CC student’s father writes about
saving lives with brainwaves and traditional Native American medicine
(A few weeks ago, The Catalyst
received an e-mail that recommended that we check into the life of a CC
student’s father.
Angela La Borde and her father
cooperated wholeheartedly with me in getting this intriguing story written.
This article is an introduction into the work that Roger does. He is preparing
another article that will go more into depth about what his life’s work is
really all about. At Roger’s request, this is his article in its entirety,
just as it was originally written.)
My name is Wakan Sa Hunka of the
Rides the White Horse Clan. My daughter Angela La Borde, Wa Waci Win, (Snow
Dancer Woman) is a student at CC.
The Catalyst has asked me to write
about who I am and what I do in 600 to 700 words, so I will try, but I know that
I can’t and also have you get a glimpse of my world.
I am a Shaman and a healer. My
journey into the Shamanic world began, in part, when my family was adopted by
the Red Elk family in Montana on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in 1982. As a
result of that adoption, Gerald Red Elk, a Sioux Holy Man, became my
uncle. He died a little over three years later.
Those three years, however, would
change my life dramatically and the lives of my family. Angela was only a few
months old when we traveled from Vashon Island, Washington, to Montana for a few
days to visit my parents who lived and worked on the reservation. My father was
a chemical engineer who had been working on a project on the reservation for
Northern Natural Gas. They were about to leave the reservation for another
assignment when his secretary, Imogene, who was Gerald’s sister, wanted to
formally adopt my mother in the Indian way.
You see, my mother and Imogene had
become good friends, and it was through that friendship that Gerald had learned
about me. Little did I know that he had planned to include my wife Pam, my
sisters, and both my parents in the adoption and naming ceremonies. I had
come
from the corporate world, having worked as a technical recruiter for companies
such as Exxon, Tenneco, Fluor, and Kellogg Engineering.
I had no idea that my life was to
take a turn into worlds I had never experienced, and I was about to be given a
name that would take me 17 years to discover its true meaning. In 1984, Gerald
was asked to fly to Colorado and give a presentation to the Institute of Noetic
Sciences Board of Directors. Gerald insisted that Pam and I go along with him.
The evening consisted of a dialogue
between the board members and Gerald followed by a dinner. During the discussion
session, Gerald referred to me as a healer and explained that I did it
differently than he but was a healer nevertheless. That was my first glimpse of
what was to come on the healing journey.
During that year, following
Gerald’s request, I was successful at arranging a meeting between Gerald and
Chogyum Trungpa Rinpoche, a well known Tibetan Lama and teacher, in the
mountains outside of Fort Collins, Colorado. The meeting was so dramatic and
auspicious that the word went around the world among Trungpa’s students of
this meeting between their guru and this enlightened Indian Holy Man.
I received a call a month later from
Father Thomas Keating inviting Gerald to an inter-religious council meeting at
Saint Benedict's Monastery in Old Snowmass. Fr. Keating was bringing
representation from the major religions of the world to enter into a dialogue to
see if there were points of common agreement, and he wanted a Native American
representative. Gerald insisted that I go with him, and I have been a member of
that council for the last 17 years even though I do not belong to any organized
religion. Before he died, Gerald gave me a Shaman’s pipe and told me that I
would know what to do with it one day. Gerald entered the other worlds in 1985.
Later, I was honored to spend time
with Rolling Thunder, a Cherokee Medicine Man, and Don Eduardo Calderon
Palomino, a Peruvian Shaman, and several other elders of the shamanic world.
In 1988, I was asked to be a
"guinea pig" in a brainwave study, and it was there that doctors
discovered I had brainwaves that had never been seen before. Through their
research it was discovered that I could alter other peoples’ brainwaves and
alter their physical ailments. In 1992, I was called into a coma case in Fort
Collins, Colorado. Peter, an Australian helicopter pilot who flew for Channel 9
news in Denver, Colorado, was at death’s door, and the doctors were advising
the family to "pull the plug" on life support and let him die. I spent
the night with Peter, and at 2 a.m. he responded to my voice. He later came out
of the coma, and it was major news.
A second case involved an Australian
singer in Canada who was in a "no hope" coma situation, and the
founder and chief editor of the New Age Journal flew me to British Columbia. In
two days, the singer came out of the coma and began to talk. The New Age Journal
published an article in the Sept\Oct 1994 issue about my work on those
miraculous coma cases. Shortly after that article, I was featured on Sightings
and NBC’s The Other Side, followed a few years later by That’s Incredible. I
have been involved with a number of high profile coma cases since 1992 after the
traditional medical profession had given up hope for any recovery.
I have since helped people with
various other ailments that were physical, mental, and spiritual, which led to
an invitation to be a member of the University of California at San Diego School
of Medicine Wilderness Medicine faculty. Thank you for your attention, and I
know that I didn’t make it in 700 words.