Sacred Sites Run, Hopiland to Teotihuacan, Mexico

SACRED SITES RUN 2008

By Olivia Chumacero

May this day find you in good health and with much respect we send this letter to you and your community.
As indigenous people we have endured many atrocities and extermination tactics throughout these past five hundred years. These unconscionable actions were and continue to be executed not only towards our communities but; to the land , the waters, the air and every form of creation on this place we call home. Because of this devastation and disrespect of life in all its forms, we are now living precariously on our Mother Earth through the age of global warming.
What remains true however, is that as traditional indigenous people we respect everything that sustains life. We know that the human being is here as caretaker. We have maintained our responsibility diligently as the keepers of wisdom in spite of the continuous onslaught against us and our traditional ways. We remember our relationship, our connection with the four directions and the manner in which to live on our Mother Earth .
This responsibility that we carry demands that we honor it through positive and creative actions, and therein the reason for the Sacred Sites Run. Our goal as spirit runners is to weave indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge together, so that we may assist in the necessary healing during this age of global warming. In the end we are all one tribe, the human tribe and we all have only this one home, our Mother Earth.
In conjunction with, the running to and honoring sacred sites in remote indigenous communities; we will share information on alternative and green based energy and water conservation, to all our hosting communities.
We are confident that the bridges created in the midst of this Sacred Sites Run, will endure for generations to come. Through past and present experience, we know that it is not the usual behavior of the rest of the world, to honor and respect land or people in indigenous communities; therefore we undertake this Sacred Sites Run conscious of both the responsibility and the urgency of the times.
We extend an invitation to you, your family, your friends, and your community, to join us in this multi-tribal Sacred Sites Run this year during the month of April. We will begin the run honoring the sacred site of the Hopi nation , in the Second Mesa, Arizona and continue through the state, cross the border to finish in the sun pyramid in Teotihuacan, Mexico.
We take it upon ourselves as spirit runners to follow through with our responsibility as caretakers to our Mother Earth. We hope that you will be able to join us as a runner, support staff, host, sponsor or perhaps in thought and or spirit . Please contact us if this is something that touches your heart and spirit. And we look forward to working together for the benefit of the future generations .
With all respect,
Olivia Chumacero –International Director
213.618.0420 cell & land line 631.714.5083 (until February 12, 2008 only)
Sacred Sites Run 2008
P.O. Box 31276
Los Angeles CA. 90031
Sacred Sites Run Coordinators
International Director Arizona Coordinator Mexico Coordinator Olivia Chumacero Ruben Saufkie Sr. Helen Samuels chumacero@spiritruns.net rmsaufkie_h2opi@yahoo.com hcontact@tekio.net
Olivia Chumacero is from the Raramuri tribe in the Copper Canyon of Chihuahua, Mexico and as a traditional spirit runner has coordinated transcontinental runs for many decades. She honors her ancestral responsibility to live everyday as a caretaker of life in all its manifestations - one home, one Mother Earth, one tribe –the human tribe.
Helen Samuels is an Ashoka Fellow recipient, she has created an international network that supports urban, rural and indigenous youth as stakeholders in the emerging DO-IT-YOURSELF culture of social and environmental restoration. Ms. Samuels has supported transcontinental runs for the last 20 years, reestablishing north–south routes that connect 1st nation peoples of the Americas for the purpose of ceremonial exchange and honoring environmental practices.
Ruben Saufkie Sr. is from the Hopi Water Clan of Second Mesa, AZ. He coordinated the runners on the historic H2OPI run that carried the message “Water is Sacred” from Hopi to the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico, City in 2006. He is deeply committed to being a messenger for Water and has traveled worldwide in doing so.
http://www.spiritruns.net/213-618-040

Salt Singers mourn ancestors at Berkeley today

Award-winning Indian Singing Troup to Mourn Ancestors at Major Rally Against UCB’s Attack on Repatriation Rights

January 22, 2008

Salt Singers from 14 Indian Bands Have Traveled Great Distances to Perform Ancient Songs at Demo in Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza

By Jessica LePak

The famous Native American Salt Singers from Utah, Nevada, Arizona and Southern California will sing ancient mourning songs at a demonstration to express their profound sadness over thousands of Native American remains stored in drawers and plastic bags a few hundred feet away beneath a swimming pool in the Hearst gym basement.
When: Noon Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Where: Sproul Plaza, UC Berkeley
Who: The Salt Song Project (http://www.nativeland.org/saltsong2.html)
Why: The Salt Singers feel it is imperative to conduct this rite of passage now to raise public awareness about the shocking lack of cooperation from UC administrators with tribal entities. Despite numerous resolutions from tribes and the National Congress of American Indians and thousands of letters and emails requesting repatriation, senior UC administrators have refused to meet with tribal leaders and have continued to deny tribes their lawful claim for the religious and ceremonial reburial of their ancestors. Thus far, UCB Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and UC system president Rory Hume have simply ignored requests to discuss the University’s administration of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and have referred all inquiries to Museum subordinates who lack the power and desire to change UC NAGPRA policies.
Supporters are invited to bring drums and other instruments.

Photo from website:

http://www.nativeland.org/saltsong2.html

Walking, to make sure the world is right

By Brenda Norrell

As the Longest Walk route across America was announced, an exciting thought comes from the Zapatistas about "exiting the heart to walk the world." The Longest Walk and the words of the Zapatistas are a reminder that our own bodies can provide transportation, our own hands can provide the food we eat, and that the art of walking is a way to put the world in balance.

Rebecca Solnit's article, "Revolution of the Snails: Encounters with the Zapatistas," published in TomDispatch.com , describes the Zapatistas caracoles and the magical art of walking.

"Take, for example, the word caracol, which literally means snail or spiral shell. In August 2003, the Zapatistas renamed their five autonomous communities caracoles ... When they reorganized as caracoles, the Zapatistas reached back to Mayan myth to explain what the symbol meant to them. Or Subcomandante Marcos did, attributing the story as he does with many stories to 'Old Antonio,' who may be a fiction, a composite, or a real source of the indigenous lore of the region:

'The wise ones of olden times say that the hearts of men and women are in the shape of a caracol, and that those who have good in their hearts and thoughts walk from one place to the other, awakening gods and men for them to check that the world remains right. They say that they say that they said that the caracol represents entering into the heart, that this is what the very first ones called knowledge. They say that they say that they said that the caracol also represents exiting from the heart to walk the world…. The caracoles will be like doors to enter into the communities and for the communities to come out; like windows to see us inside and also for us to see outside; like loudspeakers in order to send far and wide our word and also to hear the words from the one who is far away.'"

Longest Walk for spiritual survival, Alcatraz to DC

Longest Walk 2

A SPIRITUAL WALK FOR Survival FROM ALCATRAZ to D.C.

By Longest Walk 2

SAN FRANCISCO -- On February 11, 2008, Longest Walk 2 participants will embark on a five- month journey across America to Washington, D.C. arriving on July 11, 2008. In commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the historic Longest Walk of 1978 that resulted in historic changes for Native America, hundreds of communities are participating in the Longest Walk of 2008 to raise awareness about issues impacting our world environment, to protect Sacred Sites and to clean up Mother Earth. The original Longest Walk of 1978 was conducted in response to proposed legislation in Congress that would have abrogated Native Treaties that protected our Native American sovereignty. It defeated those 11 bills and in the following month, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) of 1978 was passed. As a result of The 1978 Longest Walk, Indigenous people were granted the federal legislative right to freedom of religion, a fundamental right guaranteed to all Americans under the U.S. Constitution."In 1978, our communities faced many hardships such as non-existing religious rights and criminalization of our people who fought for cultural survival, this is why the Longest Walk was necessary. As Indigenous Peoples in the United States, our environment and our cultural survival are directly correlated and are still imperiled today, this is why we must walk once again” states Jimbo Simmons of the International Indian Treaty Council. The Longest Walk 2 is an extraordinary grassroots effort on a national level to bring attention to the environmental disharmony of Mother Earth. The Longest Walk 2 intends to create educational awareness about the health and wellbeing of Our Mother Earth, The health and wellbeing of our people and communities and the protection and preservation of Sacred Sites. The message from the Longest Walk of 1978 will be carried and continued: “The Longest Walk is an Indian spiritual walk, a historical walk; and it is a walk for educational awareness to the American and the World communities about the concerns of American Indian people.” American Indian Movement Co-founder Dennis J. Banks states “From Alcatraz Island to Washington, D.C., through the elements of the seasons, we shall walk; nothing shall deter us from completing our mission: All Life is Sacred, Protect Mother Earth.” Longest Walk 2 is part of many communities ongoing commitment to protect sacred sites, cultural preservation, and to create awareness about the environment. We are walking to promote positive change in our world. The Longest Walk 2 invites veteran walkers that participated in the 1978 Longest Walk and reach out the new generations of the future to join us. The Longest Walk 2 will take two routes. The Northern route will travel the original route of 1978 across 11 states and 3,600 miles. The Southern route will follow the 2006 Sacred Run route across 13 states and 4,400 miles. Both routes will visit Sacred Sites across the Nation and promote educational awareness for Sacred Sites protection and preservation. The Southern route will be launching The Clean Up Mother Earth Campaign where Longest Walk participants will work together to clean up our country’s highways and roads by collecting debris found along the Longest Walk route.
For more information please visit: http://www.longestwalk.org/

Entire northern route schedule and call for help:
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2008/01/longest-walk-2-route-feb-9-march-28.html
For Southern route: http://www.longestwalk.org