Talking Circle – Sharing Circle

The Talking/Sharing Circle

In my Indigenous health and healing course at CBU, many of our lectures and learning experiences began with a circle. Talking or Sharing circles have been used for centuries by Indigenous people in communities across Canada and the Globe. Whenever there is a problem or crisis situation in a community, a talking circle is called for.  In a traditional circle, the men sit to the North and women to the South. A token, such as a feather is passed clockwise around the circle. As each person receives the feather, they may speak for as long as they wish. When they have finished, they pass the feather along. Sometimes the feather is passed around several times until the conversation is finished.

There are some rules or guidelines, which may vary, but generally they are as follows

• Introduce yourself
• Only speak when you are holding the feather or token (sometimes a stick)
• If you do not wish to speak, pass the feather
• You must speak honestly
• Listen to each speaker and Respect what is being said

 

Participants often smudge with sage before entering the circle in attempt to dispel any negative thoughts. Keeping a sage smudge burning during the circle, will help to keep negativity from entering.

The circle itself is symbolic, there is no beginning and no end and no one person is at the head or in a position of power. Everyone is equal and is encouraged to speak freely and honestly. It is because of this that the sharing circle is very conducive to therapeutic communication. Over the 12 weeks, we have shared many stories, feelings & life experiences. It allows us to explore our ideas and thoughts without fear of judgment. We have had the privilege of sharing our circles with a variety of men and women from our local Aboriginal communities and spoke about a variety of topics, many of which are included in our blogs. We frequently incorporated a smudge and on those days I would always leave class feeling enlightened.

Participating in sharing circles reinforced what I have learned about effective communication in a health care setting & many of the “rules” of the circle can be applied to effective.If given the opportunity, I would not hesitate to incorporate a circle into a group meeting.

Once you understand how the circle works, it is easy to apply the concept to any one on one, nurse/patient communication in the health care setting: Always introduce yourself. Give each person their turn to speak, uninterrupted. Allow for therapeutic silence and respect someone’s decision not to speak or “pass the feather.” Be honest. Listen to your patient and respect what is being said.

The National Aboriginal Health Organization was disbanded due to cuts in federal funding. Until  2012 the group would meet annually for a circle. The transcript from their sharing circle in 2007 was made available to the public online. Check it out:  http://www.naho.ca/documents/fnc/english/FNC_TraditionalHealingCircle.pdf