College of Medicine – Phoenix Hosts Blessing Ceremony for the Campus Community

The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix’s Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion hosted a traditional Native American blessing ceremony to encourage students, faculty and staff in the new academic year.

Miguel Flores, Jr., a Native American healer, led the ceremony at the U of A College of Medicine – Phoenix. A member of the Pascua Yaqui and Tohono O’odham tribes, Flores, Jr. has performed the traditional blessing for approximately 34 years.

“The ceremony acknowledges the masculine and female energies in all of us because without the two, we would not be here,” Flores, Jr. said. “It is intended to realign us and maintain balance.”

The college hosted the ceremony in the Grand Canyon patio before classes started on Oct. 1. This is the seventh time that the ceremony has been conducted on the medical school’s campus.

Flores, Jr. used a blend of medicines that included tobacco, sage, cedar and lavender. The sweet scents represent feminine energy while the stronger scents represent masculine energy. The prayer of the four directions instills a cleansing of negative energy from one’s spirit.

The components of the blessing ceremony represent the four elements: earth, water, fire and wind. Fire lit the herbs from the earth ablaze in the shell, leading to the smoke to carry negative energy along the wind.

After burning the ingredients for the blessing, Flores, Jr. performed a family song for the students. Students, staff and faculty from all backgrounds were in attendance for the ceremony.

Niomi Tsingine, a second-year medical student at the college and a member of the Navajo Nation, said it was her third time participating in the blessing ceremony on campus.

“This is a good way to reset and to gather strength and balance for the academic year,” Tsingine said. “This is always something that I look forward to and something that I appreciate very much. I appreciate Miguel Flores, Jr. for coming and doing this for us.”

Franki Walsh, a second-year medical student at the college, said it was her first time to attending.

“It’s special because it does keep the University of Arizona’s connection to the indigenous roots and the folks who were here before us,” Walsh said. “The ceremony was a nice reset and a refreshing way to continue on into our last block of medical school.”

After the blessing ceremony, refreshments were offered for the community to enjoy in the campus’s Grand Canyon area.