. No is a complete sentence. Everyone write that down. No is a complete sentence. You don't need any justification.
[00:10:54] Speaker A: I'm writing that down.
[00:10:56] Speaker B: You don't need anything else. No is a complete sentence, right? So the A really quick. Accept your. Accept and approve yourself. Embrace who you are. Flaws and alls. That was a game changer for me. So. So once I stopped hiding behind my alopecia, once I stopped hiding behind my birthmark, some things that I couldn't change or control.
That's when I began to see and experience the true, authentic Tameka, right? That was so buried deep down inside that I didn't know who she was. As a young girl, I was broken. I joined the military. I was so conformed, right? To the mission, to the purpose and all the things. So I had to wear another mask, right?
So after I separated the military, I'm like, oh my God, who am I? I don't even know who I am, you know? And it was scary for me. Scary for me, right? Because I didn't know, you know, so just taking that leap of faith and discovering Tamika was the best thing I could have ever done for myself and for my 8 year old daughter.
So w. Work on your struggles. Growth comes when you do the inner work. And we both have done the inner work, right? And we both have.
So work on your struggles. S step into your purpose and like 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, boom.
You're flawless, right? Stepping into your purpose. That's, that's when I found my purpose in life. It's so funny because when I was in the military, I had several jobs. I came in as logistics, I cross trained from that and I went into personnel, human resources, cross trained from that and became a nurse. And it's like, what do I want in life? But when you find your purpose, that liberation, that freedom that just you lights up, you light up because you know it, right? You feel it every day. When you get up, you're saying, okay, who can I empower or who, who can I help today? Right? And you feel good about it. You know, a lot of times we go to these jobs, dead end jobs that we just dread to go to every day. And it just, you know, training, it drains our energy. It just trains us in every aspect of our lives. But when we doing walking in our purpose and we enjoy doing it, that's, that's life. That's living.
[00:13:16] Speaker A: I love that so much. And every, and I, and I say this sincerely every time I talk to you, you are a light. Like you just shine so bright and your energy is just there. And you, anyone around you knows that you, you found your purpose and that you're living your purpose and you are living proof that you're gonna go through things. But when you continue to work on yourself and do the work, love yourself and find your purpose, it's so much greater than yourself. Because in hindsight, once you're, when you're starting to live that purpose, you look back and you're like, how did I not see that?
But you wouldn't be where you are if you didn't go through that journey, right? Because you wouldn't be able to help are going on that journey themselves. And you know, when we come back from, from break, we're going to talk about transitioning from the military to civilian life because that was a big transition for you. But, but and also helping others through their challenges so they can do something similar. So stay tuned. We'll be right back.
Welcome back to the WOW Within. Today we are joined with Tamika Jones and Previously, we were talking about her journey, how she started off, where she was and where she is today. Formerly in the military. She went through this transition where she started to learn about who she was and who she wanted to be. And when she was in the military, she didn't necessarily have her own identity because the military told her who she was and what she had to do. So she started working on a process to figure out who she was to be the best possible version of herself. Tamika, thank you so much for coming back.
Thank you. I'm excited to continue to talk about this. So, you know, like you said it yourself, you.
You were told who you were supposed to be. You had all of these different jobs in the military. They gave you your job, you went in, you did your thing, but you eventually left the military and had a transition back. What challenges did you face when you were leaving the military, coming back to civilian life?
So.
[00:15:44] Speaker B: So when I retired from the military, I had the opportunity to do an internship with any organization just to try and transition back to civilian life. And I interned with a nonprofit organization for veteran women. So they help women transition out of the military, financially, emotionally, all the things, right? So I chose that nonprofit. So I had the opportunity to.
To meet with the CEO, and we drove up and we met the CEO in Houston, and we were talking about the organization and the growth of the organization and the impact, and she stopped, and she actually looked at me and she said, tameka, who are you?
And I immediately looked back at her and I said, I'm talking now. Can you repeat that? She said, who are you? And I'm like, oh, I got this. I'm a nurse.
I'm a mom. I have my bachelor's degree. I'm. I'm an officer. She's like, no, no, no, no. Without all the accolades, all the titles that society give you, who are you?
And I sat there for a minute, and I looked at her, and I began to cry, right? And in that moment, I knew it was something deeper inside of me, a spark inside of me that I had to. I had to. I was something beyond the titles.
So that kind of started my journey. After the military, I felt lost.
One of my challenges after I retired is I felt lost. I felt like I didn't have an identity. I couldn't relate to anyone or any organization.
I felt like the structure was gone. The mission had changed, of course, and I didn't know where to fit in.
I had lost my identity. Just like Jen said, I truly lost my identity, or I never had an Identity, Right. I had the military identity. And before then I was a broken young lady who was trying to figure out her identity.
So I lost the identity I only knew. And that was the military, which was scary for me, super scary. But it sparked it.
Something that I would have never thought. And here I am today sharing my story and telling my story.
So, yeah, that was, that was one of the challenges.
[00:18:16] Speaker A: But, but that question was to me what I feel like a pivotal moment in your journey. Right, because you're like, wait a minute, who am I?
And, and I'm sure it didn't happen overnight. You might have not had a response right away.
And, and I can feel that because I've been asked that question so many times and up until just a few short years ago, I was confident that I knew who I was. And like you said, you strip away all those accolades, you're like, oh crap, you know, and because you stop for a second, you're like, wait, who, who.
[00:18:56] Speaker B: Am I at my core? Who am I?
[00:18:59] Speaker A: Yeah, like right down to that core. And, and that's a, that's a really, I feel like that that's a pivotal moment. And. But you wouldn't be able, just like all those other things that we said before, you wouldn't be where you are today if you didn't take those steps. And in that moment, I'm sure it took some time to figure out who you were, to figure out what your purpose was.
And for other, for other veterans and women that were in similar situations to yourself, how, how can you suggest them to take, how they can take the next step to start to rediscover their purpose after they leave the military?
[00:19:43] Speaker B: I think for one, for me just to start by reconnecting with who you are beyond that uniform.
Right.
Who am I to the core? And for me, it took me having a life coach, I had invested in a life coach to help me on my self love journey, to discover these things and discover my purpose after the service.
So reconnecting with who you are is pivotal beyond that uniform and then asking yourself, what am I passionate about? Yes, I was a nurse in the military. Yes, I was human resources personnel in the military, but was I passionate about that? I am passionate about nursing, but I'm more passionate about coaching. I'm passionate about people, period. I think that's in our DNA, Jen. We're just passionate about people. Right.
And what impact do I want to make now? Yes, you made that impact in the military. You were able to, you know, do all the things, the mission and you Know, deploy and serve the country.
But after that, after you take that uniform off, what now who are you, you know, what is your passion? So rediscovering who you are is pivotal.
[00:21:01] Speaker A: I really love that. And so I know you said that you obviously invested in a life coach, right? And I think that, that, that's so important. But there are some people who might not be able to afford it or they're just not ready to take the steps to take a, to get a life coach. What are some other resources that you can suggest that they can start with?
[00:21:25] Speaker B: I would say nonprofit organizations who focus their mission and vision around women or, you know, military veterans helping women through by, I don't know, trying to think.
So resources and practices that helped me rebuild my identity post military was faith. Faith first and foremost helped me just being grounded and staying centered in my faith. Right. Reading more books about professional development as well as personal development also helped me therapy as well as the life coach that I invested in, all of these things helped me to rebuild my identity after the military.
Also surrounding myself with like minded people, I think that's very important for growth, right?
So some people, you know, I look at and it's all cliche saying, right?
People come in your life for a season, reason or lifetime and you have to figure out which category to put those people in.
So after the military, I had to do such, you know, I had to do that, right?
So that helped me to grow, to be able to say, okay, yeah, we were friends, but we trauma bonded, right? We trauma bonded through our trauma, you know, but now I need another friend to help me through, you know, through my healing, healing bondage. So now, so this friend, you know, I'm gravitating to this friend versus this friend. So it comes in time. You just have to continue to, you know, develop relationships and like I said, seek therapy in your faith, stand on what you believe in. And for me, I'm the affirmation queen. And I stand on this affirmation to this day and I recite it every day. Even when I'm going through contrast, negative stuff or not, I recite it every day.
Everything is working for my greater good, no matter how I look.
Everything is working for my greater good, no matter how it looks.
Everything is working your greater good, no matter how it looks. But you have to believe it. You can't just say it. If you don't believe it and feel it, you just, it's pointless to say. But if you feel it and you believe it, guess what?
It has to align it has to manifest.
[00:24:04] Speaker A: And you, I got the goosebumps on the third time. The third time you said I wrote it down, I like, you know, I told you I've been taking notes this whole time, I wrote it down. And the third time you said it, I got goosebumps because the third time I felt it.
And I think saying things and doing things that remind you why you're doing what you're doing, I think is so important. And you are living proof that you can, you can be in the military, you can be somewhere previously and you can change your mindset and you can change your life, but you have to want it, you have to believe it and you truly believe that that existed. Right? And, and you've taken the steps, you know, like you said, the life coach. If you can't take the life coach steps right away, you know, you can out to non profits, those, there are a lot of free resources out there that a lot of people aren't aware of. And I work with a non profit and I try to always push that with a lot of people too. And you mentioned stuff locally, books are so important. You even wrote one. And you know, your book is a resource. Your book is something, you know, you sent it to me and I, I thought that that was one of the kindest things that after the first time me and you connected, you sent me a book and just being able to, to know a little bit more about you and your story, I felt that instant connection and that instant change. And I mean as a surfer and a person who loves the ocean, the title alone sold me. I'm like, the content was just the bonus, right?
Because you wrote it and you wrote it with such compassion and you have such a bigger story to tell and a huge impact on other people and, and who you surround yourself with.
And you know, we've mentioned it before, but every time I talk to you, my cup is full. I feel like, wow. I get off the, I get off the phone call with you or whenever we're recording or anything like that and I'm like, oh, I feel energized, I feel positive, I feel fantastic. And those are the people that I want to continue to surround myself with. Which is why every time we talk I'm like, I can't wait to talk to you again. Let's schedule something off the air. Because you make me feel like I am doing what I should be doing. I feel that I'm fulfilling my purpose. I feel that I'm surrounding myself with like minded individuals and like you said, it's okay to change relationships. It's okay to be friends for a season or for, you know, a lifetime. And, and we'll have all of those friends. And when you start changing your relationships with other people and yourself, that's when my life changed. When I said, it's okay if we're not friends.
That's a hard thing for some people because they, you know, some people are like, what do you mean?
And, and. But doing that is living your purpose and living your journey. Because if you're gonna let those soul suckers continue to take that energy from you, you're not able to show up at your best self. Because when someone said to me, you give your energy to everybody else. What about yourself?
When I look at your flaws, right, and it says, love yourself first. Well, I was loving myself last.
I was, I thought that I was doing everything that I should be doing. I was doing all the things I was giving all my energy, but I forgot to love myself first. And that reminder is something that I need to continue to work on every day. And so the way that you showed up today, the things that, you know, you have given me and the audience are, you know, they're priceless. Like, I know just our conversation. I know I got stuff out of this for myself. Selfishly, I'm like, I feel like I'm in a better place today.
So thank you for being here today. If you would like to tell the audience, you know, how they can get a hold of you if you want to mention your book again, because I think everybody should have it and I can't wait to have you on again.
[00:27:55] Speaker B: So you can reach me at flawlesslifecoaching.com www.flawlesslifecoaching.com that is my website.
My email is the same thing. Flawlesslifecoachingmail.com and same with the social media, Instagram and Facebook. Flawless life coaching, right? Because we all are flawless, right? My definition of flawless, Self, love, confidence and resilience. It's not society's definition, you know, the JLo's, the Beyonce's, the Celine Dion, something aesthetically beautiful, that's good and all, but that's not my definition of flawless. My definition is being able to walk in your purpose, love who you are, and become the woman or the man that you were truly meant to be. That's being flawless. In my book, Riding a Ways to Self Confidence, this is the one Jen was talking about. And once again, these are my pillars of flawless, right? Self, love, confidence and resilience. But this one is riding away to self confidence.
Right. And this one is cultivating your inner garden. I just launched this one, Jen.
[00:28:58] Speaker A: Oh, I love that. Look at. I learned something new today.
[00:29:03] Speaker B: To flawless. Yeah. To self love and inner beauty. Right.
Because a lot of times we, we, you know, like these titles and all the things we hold so dear to these titles and that, that don't make you who you are. That doesn't make me who I am. It's what's on the inside versus what's on the outside. And I had to learn that. Even now I struggle with, oh, I'm not perfect enough. Oh, I'm not. Who cares? I'm me. Right. So I have to give myself grace daily. Right. No one's perfect. Right.
But we're striving for perfection every day. But we're not, will never be perfect.
[00:29:37] Speaker A: Absolutely. Well, it was a pleasure. Thank you so much for being here. Until next time.
Thank you so much. Bye.
Welcome back to the wow Within. I'm Jen Potter, your host and today I'm joined with Travis McGinnis. He is a commander in chief of the natural law of the Trans Mountain Corporation. Thank you so much for being here today.
[00:30:22] Speaker C: Thank you. Thank you very much.
[00:30:25] Speaker A: Absolutely. I would love for you to tell our audience a little bit about yourself, who you are and what you do.
[00:30:34] Speaker C: Well, first of all, Jen, I just want to give thanks to, you know, God Creator for today and the opportunity to speak to all the, all the lives that you touch in your guys's journey and in the media corridor and bringing forth, you know, hopefully, you know, and what I would like to say is more education on, you know, who we are as Red Nation, Indigenous they say today, but in our, our language, you know, we, we know ourselves. I'll speak in the English, in a foreign tongue, you know, as the real people, the beautiful people of Mother Earth.
So, you know, it's a pleasure to be here and I just want to thank Creator for that and everybody on your side that's making this possible.
[00:31:27] Speaker A: Thank you very much.
So if you could tell our audience a little bit about yourself and what you do, I think that that would be amazing.
[00:31:43] Speaker C: Well, Jen, you know, I've been working as the last over 20 years now as a, as a leader and we have our, what we call the, the different leadership society, I guess what society looks at in leadership and the democratic society that was brought to us by the settlers and the colonizers is Indian act policy in Canada.
And that democratic way of voting is what we call Indian act leadership. And that was brought to my nation in the mid-50s.
But we also have hereditary leadership from time immemorial since as far as we could know. You know, hereditary leadership is with the bloodline and it's within ceremony. You're granted these rights to be a hereditary leader.
So, you know, I, I carry both.
I've been elected, you know, as, as a leader in Sutina nation where I was born and raised.
But also granted, you know, these ceremonies, this headdress that you, that you see these, these gifts that we get from creator that were born.
Everything in our way always has a birth.
And this, these feather hats, you know, we're give. Were given to our people. These flowback. These. They call these the flowback. That's a Sioux style. But then in our traditional territory here, we have the straight up. They're straight up all the way around. The feathers are straight up.
And it's done through ceremony and hereditary rights.
And when I was given these rights, the, the old ones that gave it to me, the rights, they asked me to be a keeper of it and to be one that hands feather hats out. So, you know, I have that right to, you know, give feather hats. And in our way, you know, you have to be given the rights. You know, if you're, if you're practicing these ways without being given, you know, the, the privilege, you know, and the honor, then in our way, it's like you're. You're bringing on something to happen that is like a. It's like a mistake, you know, you shouldn't be doing that here. You're bringing dishonor to yourself some way in the future. But yeah, I hold these rights, you know, and when I, when I hold these rights, I also, you know, try my best. You know, I've been on suit of the nation police commission as well for years. The first nations of Canada, they have a first nation national police commission.
I've worked for a number of different nations as a chief and council advisor, but also, you know, I've helped engage on major projects in.
In Alberta and western Canada on energy projects.
So, you know, we, we try not to make too much noise.
We like to stay low.
One of our analogies that we do have and was told to us by, by the old ones is, you know, when you're working on great things and big things, you know, it's always a proud moment to be working on them. But, you know, the best thing to do is when you're working on.
On big projects. And you know what we like to say. There's two things, you know, we as first nations here and in our traditional territory that we've been here for, since time immemorial, since the beginning of time, you know, we've been the land keepers and the traditional and hereditary land owners of this, these sovereign lands which are ours.
You know, we been told, you know, since we've come in contact with the colonizers who made treaty with us, who agreed through treaty international, you know, treaties, we've knowing that it's important to work together.
So what we, what we do now is we utilize, you know, their legislation and we like to say, you know, natural law energy as well as natural law Transmount Corporation which are two separate entities.
We give, we, we have a mandate, we can no longer hunt off the land like we did long ago.
So you know, I'm trying to remember word for word the, the mission statement that we do and that we practice.
You know, we, we have a mission and our mission is to hunt for major projects.
To hunt for major projects is you need to have a license.
And we get that, that license through a traditional hereditary title and sovereignty to the land, our license to bring major projects to our nations, you know, and to our red nations in our territory.
And one of the reasons going on to another mission statement that we stay low is our faith in our belief which is similar to religion as well, spiritual engagement. Our people believe that, you know, we, we people, other people can have that, you know, sign of envy and, and that they bring those signs of jealousy.
So we tend not to put ourselves out there.
We tend to keep our, ourselves at a safe limit and have boundaries.
And these are messages from our elders, our old ones that told us, they said when you hunt a buffalo and in your case they said you guys are hunting major projects.
When you hunt a major project, you're hunting a mile long, a mile long herd of buffalo and a mile wide herd of buffalo.
And you need a great war party and great horses to do this.
Long ago our people trained our horses and were so skilled that our horses can lie down with us.
They were down and in the tall weeds, the tallest weeds is where we'll stay beneath the weeds.
And we would stay downwind, away from the buffalo catching our scent.
And there will be a time when everybody must stand up and start spreading out accurately to coordinate strategically a way to push these buffalo in one direction.
That time will come to stand up and stand your horses up and stand, stand up and ride and coordinate strategically these buffaloes to go towards a buffalo jump so we can hunt and have a massive hunt that'll Keep us fed for years and bring new generations into our red nations.
So that's the exact example that we lead by as well.
And today may not.
It's coming near that time when we must stand up.
We must stand our horses up from laying down beneath the weeds, stand them up and push them strategically to that buffalo jump.
And we have many leaders across this land from Treaty 45678, as well as our brothers and sisters to the west, you know, that are on. On side.
So these are some of the mission statements and some of the, some of the strategic advice that was given to us by the old ones in modern day hunts.
You know, we hunt as a war party. War party doesn't always mean you're going to war.
War party can mean different things, like you're going to look for a game, you're looking for a trail, you're taking a war party with you.
And in modern day's words, they would say a committee. You're taking a committee of people.
But nowadays you have a war party.
You know, you weren't ever to forget that we were a warrior people. We're a warrior warrior nations. And our red nations were raised within warrior societies, if it was to us, you know, so we never forgot about the females. In fact, the females most important and are the most important in our red nations because they give life.
So, you know, there's more teachings that can go on from there. But this is why when we hunt major projects, you know, we, we like to go to the old ones and the old ones will tell us. So we get guidance from the old ones first.
I'll just go and do it and get it done.
So thank you.
[00:42:21] Speaker A: Yes, absolutely. Thank you for that. That was.
I had this beautiful visual the whole time you were talking of that entire story and going through it all. And it's also very interesting. So thank you for sharing that. When we come back, we're going to talk about empowering indigenous communities. And I think everything that you just talked about will lead us right into that. So stay tuned and we'll be right back.
Welcome back to the wow Within. I'm your host Jen Potter and I am joined by commander in Chief Travis McGinnis. Thank you so much for being here. Prior to, we were talking a little bit about empowering the indigenous community. The problem that some of our audience is facing is that there's systematic challenges and it often feels like their voices aren't heard. Travis, what are some key challenges that you believe the indigenous community face today?
[00:43:40] Speaker C: Well, you know, just to start with, you know, you know, starting with this, putting the best foot forward and saying that we need to work together.
The colonizers and the red nations need to be in a place of.
Of engagement, good engagement, and true reconciliation and truth and reconciliation.
But where this all stems from is when we signed treaty, there wasn't no true engagement those days.
We were in a time where there was a lot of hurt and oppression and racism.
And the systematic, generational, systemic racism was done to us from the time of contact, from the time of treaty. And it rolled on into the smallpox. It rolled on into residential school.
So we've learned how to systematically, you know, be hurt and get hurt.
And we've brought that into our communities to do that to one another and our nations, a lot of our nations. And I'm fortunate that I'm not one of those families that lost our ways.
I was raised with, you know, traditional grandparents on both sides.
My mom is from the Treaty 6 territory, which is four and five hours north of here, a great Cree tribe called Sad Lake Cree Nation.
And my. My grandfather was one of the chiefs, hereditary chiefs that fought for the Red Paper Cree Nation.
And here in the south, in Suatina, my great grandmother, her little brother was the last hereditary chief, Betsy McGinnis.
Well, she was the very first McGinnis. And the McGinnis name came from her Cree father, who was a war chief from the Battle river in Saskatchewan.
And she was born as a Crow child, Big Plume.
And, you know, we have these great, great lineages of leadership out here in Northern. Turtle island is what the old people call it, Turtle island, because North America looks like a turtle.
And it's from.
It stems from contact.
But it's our traditional ways is where you heal.
We as indigenous people, the ones that have the ceremonies, the natural laws is what we call them. That's a constitutional word for our people.
Before settlers ever came, we had our own laws, we had our own constitution, and it was natural law. And all of that carried, you know, our.
Our membership, our health, our education, everything that you can think of that you have in your country, the usa, the White House, everything that the Canadian government has in Parliament, we've had as well.
But the only thing was we're naturally orientated to the land and to the constellation, to the stars, to the sun, to the moon.
We know the order and we knew that we come from the sun, which is why we had sun dance.
So these are just a few things that I want to highlight and let you know. It stems from contact, and it's Going to take more generations to heal, to get back to where we were. We just got to keep maintaining these practices and try our best to move forward. Which is why I work in energy.
Because we as red nations believe that we're all energy, we all have a spirit and that spirit is what helps us move forward that energy. And it's well known as documented around this world by scientists, modern day scientists.
When you put limitations on, you're putting limitations on humanity world.
I have people that I speak to in Saudi Arabia, I have people like I can speak to in foreign countries and done business and had meetings, you know, globally.
So when it comes to energy and very well versed.
So I just want to say these are a few things, you know, where we have lacked. But I just want to touch on a few positive as well.
Jen, thank you.
[00:48:58] Speaker A: So Travis, how does natural law energy aim to support and uplift your community and the communities around you?
[00:49:08] Speaker C: One of the things that we aim for is to ensure that you know, we're walking the right path.
And for us to do that, we always get guidance from our, our ceremonies and our elders. Before we did any type of energy agreement or any energy aggregating nations and, and different nations that were involved, we went to the ceremonies and the natural law is a constitutional word and I don't know if I mentioned that prior to this but you know, it's, it's our way of, and our understanding of following the natural laws. The natural laws are our ceremonies, our sun dances, our sweat lodges, just to name a few. And we always went back to the natural laws for guidance.
So when the kxl, the Keystone pipeline was coming through our traditional territories, I was asked by industry to amalgamate the nations that are involved.
And I have that right as a chief, feather hat, headdress carrier and keeper of this company, you know, and being, you know, part of the elected process too. Like I said, you know, before we had the democratic process that was brought to us, we had hereditary leadership, hereditary chiefs. And that's the original way of leadership in our territories. You know, we went to the leaders of the ceremonies, the Sundance Chiefs and we had ceremony. We asked because pipelines were very contentious, we asked for permission, but it was told to us by are our old ones and the sacred ones that you know, we have to be and take part.
Why, if not us, then who? It's gonna happen no matter how we look at it. So we gotta be there, we gotta make sure that we're asserting our jurisdiction because we're the right holders of the hereditary lands, the jurisdiction and traditional land owners of these hereditary lands, we hold the rights to them, so we have to take part.
We have to ensure that everything that happens on our lands.
Two countries were made from our sovereign lands.
And how do our Indian people, the Red nations, live today?
They live in poverty.
So we need to put our best foot forward. Both societies, the one from the US as well as the one from Canada, we need to put our best foot forward and help one another.
These countries were made, you know, off our traditional hereditary lands as well as our resources.
You know, so it's in, it's time for us to sit at the table and to bring the natural laws because natural laws are God creator given laws, but they're also God creator protected, which is why, you know, our people are still here today.
When this, when the settlers first came from the Vatican, they had an obligation and they were told they were able to extinguish anything that wasn't civilized in their, in their thoughts and their minds.
But they didn't know us and instead they went wild with that doctrine of discovery document that came from the Vatican.
So, you know, there's a lot I can go on, but we just need to have a better and healthier place to live.
What I was taught was when you put limitations on energy, you're putting limitations on humanity.
The Stone Age didn't stop because a lack of stones.
It's the evolution of time and we as human beings have to try for modern day menace to help our loved ones heal.
And it's energy that helps all of this evolution process get greater for all humanity in the future.
So I say with great respect to all the indigenous people, red nations, we're not here to sell it. We're here to try bring a better lifestyle home to our people. And it's an everyday fight, it's a 500 year resistance for some of our nations because we want a better lifestyle for our people.
We're not anti oil and gas or anti poverty.
Thank you.
[00:54:18] Speaker A: Thank you for that.
I apologize. So you have a lot of beautiful information that you shared with us. So thank you so much for all of that. And, and it was like I said before, you paint this beautiful picture and how can, how can individuals who are listening to the show today get a hold of you or learn more about your community and how they can be involved?
[00:54:49] Speaker C: So first of all, they can call me at 403-801-0145.
That's a southern Alberta phone number, area code 403 and they can go on to the website natural energy.com and also my email is Travis M.
Energy.com so you know, there's some ways to communicate.
[00:55:21] Speaker A: Excellent. Well, thank you so much for that. Thank you so much for being on our show today and I look forward to our future conversation. Thank you.
[00:55:30] Speaker C: And thank you Jen for your time and everybody that's watching. You know, I say all of this with great respect and honor to every viewer, especially our red nations, letting them know that we've always gotten guidance not just from one elder but from many different locations and and western what they know as treaties 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 as well as unceded territories in BC.
So it's not just one location, one nation. You know, I represent a lot of the chiefs that I work with, you know, as an aggregator and negotiator. We got invited to Cat from Canada from the deal that we did with the Keystone pipeline. We created Natural Law Trans Mountain Corporation who was invited by Canada who gave us the golden letter. There's 129 nations that are involved with that Trans Mountain deal and we were in one of the first nation companies that were invited to help to help negotiate it and aggregate the nations to one company.
And there's another first Nation company out there. But you know, we want to work with everybody in a good way and, and try to ensure that, you know, our sovereignty is taken care of as well as our essential needs and in our culture and our practices.
Natural laws leading the way. Thank you.
[00:57:00] Speaker A: You're very welcome. Thank you. I hope you have a great day.
[00:57:04] Speaker C: You too. We'll talk again.
[00:57:05] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:57:06] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:57:09] Speaker C: This has been a NOW Media Network's feature presentation. All rights reserv.
