Author Topic: International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers (aka the 13 Pay to Pray Old Ladies)  (Read 143363 times)

Offline Moma_porcupine

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Re: Tribes.net "thirteen Grandmothers"
« Reply #15 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

"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In 1977, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians became the second tribe in the nation to have their termination act repealed with passage of the Siletz Restoration Act.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
"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
"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
"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


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.

"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
"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

Dr. Rita Blumenstein, Tribal Doctor
(con..)

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


"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 .

Offline Moma_porcupine

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Re: Tribes.net "thirteen Grandmothers"
« Reply #16 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

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
« Last Edit: October 15, 2007, 05:14:21 pm by Moma_porcupine »

Offline Ganieda

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International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
« Reply #17 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/
*May the Sun warm your Heart, The Moon light your Path and Sacred Mother Earth embrace and protect you always.*


Offline Ganieda

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Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
« Reply #19 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. 
*May the Sun warm your Heart, The Moon light your Path and Sacred Mother Earth embrace and protect you always.*

Offline KIS

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Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
« Reply #20 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.



Offline Defend the Sacred

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Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
« Reply #21 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.
« Last Edit: July 18, 2014, 10:10:49 pm by Kathryn »

Offline KIS

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Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
« Reply #22 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

Offline Barnaby_McEwan

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Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
« Reply #23 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

Offline KIS

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Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
« Reply #24 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.    
 


Offline Barnaby_McEwan

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Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
« Reply #25 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.


Offline KIS

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Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
« Reply #26 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.

Offline Barnaby_McEwan

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Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
« Reply #27 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.

Offline KIS

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Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
« Reply #28 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

Offline KIS

  • Posts: 21
Re: International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
« Reply #29 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.
« Last Edit: October 02, 2008, 06:50:07 pm by Barnaby_McEwan »