NAFPS Forum

General => Research Needed => Topic started by: weheli on June 16, 2007, 12:48:21 am

Title: International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers (aka the 13 Pay to Pray Old Ladies)
Post by: weheli on June 16, 2007, 12:48:21 am
 I was emailed this and have not heard of them.

http://tribes.tribe.net/13grandmothers/thread/419bd2ee-8769-46b4-8433-403233b2fec1
AND
 
http://tribes.tribe.net/turtleislandrenewed . As I will be gone for a while am unable to research, anybody know anything????? :o ::)
                                                                            Weheli
Title: Re: Tribes.net "thirteen Grandmothers"
Post by: sapa on June 16, 2007, 04:08:37 pm
Just read the link concerning the sundance. Found it very dusturbing.
Our family has been hosting a sundance in south dakota for a long time (20 plus yrs)
My husband and I leave for our ceremonies on Tuesday. Our ceremony is small and primitive. It is very hard. We are a poor people without very many luxurys in life and still we welcome and feed any who come looking.....all for about $800.00 total...we have no porta potties just outhouses, our drum comes from the family free, the tribe gives us water, the men cut wood, make repairs, etc of their own free will, the woman work very hard in the heat preparing meals, usually soup and fry bread and coffee, we have been blessed with a propane stove although some special foods are still prepared over a fire. We have no electricity or running water.
We personally scrimp and save and some times get modest donations($300.00 this year) from our friends to help with the cost of travel. There are times when we have sold personel belongings to cover cost. I currently am trying to sell a turquoise necklace that was gifted to me a few years ago because we find we are $300.00 short on travel expenses. We have no buffer to return home to for bills that pile up while we are at ceremony.
Why do we do this?  it is who we are...we dance so the people, all peoples can have a little longer and easier life. We dance for the health and prosperity of all. So yes I get upset when I see things being distorted unfortunately there are many who through desperation resort to these things. We do not judge them to harshly as their walk is their own be it good or bad. The best advice I can give to those who wish to experience these old ways is to pray from the heart, make sure your reasons are for the good of man not yourself and when the time is right tunkashila will guide you. Follow your instincts if it doesnt seem right to you then it probably isnt. I would ask something from this group and that is for your prayers for a safe journey and return trip to our home...pilamiye sapa
Title: Re: Tribes.net "thirteen Grandmothers"
Post by: educatedindian on June 16, 2007, 09:31:15 pm
This is a difficult one to make out. On the one hand they seem to be followers of Joseph Rael (Beautiful Painted Arrow) and his sound chamber peace teachings etc.

The second link is calling for donations for a Sundance led by the American Horse family. As far as I know they've run a Sundance for some time and are probably best known for leading the opposition to the Looking Horse Proclamation. But the link claims the dance is in support of Arvol. Yet it also asks for donations, claiming the Oneida Nation was going to film it but pulled out their financial support when that fell through.

I have a hard time the Oneidas would a) want to film it b) sponsor it so they could film it c)pull their money when they couldn't film it. It seems more likely that it's one or two Oneidas who held the purse strings who were doing this. But without knowing more it's hard to say for certain.

And then there's this 13 tribes sponsoring it. Lots of questions.

"To Register:
Rebecca Rodriguez rebeccarodriguez333@yahoo.com
2158 Triple Peak Drive Canyon Lake, Texas USA 78133
(830) 964-5078
Please send in the enclosed registration form by April 15th
Space is limited-- please register early to get the accommodations of your choice
Airline Arrangements:  For your airline arrangements, we will be using the same trave l agent as before. She has really been helpful in arranging flights that are economical. You will be flying into Rapid City, South Dakota.
Alison Hawthorne Over The Rainbow Travel www.overtherainbowtravel.net
CST#1012185-40 (415) 552-8321 (415) 431-3167 - fax
Shuttle or Rental Car Arrangements:
You can arrange for a transport by shuttle from Rapid City Airport to your hotel
in Hot Springs by contacting Kevin at 605-381-7201. It will cost you $25 each way with a 3-person minimum on your van. You can also arrange for rental cars at the airport Please indicate on your registration form which way you’ll be traveling to Hot Springs
and the day you will arrive.
Costs: Public Council Days (June 13,14,15) Lunch and dinner:
Your meals will be served at the Civic Center where the Council will be meeting. A $20 a day fee will be collected through registration to cover these costs. $60 total per person
Tuition: $250 per person
Total cost to register for the event through our registrar Rebecca is $310.
Make checks payable to the Center for Sacred Studies
Room with breakfast & snacks (arriving June12, 13, 14, 15)
Best Western Sundowner Inn 737 S. 6th Street Hot Springs, SD 57747 (605) 745 7378
For Reservations Call 1-877-664-7378
non-smoking double @ $44.50 per person (2 queen size beds)
non-smoking double @ $44.50 per person (1 king size bed)
non-smoking triple @ $31.34 per person (2 queen size beds)
smoking double @ $44.50 per person (2 queen size beds)
We have arranged group rates at the hotel. You will need to contact them directly to make your individual arrangements. Please let them know you are with the Center for Sacred Studies, The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. Since
there are several events in Hot Springs in June, we could only arrange for a certain number of rooms. Please register as soon as possible to assure your room.
Sundance Time: The Sundance is traditionally offered through a donation basis only. Everyone comes to help serve the Sundancers and support them through their prayers, cleaning facilities, cooking, washing dishes, and whatever else may be needed by those sponsoring the event. Please indicate on your registration form how you would like to support. If you would like to make a donation towards the Sundance you can arrange that through Rebecca when you register.
Meals during this time are prepared in a central outdoor kitchen site on the Sundance grounds. The eating area is located near the camping space. You will be able to eat there on June 16,17,18,19,20, and 21. There are also some good restaurants in this
beautiful little town of Hot Springs. The native peoples of this land consider this holy land. There are natural hot springs in the area. We are gathering information on the local spas and will provide that for you at a later date.
Please let us know if you would like to stay at the ceremonial grounds in the camping area during Sundance time. Indicate this on your registration form. If you are camping, you will need to bring your own tent and camping gear. If you prefer to stay in
the hotel, you will need to change your accommodations to another hotel that is a bit closer to the ceremonial grounds. Rooms with breakfast during Sundance are at the Holiday Inn Express. Rooms can only be acquired here June 16th-22nd. There are a
limited number available. Rooms are approximately $50 for a double occupancy.
Please contact: Holiday Inn Express Email: gm.hsosd@wm.hiexpress Phone: 605 745 4411
Address: 1401 Highway 18, Hot Springs, So. Dakota
Adopt-a-Grandmother: A grandmother fundraising challenge inspired in Mexico, is our Adopt-AGrandmother
program. A number of people have chosen specific grandmothers and pledged to donate the price of their airline tickets to South Dakota. In the past, some have donated for the grandmothers’ travel companions as well. If you would like to participate
in this way, you can contact our office at 209 532-9048 or email us at info@grandmotherscouncil.com We invite you to consider this way of contributing to their cause. As a demonstration of unity and collaboration for world peace, we are calling
on everyone to come forward and hold this sacred basket together. Adopt-a-Grandmother Funds need to be received by April 30th in order to make timely arrangements. If you have other ideas or know individuals who would want to help, please contact us.
We are looking forward to this next step in the Grandmothers March for World Peace!! We will be coming to stand with the Sacred Pipe and pray for a world of unity!!
Join us! Thank you for all of your prayers, inspiration and support. See you in the Black Hills!
For the next seven generations and beyond,
Jyoti & Ann Center for Sacred Studies PO Box 745 Sonora, CA 95370 209 532-9048"

And this. Aloysius seems to be the one running the website as well:

"Dear Relatives,
My name is Noelle ********. I am very happy to announce that Aloysius Weasel Bear is offering to teach a class which will be an introduction to Sundance, at my home in Pacifica on Thursday, June 7th, 6-10 p.m. The class will include descriptions of the preparation leading up to Sundance, the Sundance itself and stories about Sundance. Aloysius is a Lakota Spiritualist, the GGGrandson of Sitting Bull and Big Foot, and the son of our Oglala Grandmother Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance.
The class is being given to raise money to bring the drummers and singers to the American Horse / Afraid Of Bear Tiospaye Sun Dance in the Black Hills of South Dakota on June 18th-21st. The suggested donation for the class is $50. Those interested in attending may email me at ******@*****.com or call me at (***) ***-****."
Title: Re: Tribes.net "thirteen Grandmothers"
Post by: sapa on June 17, 2007, 01:25:06 am
I may not be the one to comment on these things because our sundance is run much differently. Ours is a private sundance, invitation only. If you are there as a supporter ie worker than you cannot leave the grounds once ceremony has begone therefore no hotel until after.We offer primitive camping at its best, lol. We do not offer classes on sundance etiquette. It is expected that you learn these things from the person that invited you, or your parents, or grandparents,  and this takes time. Our meals are served from a "communal" pot ie central "kitchen". We do not ask for money for food or anything else. If you can contribute towards something than you will and if not we are just glad you are there to offer the dancers some strength.No ones travel expenses are paid for, you get there the best way you can, this to is part of the commitment. We have had dancers ride a greyhound across many states and back again. For us this is not a site seeing event nor the place for a powwow atmosphere. We have no moon lodge. In the old way if a woman is on her moon she must leave the area therefore there is the possiblity of the additional expense for our woman helpers should they choose a hotel over family housing. I say these things because I do not understand this thing that is being advertised. I believe I read in there something about the calf pipe being smoked at this event a few years back but Arvol wasnt even there. I find this hard to believe. To the best of my knowledge the calf pipe is to fragile to be used and hasnt even been seen unwrapped for many years.I understand this is a specialized event with the grandmothers so maybe steps are in place to maintain the sacredness of the ceremony. Perhaps the throngs are kept away from the dancers. I do not know but I personally would not be interested in attending. There are reasons the masses are kept away and the frauds that are exposed on this site is a good one. People attend something once or twice and become authoritys on the subject. Look out for a new wave of "huh's"....sapa 
Title: Re: Tribes.net "thirteen Grandmothers"
Post by: coffee_drinker on June 17, 2007, 02:18:36 am
I am in agreement with Sapa. I have attended my wife's family sun dance are they are very private and primative also. Without going into detail, I was told by one of her relatives who is a sun dance chief, you don't go around advertising period. It is private for a reason.
I have only been to private ceremonies, that unless you knew the marker, you would never even know a dance was being held at that place.
I myself was a little taken back by the fact that it stated the Oneida's pulled out due to not being able to film it. Hard to believe that the Oneidas would even have a request like that.
As far the the grandmothers group, I haven't read enough to comment on it.
Title: Re: Tribes.net "thirteen Grandmothers"
Post by: debbieredbear on June 17, 2007, 02:57:38 am
The whole hotel/classes etc struck me as tourism. There are some sundances here that allow non-natives to come, but they don't have hotels anywhere close by. There is are communal kitchen, camping, portapotties because the national forest requires them and you bring your own water. That's it. I have not been, but friends have told me. As for myself, I have never been to a sundance because I would need a reason to go other than spiritual tourism. The reasons would have to be a friend or family member was dancing, it was a family dance (neither of the tribes I am descended from have sundance although one used to and my husband's family, the side that HAS sundance, doesn't have a family one) or I was asked to help in some way. The whole message just made me ill. Hotels, food, classes. For sundance? Ick.
Title: Re: Tribes.net "thirteen Grandmothers"
Post by: sapa on June 19, 2007, 02:20:59 am
Things with the Thirteen Grandmothers get curiouser and curiouser.
I am trying to take care of all our loose ends before leaving on our trip so just a quick note. The Center for Sacred Studies seems to be the sponsor for the Council Meeting at the Black Hills. If you go to their website and do some surfing you will see that for $4000.00 and a 2 year commitment plus various incidently charges you to can become a spiritual minister online. The Grandmothers are women gathered from around the world united to promote peace. There are references to native crafts and beliefs but nothing substantial. Anyway thats all I have time for. Someone else pick up the ball if you have time........toksa, Sapa
Title: Re: Tribes.net "thirteen Grandmothers"
Post by: sapa on July 18, 2007, 04:05:43 am
As a follow up there is a thread at nativepeoples.tribe.net that is discussing the events at the Black Hills this summer. At the bottom of that page is a link to a response from Arvol Looking Horse concerning the petition by Martina Looking Horse and others. Thought you might be interested. Am not computer smart so dont know how to do the link thing....sorry
sapa
Title: Re: Tribes.net "thirteen Grandmothers"
Post by: debbieredbear on July 18, 2007, 04:23:40 pm
Thanks for pointing this out, Sapa. For anyone interested, here is the link:

http://nativepeoples.tribe.net/thread/dd83c547-25d9-4be3-81f5-68dc8e1ce2d1
Title: Re: Tribes.net "thirteen Grandmothers"
Post by: frederica on July 22, 2007, 04:34:13 am
Don't know if this is the same ones or not or the other is a copy of this.   Gina Boltz, Director NativeVillage Publications, Director, Youth Forum for the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers.  http://www.nativevillage.org      Sectretary LinkCenter Foundation   www.linkcenterfoundation.org    frederica
Title: Re: Tribes.net "thirteen Grandmothers"
Post by: sarahdeer on October 11, 2007, 03:17:38 am
http://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=24637

Women's group seeks peace

Published: October 10, 2007



Click this picture to view a larger image.

The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers is comprised of (from left) Clara lura, Maria Freire, Margaret Behan, Rita Blumenstein, Beatrice Long, Rita Long, Bernadette Rebienot, Mona Polacca, Agnes Baker-Pilgrim, Julieta Casimiro, Flordemayo, Aama Bombo, Tsering.
Courtesy Photo
 
 


By REBECCA HOWES

The Union Democrat


Praying for peace, 13 indigenous grandmothers from around the world have united after receiving an invitation by Sonora resident and internationally renowned spiritual advisor, Jyoti.

Jyoti, aka Jeneane Prevatt, began the Center for Sacred Studies in Sonora in 2002. She holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, has trained at the Jung Institute in Switzerland, and has chosen to devote her life to bringing unity to the planet.

"The Center for Sacred Studies' mission is to preserve and keep safe indigenous ways of prayer, practice and their ways of life," Jyoti said.

The spiritual advisor had a vision of a woman, simply known to her as "Our Lady," who spoke to her, telling her: "The seed of it all, is the seed of relations. If you start with your relations, everything will unfold naturally."

Jyoti had to go back in prayer to figure out which of the grandmothers to call on for the council. She listened to what the vision said and used the relations she had forged through Kayumari, the spiritual community she founded in 1995.

Her prayers led her and Ann Rosencranz, the center's spiritual director and a Columbia-area resident, to travel to Africa and then on to the Amazon, where they met the first two grandmothers who would make up the 13-member council.

There, they spoke with two grandmothers who also had the same vision. Separated by two continents the grandmothers amazingly had both recently signed letters claiming their rights as indigenous people to be guardians of the planet.

With her vision validated Jyoti, who is part Cherokee Indian, decided to approach other indigenous elders. The response to the invitation was overwhelming.

"Of the 16 invitations sent out, 13 grandmothers answered the call to become a part of the council," Jyoti said. "That is incredible."

Well-respected elders in their communities, the grandmothers, who range in age from 53 to 84, represent the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Yup'ik, Tamang, Mazatec, Mayan, Oglala Lakota, Takelma Siletz, Hopi, Havasupai, Tewa, and Omyene, in addition to the indigenous people of the Amazon and Tibet.

"These are very formidable women," Jyoti said.

Apparently, she isn't the only one who thinks so as the grandmothers have been in the company of the Dalai Lama, activist Gloria Steinem and author Alice Walker, to name a few.

The elders make up the The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers who gather to fulfill the ancient prophecy: "When the grandmothers from four directions speak, a new time is coming."

Often called the 11th hour, it is the final moments before a deadline — a deadline the grandmothers believe is upon us.

"The environment is a collective concern," Rosencranz said. "We are all in relation and need to approach it as one entity."

Rosencranz understands the importance of local issues like deforestation in the Amazon rain forest or global warming in the Arctic but stresses the need for a global vision of the problems all over the world.

The council convenes every six months to pray for peace for seven days, asking for blessings and healings. The gatherings, which have been planned out through 2012, are held at each grandmother's homeland or adopted homeland, as is the case with the exiled Tsering Dolma Gyaltong, originally from Tibet.

"There are seven languages being translated simultaneously at every meeting," Jyoti said of the diverse languages spoken by the grandmothers.

The council has met in New York, New Mexico, Mexico, India, South Dakota and will next travel to Gabon, Africa.

For Rosencranz, being a part of the work the grandmothers are doing has been a truly enlightening experience.

"For me, it's been a prayer that has been within me for 20 years," she said. "The heart of the grandmother is that she prays for everyone without discrimination."

Jyoti and Rosencranz are counting on the wisdom of the grandmothers to help bring the world back into balance so issues like clean air, clean water, hunger and war can be dealt with so all the children, and for the next seven generations to come, can live on a planet which is more in tune with itself, with nature and with the indigenous ways of life which were successful in the beginning.

"We are charged with the mission because we caught the vision that called all of this into being," Jyoti said. "All we need to do is open our hearts. We are all people with hearts that beat the same way."


Contact Rebecca Howes at 588-4531 or rhowes@uniondemocrat.com.
Title: Re: Tribes.net "thirteen Grandmothers"
Post by: Barnaby_McEwan on October 11, 2007, 07:33:07 am
"For me, it's been a prayer that has been within me for 20 years," she said. "The heart of the grandmother is that she prays for everyone without discrimination."

She never met my grandmother!

"All we need to do is open our hearts. We are all people with hearts that beat the same way."

This is just the kind of meaningless hippie fluff I'd expect from a Jungian psychologist. How do we respond to the wave of Klan-like noose displays? "Open our hearts". How do we respond to the HIV epidemic in Africa? "Open our hearts". How do we get the Chinese state to respect Tibetan Buddhists? "Open our hearts". How do we make sure all children have clean water to drink? "Open our hearts". Et cetera ad nauseam.

I'd like to know more about how much real say the non-white participants have in that group, especially in handling their PR. Does Prevatt make sure they all know what's being written about them in English? I find it very hard to believe that anyone who's worked for their tribe would stand by and allow themselves to be associated with this pabulum.
Title: Re: Tribes.net "thirteen Grandmothers"
Post by: TrishaRoseJacobs on October 11, 2007, 01:58:17 pm
My grandma prayed alot but she also got off her butt and did stuff too.

I agree Barnaby, sounds like a bit of fluff when you get down to it.

Title: Re: Tribes.net "thirteen Grandmothers"
Post by: educatedindian on October 11, 2007, 02:00:33 pm
My guess is that, like with the ones Diane Fisher worked with that are actually legit, they were told that people were being gathered together to pray and to speak about issues, and not much more.

This site mentions them by name, but is often vague about where they're from. "Amazon rainforest"?
http://www.nativevillage.org/1International%20Council%20of%20the%20Thirteen%20Indigenous%20Grandmothers/News%20Articles/13_grandmas.htm
The 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, their tribes, bands and homelands:

*Aama Bombo, Tamang, Nepal

*Margaret Behan, Arapaho-Cheyenne, Montana

*Rita Pitka Blumenstein, Yup'ik, Alaska

*Julieta Casimiro, Mazatec, Huautla de Jimenez, Mexico

*Maria Alice Campos Freire, Amazon rain forest, Brazil

*Flordemayo, Mayan, highlands of Central America and Mexico

*Tsering Dolma Gyaltong, Tibetan Buddhist, Tibet/Canada

*Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance, Oglala Lakota, S.D.

*Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance, Oglala Lakota, S.D.

*Agnes Baker Pilgrim, Takelma Siletz, Oregon

*Mona Polacca, Hopi-Havasupai-Tewa, Arizona

*Bernadette Rebienot, Omyene, Gabon

*Clara Shinobu Iura, Amazon rain forest, Brazil

Jyoti/Jeneane Prevatt sells Kundalini seminars, with a bit of the typical pseudo Native knockoffs.

http://www.mothersgrace.com/projects/stargate.html
"Stargate is a study group on Non-Ordinary States of Conciousness (NOSC's) created by Jyoti, PH.D. and Russell D. Park, PH.D.

Stargate is a 10-month empowerment program. The focus is to help people become conscious individuals in their creation. Many different tools are used from various indigenous traditions to dive deep into our selves to discover the wisdom and power that lives within each individual. This course is composed of a sequence of five unique weekends designed to provide an integrative, psycho-spiritual experience.
Each weekend has a theme that is similar to may other paths of initiation. The first step is "Preparation" where we start the process of acknowledging our wounded selves and learn tools to move into our empowered selves. Step two, "Purification", takes the participant deeper into aspects of what does not serve us any more. For instance, we work with cleansing the body by fasting and participating in Native American sweatlodge. The third step is "Initiation" when we study service as one of the tools of initiation. On our fourth meeting, we study "Integration" while participating in a vision quest. Our final step is "Actualization" when we get to dance our power alive...
This study group is designed for both professionals and non-professionals who work with, or want to work with NON ORDINARY STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS. The course draws upon rituals, breathwork, transpersonal imagery, sound and meditation techniques to access NOSC’s. Each session will focus on a theme to access deep evolutionary energies...
This is not a therapy group, but rather a study group for waking up in our lives so we can make conscious choices that affect all aspects of our lives. People will learn service through surrender and stillness - thus enabling them to embrace the Mystery.
After this first year of study, there is an option to learn more and become certified in Maitri Breathwork™"

I really think it's hilarious she trademarks what she sells.
 
http://www.mothersgrace.com/profile/index.html
"Jyoti has explored multi-cultural approaches, including those of indigenous peoples (such as Native Americans), of healing and spiritual practices, combining these studies with that of more traditional psychology. As a result, Jyoti has become involved in a variety of projects, including the co-founding of Kayumari, a healing retreat center located on a mountaintop in Columbia, California (three hours east of San Francisco). Here she and her husband, Russell D. Park, Ph.D. (a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in transpersonal psychology and neurotherapy), offer specially created individual and group healing and life transformational workshops and seminars that includes her own individualized form of breathwork.

Born in South Dakota and raised in Texas...
In 1988 Jyoti went to Peru on a spiritual pilgrimage to more deeply understand herself and the extraordinary Kundalini experiences she was having. In 1991, she traveled to India with her teacher, Anandi Ma, to study with Dhyanyogi Mahasudandas, a 115-year old Sat guru and from whom she received the name Jyoti (meaning "light" in Sanskrit). It was there that she married Russell Park.
...writing a book, An Angel Called My Name (DharmaGaia, 1998), about her personal Kundalini phenomenon.

Jyoti has a BA in education from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, LA, a MA in Human Relations and Community Affairs from the American International College in Springfield, MA and a Ph.D. in transpersonal psychology with a special emphasis on cross cultural aspects of the spiritual development in children and adults from Summit University in New Orleans, and took post graduate studies at the C.J. Jung Institute in Switzerland."

I'm going to ask over at Freedom of MInd about her credentials.

Kind of conspicuous that at her own site she never mentions tribe. This site claims she's Cherokee.
http://www.wisdomoftheworld.com/products/graceful_speakers.html
"Jyoti (Jeneane Prevatt, Ph.D.)
Author of An Angel Called My Name, is a devotee of the Mother. Holding sacred her Cherokee lineage, she teaches indigenous spiritual practices that evoke a state of prayer and healing. She is spiritual director and co-founder of Kayumari, a spiritual healing community in Northern California, and has served as director of the Spiritual Emergence Network."  
Title: Re: Tribes.net "thirteen Grandmothers"
Post by: TrishaRoseJacobs on October 11, 2007, 02:06:33 pm
So really, she's just selling a typical new age self help feel good about yourself while not actually doing a damn thing scam. And the 13 grandmothers thing, that's probably just window dressing then. Actually, sounded like that Jamie Sams for a second.
Title: Re: Tribes.net "thirteen Grandmothers"
Post by: Moma_porcupine on October 12, 2007, 10:41:55 am
I don't feel comfortable with what Jyoti/Jeneane Prevatt is doing , but I did some google searches on 4 of the names in that list, and most of them sound like they are involved in practical activities , and seem to have good references.
-----------------
Agnes Baker Pilgrim, Takelma Siletz, Oregon

http://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/tablerock/table-rock-takelma-today.php  (http://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/tablerock/table-rock-takelma-today.php)

"In the early 1970's the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians began reorganizing and holding  meetings again. The major topic was discussion of the effects of termination and possible ways to recover from it. After the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin was restored to federal recognition as a tribe in 1973, the Siletz people started on the same path. In 1977, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians became the second tribe in the nation to have their termination act repealed with passage of the Siletz Restoration Act. The Grand Ronde Community also reorganized and was restored in the 1980's.

Today, Takelma descendents carry with them a combination of old and new cultural traditions and knowledge. Many continue to reside on or near the Siletz and Grand Ronde reservations.

Agnes Baker-Pilgrim is the granddaughter of George Harney, a full-blooded Takelma who was the first elected Chief of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. She has returned to the Rogue Valley and today her voice can be heard strong and clear, proving that the
spirit and blood of her people are still with us. In different lectures given over the past
10 years she talks about her people:

 "Many people mistakenly believe that all the Rogue River Indians were wiped out a
century and a half ago. It's not true; there are more than 70 descendents of Chief Harney alive today. I am a living link with the ancestors of this land."

Agnes Baker-Pilgrim is actively involved in the support of indigenous people's rights and
the sustainability of our environment."

-----------
Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance, an Oglala Lakota

She shows up as a participant in the Bioneers Conference

http://www.bioneers.org/presenters?page=5 (http://www.bioneers.org/presenters?page=5)
"Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance, an Oglala Lakota from South Dakota, is a keeper of the
traditional ways, a great grandmother, a Native American Church elder, a Sundancer and
a beadworker."


(this Bioneers Conference looks like it has a mostly practical focus , and the presenters seem to represent various areas of expertise . )

http://www.bioneers.org/faq (http://www.bioneers.org/faq)
"What is the Bioneers Conference?
The Bioneers Conference is a hub of practical solutions for restoring the Earth – and
people. It’s a thriving network of visionary innovators working with nature to heal nature. The Bioneers draw from four billion years of evolutionary intelligence and apply the knowledge in practical ways to serve human ends harmlessly."


http://www.unpo.org/article.php?id=7005 (http://www.unpo.org/article.php?id=7005)
"Two of the 13 are from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation: sisters Rita and Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance.

The women exchanged ideas and learned about problems that plague the Oglala Lakota who live on the Pine Ridge: high unemployment, suicide, domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse, Diabetes and other maladies. "(con..)

 -------
http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:DOB6w7-RFmcJ:www.nativevillage.org/1International%2520Council%
2520of%2520the%2520Thirteen%2520Indigenous%2520Grandmothers/Grandmother_Biographies.pdf+Mona+
Polacca,+Hopi-Havasupai-Tewa,+Arizona&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ca (http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:DOB6w7-RFmcJ:www.nativevillage.org/1International%2520Council%
2520of%2520the%2520Thirteen%2520Indigenous%2520Grandmothers/Grandmother_Biographies.pdf+Mona+
Polacca,+Hopi-Havasupai-Tewa,+Arizona&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ca)

Mona Polacca, Hopi-Havasupai-Tewa, Arizona

Hopi/Havasupai /Tewa elder, Mona Polacca, is working on her PhD at the Interdisciplinary Justice Studies department of Arizona State University. She has worked on issues of Native American alcoholism, domestic violence and mental health for the elderly native peoples.

http://www.asu.edu/clas/americanindian/newletters/fall02.pdf. (http://www.asu.edu/clas/americanindian/newletters/fall02.pdf.)

"Graduate Research Assistant Mona Polacca was hired by the American Indian Studies
Program as a graduate research assistant in August of 2002. Mona is Hopi, Tewa, and Havasupai from the Colorado River Indian Reservation. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Justice Studies. Mona's research interest is in historical trauma among Indigenous peoples."

---------------
Pitka Blumenstein, Yup'ik, Alaska

http://www.arctichealth.org/blumenstein_bio.htm  (http://www.arctichealth.org/blumenstein_bio.htm)
"Dr.) Rita Pitka Blumenstein, THRita Blumenstein

Rita Pitka Blumenstein is a Yup'ik Elder who has become the first certified traditional
doctor in Alaska. Rita is also an artist, a teacher, speaker and storyteller. In her
presentations around the world, Rita has focused on the health and social development of people.  She is an able emissary for promoting international goodwill as well as the
status of women. She is a learned voice for passing on knowledge of the environment and ways of the land. (Dr.) Rita has made outstanding contributions in health, social
development, education, environment, human rights, and international goodwill. She teaches by just "being" and is an outstanding role model for other women and for all those who encounter her."


http://altmed.creighton.edu/AKNative/Rita.htm
 (http://altmed.creighton.edu/AKNative/Rita.htm)
Dr. Rita Blumenstein, Tribal Doctor
(con..)

http://altmed.creighton.edu/AKNative/BIBLIOGRAPHY.htm (http://altmed.creighton.edu/AKNative/BIBLIOGRAPHY.htm)

impressive BIBLIOGRAPHY
------------
Margaret Behan, Arapaho-Cheyenne, Montana
http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:CcYoTKcf638J:www.nativevillage.org/1International%2520Council%2520of%
2520the%2520Thirteen%2520Indigenous%2520Grandmothers/Each%2520Grandmothers%2520Home%2520Pages/
Margaret%2520Behan/Margaret%2520Behan%2520Homepage.htm+Margaret+Behan,+Arapaho-Cheyenne,+Montana&
hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ca
 (http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:CcYoTKcf638J:www.nativevillage.org/1International%2520Council%2520of%
2520the%2520Thirteen%2520Indigenous%2520Grandmothers/Each%2520Grandmothers%2520Home%2520Pages/
Margaret%2520Behan/Margaret%2520Behan%2520Homepage.htm+Margaret+Behan,+Arapaho-Cheyenne,+Montana&
hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ca)

"Grandmother Margaret Behan is the fifth generation of  Sand Creek Massacre survivors. She was born into the Cheyenne Beaver Clan on her mother's side, and the Rabbit Lodge on her father's Cheyenne/Arapaho side.  After she was born, her grandfather put up a tipi and held a ceremony for her life.  "In Cheyenne, such a thing is expressed as, 'He planted prayers for me,'  Grandmother Margaret said."(con..)
-----
"Grandmother Margaret's life was not an easy one. She began drinking at an early age because she wanted to "fit in" with her friends. She later became a battered wife with three children. "(con..)

----
"Today Grandmother Margaret presents trauma and substance abuse programs across the country.  She is an author, poet, playwright, artist, and a traditional Cheyenne dance" (con..)

(I didn't find much information on Margaret Behan on websites that aren't related to this
13 Grandmothers group , so I can't confirm who she says she is

---------
One article I came across ( I am confused which one but probably in the above links )also mentions ;
"Flordemayo, Mayan, Highlands of Central America/ New Mexico. She is a sundancer who considers her Mayan heritage a keystone of her work. She studies under Don Alejandro Oxlaj,  a head of the Mayan Council of Elders, who convened the first Gathering of Indigenous Priests and Elders of America in 1994. "

A Mayan Sundancer sounds like a peculiar mixture of cultures for an indigenous grandmother . (?) But other than this, and what Jyoti/Jeneane Prevatt is doing I didn't see anything that sounded disjointed .
Title: Re: Tribes.net "thirteen Grandmothers"
Post by: Moma_porcupine on October 12, 2007, 03:52:40 pm
When I did some searches on the names in that list , I hadn't read the older posts for a while and had forgotten this;

Reply #1 on: June 16, 2007, 09:08:37 am »
Sapa    
Quote
Just read the link concerning the sundance. Found it very dusturbing.

Reply #2 on: June 16, 2007, 02:31:15 pm »
educatedindian
Quote
The second link is calling for donations for a Sundance led by the American Horse family. As far as I know they've run a Sundance for some time and are probably best known for leading the opposition to the Looking Horse Proclamation. But the link claims the dance is in support of Arvol. Yet it also asks for donations, claiming the Oneida Nation was going to film it but pulled out their financial support when that fell through.

I have a hard time the Oneidas would a) want to film it b) sponsor it so they could film it c)pull their money when they couldn't film it. It seems more likely that it's one or two Oneidas who held the purse strings who were doing this. But without knowing more it's hard to say for certain.

The Oneida's would probably be the people discussed in this thread  ;

http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=961.0 (http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=961.0)

Tom Kanatakeniate Cook and his wife who is Oglala are Sun Dance leaders and co-sponsors of the American Horse/Afraid Of Bear Sun Dance in the Black Hills.
 
Tom's son is involved in selling Sweat Lodge ceremonies as a part of the Oneida's Spa and casino . Some of the people involved in this are very controversial. ( the information in the links in the thread linked to above is very disturbing )

I wonder if the all those Grandmothers know what the people they are involved with are up to in other areas , and if they do , what they think about this ? 

There is definently some problems with some of the people and activities they are involved with.
---------------------
(edited to add link to article about Oneida leadership problems , titled "Oneida Indians Move to Unseat Casino Boss".   )

http://web.archive.org/web/20070614194703/http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/866
Title: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Ganieda on December 21, 2007, 07:29:18 am
International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers.

I first "met" this wonderful council of 13 Grandmothers through a book: 
"Grandmothers Counsel the World".  In the book each Grandmother tells her story of how she had a prophey to fulfill and then how that prophecy is now being fulfilled. 

I highly recommend that everone should watch this film.

Turning Prayer into Action

A one hour program that brings together the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers in Dharamsala, India, with the Bioneers Conference in Northern California for a live dialogue via a satellite "spacebridge".

The Grandmothers are holy women and healers who have formed a council to reach out to the world on behalf of the Earth and all beings in these critical times prophesied by their ancestors. The Bioneers ("biological pioneers") are activists, educators, scientists, and visionaries working on solutions to the planet's problems  who joined with the Grandmothers in order to address the need to heal our selves, our relations, and our planet. This program plants many seeds to help awaken us to the need to join together to put our "prayers into action".

http://www.linktv.org/programs/turning#

For more information:
(This picture on this link is one of the most beautful I have ever seen). 

http://www.grandmotherscouncil.com/
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: educatedindian on December 21, 2007, 02:15:40 pm
See the thread at http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=1216.0

While most of the women, best as we can tell, are doing good work, the non-Native group and its leaders sponsoring them is very questionable.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Ganieda on December 22, 2007, 03:31:03 am
I looked at the links... yes, there are some questions about some of the people involved.  I, however, chose to focus on the Council of 13 and I am quite sure that they, in their wisdom, are aware of such questions.  It's my guess that a lot of prayer and patience from these 13 may open the eyes of those around them.  Instead of knocking on the negative they have chosen to work with the positive. 

I would recommend that everyone find and read the book and read it with an open mind.  Ignore the "stuff-you-don't-like" and read the words of the Grandmothers.  How they,each, came to know that they were meant to fulfill a prophecy. 

I believe that each of these 13 are utterly and entirely sincere. 
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: KIS on July 03, 2008, 04:02:09 pm
Short bios of each grandmother (and much more information) are available at these two websites:
www.grandmotherscouncil.com
http://www.nativevillage.org

Many of the Grandmothers have a strong web presence. I've learned much about them from a Google search.

A wonderful books called Grandmothers Council the World by Carol Schaefer is also available.

Carole Hart who helped create and wrote for Sesame Street is now in the editing process of the Grandmother's film.  Links to a film clip are available online,

Ann and Jyoti are simply serving the Grandmothers and helping organize the Grandmothers' efforts. Neither woman is pushing her own identy onto, or through, them.  The Grandmothers are too wise and strong to put up with such nonsense.


Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on July 04, 2008, 06:09:25 pm
While anyone can gather together to pray and raise money for charity, I would just remind people that the same rules apply here: Don't take anyone's self-reporting, or anonymous endorsements on the Internet, at face value. If someone claims to be a spiritual leader, representing a Nation, check them out with the recognized, traditional spiritual leaders of that Nation. Don't assume someone is trained to lead a ceremony unless you check them out first.

I haven't researched everyone in the group yet, but I was told by a Northern Cheyenne ceremonial leader that at least one of these "grandmothers" is completely misrepresenting her training and background - that she's actually a nuager with little connection to the tribe. If it's relevant I'll go into more detail about her later, or encourage a post from my sources who know her personally, but, yeah.

If they raise money in a good way and it goes where it's supposed to go, I can't criticize that. But there are a number of big, red nuage flags here.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: KIS on July 11, 2008, 07:54:47 pm
The Grandmothers Council has been honored with the Courage of Conscience award from the Peace Abbey, in conjunction with The Chaplaincy Institute for Arts and Interfaith Ministries. This award has been given to peacekeepers and activists such as Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, and Rosa Parks, among others.
The award was presented to Grandmother Flordemayo (representing the Council) at Grace North Church in Berkeley on June 20, 2008. The inscription says "Bestowed upon The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers In Recognition of their individual and collective efforts, through education and prayer, giving voice for all indigenous peoples and Mother Earth" Congratulations to the Grandmothers Council on receiving this distinguished honor!
http://www.peaceabbey.org/awards/peace_award.htm
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Barnaby_McEwan on July 11, 2008, 10:01:47 pm
And? Why should we be impressed? Awards like these are often designed to generate positive press for the people handing them out. I'd be more interested in hearing what Indian community leaders have to say.

Your post reminds me of the Father Ted Christmas special, in which he wins a Golden Cleric for spiriting himself and seven other priests unseen out of Ireland's biggest lingerie section, thus avoiding a national scandal:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0578500/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foFXj7pEj4g
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: KIS on July 19, 2008, 10:53:06 am
This article appeared in Indian Country Today. However, the last paragraph fails to mention two other U.S. Indigenous women: Mona Polacca, Havasupai/Hopi, and Rita Pitka Blumenstein, Yupik

   
Indigenous grandmas nearly kicked out of Vatican   
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417739
         
   Photo courtesy Marisol Villanueava -- Thirteen indigenous grandmothers, formally known as the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, initial greeting at the Vatican was not pleasant. The group was almost kicked out while performing a prayer and waiting to speak with Pope Benedict XVI.      
ROME - They went to pray. They went to see Pope Benedict XVI on his home turf. They went to ask that he rescind historic church doctrine that played a role in the genocidal onslaught of millions of indigenous people worldwide.

For 13 indigenous grandmothers, accomplishing only one of their three goals wouldn't have been so bad - had they also not been harassed by several Vatican policemen who claimed the women were conducting ''anti-Catholic'' demonstrations.

The elders, formally known as the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, convened in the morning hours of July 9 at St. Peter's Square. After setting up an altar cloth, candles and sacred objects, including feathers and incense, they began holding a prayer and ceremony circle. Nine-year-old Davian Joell Stand-Gilpin, a direct descendant of Chief Dull Knife of the Lakota Nation, was brought along by one of the grandmothers to participate in traditional regalia.

Soon, however, four Vatican police officials asked the women to stop the prayer ceremony, claiming their prayers were in contradiction to the church's teachings - despite the two crosses on the alter cloth and some of the members being practitioners of the Catholic faith.

The officials told Carole Hart, an Emmy and Peabody award-winning producer and filmmaker traveling with the grandmas, that the group was in violation of Vatican policy. They said a permit Hart had obtained in order to document the prayer gathering was only relevant in terms of filming, but did not allow the women to pray, sing or burn incense.

The police said the actions of the grandmothers were ''idolatrous.''

Through the course of obtaining the permit, Hart had written to Vatican officials explaining that the grandmothers would be conducting a prayer ceremony at the site.

''We stuck to the fact that we were legitimately there with this permit,'' Hart said. ''The grandmas did not back down.''

Still, the police urged the grandmothers to move on; but Hart and the group appealed the decision to a higher authority. Finally, the police brought back a law official who assessed the situation. Upon seeing 13 indigenous elder women and hearing one of their songs, the official concluded there was no problem with the ceremony.

The official also ultimately invited the grandmothers to enter St. Peter's Basilica to rest and pray.

Despite their short-term success, the ultimate goal of the grandmothers - to hand-deliver a statement to Pope Benedict XVI, asking him to rescind several controversial papal bulls that played a part in the colonization of indigenous lands - was thwarted.

Documents from the 15th century, such as the papal bulls, show the papacy played a role in the genocidal onslaught that affected millions of indigenous people on the North American continent. In 1455, for instance, Pope Nicolas authorized Portugal ''to invade, search out, capture, vanquish and subdue all Saracens and pagans'' who had previously made their homes in North America.

Just a short time before the grandmothers left for their long-planned journey to Rome, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he would be leaving the Vatican to rest at his summer home, called Castel Gandolfo, in preparation for a trip to Australia.

The pope had originally been scheduled to be in residence July 9. Laura Jackson, the grandmothers' publicist, described the pope's decision to leave the Vatican as a ''sudden cancellation'' and noted that the grandmas held tickets to a scheduled public audience he was to have held that day.

While Castel Gandolfo is less than 20 miles away from the Vatican, the grandmothers ultimately decided not to make the journey to the pope's summer getaway despite some in their inner circle encouraging them to pay an unexpected visit.

Hart believes the grandmothers chose to focus on St. Peter's Square because it's part of the Vatican and is a strong symbol of the pope.

''As women of prayer, I think they felt that bringing their prayer there, on the very ground on which the church as an institution stands, as close as they could get to the heart of the church, would have a great effect on what will happen next,'' Hart said. Additionally, the women had no guarantee that they would even be able to enter the grounds of the pope's summer residence.

Instead, the elders left a package with one of the pope's personal guards at the Vatican. The package contained a written statement the women had sent to the Vatican in 2005 decrying the papal bulls, to which the Vatican never responded. It also contained a new 632-word statement to the pope asking him to repeal three Christian-based doctrines of ''discovery'' and ''conquest'' that set a foundation for claiming lands occupied by indigenous people around the world.

''We carry this message for Pope Benedict XVI, traveling with the spirits of our ancestors,'' the women said in their new message. ''While praying at the Vatican for peace, we are praying for all peoples. We are here at the Vatican, humbly, not as representatives of indigenous nations, but as women of prayer.''

The package was given to the pope's guard via a traditional Lakota manner, by extending it to him three times with him then accepting it on the fourth attempt. The entire process was captured on film, and is expected to be made into a documentary by Hart in the coming year.

It is unknown whether the pope has yet personally received the package, but legal scholars and Native activists in the U.S. have nonetheless been paying close attention to the grandmothers' journey.

''I think the trip is very significant,'' said Steven Newcomb, co-director of the Indigenous Law Institute and author of the book, ''Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery,'' and an Indian Country Today columnist.

''These are women who are very much grounded in their own languages and traditions. They're able to raise visibility of the issue in ways that others are perhaps less effective.''

The grandmothers from the U.S. who sit on the women's council are Margaret Behan, of the Arapaho/Cheyenne of Montana; Agnes Baker Pilgrim, of the Takelma Siletz; and Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance and Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance, both Oglala Lakota of Black Hills, S.D.

All of the grandmothers are currently in private council in Assisi, Italy, and are expected to be returning home by early August.    
 

Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Barnaby_McEwan on July 19, 2008, 05:26:30 pm
KIS, please bear in mind that the grandmothers are not being called frauds. I think now would be a good time to start being upfront about your own involvement with them.

Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: KIS on July 23, 2008, 06:00:31 pm
"KIS, please bear in mind that the grandmothers are not being called frauds. I think now would be a good time to start being up front about your own involvement with them."

Thank you for your comments. This is a New Age Frauds and Plastic Shamans board. The grandmothers were being discussed, and yes, there HAVE been questions as to their legitimacy, so that's why I've participated.   I didn't realize that someone might consider I was misleading anyone by posting comments here.

Several years ago the Grandmothers invited me to create their Internet Youth Forum which is housed on my website at http://www.nativevillage.org  It took me two years of research and learning just to get comfortable with the idea of doing so.  I've been burned by Native American Frauds in the past, including having four years worth of work basically stolen from me. Since I'm here to serve children first, it's critical that I believe in what I present to kids. The grandmothers understood that and patiently waited for me to decide what to do.

All my online work is, and always has been, volunteer. I'm a retired educator. Expenses are paid from a disability paycheck. I work out of a my home office. And being in the public eye is the LAST thing I want. There are no personal benefits for me -- my only agenda is education. Education is a living, breathing, evolving process. Anyone who looks to any one person or resource as the ultimate learning experience is fooling themselves. Hence the need to share information from All points of view.

Personally, I'm grateful for the NAFPS Boards. The members' information is an important and invaluable resource for those of us who care about such things. What I have presented was offered in a respectful and honest manner. Please take it for what is, or isn't worth. 

Thank you.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Barnaby_McEwan on July 29, 2008, 07:21:35 pm
The grandmothers were being discussed, and yes, there HAVE been questions as to their legitimacy, so that's why I've participated.

Questions, not statements.

Quote
I didn't realize that someone might consider I was misleading anyone by posting comments here.

It's what you weren't saying that bothered me, but now you've said it and I thank you for that. I hope you can see that it is easier for people reading this thread, now or in future, to evaluate properly what you say if they know something about your interest in the grandmothers. I'm glad you're here and hope you'll continue taking part.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: KIS on September 24, 2008, 04:33:39 pm
Timeline of the Efforts by Indigenous Nations and Peoples
Calling upon the Vatican Revoke the Inter Caetera Papal Bull of 1493

This is from the Grandmothers. I am sharing with this forum
Gina Boltz
Director, Native Village Publications
Director, Youth Forum for International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers
http://www.nativevillage.org
Secretary, Link Center Foundation
http://linkcenterfoundation.org



?    1972, Vine Deloria, Jr. writes about the 1493 Inter Caetera papal bull in his book, “God Is Red.???

?    1984, the ANASAZI Alliance writes to the Catholic Church asking for the papal bull of 1493 to be annulled by Pope John Paul II. The letter is channeled through the Secretary of State of the Vatican, and back to Bishop Thomas O’Brien of the local diocese in Phoenix, Arizona. The ANASAZI Alliance receives a response from the local archdiocese expressing hope that they all have jobs.

?    1992, the Indigenous Law Institute begins a global campaign to call upon Pope John Paul II to formally revoke the Inter Caetera papal bull of 1493.

?    1992, in August, Indigenous Law Institute meets with the Traditional Circle of Indian Elders and Youth in Yelm, Washington to discuss the papal bulls and their connection to the 1823 Johnson v. McIntosh U.S. Supreme Court decision and federal Indian law. A document is drafted entitled, “Traditional Council of Indian Elders and Youth Communique No. 15, Discovery – Heathens – Slavery – Religious Freedoms, 1492-1992.???

?    1992, the Indigenous Law Institute, represented by Birgil Kills Straight (Oglala Lakota) and Steven Newcomb (Shawnee/Lenape) travels to Milan, Italy along with Jacquie Bird (Lakota) for a multi-city tour in northern Italy, stopping near Basel, Switzerland to publicize the papal bulls issue.

?    1993, in February, Steven Newcomb and Birgil Kills Straight travel to Aotearoa (New  Zealand) for an elders gathering where they publicize the issue of the papal bulls.

?    Some 60 indigenous representatives draft a resolution at the 1993 Parliament of World Religions calling for the revocation of the Inter Caetera papal bull. The resolution is approved by consensus at the plenary session of the Parliament. The vote is overturned the following day by Parliament of World Religions, Mr. David Ramage.

?    1993, the Indigenous Law Institute writes a letter to Pope John Paul II, calling upon the pope to formally revoke the Inter Caetera papal bull of May 4, 1493. The letter is delivered by the UN Human Rights Centre to the Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations. The Human Rights Centre is assured that the letter will be sent on to the Vatican in Rome. The Institute receives no response.

?    1993, Steven Newcomb travels to Cairns, Australia for an Indigenous Intellectual Property Conference. A resolution is passed calling for the revocation of the papal bulls.

?    1994-1995, the Indigenous Law Institute again travels to Northern Italy to publicize the papal   
       bulls.

?    1997, in October, a group of human and indigenous rights activists gather outside of the Roman Catholic Diocese in Honolulu, Hawai'i to symbolically burn copies of the 1493 papal bull Inter Caetera. This becomes an annual event. Tony Castanha (Taino) and others begin effectively publicizing the issue of the papal bulls on the internet.

?    1999, in February, the United Church of Christ, sponsored a UCC Resolution, passed by Pacific Islander and Asian American Ministries (PAAM), resolving that “President Paul Sherry on behalf
of the United Church of Christ urges and calls upon people of conscience in the Roman Catholic hierarchy and in other organized religions to persuade Pope John Paul II to revoke the papal bull Dum diversas of 1452 and Inter Caetera of 1493 by the year 2,000.???

?    1999, the Indigenous Law Institute attends the National Catholic Gathering for Jubilee Justice, at the UCLA campus. A committee of Catholic laity draft a petition titled, “National Catholic Gathering for Jubilee Justice: A Call for the Revocation of the Inter Cetera Bull.??? The petition called upon Pope John Paul II to revoke the Inter Caetera papal bull of 1493. It is hand delivered along with the pamphlet “Pagans in the Promised Land??? to Cardinal Mahony of the Archdiocese in Los Angeles, and to Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, Pope John Paul’s personal emissary to the Jubilee event.

?    1999, Tony Castanha is invited to be on a panel at the Hague Appeal for Peace in the Netherlands to discuss the papal bulls. He drafts an essay for the occasion entitled, “Christian Universalism and the Movement to Revoke the Papal Bulls.??? Nalani Minton (Kanaka Maoli - Hawai'i) and Steven Newcomb draft “The Pu’uhonua Peace Pact??? that, among other things, asks the world community to call for the revocation of the papal bull of 1493.

?    2000, in August, a letter to the Prefecture of the Papal Household and to the Most Reverent Eminence Re is co-written by Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo, Diocese of Honululu, and Tony Castanha, Project Director for the Matsunaga Institute for Peace – requesting a private audience with Pope John Paul II on Wednesday 11 October 2000. Others who were advising the effort to organize a trip to the Vatican were Daniela Minerbi (Italy), Dr. Ralph Summy (Australia), Steve Newcomb, Naniki Reyes Ocasio (Taino), Birgil Kills Straight, Nalani Minton, Russell Means (Oglala Lakota) John Trudell (Santee Sioux), Rev. Kaleo Patterson (Kanaka Maoli), Lynette Cruz (Kanaka Maoli), Hank Raymond (Okanogan), Dr. Johan Galtung (Norway), Dr. Lou Ann Ha’aheo Guanson (Kanaka Maoli), Robert Borrero (Taino/Boriken), Richard Salvador (Belauan/:Palau –Micronesia), Eric Po’ohina (Kanaka Maoli), and Joshua Cooper (Hawai’i).

?    2000, in October, a delegation of Indigenous representatives travel to Italy, where they meet with the Vatican Council for Peace and Justice, travel to northern Italy, and later hold a prayer circle at the Vatican on October 12, 2000. Steven Newcomb symbolically returns the Inter Caetera papal bull to the Vatican by carrying a copy of the bull up the steps to the entrance of the papal residence and asks the Swiss guard to have it delivered to the pope.

?    2001, in June, “National Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution 2001,??? on the occasion of the 10th Biennial Conference JustPEACE Training Institute & Summit, George Mason University, General Plenary Session, June 9, 2001, Address on the Revocation of the Papal Bull Inter Caetera, edited by Tony Castanha for the Kosmos Indigena, Matsunaga Institute for Peace and the United Confederation of Taino People.

?    2003, the Seventh Annual burning of the papal bull takes place in Honolulu Hawai’i.

?    2004, the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers forms as a global alliance of prayer, education and healing for our Mother Earth. They will eventually call for the revocation of three papal bulls from the fifteenth century.

?    2004, the Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples in Quito, Ecuador addresses the issue of the papal bulls.

?    2005, in May, a side-event is convened at the United Nations Church Center, during the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The event, co-sponsored by the American Indian Law Alliance and the Flying Eagle Woman Fund, is entitled “Challenging the Doctrine of Discovery, Christianity, the Papal Bulls, and Manifest Destiny.??? A letter is written to Pope Benedict XVI calling upon him to formally revoke the Inter Caetera bull of 1493.

?    2005, in July, the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations writes to Steven Newcomb at the Indigenous Law Institute responding to a request for information on the work of the Pontifical Committee for Historic Sciences regarding the papal bull Inter Caetera. No information had been found. In the letter, Archbishop Celestino Migliore states that “taken from the context of the political climate at the time, the notion of international law and the geographical notions then extant, the bull Inter Caetera, like other documents of that era, has become ipso facto obsolete and with no effect.???

?    2005, in October, the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers writes to Cardinal Kasper at the Vatican, calling upon Pope Benedict XVI “to retract the Dum diversas bull, the Romanus Pontifex bull, and the Inter Caetera bull [and] all related doctrines. They received no response.

2005, in November, Tlahtokan Nahuacalli delivers “The Legend of Truth and the Doctrine of Power,??? to the Secretariat of the Continental Indigenous Summit. In part, the document calls attention to the issue of the Papal Bull Inter Caetera of 1493.

?    2006, in August, Summit of Indigenous Nations convened at Mato Paha (Bear Butte) passes a resolution calling for a rescission of the doctrine of discovery and related documents, specifically the Inter Caetera bull of 1493.

?    2007, in May, a small delegation of Indigenous representatives sit down with Archbishop Migliore for a meeting regarding the effort to have the papal bull of May 4, 1493 formally revoked.

?    2007, in July, Chief Oren Lyons (Faithkeeper, Onondaga Nation) receives a letter from Archbishop Migliore saying that in the view of the Holy See, the papal bull Inter Caetera has been abrogated a number of times in a number of different ways.

?    2008, in April, at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York, Chief Lyons,  Tonya Gonnella Frichner (Onondaga) and Steven Newcomb deliver a letter and document of response to the representative of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, along with a copy of Steven Newcomb’s new book, “Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery??? (2008).

?    2008, in July, International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers travel to the Vatican to deliver a statement calling for the revocation of bulls Dum diversas, Romanus Pontifex, and Inter Caetera from the fifteenth century
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: KIS on September 24, 2008, 04:41:01 pm
 Revocation of the Three Papal Bulls is Consistent
with Numerous Statements by Representatives of the Holy See

The Holy See’s support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted on 13 September 2007, was an important act in recognition of the fundamental human rights of Indigenous peoples.

Additionally, in its Periodic Report to CERD (UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination) in 2000, representatives of the Holy See strongly affirmed the Church’s commitment to truth, peace and reconciliation.  Certain statements from this review process clearly demonstrate that the Holy See’s public acknowledgement and revocation of the three papal bulls would be consistent with its own stated positions, with its responsibilities as a party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and more generally, under international law.

   Such an acknowledgement and revocation would reinforce its own statement that the “Holy See, for its part, is doing all it can towards the advancement of moral principles and the conditions for ensuring peace, justice and social progress in a context of ever more effective respect of human rights.???

   The papal bulls issued to Portuguese monarchs in the fifteenth and sixteenth century instructed Portugal to, “capture, vanquish, and subdue??? non-Christians, and to “reduce their persons to perpetual slavery.???   This resulted in traditional indigenous cultures being negatively impacted, and, to a great extent, destroyed. Such a medieval point of view is at direct odds with the Holy See’s recognition to the CERD Committee that the “path of peace and reconciliation presupposes respect of the human person, without which it is not possible to reconstruct what has been destroyed.???

   In his Universal Prayer of 12 March 2000, Pope John Paul II reaffirmed that “justice and truth must go hand-in-hand,??? and acknowledged that “Christians have been guilty of attitudes of rejection and exclusion, consenting to acts of discrimination on the basis of racial and ethnic differences.??? Further, he declared “resolve to seek and promote the truth.???

Acknowledgment and revocation of the three papal bulls would be consistent with this resolve.

   The Universal Prayer went further, “Let us pray that … Christians will be able to repent of the words and attitudes caused by pride, by hatred, by the desire to dominate others???  and “Let us pray for all those who have suffered offences against their human dignity and whose rights have been trampled.???

Acknowledgement and revocation by the Holy See of the three papal bulls is a way to actualize this prayer.


The papal bulls of the fifteenth and sixteenth century authorized Christian monarchs to seize privileges and forcibly take over immense geographical areas of the world that rightfully belonged to Indigenous peoples. Such privileges were seized by the empires of Christendom, increasing their wealth and power. This is one cogent explanation of the Holy See’s statement to CERD that, “seizing privileges and countenancing exclusion on ethnic or regional grounds belongs to another age.???

The Holy See further reaffirmed that the Universal Prayer (2000), “had been an act of great courage and demonstrated a new reading of historical events by the Holy See, as well as a commitment to the future.???  Pope Benedict XVI’s acknowledgment and revocation of the three papal bulls would be an even greater act of courage and would reaffirm the Church’s commitment to the future.

   Finally, the Holy See stated to CERD that local Catholic churches are tasked with the “defence of the rights of individuals and groups [and] denouncement of the injustices which are at the root of the evil.???

This may certainly be interpreted to mean that local Catholic churches everywhere should support a public acknowledgment and revocation by the Holy See of the three papal bulls as a means of denouncing the injustices of 500 years ago that are “at the root of the evil??? and the injustices still visited upon Indigenous peoples today.




Barnaby's note: some text seemed to have been inadvertently struck through. Strik-through removed.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: KIS on September 24, 2008, 04:42:13 pm
Another message from the Grandmothers. I think I posted the last three messages out of order. Sorry
Gina

The Thirteen Grandmothers Open Statement
to
His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI

   We, the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, from regions throughout the world, hereby make this open statement for and to the Vatican. We do so in a good and prayerful way, for peace and for the healing of Mother Earth. We carry this message for Pope Benedict XVI.  We travel with the spirits of our ancestors.  When we pray at the Vatican for peace, we will be praying for all peoples.  We will not leave anyone out.

Our trip to the Vatican is part of our journey on a spiritual path, a feminine movement of Grandmotherly nurturing and prayerful energy for the sake of our indigenous nations, and for all peoples, and all living things.  We include the bird nations, the plant nations, the water nations, the animal nations, including the nations that live in the oceans and other bodies of water, the sacred life-blood of Mother Earth.

Today the waters of the Earth are being made toxic by a modern and poisonous way of life.  So toxic are the waters and the environment in which we all live that a young mother’s womb often contains hundreds of toxic chemicals that are harmful to developing cells of the unborn, and negatively affect the child when born. Such destructive patterns are the result of a diseased way of life.

As healers, we know that a key to healing disease is a correct diagnosis. In order to heal the planet, we as humans must stop repeating the patterns of thought and behavior that produce illness and disease. Thus, as the International Council of Thirteen Grandmothers, we are traveling in prayer to the Vatican.  We do this humbly, not as representatives of the indigenous nations, but as women of prayer who carry lines of wisdom and knowledge about this Creation that go back to the beginning of time.

Many documents issued by the Holy See in the fifteenth century represent patterns of thought and behavior that are resulting in so much planetary disease at this time.  Those documents set into motion a perception of relationships based on power and domination that is still the basis of legal systems all around the globe.  They are evidence of the true history of what has happened to indigenous peoples.

The relationship between nation-states and tribal peoples in the Americas, Africa, and Oceania rests on the foundation of the “doctrine of conquest??? or alternatively, the “doctrine of discovery.???  The origins of the governmental doctrines of “conquest??? and “discovery??? may be traced directly to various medieval papal bulls and edicts, notably the bulls Dum Diversas, June 18, 1952, Romanus Pontifex, January 8, 1455, and Inter Caetera, May 4, 1493.  These papal edicts granted dominion to European nations over lands which had been occupied by tribal peoples for thousands of years.  They also laid the basis for the European “Age of Discovery???, setting in motion a disastrous chain of events which ultimately resulted in the outright theft of entire continents from indigenous peoples worldwide.

The Inter Caetera papal bull of May 4, 1493 called for the subjugation of “barbarous nations.???  The papal bull authorized the monarchy of Portugal, for example, “to invade, capture, vanquish, and subdue, all Saracens, pagans and other enemies of Christ,??? to “put them into perpetual slavery and to take away all their possessions and property.???

We have written to the Vatican and called upon His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to revoke the Dum Diversas Bull, the Romanus Pontifex Bull, and the Inter Caetera Bull, and all related papal doctrines, thereby affirming the Roman Catholic Church’s recognition that all peoples on the Earth are equal, and that our nations and peoples have the inherent right to live free of all forms of domination.

Now we travel to the Vatican, we who are in our elder years, to ask His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to meet with us and pray with us.  Let us begin a spiritual dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and indigenous peoples.  Let us look forward to the world we will leave our grandchildren through the revocation of the papal bulls.  Let our goal for them be peace.


THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF THIRTEEN INDIGENOUS GRANDMOTHERS

The Thirteen Grandmothers Open Statement
to
His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI

This is from the Grandmothers. I am sharing with this forum
Gina Boltz
Director, Native Village Publications
Director, Youth Forum for International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers
http://www.nativevillage.org
Secretary, Link Center Foundation
http://linkcenterfoundation.org

The Thirteen Grandmothers Open Statement
to
His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI

   We, the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, from regions throughout the world, hereby make this open statement for and to the Vatican. We do so in a good and prayerful way, for peace and for the healing of Mother Earth. We carry this message for Pope Benedict XVI.  We travel with the spirits of our ancestors.  When we pray at the Vatican for peace, we will be praying for all peoples.  We will not leave anyone out.

Our trip to the Vatican is part of our journey on a spiritual path, a feminine movement of Grandmotherly nurturing and prayerful energy for the sake of our indigenous nations, and for all peoples, and all living things.  We include the bird nations, the plant nations, the water nations, the animal nations, including the nations that live in the oceans and other bodies of water, the sacred life-blood of Mother Earth.

Today the waters of the Earth are being made toxic by a modern and poisonous way of life.  So toxic are the waters and the environment in which we all live that a young mother’s womb often contains hundreds of toxic chemicals that are harmful to developing cells of the unborn, and negatively affect the child when born. Such destructive patterns are the result of a diseased way of life.

As healers, we know that a key to healing disease is a correct diagnosis. In order to heal the planet, we as humans must stop repeating the patterns of thought and behavior that produce illness and disease. Thus, as the International Council of Thirteen Grandmothers, we are traveling in prayer to the Vatican.  We do this humbly, not as representatives of the indigenous nations, but as women of prayer who carry lines of wisdom and knowledge about this Creation that go back to the beginning of time.

Many documents issued by the Holy See in the fifteenth century represent patterns of thought and behavior that are resulting in so much planetary disease at this time.  Those documents set into motion a perception of relationships based on power and domination that is still the basis of legal systems all around the globe.  They are evidence of the true history of what has happened to indigenous peoples.

The relationship between nation-states and tribal peoples in the Americas, Africa, and Oceania rests on the foundation of the “doctrine of conquest??? or alternatively, the “doctrine of discovery.???  The origins of the governmental doctrines of “conquest??? and “discovery??? may be traced directly to various medieval papal bulls and edicts, notably the bulls Dum Diversas, June 18, 1952, Romanus Pontifex, January 8, 1455, and Inter Caetera, May 4, 1493.  These papal edicts granted dominion to European nations over lands which had been occupied by tribal peoples for thousands of years.  They also laid the basis for the European “Age of Discovery???, setting in motion a disastrous chain of events which ultimately resulted in the outright theft of entire continents from indigenous peoples worldwide.

The Inter Caetera papal bull of May 4, 1493 called for the subjugation of “barbarous nations.???  The papal bull authorized the monarchy of Portugal, for example, “to invade, capture, vanquish, and subdue, all Saracens, pagans and other enemies of Christ,??? to “put them into perpetual slavery and to take away all their possessions and property.???

We have written to the Vatican and called upon His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to revoke the Dum Diversas Bull, the Romanus Pontifex Bull, and the Inter Caetera Bull, and all related papal doctrines, thereby affirming the Roman Catholic Church’s recognition that all peoples on the Earth are equal, and that our nations and peoples have the inherent right to live free of all forms of domination.

Now we travel to the Vatican, we who are in our elder years, to ask His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to meet with us and pray with us.  Let us begin a spiritual dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and indigenous peoples.  Let us look forward to the world we will leave our grandchildren through the revocation of the papal bulls.  Let our goal for them be peace.


THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF THIRTEEN INDIGENOUS GRANDMOTHERS

Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: sassy on September 24, 2008, 05:13:20 pm
I see they take amylee's song pods with them to give as gifts wherever they go!
guess pope "didn't get his."    ;D not yet anyways.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: sassy on September 25, 2008, 11:46:49 am
I am sorry. I am told on antoher thread that i hijacked something. I think it was this.
sassy   :-[ :(
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Prairie Fairy on September 25, 2008, 04:03:49 pm
Sassy baby, you're cute! Even if your substance is P.L.A.S.T.I.C.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: KIS on October 06, 2008, 09:28:49 pm
Hello all,

Horray for Carole Hart and all who worked with her on this film.


For more information contact: Jennifer Wilson, 607-753-2232

Film on Historic Meeting of Indigenous Grandmothers to Receive Premiere Screening on Oct. 10
CORTLAND, NY (10/02/2008; 1446)(readMedia)-- The premiere screening of a documentary on a landmark gathering of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers four years ago in upstate New York, will be held on Friday, Oct. 10, at SUNY Cortland.
The preview, featuring the first act of "For The Next Seven Generations, The Grandmothers Speak," and attended by the award-winning filmmaker Carole Hart, will take place from 7-9 p.m. in Sperry Center, Room 105.
Sponsored by the College's Women's Studies Program in conjunction with the Native American Studies Program and the Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies, the screening is free and open to the public. A suggested donation of $10 to support the grandmothers in their visit to upstate New York and their worldwide work may be presented at the door.
The film documents events of Oct. 11, 2004, when 13 indigenous grandmothers from the Arctic Circle, North, South and Central America, Africa, and Asia arrived in upstate New York in an historic gathering fulfilling an ancient prophecy, "When the Grandmothers from the four directions speak, a new time is coming," known by many of the world's indigenous tribes. The grandmothers formed a global alliance to serve their common goals and specific local concerns.
Approximately eight of the grandmothers will attend and perform a blessing over their film. The grandmothers will answer audience questions briefly after the screening. Audience members will have a chance to provide suggestions to assist Hart in editing her film, an unusual opportunity in documentary filmmaking.
The grandmothers who plan to attend include: Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance and Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance, both Oglala Lakota from Black Hills, S.D.; Flordemayo of the Mayan Highlands, Central American; Margaret Behan of the Arapaho/Cheyene from Montana; Tsering Dolma Gyaltong from Tibet; Mona Polacca, a member of the Hopi/Havasupai/Tewa from Arizona; Rita Pitka Blumenstein, a Yup'ik from the Arctic Circle; and Agnes Baker Pilgrim of the Takelma Siletz from Oregon.
Hart is a multi-award-winning television and film producer and writer. One of the original writers of "Sesame Street," she also produced, with Marlo Thomas, the "Free To Be... You and Me" album and television special. She was creator and producer with Bruce Hart of the NBC Emmy-winning series, "Hot Hero Sandwich." Hart has produced and written for many movies for television, including "Leap of Faith" and "Sooner or Later," and the Lifetime documentary, "Our Heroes, Ourselves."
"I believe in the power of film to create real and lasting social change of the kind we all want," Hart said of her film. "‘An Inconvenient Truth' harnessed that power and we are already witnessing positive shifts in attitude and behavior across a wide swath of America and the world. I believe ‘For the Next Seven Generations' will work on people at a deeper level, transporting them from fear to hope, inspiring them to go forward always keeping heart and mind connected. In that way, we can sustain Mother Earth so that she can sustain us."
The rights to her documentary belong to the council and the proceeds from sales relating to it will support their global mission.
The screening is one of many activities taking place from Oct. 5-11 at The Grandmothers Speak event, which is based in Groton, N.Y., with activities in surrounding areas. It is being coordinated with the Women's Gathering Group in Groton.
To learn more about the screening, contact Caroline K. Kaltefleiter, associate professor of communication studies, at (607) 753-4203 or caroline.kaltefleiter@cortland.edu. Information about the grandmothers can be found online at www.womensgathering.com/the_grandmothers.
Film on Historic Meeting of Indigenous Grandmothers to Receive Premiere Screening on Oct. 10

Gina

Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: TrishaRoseJacobs on October 14, 2008, 01:49:11 pm
My apologies for being too quick off the mark KIS, it's just that I've seen at least 40 or 50 so-called indigenous councils/elder councils/elder gatherings etc. etc. which have nearly universally turned out to be new age backslapping sessions when examined closely so I tend to be suspicious of everything until it is proven otherwise.

:D


Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: KIS on October 14, 2008, 02:56:54 pm
Hi Trish,

No apologies needed.  We've all seen the pretends and imposters.  Many of us have been burned by them. This forum's purpose is to help identify the reals and the fakes. To me, the 13 Grandmothers are 100% legitimate, but other people may need more proof. Some might never HAVE enough proof. That is for each of us to decide.
What I love about the NAFraud  forum is the opportunity to learn first hand from others who have the same concerns. Skepticism is a good thing. Otherwise, the world would be filled with medicine people selling swamp water to heal cold sores. 



Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Barnaby_McEwan on October 14, 2008, 06:13:41 pm
Gina, I'm curious about Jeneane Prevatt, who seems to be widely credited with co-founding the grandmothers' council. For example this strangely breathless piece (http://www.alternet.org/story/20423/?page=entire), widely reposted online:

Quote
When Jyoti, an American spiritual teacher who holds a PhD in clinical psychology, came to Gabon to study with Rebienot, the two women found that they shared a vision of the Grandmothers' Council, and they decided to work together to manifest it in the west.

Jyoti mobilized her organization, the Center for Sacred Studies, to sponsor a council for indigenous grandmothers. She hooked up with Lynn Schauwecker, a former fashion model and fundraising expert, Ann Rosenkranz, who is also a spiritual counselor and a program director at the Center for Sacred Studies, and Carole Hart, an award winning television and film writer and producer, best known for "Free to Be You and Me." They organized both the 3-day Grandmother's Council and the Global Women's Gathering.

Could you please ask the grandmothers what they think of Prevatt's offering of (and presumably charging for) sweats and 'vision quests' in her 'Stargate Empowerment Program'? A quick look at Prevatt's site show these ceremonies are described as 'tools', implying that anyone can use them. I think it's likely that at least some of the grandmothers would have strong opinions about that.

http://www.mothersgrace.com/projects/stargate.html

Quote
Step two, "Purification", takes the participant deeper into aspects of what does not serve us any more. For instance, we work with cleansing the body by fasting and participating in Native American sweatlodge....On our fourth meeting, we study "Integration" while participating in a vision quest.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on October 14, 2008, 06:30:45 pm
I highly recommend that everone should watch this film.

Turning Prayer into Action

A one hour program that brings together the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers in Dharamsala, India, with the Bioneers Conference in Northern California for a live dialogue via a satellite "spacebridge".

I don't know. Maybe I'm missing something. I saw this film recently, and was not impressed. These white people kept going on about how special and holy these women are... but most all of what the Grandmothers said was really vague. One of them in particular was so into the feelgood stuff it really strained credulity: every white questioner was now "adopted" as her sibling; and she claimed this was "traditional." I know some people from her claimed nation who would find this highly offensive.

If she personally feels kinship with someone, that's her business. But she shouldn't be presenting it on international TV as a traditional practice... "adopting" white strangers over a video link... geez. I can only imagine how badly that could be abused.

Other footage showed some of the women sharing prayer and ceremony. Not being from the particular cultures of the women whose ceremonies they filmed, I can't really comment as to whether they should have been sharing these ceremonies in another country with people who have no connection to their communities (and filming them). It may be in a grey area in terms of alliances vs spiritual tourism; then again it may tip into one side or the other; I couldn't say, as the film only showed fragments, and the Grandmothers are there as the sole speakers from their (real or claimed) cultures. Perhaps this is the problem I have with it: Each of these women is there among the white people, as the sole authority. We're not hearing them in context of their individual cultures, and in many of these cases, we really don't know who these women are. 

Again, anyone can pray for peace, but I am concerned that these women may be being set up as representatives when that may not be appropriate in the context of the cultures they come from. It is too much out of context. Actually, no, there is a context, my impression is that the context is white nuage, with these women there in a sort of, dare I say, objectified way.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: KIS on October 14, 2008, 11:44:14 pm
Hi Barnaby and Kathyrn,

Thanks for your postings.

I only create educational materials for the Grandmothers Forum,  post information, and serve in this way.  Your concerns and questions can only be answered by those within the Grandmother's organization, so I'm emailing your comments to them. Right now they are traveling with the Grandmothers and won't be back until (I believe) late October.

If you haven't already read the book "Grandmothers Councel the World" by Carol Schaeffer, you might consider doing so (I bought my copy through Amazon)  It's well written, easy to read, very well done.  It had a big impact on my decision to serve these women.

As always, the respect for each other in this forum is greatly appreciated.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on October 16, 2008, 07:13:57 pm
Gina, I'm curious about Jeneane Prevatt, who seems to be widely credited with co-founding the grandmothers' council.

Yeah, so am I.

Quote
Jyoti [ed note- aka Jeneane Prevatt] mobilized her organization, the Center for Sacred Studies, to sponsor a council for indigenous grandmothers. She hooked up with Lynn Schauwecker, a former fashion model and fundraising expert, Ann Rosenkranz, who is also a spiritual counselor and a program director at the Center for Sacred Studies, and Carole Hart, an award winning television and film writer and producer, best known for "Free to Be You and Me." They organized both the 3-day Grandmother's Council and the Global Women's Gathering.

http://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=24637 Jyoti had to go back in prayer to figure out which of the grandmothers to call on for the council.

So, according to these statments, we're not looking at something where a group of Indigenous women decided to organize a group and work together.

According to these reports, the Grandmothers were hand-picked and invited by Prevatt  - a nuager and ceremony-seller.

Much of what I've seen in promos about this group is misleading - as it implies it was an Indigenous-initiated effort. But these statements show that's not what this is. This shows no sign of being an organization arising out of the combined efforts of traditional people. 

I would be pleased to be shown otherwise, but from all we're seeing, this is not something where tribes sent forth representatives, but a situation where an outsider, a nuager, chose, dare I say, tokens, to help further her aims.


ETA:

Looked around Prevatt's website some more. here be spiritual tourism (http://www.cssministryofprayer.org/pilgrimages.html)
Quote
CSS sponsors pilgrimages to such places as Brazil, Costa Rica, India & Europe, facilitated by CSS Spiritual Director, Jyoti (Jeneane Prevatt, Ph.D.).
<snip>
...travel into the deep interior of the virgin forest of the Amazon, where we participate in ceremonies and healing practices that are designed to help people “meet??? themselves.

For legitimate traditional ceremonies, people have to earn the right to participate. They have to be trusted by someone who is part of the community. Spiritual tourism like this sells people the illusion that they can buy their way in. You have to write to find out the fees, but even if this were done for free (and I'll bet you it's not) it's still giving people the false impression that community ties, earning trust, and cultural integrity don't matter.

I also looked some more at the profiles of the individual Grandmothers. Again, for some of them there's very little that isn't on the promo site(s). While at least a few of them seem to have some connection to Native cultures, I have to wonder why anyone with a commitment to maintaining cultural integrity and tradition would ally themselves with the nuage ceremony sellers that appear to manage and control the public image of this group.
Title: Grandmothers Counsel the World: Women Elders Offer Their Vision for Our Planet
Post by: KIS on October 20, 2008, 05:15:48 pm
Greetings,

Just sharing. Have a great day!
Gina

Grandmothers Counsel the World: Women Elders Offer Their Vision for Our Planet
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6428/is_1_25/ai_n29427514/print?tag=artBody;col1



Tisa M. Anders
GRANDMOTHERS COUNSEL THE WORLD: WOMEN ELDERS OFFER THEIR VISION FOR OUR PLANET

Carol Schaefer

Boston: Trumpeter, 2006

213 pages, paper, $18.95

In a world simultaneously pulsating with widespread violence and verdant dreams, Carol Schaefer's Grandmothers Counsel the World: Women Elders Offer Their Vision for Our Planet emerges as a bright light with indispensable messages for the twenty-first century and beyond. As the book's jacket explains, "In some Native American societies, tribal leaders consulted a council of grandmothers before making any decisions that would affect the whole community. What if we consulted our wise women elders about the problems facing our global community today?" And that is exactly what happened--hailing from five continents, thirteen indigenous grandmothers began meeting in 2004. The Grandmothers' counsel to the world is timely, pertinent, and hope-filled, equally accessible, appropriate, and essential for the general public and academy. The genesis, first gathering, and subsequent actions are relayed in Schaeffer's work.

The women leaders from around the world were brought together by a U.S. woman, Jyoti (Jeaneane Prevatt). Sporting an academic background in Jungian psychology and indigenous traditions, she is currently director of the Center for Sacred Studies in California. Through prayers and visions, she saw a circle of grandmothers convening from all corners of the world bringing wisdom and guidance to all humanity. Using her extensive contacts and connections through years of work with indigenous communities, Jyoti and her colleagues issued sixteen invitations; thirteen were accepted. As the wise women met, all realized that Jyoti's efforts were simply the twenty-first century catalyst to a centuries' old prophecy: "When the Grandmothers from the four directions speak, a new time is coming" (4). October 11-17,2004, Phoencia, New York became the date and venue for this first International Council of Grandmothers.

Schaeffer's work is helpfully organized into two parts. Part One provides biographical sketches of each grandmother. Those invited and called are: Agnes Baker Pilgrim (Takelma Siletz) from Grants Pass, Oregon; Bernadette Rebienot (Omyene), Gabon, Africa; Flordemayo (Mayan) from the Highlands of Central America/New Mexico; Margaret Behan (Arapaho/Cheyenne), Montana; Rita Pitka Blumenstein (Yupik), Arctic Circle; Tsering Dolma Gyaltong (Tibetan Buddhist), Tibet/Canada; Mona Polacca (Hopi/Havasupai/Tewa), Arizona; Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance and Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance (Oglala Lakota), South Dakota; Maria Alice Campos Freire (Santo Daime), Amazon Rain Forest of Brazil; Clara Shinobu Iura (Santo Daime), Amazon River Forest of Brazil; Aama Bombo or Buddhi Maya Lama (Tamang), Nepal; and Julieta Casimiro (Mazatec), Huautla de Jimenez, Mexico. Additionally, several women elders were chosen by the Grandmothers to participate: Alice Walker, Gloria Steinem, Carol Moseley Braun, Tenzin Palmo, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Luisah Teish, Wilma Mankiller, and Her Holiness Sai Maa Lakshmi Devi.

While tips, advice, and assistance are sprinkled throughout the women's life stories, Part Two communicates their wisdom and guidance in distinct, topical chapters. The subjects covered are Prophecies, Women's Wisdom, Sacred Relations, Our Mother Earth, Oppression, Nature's Pharmacy, and Prayer. Resurrecting the Feminine Divine as well as women's equal place in the world, emphasis on the interconnectedness and sacredness of all life, and a focus on environmental sustainability are among the themes addressed by these venerated women leaders.

This work is an appropriate text in many academic disciplines, Comparative Religions, International Relations, Cultural Studies, Spirituality, Women's Studies, Environmental Studies. It fills current, deep gaps in these fields on the impact of religion and spirituality, and the voices of women, in general, and indigenous peoples, in particular. The introduction by Winona LaDuke, extensive use of photographs, and an appendix about the Council's origin enhance and complement the biographical sketches and thematic chapters. In addition to personal reading, I recommend this book's use at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels in higher education as well as for church study groups, book clubs, and other, related gatherings.

My one concern is that scholars will not take this work seriously enough since it is not grounded, written, or presented in the "usual" Western, academic form. That would be a great disservice to the women leaders, their wisdom, and higher education. The Grandmothers themselves address this dilemma when discussing Western medicine versus traditional healing: "That modern medicine deals with the disease much more than the health and well-being of a person is not a judgment, Maria Alice [Campos Freire] says. One is not good or bad. Good or bad is not the question, because both are part of the whole and part of a process. What is important is to try to understand both approaches" (191). In order to reach points of mutual understanding and knowledge, the Grandmothers believe a bridge between the two must be created. They consider this "a very complex issue, given the vast difference in philosophies and approaches. The bridge between traditional and modern medicine must rely on the principle of equality, a dedication to the salvation of humanity, and a just exchange of resources" (198). These concerns and goals pertain equally to traditional Western thought versus the knowledge that emerges from women and indigenous cultures.

Readers are invited to journey with the Grandmothers beyond this book's offering. After their initial meeting in 2004, annual councils have been convened: 2005, Pojoaque Pueblo, New Mexico; 2006, Oaxaca, Mexico; 2007, Black Hills, South Dakota; upcoming, 2008, Gabon, Africa. Additionally, a documentary film on the councils is in progress. Filming began in 2004 and cameras have accompanied the Grandmothers to each subsequent meeting. The Council's activities and the documentary's progress can be followed through two separate websites that are mentioned in the book: www.grandmotherscouncil.com and www.forthenext7generations.com. These opportunities allow the work and its messages to remain vital and dynamic as the world continues to wrestle with the dual reality of hostility and hope. Fortunately, the Grandmothers' counsel can indeed usher in a time of peace and justice if the rest of us will listen and heed their words.

Tisa M. Anders, Ph.D.

Lakewood, Colorado

USA

COPYRIGHT 2008 Professors World Peace Academy
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: educatedindian on October 21, 2008, 10:30:13 am
http://www.blackpast.org/?q=bio/anders-tisa-grant-writer
Anders, Tisa - Grant Writer
Tisa M. Anders was born in Pueblo, Colorado. She is a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha (B.A., M.S.), Iliff School of Theology (M.Div.), and the University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology (Ph.D., 2002). In the first incarnation of her career, she was a social worker in eastern Nebraska. After ordination to social justice ministries in 1993, she began her nonprofit career in prison work (1993-2005), political advocacy for women (2005-06), interfaith ministry (2007-present), and public history (2006-present).

Her general areas of research interest are nineteenth-century U.S. reform movements, black farmers, agricultural history, international peacemaking. Specific topics include L. Maria Child (1802-1880, Euro-American author/activist), Junius G. Groves (1859-1925, African American farmer), and "The Cultural Significance of Sugar Beets in Western Nebraska."

---------------------------------

Getting an endorsement from a writer about sugar beets and Black farmers isn't exactly impressive.

I'm glad you found it though, because the article does raise some other questions.

"Jyoti and her colleagues issued sixteen invitations; thirteen were accepted."

So why did those three reject her? Perhaps fear of it being unethical being annointed an "elder" by a white Nuage ceremony seller"

"As the wise women met, all realized that Jyoti's efforts were simply the twenty-first century catalyst to a centuries' old prophecy: "When the Grandmothers from the four directions speak, a new time is coming" (4).

Too generic. What prophecy and from where?

"...several women elders were chosen by the Grandmothers to participate: Alice Walker, Gloria Steinem, Carol Moseley Braun, Tenzin Palmo, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Luisah Teish, Wilma Mankiller, and Her Holiness Sai Maa Lakshmi Devi."

Walker is a great writer, but she is no elder, and none of these women have the power to make her one. Steinem and Braun are far too divisive as figures to qualify, no matter what you think of their views.

In fact absolutely NONE of the grandmothers are in any position to annoint these women as elders. Period.

I highly suspect that none of the grandmothers actually did. More likely they choose women they wanted to speak to, and the ceremony seller Pravatt took it upon herself to be The Great White Elder Maker.

Perhaps, Gina, you'd be good enough to share the financial statements of Pravatt's little venture.
The only other one I've heard of is Mankiller, and not being Cherokee, it's not up to me to say if she is one.

Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: KIS on October 21, 2008, 04:39:01 pm
"Perhaps, Gina, you'd be good enough to share the financial statements of Pravatt's little venture?"

I do not have this information.

And while your cynicism is understood and  so very appropriate and appreciated in this forum (in fact, the reason this forum exists), may I share my own observations?

According to my research and personal knowledge, these Grandmothers are not fluffs. They are all accomplished and impressive women in their own rights. Here's information about a few. Those i haven't mentioned are just as impressive
1.Grandmother Agnes Baker Pilgrim is Takelma/Siletz and 
brought back the Sacred Salmon ceremony after it was lost for 150 years.  Grandma Aggie is considered a living legend in her tribe.
2.Grandmother Bernadette Ribenot is a traditional healer and has been president of Gabon's Health Department of Traditional Medicine since 1994. Her "patients" included the King and Queen of Gabon
3. Rita Pitka Blumenstein, Yupik, raised traditionally. I believe the state even had a Rita Pitka Blumenstein Day. She is the first person in Alaska to be certified as a traditional medicine doctor.
4. Tsering Dolma Gyaltong, Buddhist, escaped (along with the Dalai Lama) from Tibet after the Chinese invaded. Revived the Tibetan Women's Association and helped establish 33 branches across the world.

The grandmothers speak to, and work with, many people. These choices are totally up to them be it Jyoti, Gloria Steinem, Alice Walker, and other accomplished and highly regarded women.  In this same light, why would they ask ME to create their Youth Forum if it only traditional Native people are allowed to be affiliated with them? I'm a nobody. And, is it fair to judge these woman based on who writes about them? The Grandmas have no control over that.I bet the Grandmothers regard sugar beet writers and Black farmers with the same respect and reverance as they do for all humanity.

One more thing -- the Grandmothers and Jyoti have corrected me about information I posted on their Youth Forum, so even those affiliated with them get the facts wrong. Maybe even in this posting! 

As for myself, I cant speak for the Grandmothers or those who serve/follow/write about them, and I myself have run out of things to say.  I meant every word with kindness and respect, but when my "left" brain, kicks in, the words sometimes sound terse. I don't mean it. :-)


Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Ingeborg on October 21, 2008, 05:44:44 pm

2.Grandmother Bernadette Ribenot is a traditional healer and has been president of Gabon's Health Department of Traditional Medicine since 1994. Her "patients" included the King and Queen of Gabon

Now this makes me wonder. Le Gabon, as the country is called in French, has a presidential system with a President as its head of state and a Prime Minister as the head of government. Gabon is not a monarchy, so there is no "king and queen of Gabon".

The way you phrase the info of Mme Ribenot having been the pres of "Gabon's Health Department of Traditional Medicine" since 94 insinuates her title thus should be Mme le Ministre. However, we don't seem to speak of a Mme le Ministre at all. The department in question belongs to an institute which is part of the Gabon health system, as you can see at the following site:

http://www.cenarestgabon.org/cenarest_eng/instituts/iphametra/activites.htm

„On the subject of the toxicity of plants.
Since the early 2007’s IPHAMETRA acquired a scientific material adapted to the toxicological tests, particularly for cardio vascular, respiratory, and even digestive tract affections. The acquisition of such a material will provide the credibility of PTM production, which will have a real scientific basis. 
You may now have some sights of Sibang, location of IPHAMETRA services.
Departments of the institute.
The institute is composed of four departments
- Department of Botanic which involves the national Herbarium of Gabon, the laboratory of taxonomy and the laboratory of Vegetable Biology. 
- Department of Pharmacognosie which involves the service of pharmacopoeia, the laboratory of phyto-chemistry and the laboratory of toxicology.
- Department of pharmaco-toxicology composed of the laboratory of pharmacology and the laboratory of toxicology.
- Department of Traditional medicine which has a service of Traditional therapy, a laboratory of Galenic pharmacy, service of clinic tests and a service of Ethno-botany
The staff:

The institute abounds within it:
A multidisciplinary team of sixteen (16) researchers.
Three higher (advanced) technicians.
Five technicians. „


I do not quite believe that, even if Mme Ribenot does happen to be the head of this tiny department, her official title would be 'president'. From the above description I rather take it that all persons working in this rather small department will not be 'medecins traditionels', but trained in Western medicine, although they seem to facilitate a 'service of traditional therapy'.

Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: KIS on October 21, 2008, 11:51:08 pm
Interesting comments!

You are right about the King/Queen thing. Looked briefly over my notes and resources and can't find the info. I don't know who I was thinking of.  Thanks for correcting me. If the info is located, I'll repost, ok?

The rest of the info came right out of the Carole Schaeffer book mentioned earlier. Grandmother Bernadette's "President" title and the country are printed on p. 25.

Perhaps Gabon can be called  still called "Gabon", either officially or unofficially. Like the United States of American is also the USA?
Title: Re: International "Council" of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: educatedindian on October 22, 2008, 12:00:05 pm
I've lost track now. How many times does this make it, Gina/KIS, that you've repeatedly dodged questions about the Nuage ceremony seller Prevatt?

How many timeshave you dodged these questions by going into these little puff pieces about the tribal women involved, when they have never been the issue, just how a Nuage ceremony seller may be using them?

This one is is the only one I can keep count on: You failed to answer how much money Prevatt is making off these grandmothers once, because you say you do not know.

But for someone who thinks as highly of these women as you do, well, don't you think it's past time to ask Prevatt herself that question? Are you a volunteer who believes in what you do, or just a paid employee with no say?

And keep in mind we're not just talking about money made on the spot from appearances, etc. Prevatt is likely now better know for this little dog and pony show than for her ceremony selling, so it's bound to have helped her Nuage fraud business. How much have her revenues gone up since she fabricated this "council"?

And yes it does belong in quotes. The women may be decent and have done good work,  but they don't represent anyone but Prevatt's Pet Picks. Period.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: KIS on October 22, 2008, 03:23:25 pm

I didn't FAIL to do anything. What part of "I don't know" don't you understand?

As for Jyoti, I am NOT dodging any questions because I don't HAVE or KNOW the answers to these questions and have been upfront about that since Day 1. I don't volunteer for or serve Jyoti.  I am here only to serve the Grandmothers themselves in their youth outreach. It is the Grandmothers, not me, who have chosen to work with Jyoti. That, in itself, speaks volumes to me about her credibility, and MY choice is to have faith in their choice. But if you aren't satisified or think new ageish stuff is going on, ask someone else. Just don't point fingers at my responses. I've been as honest and as informative as I know how to be.

As for puff pieces, seems to me this forum BEGAN with questions about the Grandmothers legitimacy. If the "puff" you refer to are cold hard facts about their credibility, so be it.

Finally, every bit of work I've done within the native community in ANY capacity has been volunteer. Currently, it's four organizations, and I'm not paid a penny. No one tells me what to think or who to follow. That's one of the perks of volunteer work. And if I lose faith in a group, grow tired of them, or want to change directions, then I'm free to leave.

You won't be seeing many more posts from me in this forum. No, I'm NOT running away  (which I suspect a few will allege.) I have a mountain of work to do for kids and elders. That's where my time is best spent.  Obviously.



Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on October 22, 2008, 06:30:51 pm
As for puff pieces, seems to me this forum BEGAN with questions about the Grandmothers legitimacy. If the "puff" you refer to are cold hard facts about their credibility, so be it.

Every one of these press releases, or poorly-researched articles written by those unfamiliar with Native cultures, has contained errors; some of them glaring. If you had posted any "cold hard facts" about anyone's credibility, or answered our questions instead of dodging them, I don't think the questioning would have continued. Instead you've tried to use this forum as another promotional venue for this group.

I mean this suggestion in all sincerity and concern: I don't know how old you are, but I would strongly advise that you look into the questions Al and others are asking you about finances, control and motivations here. You may be devoting your time and energy to something that is actually harming the very causes you think you are supporting. I'm not trying to talk down to you here, but I am frankly disturbed by your insistence that these things don't matter, and that you can simply trust your heart and what people self-report about themselves. People far more experienced than you have had their time, energy and money stolen by ceremony sellers and those who are out to make a buck or a reputation on the backs of others. I hope you think about these things.

... the tribal women involved, when they have never been the issue, just how a Nuage ceremony seller may be using them?

There are still questions about some of the women on this "council", at least for me. They are all adults, and not old enough to be mentally impaired. Some of them are not much older than me, and I think they're all younger than my mother. They do have free will and a degree of agency here. I have to assume they have had plenty of time and opportunity to not only supply the biographical information that has been used, but to publicly correct it and leave the "council" if they felt they were being misrepresented. I see them as participants in this thing, not victims. And as I posted further up-thread, I have been told that at least one of them is misrepresenting her tribal affiliation, status and training. I'm sorry I can't be more specific than that, but the information was given to me privately. My source reads this forum but has so far chosen to remain silent on the topic.

Again, I assume most or maybe all of these women are sincere, and I am also assuming that at least some of them are who they say they are. But sincerity doesn't change the other problems. The idea of a council of Indigenous Elder women, "The Grandmothers", is incredibly moving. It's a powerful image. But I think that many people may be so moved by the idea that they are unwilling to look closely enough to see whether or not the romantic image lines up with the reality. This is a core issue with exploitation of Indigenous cultures and ceremonies - when outsiders think they've found a representative of a culture they have fetishized, and they're so happy to be accepted by someone that fulfills their exotic fantasy, that they are resistant to making sure the person is legitimate. They will fight to defend their fantasy rather than engage their critical faculties. Why dig for the truth when it may take away something that makes you feel good?

With all of these things I look to see who supports them: if it's only people from outside the cultures they claim, there's a problem. The ones here that I tend to think are legit are the ones I can document, with tribal sources independent of Prevatt's organization, are at least from the Nations they claim, with some degree of respect and responsibility in the community. But even in those cases, we don't necessarily know if they are ceremonial people in their Nations. And the ones where we know nothing but their self-reporting... yeah, problematic.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: KIS on October 22, 2008, 08:38:37 pm
 I am 56 years with college work beyond my master's degree. No one thinks for me. No one tells me what to do. I am NOT a Grandmother's disciple. I believe in their wisdom and abilities. We share a cause which includes peace, education, and healing of the earth.

I don't take my affiliations lightly and consider myself in fine company when the Grandmothers' other supporters include the Dalai Lama (who lent his support to this summer's efforts with the Pope), a Pulitzer Prize winner, a former U.S. Senator and Ambassador, the former Chief of the Cherokee Nation, an Emmy and Peabody winner, to name a few. These people were role models and inspired me -- and millions of others across the world -- long before the Grandmothers Council was even formed.  I trust their wisdom and judgement, also.

So, if the Grandmothers and Jyoti are frauds or new agers, then I'll be "shot down" with a fine group of people.  In the meantime, we have a right to make our own choices based on informed decisions and where our hearts lead us.

I didn't write the press releases, only posted them to share information in this forum for educational reasons. If you have issues, please take them up with the authors.  In the meantime, I won't be posting anymore in the NAF forum. They are available elsewhere.

Kathryn, I mean this with all respect. Your profile at your website says "Author, priestess, researcher and editor. I dabble in visual art and music when I need a break from the words. A bit of an activist, a practical mystic, a reluctant webcrafter and alpha-bitch of the canid pack. Co-author of The CR FAQ - An Introduction to Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism ." 

The "priestess" and "Celtic" words are red flags in the fraud world, but I have no reason to believe you are a fraud because I DON'T KNOW YOU!  The grandmothers deserve the same respect. Have you even read the Grandmothers' book, must less spoken with them or attended a conference or meeting of which they are a part? Is your only knowledge that which is on the Internet or comes from (God forbid) me ?  Are your "credentials" as definitive as theirs?

I'm done posting to NAF -- at least, in the Grandmothers' Forum. Wish everyone here the best, but I'm batting my head against a brick wall. Which is ok, I suppose. This is an NAF fraud forum and such discussions are important.

There are plenty of resources out there about the Grandmothers, either as a whole or in their individual pursuits. I have named a few. I hope you learn more and maybe gain some acceptance for them. If not, that is ok, too. We each have our own path.

Good luck and best wishes to all!
Gina
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on October 22, 2008, 09:13:44 pm
Is your only knowledge that which is on the Internet or comes from (God forbid) me ?

No, I've spoken to traditional people about them. That's where I heard not only questions but, in some cases, legitimate criticisms. I do have a close personal history with one of the women they have called "an elder who works with them," and one of the grandmothers is known personally to my former partner and other family members, who actually are from the community/tradition she claims.

I apologize for thinking you were young. Your tone and your involvement in youth programs made me think you were. I come from a background where youth organizations were largely youth-run (when I was one of the youth), so that influenced my perceptions of you, as well.

You can criticize, question, or attack me if you like, but I think it's an obvious diversion. I don't really care what strangers on the Internet think, especially when they work for ceremony-sellers. One of the reasons I know what to look out for with dubious groups is because in the eighties I got duped by some of them. But when I learned someone was fraudulent, misrepresenting themselves, or exploiting people, I ceased to associate with them and, when possible, informed the community of their abuses if I was in a position to do so. If you're curious about my background, feel free to read my earlier posts on the forum or google, as there's plenty out there.

I do now regret using terms as broad as "Celtic", and "Pagan" in my earlier work, as so many are abusing them. There's not much I can do about what's already in print. The terms themselves are not flawed, even if the people who misuse them are. One of the reasons they are on some of my earlier projects is that, when the work was by consensus and in a group, others felt we still need to use them because the more precise terminology, in the relevant languages, is obscure and confusing to outsiders. I guess I could have blocked consensus, but at the time I decided to respect the wishes of two of my colleagues, in particular.  I have also chosen not to give people too much to abuse in terms of actual Gaelic terminolgy, and my time spent with Native ceremonial people has made me re-evaluate how open I should be about Gaelic spiritual practices and ceremonies.

Whatever prejudices you have against my cultural or social background, or the roles I fill in my community, or the terminology others use for these things, I have never sold ceremony. I have always been honest about who I am. That's all I ask of others.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on October 26, 2008, 03:37:33 am
Just noting that a member of ICTIG, Aama Bombo, is also being discussed in this thread (http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=1977.0), in connection to spiritual tourism and this guy from L.A. (http://www.tibetanshaman.com/) who claims to be a "Tibetan Shaman." He claims she's his teacher (http://www.tibetanshaman.com/images1.html).

For comparison: Official ICTIG page (http://www.grandmotherscouncil.com/about.html) (Bombo is second from the bottom).

Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on October 09, 2009, 12:43:56 am
Just got a message that they're doing a series of workshops in... Sedona. With these events:

http://www.grandmotherscouncil.com/ (click on "events")

"November 21 (Phoenix) - Full Moon Sweat Lodge. See www.meaningfulthings.net (http://www.meaningfulthings.net)"

When you click on "tickets" for the sweat lodge, you get:

"Home/House Clearings/Smudging - Personal Clearings - Shamanic Intuitive - Shamanic Workshops"

Page down to the posters for the fundraiser and retreat at a resort in Sedona, featuring, among others, crystal skull "shaman" people.
(http://www.grandmotherscouncil.com/images/oct17_sm.jpg) (http://www.meaningfulthings.net/images/13%20GM%20Fundraiser%20Flier%20TBA%202.jpg)
(Click on image for full size poster)

Retreat $ info: http://www.grandmotherscouncil.com/docs/sedona_details.pdf (http://www.grandmotherscouncil.com/docs/sedona_details.pdf)

"Tuition for the event is $350, U.S. $150 non-refundable deposit is due at time of registration. $200 balance is due November 1."
Lodging costs not included. Those run "$95/night Breakfast included. With a cot*: $115/night"

----------------------------------------------------

So I've got to ask... With all of this Pay to Pray and buying access to ceremonies and  "Indigenous teachers"... how is this any different from what Sun Bear did?

And even Sun Bear held his things at campgrounds and offered work exchange. I don't think even he went so far as resorts in Sedona with the Crystal Skull nuagers.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: kokumlee on April 26, 2010, 05:05:07 am
I just got an email about Mona Polucca & this Thirteen zindegenous Grandmothers thing, & it is now being fronted by this nuage group: http://www.sacredstudies.org/
I can't find anything about them... Anyone heard of this?
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Yiwah on May 26, 2010, 04:38:29 am
A few weeks back, flyers were being handed out for a screening of a new movie "For the Next 7 Generations", which is about this International Council.  I'd never heard of them before, and the website (http://www.forthenext7generations.com/) and video trailer seemed super hoaky and vague.  Plus they were charging $15 to see the movie.  All the newagey stuff on the website blog (http://forthenext7generations.com/blog/) really turned me off as well.

I'm happy this discussion is going on.  The whole thing strikes me as so slick.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: nemesis on May 26, 2010, 08:44:35 am
I just got an email about Mona Polucca & this Thirteen zindegenous Grandmothers thing, & it is now being fronted by this nuage group: http://www.sacredstudies.org/
I can't find anything about them... Anyone heard of this?

I have never heard of them but a few things sound familiar and are IMO cause for concern.

from here
http://www.sacredstudies.org/gwg.html

Quote
The Roots of the Movement

Bernadette Rebienot, a Bwiti elder and grandmother of 23 had a vision for a Grandmothers' Council. She said that the women of Gabon regularly gather together in the forest to share their visions and to pray for world peace and the well being of their people. "In Gabon, when the grandmothers speak, the president listens," she said.

Bwiti is a very interesting religion IMO.  Central to Bwiti is the consumption of a drug called Ibogaine, a hallucinogenic entheogen.

IMO Iboagine is a drug with immense therapeutic potential.  Users typically have a subjective experience of being inside the minds of other people who they have hurt in the past.  The drug induces feelings of empathy and guilt and a wish to make reparations.  Within Bwiti, the drug experience consolidates bonds within a community and is useful if terms of helping initiates to understand their responsibilities towards their community.

Unfortunately Ibogaine and the feelings of guilt and remorse that it can generate, can also be abused by predators and con men and women.  

Ah, just found this

Quote
Bernadette Rebienot — Africa

Nothing happens in my country without consulting the women. Our wise people, our elders, they are like libraries. We consult them whenever we need to make large decisions. Every five years, in my country, it is the women who make a peace march. It is the grandmothers who for one month go into the forest to prepare for this peace march. They fast, they pray and invoke the ancestors. When the grandmothers speak, the president listens.

Born in Libreville, Gabon of the Omyene linguistic community, widow and mother of ten, grandmother of twenty-three. Before retiring, Bernadette worked as an educator and school administrator. Bernadette has participated in numerous national and international conferences on Traditional Medicine. She is a healer, master of the Iboga Bwiti Rite and master of Women’s Initiations. Bernadette has offered initiations and consultations for the past thirty years. She has been President of the Association of Traditional Medicine Practitioners for Gabonese Health (U.T.S.G.) since 1994.

   
(emphasis mine)

So we have Iboga / Ibogaine in the mix.

There is a wikipedia page for Bernadette Rebienot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Rebienot

This appears to be a page created by Rebienot herself and can probably be flagged as an advert.

This page is worthy of further examination, not least because of the description of tribal people as "pygmies", while no authority my understanding is that the word is an offensive way to describe tribal people and that the tribal people themselves never us the word pygmy.  Those people are also treated as second class citizens by the other tribes and I don't buy the story about "Bernadette's grandmother learned the traditional medicine ways of the  Pygmies. She shared this knowledge with her granddaughter. She taught Bernadette that plants are a special gift from the ancestors and must be protected for future generations."

http://www.nativevillage.org/INTERNATIONAL%20COUNCIL%20OF%2013%20INDIGENOUS%20GR/Each%20GR%20Home%20Page/Bernadette%20Rebienot/Bernadette%20Rebienot%20Homepage.htm

This link is also interesting
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DiosasAncianos2012/message/1370?var=1
Quote
In Borga, Spain the Grandmothers will hold four days of prayers,
teachings and workshops at an ecovillage. If you would like to attend,
please contact Marianna at arboledadegaia@....

After this, the Grandmothers will travel to Madrid to confer with
leaders of corporations that are interested in nurturing the spiritual
aspects of their businesses.

July 17th- Grandmothers travel to Spain
July 16th -23rd - Spain
(emphasis mine)

So they even do corporate workshops? Verha spirchul.

I have to say that I'm surprised that Rain Queen Mother is not involved in this as it looks like a similar kind of branding, themes and presentation.  

Another name that comes to mind, given the references to the "stargate" and the Sedona connection, is Bearcloud.  He has connections to a pseudo-tantric temple in Sedona and also has many websites with his UFO paintings, crystal skulls and other weirdness, all referencing "the Stargate".  |Not sure how firm the link is, just mentioning it in case it rings a bell for anyone else.

Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Ingeborg on May 26, 2010, 09:36:53 am
The info about Bernadette Rebienot sounds interesting, since we already discussed her with KIS two years ago:

Quote
Quote from: KIS on October 21, 2008, 10:39:01 AM

2.Grandmother Bernadette Ribenot is a traditional healer and has been president of Gabon's Health Department of Traditional Medicine since 1994. Her "patients" included the King and Queen of Gabon

So meanwhile, her last name seems to have been adjusted (didn't KIS mention she got the info on Ribenot/Rebienot from a book? ? ), and apart from the claim to be head of whatever department (which she doesn't seem to be in reality, cf my contribution no 44 from October 2008), there are more impressive positions mentioned: Bwiti elder, healer, master of Iboga Bwiti rite. Now, if they'd written 'master of women's initiations' this would take on quite a different connotation than this "master of Women's Initiations". I doubt it's a spelling glitch, since French, same as English, does not spell nouns with capital letters first.

There is a certain hilarious touch to the alleged comment nemesis quoted:
Quote
Bernadette Rebienot [...] "In Gabon, when the grandmothers speak, the president listens", she said.

In 2008, Rebienot apparently promoted herself as having been a healer for the Gabon king and queen. So after this was corrected in this thread and the info given that Gabon has a presidential system, we now get references to the president. Hilarious, albeit very see-through.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on June 08, 2010, 12:56:38 am
Shamanic Acupuncture?

Ceremonial Sweats? 

Medicine Wheel Teachings? ... and all for a fee.

Look at the latest thing a friend's link on the "13 Indigenous Grandmothers" brought up:


The Ojai Experience (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=107149875996125)

THURSDAY :: 10 June 2010
4pm Arrival & Check-IN... The Journey begins...
Dinner

Evening Keynote Presentation & Talk with Jyoti
Jyoti is an internationally renowned spiritual advisor and teacher of earth based ways of prayer and the visionary behind the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers.

KeynoteTopic: A Global Movement for World Peace and Unity inspired and led by the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. Jyoti will share the story of the vision that brought the grandmothers together and how that vision continues to inspire others globally to stand up for the Earth initiating sustainable projects and actions in communities around the world.

FRIDAY :: 11 June 2010
Meditation
Opening Ceremony
Introduction to the Way of Council
Medicine Wheel Teaching
Solotime in Nature
Ceremonial Sweat

SATURDAY :: 12 June 2010
Morning Dreamstar Council
Spiral Council : Integrating the Sweat Ceremony
Communal Shamanic Acupuncture & Dream Journey offered by Eric Baumgartner of Urban Remedy
Gender Councils "fishbowl" style.
Eco Shout Out: Sharing our projects and passions
Cross-Pollination
Music & Dance Celebration

SUNDAY :: 13 June 2010
Morning Dreamstar Council
Cross-Pollination
Integration Council
Harvesting the Gems and Taking a Stand
Closing Ceremony
3pm :: The Journey comes to a Close

< snip >

In addition to our hermitages, our facilities also feature a pottery studio, community kitchen areas, meditation room, sweat lodge, tipi, and two kivas with fire pits.

TUITION FOR THE OJAI EXPERIENCE ::

OFF-SITE:
$275 per person
9 Organic meals provided by Divine Nourishment
Full program from Thursday evening to Sunday afternoon
Accommodations not included

To register for Off-Site follow this link:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=W4Q4ZYU39XQSW

CAMPSITE:
$300 per person
Campsite for your tent
9 Organic meals provided by Divine Nourishment
Full program from Thursday evening to Sunday afternoon

To register for campsite follow this link:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=MGXJ65STJV3NS

SHARED:
$350 per person
Accommodation in either a shared yurt or dome
9 Organic meals provided by Divine Nourishment
Full program from Thursday evening to Sunday afternoon

To register for shared accommodations follow this link:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=R5FM55N4RXXT2

PRIVATE
$450 per person
Accommodation in either a Private yurt or dome
9 Organic meals provided by Divine Nourishment
Full program from Thursday evening to Sunday afternoon

To register for a private accommodations follow this link:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=2FPV2G7MPFP9J

Contact & Information ::
For more information regarding registration, prices and a more comprehensive schedule of the event, please email :: info@projectbutterfly.org

< snipped some more stuff about how they practice "councils" and talking circles >

*Center for Sacred Studies Co-founder and Spiritual Director, Jyoti is an internationally renowned spiritual advisor and teacher of earth based ways of prayer. Her background includes education in cross-cultural spiritual practices, social services program development, training at the Jung Institute in Switzerland, and extensive international travel. She has devoted her life to bringing unity to the planet, by facilitating the development of alliances between individuals who are the guardians of indigenous culture and traditional Medicine ways. She and the CSS staff convened the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers www.grandmotherscouncil.com and continue to organize and raise funds for the Grandmother's global work for world peace and unity. Jyoti has been named by the Grandmother's Council as their Traveling Ambassador Charged with the Mission.


bolded emphasis added.

(http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/object2/1131/42/n121111927909737_9793.jpg)

And another page for this event (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=121111927909737&index=1)

And promo photos (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Los-Angeles-CA/Project-Butterfly/117144314449#!/album.php?aid=177073&id=117144314449&ref=pb)

Larger image of poster uploaded below. Click for full size.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: educatedindian on June 08, 2010, 05:09:45 pm

Solotime in Nature

Spiral Council

Gender Councils "fishbowl" style.

Eco Shout Out

Cross-Pollination

Organic meals provided by Divine Nourishment

Accommodation in either a shared yurt or dome


Every single one of these sound so damned goofy-Nuage. They're comedy gold. How can anyone seriously believe this group is in any serious way "indigenous"?

Sometimes they sound contradictory instead of the stupor-pseudo-profound way they hoped for, like how a "spiral council" sounds like all its members are slowing going down a drain...

And sometimes they sound unintentionally dirty, like the way "solotime in nature" sounds like plain old masturbation, or "fishbowl style" sounds like they're going around flashing people... ::)

Gotta love the way they get people to actually pay to sleep in a shared yurt, so they can play at being Mongolian when they're not playing Indian. I huess shared tipis are no longer exotic enough for some Nuagers...
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on June 09, 2010, 07:33:32 pm
"Feeeel the intention. Meeeerge with the energy... of the energy. With divine intention. Feeel yourself... at the center of the universe... as the Universe spirals around you... as the world revolves... around you..."

*snerk*

Is it really any wonder that people come out of these things more mentally ill than when they went in?
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: nemesis on June 16, 2010, 12:16:43 pm
there are videos on youtube
Quote
Grandmothers, introduced by Janet Weber, Assistant to the Grandmother's Council. Janet has been affiliated with the Center for Sacred Studies since the mid-1990s, and is an Interfaith Minister. Her work is in support of native elders and teachings of the Sacred Hoop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASE0Ri_0F8g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF5tzPjkzZI&feature=fvw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmQOlb1yDKM&feature=related


more videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fZhnt5BHQk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4NTgsxa04k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSYY1IDt4nc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyUT2PzMNEQ&feature=related


Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: apukjij on June 16, 2010, 07:35:38 pm
Finally after researching the Grandmother Council for these past many months, it is my opinion they are non-frauds. They have not promoted pan-indianism, they have not blended traditions, they are not Ceremonial Leaders and never represent themselves as such, they are Grandmothers, and it seems to me they are using the spirit and intent of Ecumenism. Just like Chief Arvol does. Yes i think there many problems with some of the linkages they created, but that's a different scenario in my mind. Are they responsible for every action that some of those linkages do? No.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: educatedindian on June 16, 2010, 08:41:52 pm
Read the thread more carefully. The council is just a front for Jyoti to sell fake ceremonies. These grandmothers are being used to make her seem legit.

And at least one of the grandmas is actually a ceremony seller and possible fraud. The grandmas themselves sell tickets (or allow themselves to be used to sell tickets) to sweats in Sedona, no less.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: apukjij on June 16, 2010, 08:58:51 pm
I think the first day time the Grandmothers were in Indian Country Today it was found by one of my friends in 2005 long before their appearence in NAFPS and that's when i started researching, Jyoti was not in the picture and her name never mentioned until 2010. On their current website and any cached versions there is no association with Jyoti. May i ask which Grandmother may be a fraud so i can research it???
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: apukjij on June 16, 2010, 09:07:33 pm
So how could it be a front for Jyoti  is she was never involved until 2010? On Phil Lane's website, (he i say should be put in the Frauds section in my opinion) theres Chief Arvol, so using the same logic Educated Indian would you say Chief Arvol is a front for Phil Lane?
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on June 16, 2010, 09:09:55 pm
Read the thread, Apukjij. Jyoti is an alias of Jeneane Prevatt, the woman who organized this group in the first place. Prevatt hand-picked these women, and admits some women she approached for it turned her down. It's in the first page or so of this thread.

There have been other groups calling themselves by similar names. Maybe you're thinking of one of those.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: apukjij on June 16, 2010, 09:24:48 pm
Hi Educated Indian, it certainly could be another group of Grandmothers, to use an expression from one of my Maliseet friends, "I could be wrong and often am!"
This is the council of Grandmothers i am referring too:

from Indian Country Today,  2005
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/28165419.html (http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/28165419.html)

ndigenous grandmothers pray for the world
Photo courtesy Marisol Villanueva -- The International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers gathered recently for prayers and to discuss their concerns for the state of the world and the future of all species.
By Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today

Story Published: May 30, 2005

Story Updated: Sep 10, 2008
POJOAQUE PUEBLO, N.M. - The International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers gathered for prayers at sacred Pueblo sites and sent a message to the world to protect Mother Earth and honor the sacred ways for peace.

Agnes Baker-Pilgrim, 80, is the oldest living female of the Takelma, who lived in the valley of the Rogue River in Oregon for 20,000 years. Baker-Pilgrim joined indigenous grandmothers from Africa, Mexico, the jungles of Brazil and the mountains of Tibet and Nepal.

Together with Lakota, Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Hopi and Yupik, the grandmothers sent a message to the world.

;'The grandmothers of the world want to go forward and not only talk to the women of the world, but the president of the United States and the world leaders. We want them to hear our voice,'' said Baker-Pilgrim, speaking for the council.

''There has got to be a better way of taking care of our Mother Earth,'' Baker-Pilgrim told Indian Country Today.

The grandmothers, she said, are sending a message that there must be better medicine and a new awareness of the pollution around us.

Baker-Pilgrim said she has traveled to many parts of the world and found the water polluted. Never in her 80 years did she foresee a time when she would need to buy bottled water because the rivers and streams are too polluted to drink. Mercury is building in the rivers and smog is clogging the air of our cities, she said.

''We need to enlighten people and tell the world leaders there has to be a better way. If we allow the animal kingdom to disappear, at the rapid rate it is disappearing, then we are killing ourselves faster than we think.

''We are the natural nurturers of the Earth Mother. The Earth Mother needs our help, she needs our prayers. We need to educate the women of the world that prayer works.

''We want to preserve the beauty we walk in for the seventh generation, for the unborn to be able to walk in beauty and have clean air and good water.

''Now the government wants our reservation land, our First Nations land, for garbage dumps. Years ago, smallpox blankets were given to my people to kill them off. Now they are sending garbage and toxic waste to be dumped on our reservations.

''The biggest disgrace in the history of America is the treatment of the First Nations people, but the genocide is still going on,'' said Baker-Pilgrim, who is a Confederated Tribes of Siletz elder and granddaughter of Chief George Harney.

Mona Polacca, Hopi/Tewa/

Havasupai, is working on her doctoral degree in Justice Studies at Arizona State University and has directed her efforts toward alcoholism, domestic violence and mental health for Native people.

Polacca said the primary purpose of the gathering in the northern pueblos of Nambe and Pojoaque was prayer.

''Many of the grandmothers are practitioners of their earth-based medicines, keepers of [the] medicines of their people.

''Many are involved with struggles involving multi-national corporations coming into their homelands to take their natural resources; they oppress them for the practice of their religious indigenous ways. We are able to support one another through prayers and our ceremonies,'' Polacca told ICT.

After saying prayers at the Nambe River waterfall, Polacca said, ''This is a prayer from the grandmothers of the world, from the four directions of the world. We are not leaving anyone out. We are praying for our existence and our generation. Everyone, no matter what color our skin is, is part of this prayer.

''We all have sacred places within ourselves and wherever we might be.''

The grandmothers from Tibet, Africa and Nepal traveled in New Mexico with translators. Polacca shared the message of Tibet grandmother Tsering Dolma Gyalthong, living in exile in Toronto, Canada.

''She is praying for freedom, that her people may reclaim their country and the Dalai Lama will be able to return home. That is our prayer with her.''

The 13 grandmothers wore bracelets bearing the words of a prayer for freedom for the people of Tibet.

The grandmothers, including Margaret Behan, Cheyenne-Arapaho and fifth-generation descendant of the Sand Creek Massacre, met for the first time in October 2004 in Phoenicia, N.Y. Sponsored by the Center for Sacred Studies, the purpose was to preserve the traditional medicines and sacred ways while praying for world peace.

''This event brought together indigenous grandmothers, who are the guardians of the traditional healing and medicine ways of their peoples, with women wisdomkeepers of Western culture,'' said Donna House, Navajo.

House said as a result of the Global Women's Gathering, the indigenous grandmothers formed ''an international alliance unlike [any] the world has ever seen, with the intention that this visible form may inspire others to pray and act for unity and peace on Earth.''

Ambassador Carole Mosley Braun, Gloria Steinem, Alice Walker and Wilma Mankiller, former principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, attended.

Earlier, in Gabon, Bwiti elder Bernadette Rebienot had a vision of the grandmother's council. In Gabon, women gather in the forest to share their visions, pray for world peace and then share their voice with their president.

In New York, grandmother Rita Pitka Bleumenstein, Yupik, cried as she shared a vision she had when she was nine years old. In the vision, she realized that she must pass down the traditions and teach the young people to save the earth.

Flordemayo, Mayan curandero (healer) from Nicaragua, now living in New Mexico, was among the grandmothers.

In New Mexico, on the rainbow trail, House likes to remember a Navajo song.

''Walk on a rainbow trail, walk on a trail of song, and all about you will be beauty. There is a way out of every dark mist, over a rainbow trail.''
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: apukjij on June 16, 2010, 09:35:03 pm
Hi kathryn, i found the post you were referring to it was written in 2007, do you know of any other links before the Indian Country Today article in 2005? ty!.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on June 16, 2010, 09:37:22 pm
Archived page from their website, Nov 03, 2005 http://web.archive.org/web/20051103033704/www.grandmotherscouncil.com/news.html


The Roots of the Movement

When Jyoti, an American spiritual teacher who holds a PhD in clinical psychology, came to Gabon to study with Rebienot, the two women found that they shared a vision of the Grandmothers' Council, and they decided to work together to manifest it in the west.

Jyoti mobilized her organization, the Center for Sacred Studies, to sponsor a council for indigenous grandmothers. She hooked up with Lynn Schauwecker, a former fashion model and fundraising expert, Ann Rosenkranz, who is also a spiritual counselor and a program director at the Center for Sacred Studies, and Carole Hart, an award winning television and film writer and producer, best known for "Free to Be You and Me." They organized both the 3-day Grandmother's Council and the Global Women's Gathering.


So, Prevatt does some spiritual tourism to Africa. Comes back to the US and she and some other non-Indigenous women cook up the idea of a "council". If you read the thread, she's involved in spiritual tourism and ceremony-selling in various areas of the world, and has been all along.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: apukjij on June 16, 2010, 10:09:42 pm
Thanks Kathryn! i was trying to find cached pages!!!
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: apukjij on June 16, 2010, 10:17:03 pm
well its been 5 mins and it aint still all loaded yet (the Central Office HighSpeed Hookup  on my Rez sucks!) but what did load so far was and what may be pertinent..."Bernadette Rebienot, a Bwiti elder and grandmother of 23 had a vision for a Grandmothers' Council. She said that the women of Gabon regularly gather together in the forest to share their visions and to pray for world peace and the well being of their people. "In Gabon, when the grandmothers speak, the president listens," she said..."" then tells about that joytl going to meet her, so it looks like it was Bernadette Rebienot's Vision to begin with????
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on June 16, 2010, 10:30:13 pm
Councils of elders are common to many cultures. Maybe to all cultures. And many groups do interfaith work. I can't count how many people have said they had a vision to unite all people, all tribes, all faiths, all races, etc. (Usually with them as the leader of this process... and it's usually a non-Indigenous person, claiming to speak for Indigenous traditions.)

IMHO, The point is how that powerful image is being used, represented, or misrepresented. The point is how that spiritual desire for unity and guidance by elders may be being used to exploit people or ceremonies. 
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: apukjij on June 16, 2010, 10:36:28 pm
well it finally loaded, i read it and pondered on it, and i am gonna stand firm on my original post, IMO this is an attack on Ecumenism, which i have spoke out against and attack on anything connected to sedona which i agree has to happen to anything that comes from there, so its certainly belongs here in NAFPS.
i guess i will be the minority, as this is not a consensus based forum, i understand that things may end up in the Frauds section that i dont agree with, and i am perfectly fine with that, i understood that when i joined a few years ago, but on a personal note, i think this Council is the only good thing i seen come out of sedona in 20yrs...
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: apukjij on June 16, 2010, 10:56:25 pm
lastly do not take my acceptance of the council for acceptance of Jyoti, my heart feels much different  about her, suddenly  reappearing with the council on youtube, theres something not quite right about it!
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: educatedindian on June 17, 2010, 09:55:06 pm
How could this "council" be ecumenism if they don't represent anyone but themselves? (I put council in parentheses because they don't seem to be one. They are a rubber stamp for Jyoti, who seems to make all their decisions.)

They call themselves grandmas, not elders (though some may be seen as such in their communities), and they are not claiming to be leaders of any traditions or faiths (except that one likely phony).

And I don't see any sign they've united anyone, or even tried to, outside of people that go to Jyoti's fake ceremonies. They've taken their message to Nuage dilettantes who buy ceremonies to make themselves feel better. A real ecumenism would be speaking to many groups, establishing ties, speaking to poltiical leaders, working on issues, etc. The last time they did that seems to be 2005, after which Jyoti has hijacked their good intentions ever since. They are a commodity now, not a uniting of religious movements.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Yiwah on October 01, 2010, 06:58:31 pm
Updated sighting!

http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/global/27273629.html

Title: Re: Jyoti's International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Nana I Ke Kumu on October 19, 2010, 09:19:06 pm
Wow.

I've visited this forum before when searching for information on people. I'm not here to say who I am or what my practice is...
I am the one who decides my topic, it's my post. I was speaking here about how ALL people, including the so called "white people" are indigenous to one culture or another. They are just now separate from their roots. Remind me to save a copy of what i post here so when it is altered into something I didn't write I can come back and replace it with what I did. I find the edits misrepresentative of what I wrote.

I had the honor to be present with the 13 grandmothers not too long ago. They don't "pay to pray" at all. The center for sacred studies is the group that helps these 13 women coordinate their movements. The center does the fund raising as it costs about 80k to move them and their travel companions around from place to place.  I found the cost of my time with them to be low considering. I had three veggie meals a day, a dorm room and a shared bathroom. I got access to the teaching and wisdom of women from all over the world. I learned about their medicine, their traditions, and more than anything I was greatly blessed by being able to sit and listen to these HUMBLE plain women talk and teach. There is no cult of ego, no grandiose bull. I would never have sat through that.

Each day began with breakfast then prayer at the fire. They have a firekeeper who travels with them and he keeps the fire sacred and open for prayers. He kept the fire going 24/7 the entire time I was there. Each grandmother took a turn leading the prayer. IN HER tradition, which in turn all the other grannies honored. Each woman and her traditions are honored! After prayers we would go into meetings where the grannies would split up and talk about different issues. Healing the earth, plant medicine, woman's issues/healing. Children. Then lunch, the prayer at the fire with another granny, then more meetings, then dinner then evening prayers. The openness with which the grannies shared their faith/beliefs did ONE thing..showed all of us how much we have in common spiritually. There are two grannies (sisters) raised on the rez (Pine Ridge) who had to go to Catholic boarding school. They do not in any way shape or form have any "Catholic" aspects to their ceremony. What I saw was over 200 people listening to these women talk of love, peace, unity and the uprising of women around the world, with GREAT reverence and respect. What I saw was the people paying attention and honoring the prayers and tradition of each of the grannies who have, by now, come to love each other. Aama Bombo (aka grandma chatty) is considered a holy woman and if she looks at you, you better be ready. Granny Agnes was open and kind and basically the cruise director.

The center for sacred studies is only the fundraiser and helps keep things moving and in line. As far as I can tell most of those ladies are native, belong to the NAC, and are very respectful of ALL of the traditions the grannies come from.

As for how the 13 were chosen? Jyoti (whom I did not meet as her grandchild is awaiting a heart transplant at 8 months old) had a vision that she was to gather the grandmothers. The number 13 was given to her. The letters were mailed to more than 13 with the trust that those who were able to join (body, mind, and spirit as this is a very demanding schedule for elderly women unused to travel) and exactly 13 answered. Jyoti did know about or had heard about the women she sent letters to. The 13 that responded were all active in one way or another working for peace.

Grandmother Bernadette whom you seem to delight in picking at is the keeper of her land in Africa, and her land is the ONLY land that has never known bloodshed. She is active in her country working for peace and healing (For a clue on how women in Africa are coming together, please google "Pray the Devil Back to Hell".) She was unable to attend because she and her son were on their way to his wedding when they had a horrible car accident. Her son pulled through but she was badly injured including two broken legs.

[Series of attacks] I might not be the brightest person in the world, but I know love when I see it, and those ladies are pure love. Only one of them is hooked into something other elders might consider a bit "new age" (the crystal skulls) but then she says that their tradition of these skulls is powerful. Who is going to argue? She isn't selling anything or getting rich. And she hasn't done anything unkind or unloving so let her have her skulls.

Grandmother Bernadette is highly respected as a healer. Their ethnogenic medicine is Iboga, traditionally used in Africa for thousands of years in much the same way Peyote, Ayahuasca, or the sacred mushroom has been used. (Iboga is illegal in two countries, the U.S. and Belgium...$$$ iboga ends alcohol and drug addictions in one spirit journey and although there are clinics in other areas of the world, in the U.S. it is underground. It works, and beautifully so, but sadly there is no money in it for the drug companies or the government. No need for expensive rehabs that don't work, Methadone which is legal heroin, and no need to support the underground drug economy, anyone wonder now why it's illegal?)

I had the privilege to sit with these women and listen to them talk about THEIR medicine and the importance of that in their practice. I have worked with all of the medicines myself at one time or another. I know what my medicine is :) So they taught respect for the medicine, eschewed misuse..Granny Rita came to tears talking about how they have to buy the peyote from 3 federally recognized peyoteras..instead of growing and harvesting it with their prayers. She told of going to one to ask to harvest the medicine with prayers, and how she cried when she saw the disrespect, the beer cans laying around in the growing areas, and how the people are getting rich selling the medicine to the people.

Grandmother Maria Kampos literally lives in the jungle in Amazonia. So it's not like she can point to a town on the map. She is medicine woman to the people. I got to hear her talk about Ayahuasca and what the medicine teachers her and her people. I saw some of her other medicine practices. I listened to her daughter (who travels with her) sing the healing songs for the water. Pure love. Grandmother Julietta, same thing. A medicine woman of great integrity. I heard her speak of using the mushrooms to heal. I got to ask questions, and again felt the awe and reverence these women have for their teachings.

I was pleased and blessed to see Beatrice and Rita (sisters from Pine Ridge) speak plainly about the issues at the Rez. There isn't any white washing. It is what it is. They also spoke about the tremendous healing power of their medicine (Peyote). Other grandmothers have no tradition of medicine but taught chants and prayers, the Tibetan grannies are so brave. They escaped Tibet which if you are at all familiar with, you realize that walking out of there with your children is perilous at best.

One of the grannies was taken aside when she was a child by her own granny who told her "one day you will sit on a council of 13, I have 13 prayer bundles here, when the time comes you give these to the women and keep one for yourself." This gathering is in the wisdom of the ages, many traditions say that when the women gather together to pray healing will come to all people.

I didn't see any rich people, Jyoti doesn't appear to be rich and her land is for sale. No one is getting rich. I was happy to pay for a clean place to sleep and good food during my stay. It's a bit of a drive and unless those things were provided I couldn't have gone. The price was more than reasonable, if it hadn't been I couldn't have gone. For the seminars? The place I was at is a beautiful earth conscious facility run by 99 percent VOLUNTEERS. The cooking, cleaning, and all the organizing? Volunteers. I was blessed to be there. So few places are earth conscious. So I considered this a cheap training mission, but also spiritual renewal, repurposing, and rest.

[More pompous off topic lecturing]

...I disagree with pay to pray, but then I don't know too many people who last at that too long. [Yet still more pompous condescending lecturing] If Native Americans are meant to light the way (as the prophecies foretell) then the where is the light?

My people never had a tradition of separating people out due to their skin color. We accepted all people who wished to come among us and follow our ways. We spoke of peace and unity and we openly shared our songs and our prayers. If anyone has failed here it is the Native American communities (now associated only with drinking and gambling for the most part, yet another fun stereotype.) They have failed to reach out, they have failed in their education, they have failed their children by allowing themselves to continue to follow the shame.

I was greatly blessed to hear Alyoicious Weasel Bear singing the songs I knew (I sang along), watching them in prayer and the absolute reverence and openness with which they shared their practices. What an amazing thing...people gathered from all over respecting each other, loving each other..I was blessed to hear his healing story, blessed to watch the tenderness with which they treated the grannies. The care in assisting his mother with her prayer, which was a blessing for all of us. They brought forth a very young Mohawk fellow who is in the Marines and set for Afghanistan and his mother. They brought him in to the prayer circle and he sat on the buffalo rug, they made a tobacco prayer tie for him to carry with him, all the grannies blessed it..then they encircled he and his mother and prayed for him there wasn't a dry eye around the fire as women/mothers/healers we all felt this mother's pain as our collective pain. Alyoicious named him after the Lakota tradition and called him Nephew. Other grannies often used their prayer time to do similar things. We were at the fire 3 times a day so there was a LOT of prayer happening.

They are not gods or goddesses, simple women full of great love wanting to participate in healing. [Still more pompus lectures and personal attacks] No one pays to pray but there are costs involved. Buying the medicine (it's not free OR cheap) and following the law means people have to pay a "membership fee" but don't blame us for that, that is the government's doing. We ask that those who can pay the minimal membership fee donate a bit extra for those who cannot afford, the same thing with medicine ceremony. NO ONE is ever turned away for want of money. I see many many people who cannot afford to pay, heck I cannot afford to pay much. It is an honor and a blessing to help people find their way to healing, and I've seen plenty of that and hope to see a lot more. Sometimes I get people who haven't a dime but need rehab. I then have to figure out how to get the money to nutritionally support their healing, and you know what, it always comes. Always. Now those who have been blessed with healing are joining in to help others. We get food donated, sometimes places for the seekers to stay. I can promise you that NO ONE is ever turned away. Ever. Oh, and we welcome all seekers, no matter their troubles, history, or skin color. The ways of respect are taught as one cannot know how to respect the fire unless one is taught, but we don't charge them, we teach them with love.

[Still more pompousness] [Yet even more sidetracks and pompousness] Anyone who was present at the last venue they were could go to the prayers. I am very careful about what I do and who I align myself with, I don't do cults of personality, I don't do gurus or pay to pray. But to see these wonderful old ladies who happen to also be (gasp) HUMAN and imperfect, [yet more] be lambasted by ignorance, I just had to speak.

There are frauds everywhere, I consider the largest to be sitting in the Vatican hiding from the grannies..that old Nazi in a dress is about as holy as Hitler.  It is up to each individual seeker to make that discernment for themselves. I saw the stuff about sundance on here. I have one thing to say, tradition is great, but don't forget that Native Americans have been blending tradition for thousands of years why should they stop now? For instance many of the songs the Lakota sing are not "theirs" but rather, were purchased with horses from another tribe.

[Yet more][And returning to post yet more]I don't think there was a single person who was not blessed by the songs Alyoicious sang, the songs the Mohawk ladies sang (they were guests). There were many first and six nations people there. Isn't it time that we stop pointing fingers of exclusion and start working together?

[irrelevant sidetrack about enrollment, followed by yet more personal attacks]

I was googling Alyoicious (When I came across this forum) because they are currently in Japan and I haven't had time to talk to him about the fundraiser we want to do here...we're calling it "Pennies for Propane". The elders were freezing to death last year at Pine Ridge because they ran out of propane. The average income on the rez per week is about 17 dollars. Of course there is lots to be done at Pine Ridge to address the tribal corruption, the alcoholism [yet more personal attacks as well as lots of racism] but our primary concern is that the grannies and the grandpas don't freeze again this winter.

I personally did not witness any exploitation of anyone, and I have every reason to be on the lookout for it as I refuse to be part of anything that exploits people, the earth, or in particular, children (the only truly innocent members of our society). All I saw is respect, love, and teaching.

[yet more] [Followed by still more] I will say to you what I say to all seekers...Jesus isn't coming to save you, the aliens aren't coming to save you, YOU are the one you've been waiting for, WAKE UP. We ARE all one, and if we don't start acting like it, and soon, we will have destroyed the 5th creation as we have 4 times before....

[Two final long pompous lectures, followed by an unbelievably hypocritical greeting mixed with a racist epithet]

And, in the words of Abo Elder Uncle Bob Randal who greets every discord in one way, and one way only, I LOVE YOU~Aho~
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: critter - a white non-ndn person on October 19, 2010, 10:41:03 pm
Not sure where the hate is in this forum/board. I've not felt it, and I trust my sense of things. What I have felt is a frustration of peoples who have been watching their culture and spiritual beliefs be dismantled.. all because they were trusting enough to well... trust a few outsiders with their ceremony.

Trust is a tricky thing.. you trust and get burnt enough times you stop then. No one wants their sacred to be hung out on a door with a for sale sign on it.  No one.

And no one wants to see their sacred so mutilated that it is then a mockery.  

Not being native myself, and never having been raised with religious or spiritual beliefs in the household.. I can very much understand the "feelings" inside many who crave some sort of "sense" to be made out of spiritual experiences that they have. However, I draw the line at "taking" what I know little of and "pretending" to know a lot of.. and then teaching it to another.. let alone selling it!  

These grandmothers from what I can read it seems to me a good thing. I haven't read anyone here putting hate on them, or on what they are doing. But, suspicious, yes, by all rights. No one can expect people who've been ripped off again and again to not be suspicious. To ask that would be absurd, and an insult to their intelligence.

Myself, I have concern more for what happens "after" some person sits through this event with the grandmothers. With no "community" to go back to, with no person "knowledgeable" with "authority" to guide, it's very likely there will be people stepping up claiming to have been taught by these woman, and then selling their so called "knowledge".

I agree with you that there are many many people who have no where to turn. I am one of them. But that does not mean these people should pretend anything about what they are fortunate enough to learn, in however way they learn it. These people, and again, I am one of them, have lost their spiritual indigenous roots due to their ancestors, who either by force or choice, tossed it out.  The struggle to refind and reclaim one's spiritual place in the universe is the road left to those ancestor's children.. the many who now seek. But, the many many do not do so in a right way.. they take a little and pretend and make up and change and recreate until it is unrecognized, and "fake".  Or, dangerous in that they are messing with things they know little of. Spirits and spiritual life are a good thing, but it is not always safe and candy coated bliss especially if being dealt by people who only think they know what they are doing.

I understand those many's need and craving.. but I also understand that they are stepping on other's to attain what is lost to them, and that is not right.  The native traditions that are left, need to be protected from the stampede. If it was just opened to the public, it would become so diluted that in some years times, these people too would be on the same road that the many are on now.. seeking their spirituality.  And some already are..

I in no way wish that on any person.

Therefore, I will do what I can to support this forum. There is no hate here that I have felt, only people protecting that which is theirs to protect.

Edit:  I meant to put in that the "many" who have seemingly no where to turn does not mean in any way/sense at all that they are entitled to turn to any of the indigenous peoples, or that the intact indigenous peoples are obligated to help.  No.  The "nowhere to turn" is only what it seems.. they have their self to turn to. Instead of always looking to someone or something outside of their self to show the way. In the matters of the spiritual experience, if not knowing what something means, it's best to just let it be then, instead of making up meanings which they all seem to do. IE:  "I was told to go teach what little I know but pretend to know fully! (and charge!)"
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on October 19, 2010, 10:46:20 pm
And, in the words of Abo Elder Uncle Bob Randal who greets every discord in one way, and one way only, I LOVE YOU~Aho~

... "Abo"? Are you referring to an aboriginal person this way?
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Nana I Ke Kumu on October 19, 2010, 11:08:21 pm
And, in the words of Abo Elder Uncle Bob Randal who greets every discord in one way, and one way only, I LOVE YOU~Aho~

... "Abo"? Are you referring to an aboriginal person this way?

I am referring to Uncle Bob, whom I personally know, as an Abo (you know, short for aboriginal?)

[Long string of personal attacks and sidetracks]

All I see here is hate, I just finished reading another thread which is nothing but attack after attack.

[Long string of sidetracks about enrollment]

IN the words of dear, wonderful ABORIGINAL elder Uncle Bob, I LOVE YOU. There is nothing here but hate and discontent, that you cannot see this is sad..perhaps you've been wrapped up in it for so long you don't even notice it. Perhaps you think it is justified, fear and loathing, protection of what? Tell me a pure ceremony that has never been altered by contact with other tribes?  Tell me ONE practice and teaching that is UNIQUE to NAs and not found in other parts of the world. What I learned by listening to the grannies is how much we have in common, here you push the US versus THEM agenda.

Uncarded and proud (I was offered a card a month ago and I turned it down), if it was the wishes of my relatives that we not sell our blood, I won't do it either. At least I don't have to kowtow to the federal robbers for permission to pray at the fire, to follow the old ways. Now, perhaps you can find something else to attack?

[Yet more long series of personal and racist attacks, followed by this bit of condescension] How sorry I am for you and I pray that creator will speak to your heart and soften it so that love can reacquaint himself with you~

As for the seeker, there are always people to take you in and teach you what you wish. And as for the concern about what the poor folks are going to do when they go home? I returned to my home with greater respect for those around the world and I also returned to my own personal practice. HOWEVER what did stick with me was Agnes's plea for us all to be more respectful to the water and thus I find myself thanking the water more, being MORE loving and grateful for the reminder that unless we become more mindful, the earth won't be here for us.

How anyone can find fault with that is beyond me, but surely people do and will, and therein lies the issue in healing the earth and ALL the people who walk on her.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: critter - a white non-ndn person on October 19, 2010, 11:23:01 pm
I think you're a bit naive if you think the many people will just go home and follow as you did. Or if you think many will not try to use these grandmothers to create their own 'brand' of whatever and sell it to some unknowing and gullible person. 

Also, a bit naive to just accept without question, and to label suspicions as hate.

I personally find these kinds of posts that act as though tribes should just be hanging out their beliefs and opening their arms to the many seeking more annoying than most other kinds of posts, and is in fact, why I came back here to comment on that.

Sorry if it's off topic, but I do find it exploitative and not of clear and critical thought. It's not an attack or hate to say this. But I think confronted with a different point of view, "nana" will suggest I hate him/her or am attacking. I'm not.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Nana I Ke Kumu on October 19, 2010, 11:44:53 pm
I think you're a bit naive if you think the many people will just go home and follow as you did. Or if you think many will not try to use these grandmothers to create their own 'brand' of whatever and sell it to some unknowing and gullible person. 

Also, a bit naive to just accept without question, and to label suspicions as hate.

I personally find these kinds of posts that act as though tribes should just be hanging out their beliefs and opening their arms to the many seeking more annoying than most other kinds of posts, and is in fact, why I came back here to comment on that.

Sorry if it's off topic, but I do find it exploitative and not of clear and critical thought. It's not an attack or hate to say this. But I think confronted with a different point of view, "nana" will suggest I hate him/her or am attacking. I'm not.

Suspicion? No, I see hate. I am sure you find it upsetting with people coming together. There are plenty of people who don't want that. My people never ever recognized blood quantum. It was enough if you came to the fire and live with the people and learned the language and tradition and lived among them with peace and love. Now it's OMG your skin is too white get away.,..and the federal gov. has Indians arguing over who is Indian enough to be Indian. Crazy and my relations won't have anything to do with that. We know who we are.

I will say to you what I say to the BITTER carded NAs in our area, the prophecies say the NAs will light the path, WHERE IS THE LIGHT? Where is the love? Do you really think creator is sitting there thinking, OMG that white person just said a Lakota word? Having been dead, I can assure you that that is the last thing on creators top ten list of things to do. OMG someone might do a fire prayer and GASP, they're WHITE. It's so interesting to see the open arms with which other groups welcome people; Hindus, Buddhists among a few of the ancient practices open their arms and welcome seekers and teach them the right way to honor the beliefs. Anyone can be a Buddhist, not just Asians. That spiritual belief set is really not that different from NAs when it comes down to it. I didn't realize how much commonality there actually was.

I have studied with medicine people from all over the world as I have traveled and lived that way from work. In my practice I use practical applications of all those things. Why should I not use a SA herb that works for depression just because I learned about it in SA and my "patient' happens to be a white person or an Asian person?

I can't wrap my head around the proprietary pomposity on here. I've seen the Charlatans and they don't last long. Money oriented people don't last long either. Why don't we trust the universe to deal with this issue and just keep doing what we're doing healing the earth and her people? Getting ripped off should be the least of our problems at this point.

And no, I don't think anyone is going to go home and try to sell..what? A fire prayer? Sell it how? Come to my house I will teach you how to respect the fire for a small price of 29.95? Really? A song? You can learn them online if you wish. A what? I can't figure out what exactly people can take from this to sell. And I do not see suspicion here, I see flat out attacks and plain and simple hate. But then this is only my second or third time coming here. The first time I was researching an Indian...who has since done a lot of medicine work and had a complete turn around...from crook to good guy. OMG did I just say an Indian was a crook? He was, and he's not anymore, but only because we took him in, loved him, and gave him the chance to heal his own life. Aho~ which is WAY more than I saw happening here in the horrific talk about him. Really. I understand that most people just talk the talk, point fingers and complain. We are not going to stop trying to bring people together and to help them heal their wounds, of the body, mind, and spirit. The old fighting ways haven't worked for us on this earth and those of us who are opting out of it, are going to work on getting that light lit.

Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: critter - a white non-ndn person on October 19, 2010, 11:45:08 pm
Ok, I had to come back once more.. again, sorry it's off topic, but it does go with the posts from "Nana"..

What's even more annoying is when people post of this "love"..  Yes, I love. I love the Earth unconditionally.. with all my heart and soul.. and I would protect her from exploiters and misuse just as I would protect the unknowing and gullible.. but this isn't the "love" I see in these new age type ideologies.. they always talking like "love" will make everything sweet as can be.. and it's all so wonderful flowing and sharing and blah blah.. NO.  Love is a matter of Respect First.  Love is a powerful emotion and it's easy and all too common for people to get caught up in the fantasy of it.  But that is not REAL.  It's not love if you do not care.. do you care about the traditions of these people and do you care about their wishes to keep it to their self?  Do you care about them?  Or just about what it means to you and your point of view?  If you only care what it means to your view, and if you cannot respect and let/leave alone and even support others in their view even if opposite of your own (provided it's not harming innocent people/beings) .. THEN IT ISN"T LOVE.

So.. sorry again, for taking this another step from the topic, but wanted to address this because I just find it as annoying as can be when people talk love love love.. and accuse others of hate.   :)
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: critter - a white non-ndn person on October 19, 2010, 11:49:05 pm
you're naive if you think people will not embellish and recreate and make up and  then sell.  No one cares if you treat someone with this or that from here or there.  What is cared about is the exploitation of beliefs and sacred by those with little to no knowledge of it, or even those with .. but who sell it and exploit the people it belongs to and the people they sell it to.  Perhaps you have not really read what is on this forum, all you see is hate?  Then you have issues, because there is not hate here, there is rooting out those who scam. 

And I'm off now, my opinions are given.  Be well..
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on October 19, 2010, 11:52:08 pm
Until the rez bloods clean up their OWN acts, get some education and stop screwing drunk in the streets as granny Rita said and says on her website nothing is going to change. Take some personal responsibility and stop blaming the bottle in your mouth on anyone other than the hand that raises it

"Nana", you are not doing the grandmothers any favors by coming here and screaming this stuff at people. The great wisdom you seem to have learned in your travels and studies with "medicine people from all over the world" is that, as a person from the mainland US, you have the right to use a Hawaiian name, say "Aho", set yourself up as a healer using South American herbal/ceremonial methods, characterize all Native people (from a particular reserve or from a message board) as alcoholics who "screw in the streets", and to practice the ceremonies of those for whom you have so much disrespect. I find this sad. I guess if you diss them, it makes it easier for you to ignore them when they ask you to not use their traditions.  And your good friend from Australia may have been too polite to tell you, but "Abo" is a racial slur.
Title: Re: Jyoti's International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: educatedindian on October 20, 2010, 12:14:39 am
Once again, we seem to find someone who fell for Jyoti's tactic. She hides behind these 13 women, using them as shields, giving herself a legitimacy she doesn't deserve. Our main criticisms have always been against HER not them. (With one exception, one who most of the evidence points towards being an exploiter.)

Ad for the elderly ladies, they may be perfectly nice, but that's besides the point. Nana/Mr. Partin's main defense seems to be they make him and others feel good, and then he goes on to ascribe to them an enormously romanticized stereotypical image of them, right out of the old racist image of the Noble Savage.

So it shouldn't surprise us to see all of Nana/Partin's casual racism, not just once but over and over. He wants Native elders/healers and Natives in general to be Tontos, to serve the needs of whites. No Mr. Partin, we are not here to be your mascot. And I strongly suspect those nice grandmas would tell you the same thing were you to be so insulting, abusive, and racist to them as you have been to, well, just about everyone else.

Finally, there's the insulting and inaccurate claim that whites have no more traditions so they must appropriate Native ones. That's been debunked so many times...for someone who claims to have read so much of the site you surehave missed a lot.
Title: Re: Jyoti's International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Superdog on October 20, 2010, 01:46:16 am
If anyone has failed here it is the Native American communities (now associated only with drinking and gambling for the most part, yet another fun stereotype.) They have failed to reach out, they have failed in their education, they have failed their children by allowing themselves to continue to follow the shame.

I think if you objectively read these words, they are hard to excuse as anything but negatively perpetuating stereotypes.  I'm sure you have somewhere in mind when you mentioned this, but my community doesn't have this type of existence.  I can name a whole lot more who don't either.

Educated spoke correctly when he said the bulk of the criticism here is not aimed at the Grandmothers themselves.  Your emotion is misplaced.  There's a whole lot of us....myself included that don't really care one way or another.  You're also jumping back and forth on complaining about unfair criticism while at the same time unfairly criticizing us yourself.  You can't have it both ways and I can guarantee whatever point you're trying to make is completely muddled....I'm having a hard time understanding your side of this story in all this myself.

You might wanna take a deep breath...go back and find the posts in the thread you have serious issue with and make your point about them.  You might find that you're heard here and above all you make a solid case against any information you have a problem with.  So far you haven't accomplished any of that yet.

Superdog
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on October 20, 2010, 02:22:39 am
The group just did a six day event at the Omega Institute - a Newage center in upstate New York:

http://www.eomega.org/omega/workshops/d5a7ed9be04df0096bb66c6b88ba2961
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Wisdom of the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers

This special week of traditional prayer, meditations, silence, ceremony, and council is open to all women and men of goodwill. ... the 13 Grandmothers are making their second visit to Omega.

teachers

Margaret Behan
Rita Pitka Blumenstein
Aama Bombo
Julieta Casimiro
Flordemayo
Maria Alice Campos Freire
Tsering Dolma Gyaltong
Beatrice Long-Visitor Holy Dance
Rita Long-Visitor Holy Dance
Agnes Baker Pilgrim
Mona Polacca
Bernadette Rebienot
Clara Shinobu Iura

October 10 - 15, 2010
Rhinebeck, New York
Tuition: $425
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Additional fees: http://www.eomega.org/omega/visitors/accommodations/

Commuter fee for five days is $175 if you have lodging in town somewhere, or
Varying rates of bringing a tent and camping for $345
to $1000 for a double room in a cabin with a private bath.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Lodro on October 20, 2010, 08:21:54 am
Quote
Anyone can be a Buddhist, not just Asians

This is true. However, I've seen many claims to "recognition", I've seen claims to "having taken teachings" from this or that Lama. I've seen claims to "having been initiated into advanced practices"

These claims are usually made to lend credence, and the upshot usually is that a fair amount of money is asked from seekers for questionable teachers. Almost every time I investigate these claims with the Lamas who are paraded as the teachers or preceptors of these people, it turns out that they know nothing about a connection. There name and reputation has been used and then sullied, to earn a fraud money.

That is what is at stake here. Not the grandmothers or elders themselves, but how their name and reputation is used and exploited to earn people at the top of the pyramid a sizable sum of money. This exploitation is in itself repressive and colonialist and feeds on the same stereotypes as are current about -for instance - Tibetan buddhism. That the reality of the "buddhism" that is so easily appropriated is far different from the common perception of it leads to difficulties when seekers want to become practitioners and find out their practice is in serious danger.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: nemesis on October 20, 2010, 08:40:42 am
Nana I Ke Kumu is doing an excellent job of portraying himself as a racist just with the pompous and arrogant nonsense in his posts.

I am completely stunned at this total lack of self-awareness and a complete projection of his own, self evident, flaws on to native people.


@ Nana



You just make yourself look stupid by coming to his website, owned by real native people, and spouting your vile and hateful rantings.  Look in the mirror you odious racist before you go around pointing the finger at others.
 

Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Teacher on January 09, 2011, 12:19:04 am
Hey folks -- just got this in my "inbox": 

Posted By: Margin Broux
To: Members in 13 Indigenous Grandmothers from all over the world
Early Registration Discount for the CSS Ministry Training Program?
Becoming a Minister of Prayer through the Center for Sacred Studies prepares one to assist others as they move through the many transitions of life. Directed study creates the opportunity to explore specific methodologies, practices, theories, traditions, beliefs, scriptures, and philosophies, as well as allowing for the integration of individual spiritual experiences. In addition to developing the skills and knowledge to act as a support to others, this process is designed to enlighten an individual's practice of worship and daily living-for the purpose of living life as a "walking prayer".

Individuals who successfully complete the course of training can be ordained as a Minister of Prayer, and will be qualified to conduct ceremonies, facilitate study groups, and mentor others in the process of spiritual unfoldment unique to each individual.

Members of The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers are featured (in the Grandmothers Corner), along with instructors from our staff and allies.

The Next Class Begins May 1, 2011
The two-year on-line program consists of 22 monthly modules, four breathwork workshops, and two five-day retreats held on-site in Northern California. Each full-time student has a Mentor, and there are two hour-long conference calls per month: one with the instructor, and one with our Spiritual Director, Jyoti. Upon completion of the program, you can be ordained as a Minister of Prayer with the ability to support others at marriages, births, deaths, and other transitions of life.

We offer two options for enrolling in the Ministry Training Program:
(1) The full two-year course - $2750 per year, $5500 in total.
Tuition does not include the 4 breathwork sessions or the two retreats.
(2) The Auditing option - $1100 per year, $2200 in total.
The Auditing Option has reduced requirements and does not lead to ordination, but auditors have access to all the audio and video content.
Flexible payment plans are available.

Click http://www.cssministryofprayer.org/files/mtp_registration_open.html to download a description of our program and an Application Form.

To qualify for a $500 early registration discount, completed registration must be submitted before January 15, 2011. If you have any questions or need more information, please feel free to send an email or give us a phone call.

Contact Information:
Mary McCulloch, Registrar
registrarmtp@yahoo.com
www.cssministryofprayer.org
Phone: 415-552-1692
Toll-free Fax: 1-866-685-8962


 ::)
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Saga on January 09, 2011, 10:42:59 am
Ok, I love the old ladies and their speeches (that I've watched from youtube), but this is a bit......
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Superdog on January 09, 2011, 02:32:17 pm
I wouldn't put the blame for this exploitation on the grandmothers.  As the "course" outline stated they are "featured" along with other staff and allies.  From what's been posted they are not the instructors nor do they show any endorsement of this program.  What I'm seeing is the Center for Sacred Studies using them to advertise and bolster the appearance of the legitimacy of their program. 

I'm sure it sells more than actually stating the truth:

"For only $5500 you too can become "certified" in our version communal tribal specific practices that we have conveniently streamlined into a cookie cutter version that will get you a piece of paper that tells you that you are now a master jedi knight (or what they call a "sacred minister" or something) that only YOU will recognize and will have the power to run the universe from your online internet connection.  Come and watch our free youtube videos and read public freely available transcripts of people that charge for their self appointed guru services as well as pretend we represent legitimate individuals through this construct and pay top dollar for it so you can feel like you've gotten the absolute best wisdom money can buy and live the lie we tell you to live."

Doubt it would sell as well at that high of a price.....

Sheesh "Individuals who successfully complete the course of training can be ordained as a Minister of Prayer, and will be qualified to conduct ceremonies, facilitate study groups, and mentor others in the process of spiritual unfoldment unique to each individual."

They might add "you don't even have to physically meet any instructors or actually apply any of the things we're attempting to teach because it's all done online with no accountability and as long as your check is good...in two years all this will be yours."

Oh brother....   ::)

Superdog
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: critter - a white non-ndn person on January 09, 2011, 05:02:38 pm
Well, after reading that, why wouldn't the grandmothers cancel? 
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on January 09, 2011, 08:49:57 pm
http://www.cssministryofprayer.org/files/MTP_Pamphlet_2011.pdf

"This approach to life is based on the teachings of the “Original Peoples” — who related to the world by
“listening” to the world around them as a form of guidance from Spirit."


Note past tense there.

"This is a process that facilitates the path of discovering one’s own gifts of healing, what the Original Peoples call one’s “medicine”. This is a perspective that views every being as a unique herb in the garden of Creation. It’s a perspective that encourages one to cultivate that herb — to follow the Spirit of their true Self — and, ultimately, to actualize one’s Self."

Selling an alleged way to "medicine" which is now reduced to "self-actualization".

Members of the 13 Grannies group are listed here as instructors:

http://www.cssministryofprayer.org/files/MTP_Pamphlet_2011.pdf
*************************************************

Course of Study: Modules and Instructors

Year One Modules  May 1 – March 31   Instructor   Grandmothers’ Corner  Date

2. How to work the process Jyoti and Russell D. Park, Ph.D. Beatrice LV Holy Dance June Y1
3. Choosing your spiritual Nancy Rowe, Ph.D. Mona Polacca July Y1
practice
4. Walking your prayer Ryan Brandenburg Flordemayo Aug Y1
5. Transpersonal Psychology Russell D. Park, Ph.D Margaret Behan Sept Y1
6. Mystical Faiths Gloria Karpinski Rita LV Holy Dance Oct Y1
7. Vedic Technologies of Consciousness - Candace Badgett Aama Bombo Nov Y1

9. Prayer as a Science Ryan Brandenburg Bernadette Jan Y1
10.Prayer As Action Darlene Hunter Agnes Baker Pilgrim Feb Y1
11.Dialogue with Creation Flordemayo   Rita Blumenstein Mar Y1
*****************************************************

Screencaps attached.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: critter - a white non-ndn person on January 09, 2011, 10:20:01 pm
Well, after reading that, why wouldn't the grandmothers cancel? 

I mean, if they are that sought after, then they have the opportunity to lay down
some boundaries and teach something of respect. All this reflect badly on them, imo,
I don't see where they are not part of it.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Saga on January 10, 2011, 12:03:40 pm
Oh, and I didn't mean to blame the grandmothers with my comment, just meant that it really does sound a bit bad to connect them to this thing that seems to be mostly about getting big bucks... If they would attend tho, then they might actually have something valuable to say to all those people... Still makes me sad that they are connected to all that make lost elite happy stuff. Since no normal person can afford those expensies. :)
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: ska on March 31, 2011, 09:20:19 pm
Anchorage Alaska to Host 9th Gathering of the Int'l Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers

http://www.prlog.org/11408161-anchorage-alaska-to-host-9th-gathering-of-the-intl-council-of-13-indigenous-grandmothers.html (http://www.prlog.org/11408161-anchorage-alaska-to-host-9th-gathering-of-the-intl-council-of-13-indigenous-grandmothers.html)

PRLog (Press Release) – Mar 30, 2011 – Convening on May 18, 2011 at the Dena'ina Center in Anchorage Alaska, the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers will open their 9th Council gathering.  The gathering is open to the public through May 21. 

Hosting the gathering is Yup'ik elder and healer, Grandmother Rita Pitka Blumenstein.  The theme, "Healing the Spirit from the Light Within," will manifest through three and a half days of prayer ceremonies, healings and cultural exchanges. 

The gathering begins with a traditional Eklutna Leader's welcome, followed by the Yup'ik purification dance known as Tarvamaramken.  Local dignitaries include Alaska Federation of Natives President, Julie Kitka, former State Senator, Arliss Sturgelewski, and Father Peter Chris.

Three times daily at the sacred fire in the park, each of the 13 Grandmothers is scheduled to offer prayers from her respective tribal tradition. The Grandmothers will offer a special blessing of the homeless, veterans (men and women) and men at the sacred fire. A Youth Environment Education Program will include traditions in tending a sacred fire. Women and children will be blessed indoors.

Each morning and afternoon Open Council roundtables will be held during which participants can publicly address the Grandmothers. Open Council themes include the role of women and motherhood, restoring your foundation and peace (mental, physical, spiritual health), healing Mother Earth, and balancing life with laugher, tears and healing.

Grandmothers' Mission Statement:
We, The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, represent a global 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 and the destruction of indigenous ways of life. We look to further our vision through the realization of projects that protect our diverse cultures: lands, medicines, language and ceremonial ways of prayer and through projects that educate and nurture our children.

Origins of the Grandmothers' Council:
In the fall of 2004 thirteen indigenous Grandmothers gathered from the four directions, from Alaska, North, South, and Central America; Africa; and Asia. They came together at the Tibet House Menla Mountain Retreat center in upstate New York. Within three days they formed a Global Alliance for the good of all beings.
The Council was set in motion by a common vision, prophecies seeded decades ago in many people around the world. One of these seeds was planted by members of the Center for Sacred Studies which helps facilitate the Grandmothers many activities.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on March 31, 2011, 09:42:43 pm
Pay: (https://www.paypalobjects.com/WEBSCR-640-20110306-1/en_US/i/btn/btn_buynow_SM.gif) http://www.grandmotherscouncil.org/alaska-gathering-new

Pray: "Don't miss out on this opportunity to pray with the Grandmothers"
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Epiphany on April 06, 2011, 01:53:21 am
One of Bennie LeBeau's sites http://www.earthwisdomfoundation.net/ lists International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers and Turtle Women Rising http://www.turtlewomenrising.com/ as co-sponsors. Bennie was just recently through Olympia, WA - may be back this June, and I see Turtle Women Rising will do an event in Olympia in October. Turtle Women Rising states that they are "in alliance and purpose" with the International Council of 13.

Both of those groups are part of http://www.sacredstudies.org/

This thread here on Council of 13 and the entire site is very helpful in working to decipher some of this, thank you. Will help in figuring out what to communicate to people locally who are pulled into these events and groups.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: nemesis on April 09, 2011, 08:11:25 pm
Wisdom of the Mother with Grandma Mona Polacca

Time   
Friday, May 6 at 7:30pm - May 8 at 5:30pm
Location   
The Waterfall House
Created By   
THE WATERFALL HOUSE AND RETREAT CENTER
More Info   
Wisdom of the Mother -Ancestral teachings and ceremonies with
GRANDMOTHER MONA POLACCA
of the Council of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers

With Yoga and Meditation by Debi Medeski
And nourishing foods for body and soul by Jill Pettijohn

"[Generations of grandparents] prayed for the great-great-great-great-great grandchildren they would never see, but knew were coming. They prayed for us to be praying people, to continue the prayer, and to recognize through a prayer when you are blessed. The way I have been taught in walking this road is to always take time to acknowledge our ancestors, those who were here before us and were the ones who made the prayers that made it possible for to be here. In order for me to be able to stand or kneel on Mother Earth, to make a prayer, it's because of them." ~Grandmother Mona Polacca

Dear Friends & Extended Waterfall House Family

We are very excited to be joined again this year by Hopi Elder Mona Polacca for a Mother's Day weekend of teachings honoring the Mother/Grandmother energy. This is a very special opportunity to connect and pray with (and for) your own mother or grandmother, as well as honor the mother aspect in all of her human and divine forms which exists in the cosmos, the elements, the animals and in the earth herself. You are encouraged to bring your family and learn together about this "beauty way" of prayer and gratitude from a revered grandmother whose ways are gentle, but whose teachings are powerful and deeply transformative.

The weekend will consist of two sweat lodges (one for adults and one for children), talking circles, nature walks, yoga classes, creative time and even a chocolate making class for the kids!

Delicious food will be provided by chef extraordinaire, Jill Pettijohn. You will also have the option of doing one of her amazing juice cleanses if desired. The weekend will culminate with a big Mother's Day brunch.

Please scroll to the end of this email for more details and if you have any questions or would like to register for this event please email me at debramedeski@gmail.com.

Also please feel free to forward this email to anyone you think may be interested. Thank you!
_________________________

Space is limited so register to hold your spot soon!

Dates
May 6th to 8th, 2011

Costs
$350 1st person (all inclusive with dorm room accommodations, private rooms $100 extra)
$250 2nd person (family members only, bring your child, parent, grandparent or partner)
$150 children up to 12

Location
The Waterfall House.
256 West Fulton Rd., West Fulton, NY 12194
518-827-8718

Registration
Email Debi at debramedeski@gmail.com for more information or to sign up.

_________________________


Weekend schedule (subject to change)

Friday May 6th
Arrive between 3 and 5pm
Opening circle
Dinner
Teachings/talk with Mona

Saturday May 7th
Breakfast
Nature walk/offerings
Adult Yoga and Meditation with Debi
Kids teachings with fire keeper
Kids sweat lodge

Lunch
Kids Yoga and Meditation with Debi and Tulsi
Adult Sweat Lodge
Kids chocolate making class with Jill

Dinner
Teachings/talk with Mona

Sunday May 8th
Light breakfast
All ages Yoga and Meditation with Debi
Teachings/talk with Mona
Nature walk
Closing circle

Mother's Day Brunch
3 to 5pm Check out

_________________________


Grandmother Mona Polacca

"Indigenous people have come through a time of great struggle, a time of darkness. The way I look at it is like the nature of a butterfly. In the cocoon, a place of darkness, the creature breaks down into a fluid and then a change, a transformation, takes place. When it is ready and in
its own time, it begins to move and develop a form that stretches and breaks away from this cocoon and emerges into this world, into life, as a beautiful creature. We grandmothers, we have emerged from that darkness, see this beauty, see each other and reach out to the world with open arms, with love, hope, compassion, faith and charity".
~Mona Polacca

Mona, a Hopi/Havasupai /Tewa elder, and one of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, has a Master of Social Work degree. She serves on several United Nations committees on indigenous people's issues and is a featured author, speaker, and educator on indigenous people's human rights, aging, mental health, addiction and violence. She is also the President/CEO and faculty of the Turtle Island Project, a non-profit program that promotes a vision of wellness by providing trans-cultural training to individuals, families, and healthcare professionals.


Debi Medeski

Debi was born and raised near West Chester, Pennsylvania. She attended Temple University in Philadelphia and in 1991 moved to New York City. She studied photography at the International Center for Photography in Manhattan and worked as a photo journalist for 6 years until she gave it all up for Yoga.

She started practicing Yoga in 1995 after stumbling across the studio of the revered Shri Dharma Mittra. She was soon hooked and left her job with the New York Daily News to pursue a career as a Yoga teacher. She started teaching at the Dharma Yoga Center in 1997 and two years later completed the Jivamukti Yoga Center's year-long, 2000-hour teacher training program. She continued to teach Yoga at Jivamukti, various health clubs and privately in New York City until 2000 when her daughter was born and she moved to Woodstock, NY.

Debi then opened Bliss Yoga Center in Woodstock and worked there as owner, director, teacher and even coordinator for 10 years until she sold it in the summer of 2010 to focus more on her teaching and retreats. She has led eight 200-hour Yoga teacher trainings on her own and is now completing her ninth as co-director along with her fellow teacher and soul sister, senior Yoga instructor, Alison Sinatra, of Kula Yoga, NYC and Bliss Yoga, Woodstock.

Her Yoga asana style is influenced by her teachers who come from many different traditions including Sivananda, Jivamukti, Iyengar, Ashtanga and Anusara Yoga. Her inspiration continues to come from the Bhakti Yoga transmitions of Shri Amritanandamayi Ma (Ammachi) to the Shamanic teachings of North and South American native peoples.

Debi has been leading retreats all over the world from Europe to Central and South America.
For the last 4 years she has been concentrating on bringing groups to the Andean Mountains and Amazonian jungles of Peru. She lives in the Woodstock area with her husband John and her 11 year-old daughter Tulsi, who will be joining her on this retreat.


Jill Pettijohn

Jill was born and raised in New Zealand and is a registered nurse. She attended La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia where she studied fine art photography and film making. She has lived in the U.S. for 21 years.

She began working in restaurants as a waiter and quickly moved to the kitchen working as a chef. She has worked as a personal chef for celebrities such as Donna Karan, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, Drew Barrymore, and Steven Seagal and has worked as a food stylist both for magazines and for movies and commercials.

Jill says this, "During this period my philosophy of food began to change, gone are the more traditional thoughts and relationships with food to be replaced with a more nuturing and healing relationship with what one puts into their bodies. I use food more as medicine. I believe in using fresh and organic produce and most of the food I prepare is termed, living food. I have been a vegetarian for over 25 years and I truly believe that by teaching people to understand their bodies they can better serve themselves for a more energetic and medicine free lifestyle. It all starts with the life force that passes your lips. Having a medical background has proved fortunate to allow me to understand the human body and to teach others. I have a natural curiosity and look forward to being able to research things further. I have began creating simple 5 day nutritional cleanses for the average person who has never fasted before. These are proving very successful and I am documenting the results, for future use".

source:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=114242738650437
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: critter - a white non-ndn person on May 27, 2012, 09:51:23 pm
They're now working on making a documentary..

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1834620749/the-ride-home-a-documentary-and-webseries/

Grandmother Margaret of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers envisioned a modern horseback ride retracing the historic route of the tragic and heroic Cheyenne Exodus of 1878. On June 1st, six riders of diverse backgrounds and eight wild mustangs rescued from slaughter are embarking on this journey to fulfill the Grandmothers’ vision of mourning, healing, offering and forgiveness.

The Council has now seen that this unique voyage should be witnessed and co-written by as many as possible, as these riders cultivate the wisdom of the Earth, the horse spirit and the Cheyenne ancestors. Our team has been engaged to fulfill this incredible mission. We are going to create a feature-length documentary, THE RIDE HOME, as well as regular series of web-docs from the trail over the entire course of the ride. And we’re going to do it with your help! Because while we’re engaging our resources to pursue grants and funding from a broad spectrum of sources, the (ridiculously) short time line before the ride begins, means we need some generous hearts and not just a little bit of magic to get us started on strong feet and hooves.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Smart Mule on May 28, 2012, 05:19:41 pm
I clicked the link.  I don't see any involvement from the Northern Cheyenne.  The Northern Cheyenne already do this http://www.yellowbirdinc.org/cms/index.php?page=fort-robinson-outbreak-spiritual-run (http://www.yellowbirdinc.org/cms/index.php?page=fort-robinson-outbreak-spiritual-run).  Oh, and look at that (on the link critter posted), Dennis Banks is involved  :o
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on May 28, 2012, 11:17:33 pm
I don't see any involvement from the Northern Cheyenne in this, either. It is not on the tribe's website, where community projects, open ceremonies, pow wows, and other events are posted. http://www.cheyennenation.com/

I also don't see any Northern Cheyenne involvement in this "Cheyenne Elders Council" Margaret Behan is saying she represents (or is going to form). There are already Cheyenne Elders' councils, so why does she need to create a new one?

It looks like on July 1, 2008, Margaret Behan registered "Cheyenne Elders Council, Inc" as a nonprofit corporation, out of a P.O. Box in Lame Deer. http://www.charityblossom.org/nonprofit/cheyenne-elders-council-inc-lame-deer-mt-59043-margaret-behen-300477652/
Her webpage about her project (http://www.cheyenneelderscouncil.org/) only shows pictures of herself, only lists her as a member, and the address for donations is a P.O. Box in New York City (Cheyenne Elders Council, PO Box 1260, New York, NY 10009-1260): http://www.cheyenneelderscouncil.org/Donations.html

Somehow I doubt people who read, "Cheyenne Elders Council" will know that this is a private org, with only one reported member, as opposed to a real council made up of recognized Cheyenne community Elders.

The text on the old ladies' page (http://www.grandmotherscouncil.org/Montana/Montana.html) is unclear as to whether this campout will be on tribal lands. I haven't called to find out but, given the phrasing of the adverts, I'm wondering if Behan bought private land in Lame Deer. They keep saying it's on her land.  As I'm pretty sure Behan herself has admitted, it's my understanding that she did not grow up on the Northern Cheyenne reservation, but that she moved there as an adult. I don't know if she was involved in any NDN community before that. But even if she's only lived there for a few years, or even a decade, she would already know there are real councils. I don't see how asking newagers to send donations to New York City to buy tipis for the 13 old ladies helps the Cheyenne.

And, no surprise, a minimum "donation" of $200 or more is required if you want to attend. http://www.grandmotherscouncil.org/Montana/Montana.html (They take PayPal!) In addition, you will have to pay $100 per person to camp there. Of course, like the other old ladies' events, this is being marketed to non-Natives. Looking over the pages for the film and ride they want to do, the supporters look almost entirely like non-Native newagers.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on May 28, 2012, 11:48:40 pm
And... They are doing a repeat pay to pray event at the Omega Institute - a Newage center in upstate New York that hosts some of the worst explointers. Listed under "Shamanism & Native Wisdom (http://www.eomega.org/taxonomy/term/230)":

http://www.eomega.org/workshops/the-wisdom-of-the-thirteen-indigenous-grandmothers
___________________________________________________________________________

Workshop: The Wisdom of the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
June 10, 2012 – June 15, 2012
Location: Rhinebeck, NY
Tuition: $435
(additional fees range from $370 if you camp, to $1,220 if you stay in a private, rustic cabin. So the $425 is the fee for prayer, ceremony, and "teachings")

This is an extraordinary opportunity to experience the timeless wisdom of indigenous elders joining together in sacred space to pray for all life and for the next seven generations to come.
...
This special week of traditional prayer, meditations, silence, ceremony, and council is open to all women and men of goodwill.
...
This gathering of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers includes:

Margaret Behan (Arapaho/Cheyenne from Montana)

Rita Pitka Blumenstein (Yup’ik from the Arctic Circle)

Beatrice Long-Visitor Holy Dance (Oglala Lakota from the Black Hills of South Dakota)

Rita Long-Visitor Holy Dance (Oglala Lakota from the Black Hills of South Dakota)

Agnes Baker Pilgrim (Takelma Siletz from Grants Pass in Oregon)

Mona Polacca (Hopi/Havasupai/Tewa from Arizona)
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on May 29, 2012, 09:05:56 pm
And... Look at who is also on this list of well-known frauds, scheduled to speak at this newage, ceremony-selling event: http://www.starknowledgeconference.com/phoenix-arizona-conference-december/phoenix-speakers/

Hunbatz Men
Grandmother Agnes Pilgrim Baker & Nadine Martin
Little Grandmother Kiesha
Grandma Chandra

Note: "Grandma Chandra" is a severely disabled girl with cerebral palsy who is being exploited by some of the pay to pray types. The child dozes or looks around at people, unable to speak, and her mother "channels" what she believes the child is saying. Google her; there are videos. It's very tragic.

Thread on the conference: http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=2752

One of the old ladies was also at Kie$ha's gig in CA (The Prophets Conference - Palm Springs 2011) - the one that was picketed by AIM Santa Barbara. I am pretty sure it was Flordemayo who was there (she was on the schedule); when AIMsters discussed Kiesha with her, she said they had no connection with Kiesha but also, shockingly, they "had no idea" that Kiesha is a fraud. Um... OK. This member of the 13 grannies said she would talk to the others about Kiesha. Guess they didn't care. No surprise, really... Kiesha is not Indigenous, but they have their pay to pray careers and so much more in common.
Title: Re: Indigenous grandmothers unite for international prayer gatherings
Post by: ska on August 19, 2012, 01:50:28 am
 Indigenous grandmothers unite for international prayer gatherings

By Talli Nauman
Native Sun News
Health & Environment Editor

http://64.38.12.138/News/2012/006803.asp (http://64.38.12.138/News/2012/006803.asp)

" In the wake of the 2012 International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers’ recent gathering at Lame Deer on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana, one of two Lakota sisters on the council announced she will promote the interfaith efforts of the tribal elder women’s prayer group by hosting an upcoming meeting  . . . "
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Defend the Sacred on November 02, 2012, 05:41:04 pm
Indigenous grandmothers unite for international prayer gatherings

By Talli Nauman
Native Sun News
Health & Environment Editor

http://64.38.12.138/News/2012/006803.asp (http://64.38.12.138/News/2012/006803.asp)

" In the wake of the 2012 International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers’ recent gathering at Lame Deer on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana, one of two Lakota sisters on the council announced she will promote the interfaith efforts of the tribal elder women’s prayer group by hosting an upcoming meeting  . . . "

As we thought, the gathering was to be held on private land owned by Behan. Then the wildfires started, and Behan's area had to be evacuated. The group was allowed to use the tribe's pow wow grounds for a while, but then had to be evacuated from there, as well. The pow wow grounds were needed for staging rescue and recovery efforts, and at one point the fires were bearing down on that area, as well.

Looking over the Facebook pages associated with the event, there were lots of non-Natives flying in, a considerable number from Europe. Some of the Cheyenne who went over to the pow wow grounds to check it out posted on FB; they were not aware that this is not an Indigenous-created council. At least not before the event happened.

Right now there is a lot of controversy about groups like this bringing in a flood of white people who want Indigenous Knowledge. Their money is welcomed by some of the people in the community, but at what cost to the culture? Some of the non-Natives who posted videos from the events don't seem to realize that pow wows and rodeos are not sacred ceremonies. And they film the pow wow and rodeos, so... Shortly after this event a European woman snuck into a Sun Dance, camera in hand. She is also rumoured to be writing a book about the ceremonies she managed to get into. I fear that the elderly people she swindled are going to find themselves, and the things they shared when she was present, in yet another exploitative book. It is very sad.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: YouKnowNot on January 04, 2015, 01:42:53 am
Hi all ...

I know this is a little late in posting here about the Council of 13 Grannies, but with this group there is always an update. What I am writing is the truth, as I have no reason to fabricate any information, and should have posted this when I contacted the Yavapai Rez in Arizona in February 2014. I used to live south of Sedona, AZ during my teens and know about the new age quacks, crystal crunchers, woo-woo's, and frauds. My mother befriended a few people on Yavapai, and I got to know the area relatively well.

When I was still on FaceCrook/FedBook/Facebook, I got tagged in a post on February 19th, 2014 concerning a gathering at Montezuma's Well in Arizona calling it "In The Name Of The Mother" found here: http://inthenameofthemother.net/. As you will see, the website only has a picture of the Earth. At the time, my friend whom is Yaqui, wrote the following:

"********* tagged you in a post.

********* wrote: "$600... Really?? Once again, access to elders is lost because they're too busy making bank off giving those new-agers what they want. Am I wrong on this? I don't want to be disrespectful to the grandmothers, but with a price-tag just shy of my rent, it obviously isn't meant for me or most the natives I know. Just seems like more pimping-out to me. What are your thoughts?"

Well, I told my friend that I would get back to her on this after doing some research and making phone calls. When I checked out the website (no longer has content besides the earth picture) at the time it told of the feel-goodie-stuff, the price for camping and attendance at Montezuma's Well, dossier's of the women, etc.

Upon reading one page, again which does not seem to exist (I tried to search for the text), they said they were working with the park service and the "local tribes". The only local tribe I knew of was Yavapai, so I gave the tribal office a call ...

I told the receptionist woman about the event and asked if she ever heard of it. She told me "No" and asked me for the website information and the page where it said of working with local tribes. She put me hold a number of times as other tribal government people kept coming through the door, so that she could ask them if they knew of this. She asked 4 government people if they knew anything, all of which said "No." One of the people she asked is one of the main cultural advisers for the tribe.

Near the end of the conversation, she asked me if they was charging any money. I told her "Yup ... they charging 600 bucks." She said real loud through the phone "WHAAAAT?!!" I told her that I was assuming that this money is going to be used for traveling and camping fees, but someone is making a few bucks though. She said she was gonna look into this further, and if she finds out anything more she will call me up.

There are around 750 Yavapai's living in the tribal communities, so with that, word should get around about each other.

Because of the activist and Hip Hop circles I used to frequent are into some new age stuff (I get into trouble a lot voicing thing in contradiction to what they believe in that does more harm than good), so I got wind of this through some other people ... because I had already made the phone call to Yavapai, I had an opinion on the matter which most of the people I know (even people of color) which they got a sour look on their face.

Anyhow, I thought this might be worth while to voice on and also a method of operation of searching for information in general.

Here are a couple links. First one gives a general description http://www.grandmotherscouncil.org/in-the-name-of-the-mother-the-first-ever-womens-gathering-with-the-thirteen-indigenous-grandmothers

The other from "xicanation.com" tells of what was NEVER listed on the main website; http://xicanation.com/in-the-name-of-the-mother-1st-womens-gathering-with-the-13-indigenous-grandmothers/

 "Our gathering will begin on  the Spring Equinox,  and the opening ceremony will be led by the local Yavapai women, as they welcome us to the land in their traditional way. The International Council of the Thirteen Grandmothers will follow initiating our sacred time together with a ceremony to celebrate a turning toward a new way of being and doing: a way that recognizes, honors, and builds upon the ways of our Ancestors."

Who were the Yavapai women doing a welcoming ceremony?

Lastly, even if the "grandmothers" are legitimate or not, is besides the point. There are a lot of legitimate ceremonial leaders, etc., that are happy with the attention from people outside of their tribes. They get to travel, get their ego's fueled, maybe make some cash, and get to do it again and again.

The fact that there is not any evidence of actual inter-tribal and inter-faith unification for real social and environmental change/ justice, tells us that this is being marketed and catered to particular demographics to make money.

I don't really care much, it's just that I want people to be honest. If people are about prestige, money, and status, then go for it and help the future generations by teaching bad behaviors that only fuels the same consciousness that is destroying ecosystems, people, plants, animals ... then go for it! Nothing new!

But if you really about social and environmental change/justice, then there are ways that are far more effective than this kind of thing.
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Autumn on January 05, 2015, 11:33:23 pm
There is more detail of the event written by Ymani Simmons - "(Chickasaw/Celt) is a peacemaker, writer, mentor, and facilitator of women’s circles and retreats" - on the blog Fellowship of Reconciliation:

Quote
So, on Thursday evening the observance began with a Welcoming Ceremony led by the women from the local Yavapai-Apache Nation. Prayer, song, drums, and a sense of sisterhood that knows no boundaries or restrictions were the foundation laid to hold us close in our Medicine blanket for the next few days.  We gathered as many and began to feel the surge of energy that swirled around us as we felt our hearts unite and we became One.

Quote
We had already been told that some of the Grandmothers might not be able to join us because of travel distances, health issues, etc., but we were blessed to be in Ceremony with:

    Grandmother Agnes Baker Pilgrim, Confederated Tribes of Siletz
    Grandmother Rita Blumenstein, Yup’ik
    Grandmother Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance, Oglala Lakota
    Grandmother Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance, Oglala Lakota
    Grandmother Bernadette Rebienot, Omyene linguistic community
    Grandmother Maria Alice Campos Freire, Amazonia
    Grandmother Clara Shinobu Iura, Amazonia
    Grandmother Flordemayo, Mayan
    Grandmother Mona Polacca, Hopi/Havasupai/Tewa

http://forusa.org/blogs/ymani-simmons/name-mother/12925
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Autumn on January 06, 2015, 01:25:08 am
Here are a few photo montages of the event:

https://www.facebook.com/13GrandmothersCouncil/photos/a.593977514058725.1073741836.516658431790634/593977654058711/?type=1&theater
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-DQwxv/
http://sacredecologyfilms.com/project/in-the-name-of-the-mother/

They said there were 400 participants (and it looks like they pitched their own tents), so at $600 x 400, that equals $240,000.  Wonder where the money went?  If you pay the nine speakers perhaps $5,000 each (just guessing here, but I am definitely on the generous side) for travel, food, and lodging which would equal $45,000, then you would have $195,000 to pay for what?  Maybe supplies?  Rental of the campgrounds?  Salary for the employees who organized the event?  Food?  $195,000 is a lot to cover these expenses, IMHO, and they had a lot of money left over as profit. 
Title: Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: Autumn on January 06, 2015, 01:45:09 am
Attached photo of the campgrounds from this site:

http://sacredecologyfilms.com/project/in-the-name-of-the-mother/

Title: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Post by: greybuffalo on May 24, 2016, 09:25:57 pm
I recently looked up one of the grand mothers on wiki,and it stated Margaret Behan,as a former member of the Council.can anyone help,as to why she is no longer one of the thirteen?
Title: Re: International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers (aka the 13 Pay to Pray Old Ladies)
Post by: Defend the Sacred on May 25, 2016, 10:06:50 pm
I recently looked up one of the grand mothers on wiki,and it stated Margaret Behan,as a former member of the Council.can anyone help,as to why she is no longer one of the thirteen?

Maybe read the thread. She's the one who set up the P.O. Box in Lame Deer, and the fundraising for the "Cheyenne Elders Council" but as far as we could tell, she was the only person on the "council," and none of the actual Cheyenne Elders knew about it. I would be very surprised if any of those elders or Elders ever received any money from her efforts, but I'm all ears. The other P.O. Box sent all the money to New York City.

She wasn't living in the community, as far as I know, but bought land near the reservation. The year the fires came they let her group of white people, who flew in from all over the world to pay to hang out with the old ladies, rent out the public pow wow grounds in Lame Deer. They rent out to lots of people. They need the money.  Not everyone was clear about the fact that she and her group paid to use the grounds, and that it was pretty much all white people she brought in.

Our sources said she's not from the Cheyenne community, and that when she first showed up there, not long before the 13 Old Ladies thing started, she immediately wanted access to ceremonies and ceremonial people, but was turned down (as would happen to any stranger). Then she started speaking publicly that, oh, you know, those weren't the *real* ceremonial people; that she had found the *real* ceremonial people, and that they were secret, the Cheyenne didn't really know about them but she did, and *those* people accepted her. Yeah. She said that. It's probably still up in her bios. She's also the one who was "adopting" white strangers over the satellite broadcast.

Others in the group of 13 (or however many it is now) are also problematic. All of them that I know of are involved in pay to pray, though I'm sure at least some of them mean well. Did they decide she was too much of a liability? I don't know. Anyone else here have an update?
Title: Wetiko
Post by: greybuffalo on May 26, 2016, 08:36:14 am
is an Algonquin word for a cannibalistic spirit that is driven by greed, excess, and selfish consumption (in Ojibwa it is windigo, wintiko in Powhatan)
It allows—indeed commands—the infected entity to consume far more than it needs in a blind, murderous daze of self-aggrandizement.

 zengardner . com / 63636-2 /

[edited to break link to newage site]
Title: Re: Wetiko
Post by: Sparks on May 26, 2016, 03:33:26 pm
[Wetiko]is an Algonquin word for a cannibalistic spirit that is driven by greed, excess, and selfish consumption (in Ojibwa it is windigo, wintiko in Powhatan)
It allows—indeed commands—the infected entity to consume far more than it needs in a blind, murderous daze of self-aggrandizement.

 zengardner . com / 63636-2 /


You are linking to a New Age site infested with conspiracy theories, and that page is in no way whatsoever relevant to the topic of this thread, as far as I am able to determine.

Are the authors of that article in any way (pro or contra) related to NAFPS activities?

http://www.truth-out.org/author/itemlist/user/48352
http://www.truth-out.org/author/itemlist/user/48351
http://www.kosmosjournal.org/contributor/12110/

[quote edited to break link to newage site]
Title: Re: Wetiko
Post by: Diana on May 26, 2016, 06:09:29 pm
[Wetiko]is an Algonquin word for a cannibalistic spirit that is driven by greed, excess, and selfish consumption (in Ojibwa it is windigo, wintiko in Powhatan)
It allows—indeed commands—the infected entity to consume far more than it needs in a blind, murderous daze of self-aggrandizement.

http://www.zengardner.com/63636-2/

You are linking to a New Age site infested with conspiracy theories, and that page is in no way whatsoever relevant to the topic of this thread, as far as I am able to determine.

Are the authors of that article in any way (pro or contra) related to NAFPS activities?

http://www.truth-out.org/author/itemlist/user/48352
http://www.truth-out.org/author/itemlist/user/48351
http://www.kosmosjournal.org/contributor/12110/


Yeah, I asked her what reservations she "healed" people on and haven't received an answer yet....then she posts an unusual inquiry about one of those pay to pray "grandmothers". Now the weird irrelevant response. Where have we seen this behavior before? .....hmmm, lol. This isn't going to end well.
Title: Re: International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers (aka the 13 Pay to Pray Old Ladies)
Post by: Sparks on May 26, 2016, 11:31:11 pm
I wonder if this Wetiko stuff was meant to be the first post in a new topic, and then was misplaced here?

if so, it should have been accompanied by an explanation why greybuffalo thinks it is relevant to this forum.

The article itself is quite interesting, but I still maintain it has been posted on a very disgusting conspiracy site.
Title: Re: International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers (aka the 13 Pay to Pray Old Ladies)
Post by: Defend the Sacred on May 27, 2016, 06:35:55 pm
No, "greybuffalo" has been writing privately to say that Margaret Behan pressured him to participate in pay to pray activities with her and Bennie Le Beau and that he thinks Behan has the Windigo Sickness. I asked him to post these accounts on the forum and he agreed to, then changed his mind. He said we could post them, but I don't know why he doesn't just do it himself as he's signed up with an anonymous account. I'll say more in his intro thread.
Title: Re: International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers (aka the 13 Pay to Pray Old Ladies)
Post by: Sparks on January 03, 2019, 11:33:25 pm
I'll say more in his intro thread.

That's here: http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=4854.0

Seems he was active here only for four days, and wrote one post and two comments.
Title: Re: International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers (aka the 13 Pay to Pray Old Ladies)
Post by: Sparks on November 14, 2020, 12:30:05 am
These people are still very active in Social Media:
https://www.grandmotherscouncil.org
https://twitter.com/13_grandmothers
https://www.facebook.com/13GrandmothersCouncil

Related Pages (from the preceding link):
https://www.facebook.com/grandmotherswisdomproject/
https://www.facebook.com/The-Thirteen-Grandmothers-Spiritual-Connection-235652483250443/
https://www.facebook.com/grandmotherflordemayo/
Title: Re: International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers (aka the 13 Pay to Pray Old Ladies)
Post by: Diana on November 14, 2020, 07:45:23 pm
I heard that Agnus Baker Pilgrim died last year. I found an obit of sorts from a local newspaper.
https://mailtribune.com/news/top-stories/takelma-elder-agnes-baker-pilgrim-grandma-aggie-dies-at-95

One thing I'd like to point out is that the Siletz Tribe of Oregon (Agnus's Tribe) is what you would call a thin blood Tribe. I believe the enrollment requirement is 1/6.
So this may explain alot about some of these people.
Title: Re: International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers (aka the 13 Pay to Pray Old Ladies)
Post by: Sparks on November 15, 2020, 12:46:30 am
I heard that Agnus Baker Pilgrim died last year.

Mentioned only once before in the forum (my boldings):

ETA: Yup, Kie$ha is on the list, along with a number of other well-known frauds: http://www.starknowledgeconference.com/phoenix-arizona-conference-december/phoenix-speakers/

Hunbatz Men
Grandmother Agnes Pilgrim Baker
Little Grandmother Kiesha
Grandma Chandra
Title: Re: International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers (aka the 13 Pay to Pray Old Ladies)
Post by: ska on December 24, 2020, 09:01:44 pm

https://thefountain.earth/category/messages-from-the-delegates/page/2/ (https://thefountain.earth/category/messages-from-the-delegates/page/2/)

"Loretta Afraid of Bear Cook is the faith keeper and holder of the Afraid of Bear/American Horse Sundance Pipe and has led Sundance with her husband Tom for the past 20 years. She is a cultural specialist on the board of The Paha Sapa Unity Alliance and The Black Hills Initiative, whose mission is to return the sacred Black Hills to the Great Sioux Nation.

Jyoti is the Grandmother Vision Keeper of the Center for Sacred Studies, through which she co-founded Kayumari, a spiritual community in both America and Europe. She helped to convene the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers and is the founder of The Fountain, whose mission is to restore an economic model that is based on reciprocity and collaboration.

Jyoti and Loretta both serve as delegates on the Mother Earth Delegation of United Indigenous Nations. . . ."