Tansi or Hello,

My name is Matthew Morningstar, also known as Koh’gwin’zhii ~ Wise Fire.

I write to share a deeply personal and collective journey—a path of reconnection, healing, and the restoration of Indigenous Knowledge and Wisdom.

My mother, is a Survivor of both the Residential School system and the Stolen Generations. Her life, like the lives of so many others, was shaped by Canada’s colonial legacy—a system that forcibly removed Indigenous children from their families, languages, and lifeways. This trauma did not end with the individual. It disrupted entire Nations and living systems, severing vital connections across generations.

As the next generation, I carry the weight of that rupture. I was raised without access to my Indigenous family, community, Nation, land, language, laws, or education. And yet, through self-guided learning and spiritual persistence, I have committed myself to reclaiming the teachings of my ancestors—wisdom that spans the ceremonial, the communal, the practical, and the cosmic.

This knowledge is not new. It predates colonial contact by thousands of years and lives on through oral tradition, land-based learning, and mentorship from Elders. My long-term vision is to earn and embody an authentic Indigenous Degree—not one granted by Western institutions, but conferred through ceremonial practice, lived experience, and the guidance of Indigenous Knowledge Holders, including Elder of the North, Randall G. Tetlichi, Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation.

This degree is rooted in holistic Indigenous education, which embraces the six realms of human development:

Spirit

Mind

Emotions

Body

Social

Economics

These teachings are held within the 9 Sacred Fires of Indigenous Civilizations. Each Sacred Fire represents a universe—a body of knowledge and worldview that together form an integrated system of Indigenous learning. I estimate these traditions go back over 95,000 years, carrying with them a legacy of resilience, harmony, and foresight.

As part of this journey, I am preparing to operate a traditional Sweat Lodge. This year-long training will include self-directed study and the facilitation of small family sweats, offering a sacred return to land, ceremony, and Nation. It is both a stage of skill-building and an act of spiritual restoration. Each fire I tend, each ceremony I lead, brings me closer to completing the Indigenous Degree.

Once this foundational year is complete, I will open the Sweat Lodge to the broader community—locally, regionally, nationally, and globally—to support others in their own healing and reconnection journeys.

Let me be clear: this degree is not symbolic or abstract. It is real. It lives in the fire, the language, the ceremony. It is earned not through credits or diplomas, but through time, humility, responsibility, and presence. It binds the past, present, and future through Indigenous law and education.

To fully walk this path, I must continue the process of reconnecting with Indigenous Nations and build a Sweat Lodge on the land. This is not merely a structure—it is a functioning Indigenous system. A space for restoring relationship, continuity, and sacred purpose.

To achieve this, I am seeking resources, partnerships, and support. I am calling on Elders, knowledge keepers, families, and allies to help shape a system that not only restores what was lost, but plants new roots for generations to come—1,000 years and beyond.

Many Indigenous Peoples are navigating their own versions of this path. Though our stories differ, we share a common challenge: living within Eurocentric systems that have shaped our languages, habits, and worldviews—often at the expense of our own. Reclaiming our ways is not easy. But it is necessary.

I invite you to walk with us.

Join our email list to follow The Vision of Building Together the 9 Sacred Fires—a 5,000-Year Meta Strategic Plan shaped through Indigenous Consciousness and tested in lived experience. Together, we can uphold and expand a legacy that is as enduring as the land itself.

In Building Together,

Matthew Morningstar

Koh’gwin’zhii ~ Wise Fire

Indigenous Elder

Indigenous Warrior (I.W.’s)

Sweat Lodge Master

thewisefire [@] gmail [dot] com