Had a beautiful weekend of our JV experience with Sarah these past two days. It began Saturday morning with one of the most important and serendipitous things I've ever been present to- meeting Grandmother Margaret Behan, Northern Cheyenne Elder, of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. The greatest thing you've ever heard of, right?
The Council is, as the name says, a group of 13 indigenous grandmothers from around the world. They came together to unify around their common vision, each answering a specific calling and responding to separate but parallel prophecies. They recognize that the earth is in a state of pain and suffering, and it is the grandmothers of the earth who can bring about healing. Grandmothers, in their wisdom and nurturing of life.
Alliance Statement of the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
We are the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. We have united as one. Ours is an alliance of prayer, education and healing for our Mother Earth, all Her inhabitants, all the children and for the next seven generations to come.
We are deeply concerned with the unprecedented destruction of our Mother Earth, the contamination of our air, waters and soil, the atrocities of war, the global scourge of poverty, the threat of nuclear weapons and waste, the prevailing culture of materialism, the epidemics which threaten the health of the Earth’s peoples, the exploitation of indigenous medicines, and with the destruction of indigenous ways of life.
We, the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, believe that our ancestral ways of prayer, peacemaking and healing are vitally needed today. We come together to nurture, educate and train our children. We come together to uphold the practice of our ceremonies and affirm the right to use our plant medicines free of legal restriction. We come together to protect the lands where our peoples live and upon which our cultures depend, to safeguard the collective heritage of traditional medicines, and to defend the earth Herself. We believe that the teachings of our ancestors will light our way through an uncertain future.
We join with all those who honor the Creator, and to all who work and pray for our children, for world peace, and for the healing of our Mother Earth.
So last week, Sister MaryAnne of the Prayer Lodge (another treasure that I must also describe) invited us to a meeting they were having with Grandmother Margaret to help plan the Grandmothers' next Council gathering, which will take place this summer in Lame Deer, Montana (Grandmother Margaret's home.) Sarah & I looked up the Council to learn more and were completely enamored.
So we headed down Saturday morning and spent the entire meeting in awe of the Grandmothers and their work. One of the amazing parts was just being part of the gathering; just meeting Grandmother Margaret, who, though an international leader on the level of the UN, is still just that- a grandma. Grounded and humble and loving and welcoming. Her assistant Skybird was there as well, along with several other Sisters, another young girl, and Margaret's granddaughter, Cedar Rose. But just being there- hearing some of her wisdom, learning more about the Council- was such an opportunity.
The other amazing part was the opportunity to be involved with this Council gathering. [My understanding is that the gathering will be a sacred time for the Grandmothers to come together first, to have their private council, deliberating issues that have been brought to them for input or endorsement, and praying. They then will have the public council where hundreds of participants join them in support of their prayers for peace.]
Grandmother Margaret shared her vision for what she wants the gathering to be, and shared her four hopes that are starting to be met by her prayers. Being the first gathering to happen on a reservation, (the 11th so far- after they have one at each of the grandmother's homes, they will start "taking invitations from the world." And they already have a waiting list!) she wants it to be completely aligned with traditional values in every detail. The most important part of her Cheyenne culture is feeding guests- welcoming people and caring for them. So she prays that they will be able to feed all of the participants. At the least, she will be able to feed her fellow Grandmothers around her own kitchen table, which is so special to her. They also are focused on building an ecological site for the gathering so that they continue to respect and care for Mother Earth throughout the event.
It is just such an inspiring movement that the Grandmothers have formed. I am so eager to hear more of their wisdom and individual-yet unified-visions. I felt so blessed to be there and to be introduced to this hope for the world.
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To continue the lovely weekend, Sarah, Don & I went to mass at St. Dennis in Crow Agency this morning, where we see many friendly faces from the Crow community and several of our friends, too. After church, we sat with one of the families we are close with, the Briens, whose kids wanted to come over, so we took them with us. We went on a hike in the hills down the road, which was a fun adventure. We came back to warm up with hot chocolate and snuggled up in blankets to watch some "I Love Lucy" ... plus we had doritos, chocolate chip cookies, pudding, painting rocks, and the movie Tangled. Comfort & joy. Such a fun afternoon & so lucky to have those great kid friends.
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