Meet Theresa Crow Spreading His Wings

 

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Theresa Crow Spreading His Wings. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Theresa below.

Hi Theresa , appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

Oki, Theresa is a Blackfoot First Nation Woman from the Blood Tribe (Kainai), Treaty 7 Territory in Standoff, Alberta. Honoring her Father’s Heritage of Scottish and Danish ancestry. Theresa grew up in the Child Welfare System, as part of the 60’s Scoop. The Heart-work of her healing journey has been anchored in being a Mother and Grandmother. Her Personal Mission Statement is: “I am a fearless woman, sharing the Love of Creator Unconditionally with others.”

Theresa’s Traditional Blackfoot name is “Naatosakii” – Sun Woman

Where did my resilience come from, you ask … it is in my Blood Memory. I grew up not knowing I was part of the Sixty Scoop that was basically a series of policies that were enacted in Canada to enable child welfare authorities to take or “scoop up” Indigenous children from their families and placed in white families with the goal of assimilation. Though I was never adopted, I was a “ward of the government” for 14 years after being “scooped up” at the age of 4 years old.

In an effort of survival, of being multiply abused in all aspects, being raised in a severely dysfunctional “christian” home – I had learned guidelines of religion, that helped keep me alive. Working at an early age, a lack of self love, self worth – I learned that working hard , made people happy. At a very early age – “work ethic” became my survival and sense of purpose. As an Indigenous person, I believe that Creator uniquely gifted us / me – with Spiritual connections that later in life, I would need to unravel. However, at the time, my faith became the roots that grounded me to have the ability to love people, be kind, care for people and show empathy. My story of trauma and abuse, could have been a different outcome, for sure, that could have taken me down a road of self-hate and addiction. Though I struggled with PTSD and Mental Health Challenges for many years – I dug deep to find healing and began a journey of heart-work to be a better mom and human , this has been a loooong journey !

Resilience Blood Memory runs deep on my Mother side , Blackfoot and my Father’s side (Scottish/Danish) – that both struggle with untold stories and addiction life styles.

Creator rooted me very young in resilience, love and kindness – because the first 4 years of my life – my Biological Mother and Father cared for me before I was “scooped up”.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I have over 20 years’ experience, with a diverse background in leadership, primary work being in inner city community, my passion is rooted in walking alongside Indigenous People and communities and addressing systems that cause harm. My Professional Development has focused on Leadership, Conflict Resolution, Addictions, Mental Health and being Trauma Informed. Familiar with the Child & Family Welfare System in managing a care home for youth at the highest risk of sexual exploitation, addictions, mental health, high risk of suicide and those involvement in the criminal justice system. Reciprocity is an important value, in giving back to community with volunteering, including contributing for several years at an Inner-City Youth Organization on the Board of Directors.

I am currently, Certified Mental Health First Aid for First Nation Co-Facilitator since February 2018 and is also a Certified Cultivating Safe Space Facilitator since 2022. I am passionate and intentional about how to decolonize in my own healing journey and professional leadership. My previous experience was in facilitating as a Provincial Trainer in the Youth Care Field and Social Service Agency Workers on Approaching & Managing Behaviors, Journey to Inclusion and Nonviolent Crisis Intervention.

I values the importance of understanding the history of Indigenous People and building authentic relationships to understand the heart of a person. Committed to learning and growing is important in my leadership to find ways to decolonize and walk in a kind way based on the Blackfoot word, Kimmapiiyipitssini “Giving Kindness to Others”. It is an important value for me to care for my Spirit to live in an authentic and loving way of integrity and truth with a good dose of humor.

I have always believed that being a Leader is a Sacred Responsibility, and that we can lead with love. Working for many different organization in my experience, they were oppressive, authoritative and became very toxic. As I grew in my experience & skills as a leader , I began an unraveling of my belief systems and leadership style. The more I was rooted in ‘who I was as a Blackfoot Woman”, it became harder for me to work in these oppressive environments. When I became Certified as a Cultivating Safe Space Facilitator in 2022, this work was rooted in Love Based Practices Framework and my Spirit Resonated. I began a dream journey, of where did Creator want me to be – at that time, I was an Executive Director of an Indigenous Addiction Treatment Centre and implemented a Love Based Framework to Cultivate Safe Space for Employees. I will be honest, this is no easy task – you need to Understand Self and authentically be living in your own love rooted values to walk in a Good Way. I ended up resigning, as values and vision were no longer aligning with the organization and desired to create space for me to dream, do more intentional heart work and find a path of possibly sharing my story and experiences. Seeds were not only planted, they were beginning to germinate of what that would look like for me.

2024 , I sat with a beautiful Indigenous friend, who began to help me start my first vision board, pushed fear aside and truly be rooted in my “own knowing”.
The vision board was an amazing process for me from beginning to end, goals were set for my own “heart-healing journey” that would help me begin taking steps towards a dream of what may be. First step, was to take a personal retreat, where I could root myself to the land, Creator, be guided by prayer and ceremony. Trusting. I am a strong believer that Land Heals, and we know what we need , if we quiet ourselves for the answers.
Authenticity and Vulnerability have become my way of life and it opens you more to Spiritual things we don’t understand and allows for unimaginable doors opening for new growth and new paths to experience.

This is where “Gathering Our Bundles” Business dream/idea began rooted in the land, grounded in Love. Creator gifted this name to me, in my time connecting on the land in openness and prayer.

“Gathering Our Bundles” is an unravelling and decolonizing journey of being intentional, curious, and leading with love. This heart-work is rooted in the Cultivating Safe Spaces framework created by Elaine Alec (CEO/Founder of Naqsmist Storytellers Inc.)

Gathering Our Bundles is birthed from my own healing journey as a Sixty’s Scoop Thriver. I have been “Gathering my own Bundle” for several years, my story, my medicine, and my Gifts of Leadership, that Creator has given, as a Sacred Responsibility.

The vision is to Empower Indigenous Women and Leaders in their decolonizing journey of unraveling colonial beliefs, values, and way of being. To better understand self, being rooted in love, kindness, faith, and trust.

My hope is to invite individuals, leaders and work teams a place of being curious and open to a better understanding of self to begin or enhance their decolonizing journey in creating safe spaces. This must start with ourselves. It is about exploring what is lateral violence , Indigenous History and moving towards a place to best supports meaningful relationships that are rooted in love, trust and faith. We all desire to find ways to strengthen our gifts, become better communicators and grow in connecting with ourselves and others. We all desire to have important and authentic conversations for your own growth journey, your friends, your family, working relationships and community.

July 22, 2024 – “Gathering Our Bundles” became a registered business in Manitoba. I am open to what Creator has for this new path, and want to be invited into spaces that are intentional, courageous , curious and truly desire healing and doing their own personal heart-work to understand themselves. My plumb line is
” Lead with Love because if I can do it, anyone can :)”

Gathering Our Bundles offerings are :
-Healing Through Story – Inspirational Keynote Speaker
-Leading with Love – workshops
-Understanding Self and Our History
-Decolonizing Your Leadership – consulting

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Looking back , what do I think were the three qualities, skills or area’s of knowledge that were most impactful in my journey? What a great question. I reflect on this often, and wonder of all the people that have similar backgrounds, like myself that were filled with trauma, abuse and mental health challenges … How did I land where I landed , and still have the ability to be authentic, kind , loving and have the ability to accept love. Let me think ….

1. When I look back, I had a few people that ‘really saw me, my struggles, my heart and my untapped gifts” – I recall 2 teachers when I was a high school student that really went out of there way to be kind, loving and encouraged me in all aspects of my learning. Not just school work, how to be an example of connecting with people, showing up at curricular activities and cheering me on. The quality would be “Unconditionally Showing Up without any agenda except to encourage and believe in an individual”

2. Be Open to Opportunities, Learn and be Brave enough to accept feedback. It wasn’t until my mid-30’s that I started my “Professional Career in Leadership”, after finding myself divorced, single raising a young man with autism and taking a Courageous step to move provinces to work in a grassroots mission for people living with addictions, mental health struggles and without homes. This was such a challenging season in my life – I didn’t know anyone except the couple that hired me, so it was a real learning curve for both me and my son. I had barely started my healing journey yet, so I had a lot of growth to do for my own heart and as a leaders. I am so grateful for the couple that hired me, seeing my gifts, after volunteering at this mission a couple years earlier. I strove for perfection and my standard of excellence was even higher than the organizations ( I laugh now). The first time, I got feedback – youch ! I had a friend who listened to my tearful retelling of my first supervision, and that friend gentle said something like this “when getting feedback, it might not always be full true or it may be, as a general rule of thumb remember at least 10% is true, and grow from there”. From that day forward, I had to really be honest with my own heart and taking in truth was not easy … if you want to heal and grow, it is essential. Be honest with yourself first. Take every opportunity to learn, grow and embrace , have been a stepping stone to where I am today.

3. Decolonizing Healing Work for your own heart. The best knowledge in our lives, won’t always come from book knowledge &/or degree’s. Now, I am not saying those things are not great , I hold high regard for those who are academic, we need this knowledge. As Indigenous people, we need to feed our Spirits first (our hearts) , the western world feed the brain first with knowledge and that simply is not our way to walk rooted in our hearts, minds, emotions or Spirits. Decolonizing work starts with your own heart, your own story and knowing who you really are. It starts with Love and Ends with Love. The best work you will ever do for yourself, your partner/spouse, your children, your families and communities is “walking in authenticity , vulnerability and love”. I always say “work (career/job) is not who you are , it is what you do.”. Beginning to unravel your own story , starting a healing and growth journey will be the best quality about you and others will be drawn to you, including a career path that will resonate with your natural gifts. It will always begin with us – Understanding Ourselves, so that we can love who we are and lead our own lives in a way of kindness and love … That will have ripple effect where ever you go and what ever opportunity presents itself. Always Lead with Love.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

I use to not like reading because I had this idea that I was not smart and someone made fun of my when I was little and learning to read out loud. I love love reading books, and this has been essential in my healing, growth and leadership development. It’s hard to narrow it down to one book – The book that really played an important role in my development was:

– The Gift of Imperfection~ Let Go of Who You Think You’re Suppose to Be & Embrace Who You are” by Brene Brown.
the nuggets of wisdom … ” If we want to fully experience love and belonging, we must believe that we are worthy of love and belonging … Love: We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known, and we honor the spiritual connection that grows from that offering with trust, respect, kindness and affection…. Cultivating Authenticity is not something we have or don’t have. It’s a practice – a conscious choice of how we want to live. It’s about the choice to show up and be real.. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our True selves be seen.

Brene Brown also wrote – Dare to Lead and there are 2 nugget statements that I keep close : “Who we are is how we lead” and “Integrity is choosing courage over comfort. It’s choosing what’s right over what’s fun, fast, or easy: it’s practicing your values, not just professing them. ” That quote – is pinned at my desk

Decolonizing and Unraveling work – it is important to read books about Indigenous History and Stories. Like, Truth Telling by Michelle Good ; Decolonizing Trauma work by Renee Linklater; Calling Back My Spirit by Elaine Alec: Native by Kaitlin B. Curtice : In My Own Moccasins by Helen Knott and Mind Spread out on the Ground by Alicai Elliot – just to name a few, if people are curious about these topics. They have been important in my journey.

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