Seven Sacred Truths
Seven Sacred Truths presents a powerful exploration of an Indigenous woman’s healing journey. Seeing the world through “brown” eyes, poet Wanda John-Kehewin makes new meaning of the past, present, and future through a consideration of Love, Wisdom, Truth, Honesty, Respect, Humility, and Courage. By sharing her views on these Seven Sacred Truths and what they meant to her growing up, John-Kehewin instigates a therapeutic process of restoration and transformation. Her Seven Sacred Truths uncovers new meaning in the written word – meaning that can be shared with others who have lived trauma or who want insight into it. John-Kehewin strives to create a safe space and provide the opportunity to experience another perspective; she invites readers to embark on their own healing journeys. The closer you are to the truth, she writes, the freer you become.
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Wanda John-Kehewin has studied criminology, sociology, Aboriginal studies, and creative writing with Simon Fraser University’s TWS writing program. She uses writing as a therapeutic medium to understand and respond to the near-decimation of First Nations culture, language, and tradition. She will be attending the University of British Columbia part-time, taking creative writing courses in 2018 and studied at UBC in creative writing in 2016. She has been a part of World Poetry and its radio show as a co-host on Co-op Radio and performed at numerous readings throughout British Columbia’s Lower Mainland. Her work is raw, and her honesty is a reflection of the amount of suffering the ancestors of the past have endured. She gives her mother, who was never heard, a voice. She credits her children as the vehicle to healing and wanting to understand colonization and its effects. Her first book of poetry, In the Dog House, was published by Talonbooks in 2013.
