Edinburgh festival.. an Open space event

Chris Corrigan chris at chriscorrigan.com
Mon Apr 10 14:01:49 PDT 2006


The last "potlatch" I was at was a couple of months ago at the Capilano
Bighouse in North Vancouver.  It was a memorial for a friend's grandmother.
There were about 750 people there and the ceremonies lasted about 10 hours.
The first four hours or so consisted of spirit dancing which is impossible
to describe.  The entire bighouse was full of moaning and wailing and
drumming and signing for four straight hours.  It did bring a certain
alignment to the proceedings.  After that we ate and then memorial
formalities began, consisting of what is known simply as "the work" that the
family has invited everyone to help them with.  "The work" is the processing
of grief, and that ceremony has many, many (MANY!) levels to it.  After
that, there was a giveaway, and the floor of the bighouse looked like the
receiving dock of a Wal-mart until everything was disbursed, clutching
dishtowels, picnic sets, cups, dustpans, posters and blankets, among other
items.

Finally, there was more ritualized dancing until the wee hours and everyone
closed it down.  The overwhelming sense being at these events, is that there
are deep, deep ways in the world that communities care for Spirit.  These
ceremonies evolved out of 9000 years of practice, tradition and learning
about these many worlds.  The Squamish memorial I attended comes out of an
uninteruppted wisdom tradition that predates ancient Egypt.  It took my
friend's family many years to prepare for this memorial, undertake all of
the pre-work that led to the correct kind of invitation and to acquire all
of the stuff that was given away.  In that sense, it was like an Open Space!

So if you're planning on using this model as a retreat, look out!  It's a
lot of work to get ready!!

:-)

Cheers,

Chris

On 4/10/06, Vliex, Carla (cvl) <CVL at tg.nl> wrote:
>
> Thanks Chris and Harrison.
>
> The site chris mailed to me was great and interesting. One of my business
> clients wants a day out with his whole staff. Thin k I am going to advise
> him to invite everyone of his comoany for a potlatch...
>
> Carla
>
> Met vriendelijke groet,
>
> drs. Carla Vliex
> Adviseur Organisatie Ontwikkeling
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> Twynstra Gudde Adviseurs en Managers
> Stationsplein 1, 3818 LE Amersfoort
> Postbus 907, 3800 AX Amersfoort
> 033-4677761
> 06 53927407
> Internet www.twynstragudde.nl
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> Van: OSLIST namens Chris Corrigan
> Verzonden: ma 10-4-2006 18:31
> Aan: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Onderwerp: Re: Edinburgh festival.. an Open space event
>
>
> Here's some information on potlatches held around here:
>
> http://collections.ic.gc.ca/potlatch/
>
> Cheers,
>
> Chris
>
>
> On 4/9/06, Vliex, Carla (cvl) <CVL at tg.nl> wrote:
>
>         Being not a native speaker and getting quite curious: WHAT IS A
> POTLATCH??
>
>         Carla from the Netherlands
>
>
>
>         Met vriendelijke groet,
>
>         drs. Carla Vliex
>         Adviseur Organisatie Ontwikkeling
>         ------------------------------------------------------------------
>         Twynstra Gudde Adviseurs en Managers
>         Stationsplein 1, 3818 LE Amersfoort
>         Postbus 907, 3800 AX Amersfoort
>         033-4677761
>         06 53927407
>         Internet www.twynstragudde.nl
>
>
>
>         ________________________________
>
>         Van: OSLIST namens Harrison Owen
>         Verzonden: do 6-4-2006 13:38
>         Aan: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>         Onderwerp: Re: Edinburgh festival.. an Open space event
>
>
>
>         I guess I must have attended a rogue Potlatch - but they do some
> funny things in Alaska.
>
>
>
>         Harrison
>
>
>
>         Harrison Owen
>
>         7808 River Falls Drive
>
>         Potomac, Maryland   20854
>
>         Phone 301-365-2093
>
>         Skype hhowen
>
>         Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <
> http://www.openspaceworld.com/>
>
>         Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org <
> http://www.openspaceworld.org/>
>
>         Personal website www.ho-image.com <http://www.ho-image.com/>
>
>         OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the
> archives Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html <
> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html>
>
>
>
>         -----Original Message-----
>         From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Chris Corrigan
>         Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2006 1:18 AM
>         To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>         Subject: Re: Edinburgh festival.. an Open space event
>
>
>
>         Just a technical piece...potlatches are about as far from Open
> Space as you can imagine.  They are highly structured and controlled events
> and there is very little tolerance for anything that lies outside of the
> control of the people that are responsible for given parts of the
> ceremonies.  In fact, working here on the west ocast of North America, where
> the feasting culture is integral to traditional forms of governance, using
> Open Space sometimes becomes a real challenge.
>
>         On the other hand, most people i work with who stop to think about
> it agree that Open Space resonates on a deeper level and taps something that
> seems to lie at the heart of many different traditional and indigenous
> cultures.
>
>         But potlatches...woowhee...they would drive you around the bend,
> Harrison!
>
>         Chris
>
>         On 4/5/06, Harrison Owen < hhowen at verizon.net <mailto:
> hhowen at verizon.net <mailto:hhowen at verizon.net> > > wrote:
>
>         Diane -- Surprise! And guess where a major part of the inspiration
> for Open
>         Space came from? Indigenous Market places! All of which work
> pretty much the
>         same was as a Potlatch. Same old, same old :-)
>
>         Harrison
>
>         Harrison Owen
>         7808 River Falls Drive
>         Potomac, Maryland 20854
>         Phone 301-365-2093
>         Skype hhowen
>         Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
>         Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
>         Personal website www.ho-image.com
>         OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the
>         archivesVisit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
>
>         -----Original Message-----
>         From: OSLIST [mailto: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU <mailto:
> OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU> ] On Behalf Of Diane
>         Brandon
>         Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2006 12:39 PM
>         To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>         Subject: Re: Edinburgh festival.. an Open space event
>
>         Chris's comment resonated for me. Our family has had some
> wonderful
>         weekends centered around an indigenous pow wow. Usually it's a
> full
>         weekend - sleep over two nights - and there are lots of things
> going on
>         -- food vendors, arts and crafts vendors, children's games, always
> the
>         circle in the center, drumming much of the time, dances of many
> sorts,
>         great ceremonial dress, some or all dances open to all (some for
>         skilled dancers only), story telling, flute playing, sometimes
> sweat
>         lodges, sometimes workshops on healing/spiritual topics or on
> making
>         things, and nothing requires attendance! Many people sit around
> their
>         campsites, sleep, talk at picnic tables, swim in the river where
> that's
>         an option, take care of kids -- oh yes, all ages are welcome and
> are
>         there, with a lot of honor for elders (much appreciated by this
>         grandmother) and for veterans (something I was on the fence about
> - but
>         my husband was in the Navy for 4 years in the Vietnam era, and it
> means
>         so much to him to dance in the veterans' honoring dance, and I get
> to
>         join him.... so I've warmed to it). Many people camp out in
> tents  and
>         trailers, so we live together for the weekend, and the cost is
> minimal.
>         There's plenty of room for offering what you want to offer, if not
> in a
>         more formal way, then via your own campsite and conversations
> there or
>         as you walk around. (I'm sure if you hang a flag at your campsite
> about
>         your topic, you'll attract some interest!) The place-basedness of
> it,
>         and all the preparation that goes into it on the part of the tribe
> or
>         tribes or individuals that organize it (they usually include one
> free
>         feast, and often a give-away), seem core to the sense of deep
>         satisfaction people get from going to these weekends. I think it's
> very
>         close to Open Space!
>
>         Diane Brandon
>         Eliot, Maine
>
>         On Apr 5, 2006, at 10:22 AM, Chris Weaver wrote:
>
>         > on a related large other topic, i am deeply interested in the
> overlap
>         > between ost and ceremony in indigenous traditions.  festival
> life,
>         > which
>         > culminates on a specific piece of land for a specific period of
> time,
>         > has
>         > some fascinating resonance with ceremonial space/time.  a topic
> to
>         > explore
>         > another time.
>
>         *
>         *
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>
>         --
>         CHRIS CORRIGAN
>         Consultation - Facilitation
>         Open Space Technology
>
>         Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
>         Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com
>         Open Space Resources:  http://tinyurl.com/r94tj * *
> ==========================================================
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> --
> CHRIS CORRIGAN
> Consultation - Facilitation
> Open Space Technology
>
> Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
> Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com
> Open Space Resources:  http://tinyurl.com/r94tj * *
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--
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Consultation - Facilitation
Open Space Technology

Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com
Open Space Resources:  http://tinyurl.com/r94tj

*
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