Are We Really Praying? Pt. 2

By Hector Cerda

*To understand the message I am trying to convey in this blog you must read part 1. If you have not done so please click here


Peace & Dignity Journeys 2012

Greetings folks. Once again I will share with you some stories and experiences with the communities that the Peace & Dignity Journey passed through for 2012. If you have not read Part 1 of “Are we really praying” I strongly suggest you do so first then come back to this writing because I will continue to refer to what I think is “prayer” and actions. If you already read part 1, I want to remind you that the type of prayer I am referring to for the sake of this article is one that I think we take on only by praying for what you seek to achieve with the help of the almighty creator, then taking action and going forth to make your prayer successful. Remember that your thoughts and actions are your prayers and cannot be separated.

But hold on just one second. In this writing I will also talk about another part of prayer that I think also must be addressed. That is the power of miracles. Later in this essay I will discuss miracles and the sacred hand of the creator that once in a while touches us or our communities. Allow me first to describe what I personally see as miracles. Keep in mind this is only my perspective and is used for the sake of understanding this article.

***Note: The section below that I wrote on Miracles was written on August 5, 2012 just after I left the West Coast Inland Cali route for the East Coast NYC/Taino route. Since then, I still maintain what I think is a “Miracle” and the remainder of the article was written after my arrival home in January of 2013.

Miracle

Sometimes we think we control our own destiny. We like to know that every day our life will be secure and our needs met. That is ok. I think a well prepared life is necessary to fulfill a good life. The one thing we don’t have control over are “things” that arise in our life that disrupts that pattern that makes us feel secure. Such things can occur like encountering an illness, loss of a job, a relationship, a relative passes away or circumstances that puts our well being at risk. Disruptions can also occur in our communities. The change in leadership and/or priorities of what our community values most. I think that when a person or community is suffering from such ailments, those who want to see good things happen within their community, take action to secure a positive outcome. Sometimes after so much trying and hard work, it can become tiring and feel as if the work has gone nowhere.

This is where miracles come into the picture. A miracle for sake of this writing is a time when there is a shift of energy that cannot be explained but maybe only because that is what the creator intended to happen. A miracle is when some strange turn of event, happening or something comes our way that is very unusual, maybe unpleasant or awkward but in the long run, the event is beneficial to us. I think that all life on this planet has its original instructions firmly imprinted within its DNA or atomically based structure. Flowers do what they are suppose to do, birds and rocks and trees all do what they are genetically structured to do (but not sure if rocks have DNA). We humans are also created in such a way that we are supposed to live in a way that allows us to use our sacred gifts given to us by the sole creator. When we as a person or our communities become ill, or want something to happen so badly, we might try with prayer to heal and sometimes fail to come to a realization that sometimes we cannot change what is happening. We might need a miracle……and only the creator can make that happen. The catch to these miracles is that it happens when we least expect it.

Similar to Part 1, I will discuss specific communities and events that have happened from British Columbia Canada to Northern Mexico. Each community I discuss will begin with a heading of the name and other details that will help you identify it and possibly encourage you to venture out on your own to research the issues I will bring up with each community. Let us Begin.

Esk'etemc First Nation, Alkali Lake - British Columbia Canada

Alkali Lake has received the Peace & Dignity runners for as long as I have participated since the 2000 run. Something very special about Alkali lake can be felt the moment the runners can see the community from the dirt road coming in from the north. Set in a circular pattern, Alkali Lake has the feel of a community with much potential and for those of us involved with PDJ for many years; we learned long ago the reason. The story I have heard of Alkali Lake is one of transformation and healing whereas the community was very consumed by alcoholism. It was over a series of changes in the Nation’s leadership and outlook for the future that Alkali Lake began to heal. The story also comes from one little girl saying she had enough of her parents drinking booze and would no longer be part of their lives if they would not stop. I do not know who the little girl was that did so, but the way I heard was that it only took one little child to change the thoughts of her parents and it had an everlasting positive effect on the entire community of Alkali Lake. If anyone wanted to see the transformation of Alkali Lake out of alcoholism, there is a good film called, “The Honour of All” which is not easy to find. But find it. Worth watching.

For 2012, as the runners arrived to Alkali Lake, we did not realize there was something big happening. Everyone was out of town and over there near the Fraser River. The place I know as Churn Creek where after 86 years, a petroglyph rock was being returned to this region after being kept at a museum in Vancouver. It was a beautiful sight to see… a Nation undergo the repatriation of something sacred that once was taken away. The rock was brought in by a huge truck with a crane, as elders and leaders walked the path singing the songs to bring the rock home. It was here at the gathering at Churn Creek where we received much support from one of the local Chiefs Hank and his wife Nadine.

Members of the Shushwap Nation gather at Churn Creek to bring home a petroglyph rock

I personally like to mention Alkali Lake because of its unique history as a community. There is also one other special place about the communities that live near the Fraser River. According to what many folks have shared with us, the Fraser River does not have any dams along its path. Damming rivers for electricity or creating reservoirs has devastated the health of many nations that depend on salmon as the lifeblood of their culture. For some reason, the Fraser River has no dams which are detrimental to salmon survival. Later I will discuss a miracle happening in relationship to salmon and dams, but for now I will finish by saying that it doesn’t matter how much anyone thinks we need electricity from dams, more than keeping the salmon alive…the payoff is not worth it. Here where I live in Fresno California we once had salmon in two beautiful rivers the San Joaquin and Kings River. These two rivers were dammed and it destroyed the ecosystem for salmon to return, and it destroyed the cultural identity of First Nation people here in the region. For the folks of Alkali Lake and nearby communities of the Fraser, they should never allow their river to be dammed, and if it happens, the salmon and the culture of First nations along that river will surely be dammed.

Lummi First Nation, Bellingham – Washington U.S.A.

The runners have been hosted many times before at Lummi nation. It is one of the many places that runners were introduced to the cultural importance of canoe journeys and traveling on water. Many times over we think that running is the only means of carrying messages and moving around but the waterways is another important factor in how our ancestors connected to each other. The arrival to Lummi was at first very relaxing because a small group of folks received us but later we learned that there was an entire stick game tournament to be taking place at the long house we were sleeping in. We were told that it was in part to honor us and it felt pretty darn good. We also had some of our very own runners, Junior, Pedro and Connor form a team and they did very well but they lost to another team that was very good. The stick game was really a sight to see in that it brought many people together, something that should be promoted more often. We had received some songs and given time to play the stick games further North in BC Canada and all runners wanted more. It was rekindled when we arrived to Lummi. Soon after, we would continue to play stick games with other runners’ thorough California. I am not too sure how far that momentum followed into the course of the journey.

Stick game tournament inside longhouse at Lummi

It is important to note however that at Lummi, there were talks of trying to take a canoe across the water over to Swinomish Reservation. For many runs past, there were talks of incorporating the Peace & Dignity Journeys with canoes on the coastal region of Washington. There was enough support and excitement that we decided to do it for one day. It was not easy. The runners split in two groups to take a canoe across Bellingham bay past Lummi Island, past Samish Bay, Padilla Bay and eventually into Fidalgo Bay landing ashore at Seafarer Memorial Park in Anacortes. During the process, there were many porpoises to look at, and enough cold sea water to freeze us to death. We had a good group of people supporting us and it was not until we finished that we were told that by the skipper that for sure we were expected to capsize. It was a miracle that we did not. The staffs were taken across the water in this way that I think was the first time for Peace & Dignity Journeys. Rather than carrying staffs across the water, they were wrapped up safely and kept in a bundle on the canoe, as we, the runners instead held paddles and moved across the very element we were praying for. The canoe was like a living breathing staff of its own, with runners inside giving it that life to move forward. I only pray that in the future we can find a way to see such integration of Peace & Dignity Journeys and canoe journeys together.

Swinomish First Nation, Anacortes -  Washington U.S.A.

After arriving to Anacortes from Lummi, we had to return the following day to continue running into Swinomish. The Spiritual Center was the place we gathered for sleep. We were also fed at the tribal gym. For me personally the Swinomish community has always had a very mysterious and unexplainable atmosphere. Almost as if there are songs being sung, and dancers dancing that can only be heard if you listen very carefully. The region along the water has a power of awe that when running though it, feels very Godly and powerful. It is also a power that must be respected. Bringing the run over the water into Swinomish proved to be a very eventful feeling I believe for both the runners and the community. Swinomish is one of those many communities along the coastal region of Washington where native people were definitely swindled out of their traditional right to the land. The waters carry so much wealth with the ability to travel and supply food that it is no wonder why settlers would want to take it yet might not have the same respect that the Swinomish do.

Swinomish was also the place where the West Coast route split into 2 groups for the state of Washington. For the first in Washington the runners would become 2 separate groups with one local organizer, JoJo Peters from Swinomish taking a group towards Seattle and eventually inland, and the other group would be led by a runner, Charlotte Penn from Quileute. The state of Washington would receive Peace & Dignity Journeys through more communities than it had ever done before thanks to these persons committing the time to do so. Prior to arriving to Swinomish a runner named Alana joined the inland Washington route to help carry the staffs. She also helped lead us across the water from Lummi to Swinomish on the canoe. Other runners also joined us from various locations of the region and if I did not name you I apologize. Each year the coastal communities have canoe journeys and maybe this might be the year we can see Peace & Dignity runners come together to travel the waters by canoe. It most definitely was a miracle at least for me, to see runners move across the water with the staffs.

Quileute First Nation, La Push -  Washington U.S.A.

There are four major communities along the coast of the Olympic peninsula they are; Makah, Quinault, Quileute and Hoh River. Of these four the one I choose to talk about is for many reasons. We have had runners from Quileute run with us in past journeys. Quileute has some of the most beautiful beaches that would attract anyone to come appreciate such beauty. Yet I mostly chose to discuss this community in regards to what I think is known as cultural theft. This occurred with the “Twilight” movies. But first, it is good to share that as guests to the Quileute nation, the runners were well taken care of and given a place to stay. For some of the runners they learned how to weave with Cedar bark. The runners were also gifted the materials to make more projects from the various colored cedar bark strips. Later there was a cultural sharing of dances. The dances we were shown in Quileute were very special to the runners because there was a lot of meaning and storytelling behind those songs and dances. One of the hardest dances was when the men had to be hunters and most of the rest of us were animals. Then part of the song we had to be hunted and the men that hunted us had to physically pick us up and carry us. It was nice to watch some of the younger male runners try and pick up someone bigger than they were. Too funny.  

The part of coming to Quileute that is not funny in any way is learning about how cultural identity theft continues to take from outside First Nation communities. Many of you might be familiar with the Twilight movies that portray vampires and werewolves against each other in what seems to be a never ending battle over a woman. These movies contribute to what I call cultural identity theft, where someone takes the culture and ideas of a people and makes lots of money and never asked for permission or included the people, and that is what I think happened with Twilight. The sad part is that even many of our own young native teens fall into the exploitation of the culture being done by Hollywood. It was sad to see that places around Quileute such as stores and homes actually had signs that catered to tourists.

Since the making of Twilight, the culture of the Quileute community has seen many tourist coming to find vampires or werewolves. This creates a false identiy of Quileute culture

The Quileute community has also received high volumes of tourists looking for the vampires or werewolf characters and their homes or schools. Some people reading this might say that at least it brings in tourism and helps the local economy. Maybe. The sad part is that it is exploitation and misrepresentation of the Quileute Nation, by taking their sacred teachings of the Wolf and commercializing it through a movie, thus creating a false representation of the community. I often ask myself if the folks who made Twilight ever used the millions of box office hit money to help do something that really matters to the Quileute community like oh I don’t know maybe help them with relocating homes to higher ground since they are in a Tsunami danger zone. Maybe helping to fund a local community museum and culture center so that tourists who come to seek “wolves” can get an accurate representation of Quileute culture. Maybe if the folks who made the Twilight movie really cared, they would help the Quileute and its neighboring tribal nations resolve a challenging court case that infringes upon their fishing rights under the Treaty if Olympia. I personally have been fortunate to experience the beaches and community of Quileute First Nation prior to the fanatical Twilight craze. I pray that someday others will get to experience the same without the eyesores of tourists arriving, seeking adventure with vampires and werewolves.

Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Warm Springs -  Oregon U.S.A.

Peace & Dignity Journeys had not been to Warm Springs since the 2000 run. This past run brought many interested people and that interest grew into a tributary run from Warm Springs to Portland Oregon. This tributary stands out in my mind so much because there were only 6 runners that covered the 110 mile stretch in 3 days. From the beginning of the run we had assistance from 3 other runners who ran the first few miles to the territorial border of the reservation. After that it was 6 of us the rest of the way. I did not think we could actually make it in time or in one piece. Our route included running directly past Mt. Hood. Our first day we covered I believe 40 miles and stayed at a place called Frog lake. I though to myself that there must be so many frogs if that is what they call it. When we arrived I didn’t see any frogs, yet after taking a walk to the lake there was a vast network of pollywogs swimming along the ridge of the lake. They came by the thousands and thousands moving counterclockwise seeming to form a freeway network just swimming and swimming. As I got closer to the lake and actually waded a few feet in, I noticed that there was a complex network of veins and paths of pollywogs swimming thorough the entire lake. I felt as though I was looking down at a huge ecosystem of baby frogs creating their own highways and freeways thorough the lake, and then some would change lanes and merge into other paths and swim from one path to another, and sometimes there would be an occasional pollywog that would go off the path and swim and do its own thing. I was amazed at such a sight. Never had I seen so many pollywogs and I began to wonder. How dependent such life-forces are on the care of the water. It must have taken thousands of years for almighty creator to have arrived on the importance of the complex system that lives at Frog Lake. I began to wonder how many fishes depended on these pollywogs for food. How people would depend on those fish to feed themselves. How many birds would probably enjoy a meal after catching a frog to eat? And how many mosquitoes would be eaten and kept to a minimum after all these baby frogs begin to grow and eat larger insects.

A small snapshot of the thousands of pollywogs at Frog Lake

We left Frog Lake the following day to run past Mt. Hood to a campground where we saw deer. They didn’t even become afraid; I realized they were desensitized to human beings. That was a bit scary to see a mother deer and her babies just walk right up to us as if they were 100% safe from someone wanting to hunt them for food. But what stands out to me is that the day we finally ran into Portland, with only about 15 miles to run, I got lost. And I eventfully got split from the group. I tried my hardest to find my way back to the group and for the first time I decided to leave my cell phone in the car. Big mistake. I did know where I was going so eventually I ran to the Native Center that was hosting us, but after taking a wrong turn for about 4 miles, I ended up at the edge of the Columbia River. It was such a sight to see. As I looked to the east from the direction I came, I could see Mt. hood far off in the distance, and it was like a blessing to realize that I and 5 other runners ran together to carry a prayer from Warm Springs, on the other side of the mountain I was staring at, only to get lost and end up at the Columbia and see Mt. Hood, as if it were greeting me a goodbye one last time. I was tired, sore and realized that the view was well worth it. I was still lost and had probably about 8 miles to get to my destination, which I did.

Winnemum Wintu First Nation, Redding -  California U.S.A.

Earlier in this article I mentioned that communities along the Fraser River enjoyed a dam free river and that was necessary for the sustenance of salmon. The history of the Winnemum Wintu is one of heartbreak but also of a miracle that we have been able to learn about on the Peace & Dignity Journeys, but first here is some background. The Winnemum Wintu traditionally lived along the McCloud River in Northern California, a river that was abundant with salmon spawning grounds. During the 1870s a hatchery was placed along the McCloud River and Chinook salmon eggs were exported through the entire world. Some of those eggs made their way to New Zealand and over time have created a family of salmon that been there ever since. In time, the McCloud River was damaged by the placing of Shasta Dam. Salmon would make their way from the coast of California far into the Sacramento River and eventually the McCloud. Recently the Winnemum Wintu has moved towards bringing back the salmon to their region. By realizing that the same salmon that once were in their rivers, are alive and well in New Zealand. This story of hope, bringing back the life sustainment of a people can prove that miracles happen when we least expect them. I personally mentioned this community because for many California tribes, Salmon have disappeared, and for those who live further up North currently battling it out with Enbridge and the Pipelines coming through your territory, you have every reason to fight back. Here in Fresno CA I sometimes talk about how we had two rivers that come around us, the San Joaquin River to the North one had salmon but have gone away due to Friant Dam. The Kings River to the South of us once had salmon but they too have gone away due to the Pine Flat Dam. It is not worth placing a damn if it means the salmon will not come back. And for those communities that have dams, do what you can to get other ways for the salmon to pass through.

D-Q University, Davis – California U.S.A.

It is very important to mention this University. Although not a First Nation, it is a University built by First Nation people to serve First Nation people seeking higher education. It was also built on the foundations of the Eagle & Condor, people of the North and of the South coming to a University to study and share with one another. Sadly the current state of D-Q is one that is non-functioning. The campus once served as a US Army facility and was shut down, only to be taken by Native people under a Federal law stating that surplus land not being used was to be returned to Native Americans. Thus D-Q University was born, but of course the story is much longer than that.

I mention D-Q University because it was once a flourishing tribal college in the United States. Education for First Nation people is vital to our people in the fact that it is at Universities where research and movements are taught, created and instilled into the political, social and economic realms of society. The mist important part that tribal colleges contribute to our people though is that it’s a place that allows for First nations to still hold on to culture and spirituality. It was important this time around for the Peace & Dignity Journeys to arrive at D-Q being that both are movements based off the prophecy of the Eagle & Condor. As a teenager it was once my dream to attend D-Q, whereas D-Q had an outstanding outreach program in math and science often sending recruiters to local communities to teach natives the importance of science. They came to my community regularly and took us on trips to encourage us to attain higher education. Yet when it was time, there was no more D-Q. Due to some failed leadership in the past, D-Q lost its accreditation and has not been the same. I personally felt that over time, certain leaders of the tribal college forgot the mission and purpose of the campus, to bring together knowledge and wisdom of the North and the South and wanted it only to serve one specific group of Natives. Yet there is much hope with the current Board of Trustees. When the Peace & Dignity run arrived, there seemed to be people from all walks of life and different generations from the history of D-Q. It is important that everyone know that D-Q was born out of the cooperation and leadership of all First Nation peoples currently living in the region of D-Q, it was not the work of one individual nation.

Taino Tributary Route, New York City -  New York U.S.A.

During the West Coast route I left the runners only to join another group that originated in Puerto Rico. Some years ago, folks from the Caribbean heard about the Eagle and Condor. They realized that their region was not represented in the run due to the fact that the Red Tail hawk was the bird most sacred to the Taino of the Islands. So for 2012 a route began from Puerto Rico, over to NYC and with a small handful of runners and one van, we were going to make our way across the Eastern coast into Florida and eventually across the gulf coast into Texas. I was able to meet so many Taino folks from Puerto Rico and one who was married to a First nation’s woman from Canada, one married to a First Nations woman from Ecuador but they all had New York accents. I realized that I was in a ride of my life with the Taino route. They were loud. They were crazy, and they were great people.

We did have some obstacles ahead of us. Scheduled to arrive in Florida by the 20^th of August, and eventually run to Houston Texas. We had only 8 runners, about 15 days to get there and by the fifth day running, four of our runners were going to have to come back home. This was not good for the timing of the route. We also heard of the fellow Midwest route that was broken down in Chicago so we made a plan to connect the Taino route through Pennsylvania and meet the runners from Chicago.

GMO Corn. These signs were visible along the route through Indiana and Ohio

Running the route across Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana was very long and lonesome. Most of the locations we stayed at were campgrounds or RV parks. We did get hosted by a Native American Center in Pittsburg, and by another Native American Center in Cleveland. Yet there were also many Taino families along this route. In the time we spent running this particular region I noticed that there were so many graveyards. Run about 10 miles and you see another one. Run another 10 miles or so and another graveyard or cemetery. Many of them right beside churches. And this was also the heart of the entire corn industry, but we saw tons of genetically modified corn. Many fields we ran by had little signs with the brand and species I guess you could say of the patent and company making the genetically modified corn. It was very scary to actually see corn being advertised as “Agrigold – yieldguard triple” or “Dekalb RoundUp Ready Technology” as if corn actually was made by the almighty creator to be that way. I didn’t realize corn needed to adapt to specific “technology” before being consumed. I realized after running through these corn regions that GMOs are creating very scary times for us and the future generations. Do we really need to do such things to the seed of our future? There was hope however as we saw some farmers proudly labeling their farms as organic and non-genetically modified. Some farmers were actually calling out, shaming their neighbors for the GMO corn. It is important to note that the signs are not the names of corporations who own the farm, they are names of the company that sold the farmer the seeds or the fertilizer, and the signs are there to advertise that brand. The signs also serve for research purposes to see how the corn grows. Funny thing is, people still think its safe, but why would farmers sell us something that is used to “research” on us as if we are lab rats. Well actually that’s what they are doing. We saw this all the way to Chicago.

University of Illinois, Urbana – Illinois U.S.A.

After completing the Taino Route and leaving Chicago, we realized that there were not many places that were going to host the runners until we got to Kansas. We still had so many more days of camping at RV Parks and campgrounds. One place that took us in for 2 nights was the Native American House at University of Illinois. If there is anything important to mention about this campus community is the continued racism that has been allowed to take place with the campus mascot. There is a documentary film released that discusses the racism a Native American student faced at the University of Illinois for bringing up the mascot issue. I could not do justice trying to write about it, but the name of it is “In Whose Honor?” which is worth watching if you can find it. To this day there is still non acceptance of native people in the U of I community yet the community as a whole wants to play Indian with the mascot. As I was told by a young boy from the community, they don’t like us Indians but yet they want to be us!

"Chief" Illiniwek, mascot for University of Illinois does a wannabe dance. The University can no longer have the mascot due to its participation in the NCAA sports

When the runners arrived to the U of I we spoke to several students about the journeys and how we come a long way. It was interesting to see the students attending the campus in such a community that perpetuates racism. One thing that I realized only after looking at a map of the United States in the Native American House is that manifest destiny pushed as many First Nation communities as far to the west as possible. Literally to west side of the Mississippi river. It finally clicked in my head why we were camping out at RV parks and campgrounds more than anything. There were very few almost no land based First Nation communities on the map which is why it was hard for us to find host communities in the region. We left the U of I with very little energy, as we began to get up at about 3am to beat the sun. It was getting hotter and hotter each day.

Haskell Indian Nations University, Lawrence – Kansas U.S.A.

The community of Lawrence along with other parts of Kansas was well organized by a former alumnus from Haskell University names Sylvia Fred and her husband Nate. They previously ran with the route further north I believe when the runners were in Minnesota. After we had joined the runners from the Taino route to the Midwest route, they had since left and did some work for Kansas organizing. Running to Haskell was actually led to a series of many greetings with so many people involved with the Four Winds Native Center, this is where we actually slept and ate. Four Winds actually had a vegetable garden and organic corn growing, unlike the GMO corn we had continued to be seeing for so many miles. We had the opportunity to meet so many different First Nation students from all around the U.S. and participate in many discussions. One of the coincidental things that happened was that we went to a student meeting to meet so many people preparing for a ceremony, and we learned that the ceremony was being put together by the community for the son of the staff member who hosted us at University of Illinois. It was so nice to see her and her son a few days after we left them and to learn that they too were connected with the Haskell Indian Nations University.



More GMO corn in the Midwest. Scary times folks. Birthing children might someday become patented



Haskell University has an old cemetery on its campus. It was once an old boarding school site. We visited the cemetery of children from 37 different tribes. I saw that some runners had a hard time seeing such a site. The importance was prayer for those children that died either through abuse, possibly trying to escape and drowning in the marshes outside the campus, disease or the fact that some children died from being separated from their families. There are 103 headstones with the names of children and their Nation on the headstone, but 10 of them were not marked. As runners I realized the importance of the staffs we carry from so many nations across the continent. I felt it was important to pray for each and every one of those children although I did not know who they were, I realized I knew that the same spirit that they once were, is the same that is inside my current nieces and nephews growing up and wanting to spend time with their family, learning from me as their mentor. I prayed that the children who passed on at this residential school could be something that those of us with little ones in our family can continue to live for. I also realized that many of the nations on the headstones of the children in this cemetery are the same nations we were running through or had yet to run through. As I walked around praying for each child making offerings, I saw that there were quite a bit from California tribes. I saw, Modoc, Mojave, Piute, and so many other nations, of young children that were killed for not following the U.S. Government into the New World or what I like to call for our current times, the New Age.

Headstones at Haskell University Cemetary

For anyone reading this, it was important to pay respects to that cemetery and remind ourselves the attempt by the U.S. government to exterminate people’s identity, culture and connection to the land. In no way whatsoever should anyone feel apprehensive towards seeing such a site. The University was established further on for much good at the sacrifice of these children.

Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma, White Eagle – Oklahoma U.S.A.

There was something very normal about our arrival to the territory of Oklahoma as we arrived into the Ponca City region. We were greeted by an expected racially apprehensive Sherriff of Kay County who thought it would be nice to bother us and assumed we were “those Indians” with weapons out to put someone in danger. One of our runners was apprehended by the sheriff claiming to have gotten calls that there were suspicious folks on the road. We were in the middle of empty fields. There was nothing to “steal” but blades of grass and rocks. To make such a complicated story short and simple, a runner was apprehended possibly at gunpoint and I stress that word possibly, and then handcuffed, placed belly down on the hot scorching ground and all this after being told to lay down one of the sacred ceremonial staffs on the ground for the officers safety. It was completely a racially charged approach especially to run through so many communities and learned how Indians are appreciated only as mascots with lances and bows and arrows, yet when a real native appears, law enforcement officers with real weapons actually become afraid. If you want to see the video visit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koMW76TFm38

The runners did arrive to the Ponca Tribe at White Eagle Oklahoma. We were very welcomed in an honorable way by so many families and people that it made up for the hostile greeting by Kay County Sheriff, as we came into Oklahoma. The runners were hosted at the United Methodist Church in White Eagle. The most memorable moment I recall was the following morning. I think we had two young teenage boys and a couple young girls lead us through their community and one of the boys mother decided to join us and run. It was by far one of the most heart felt moments because this woman who decided to run with us, she stated that she obviously was not a runner. We ran about 1 mile through the small community of White Eagle and this woman found the spirit within herself to run. She was huffing and puffing and giving her best, the sun had not come up yet and she was sweating like a rainforest. A few other runners all surrounded her and we encouraged her to run and she felt like giving up but she did not. As she was running she would shout aloud, “I’m not drinking anymore soda pop” and she said that a few times over as she finally reached the end point to the vans parked beside the highway where her kids also were waiting. We all celebrated the triumph of this woman who went beyond her comfort zone to pray with us through her community. She came along with us with her vehicle and the youth that joined us ran with us for part of the distance and later had to leave for a race they had to go to later that day. Sometimes I think that we know we are capable of doing things we think we cannot do, it only takes ourselves to tell ourselves that it can be done.

Choctaw Nation, Durant – Oklahoma U.S.A.

This community stands out to me because I heard probably the most powerful sermon at the church the night we stayed with the Choctaw Nation. I will come back to that in a bit but first, I want to share that prior to arriving into the Choctaw Nation we had just spend about 10 days running through Oklahoma and it was not as easy as I thought it would be. The weather during summer is very humid. A type of humid that had us sweating salty gobs of sweat all over ourselves in just 1 minute each time we would hop out the van to run. It had actually been this way for a long time since we left Chicago. Most of the Midwest had a very arid heat that usually I enjoy but not this type. It was not a place where I felt anyone could live for too long without saying “God how did we end up here?” yet we still found gracious folks who supported us and gave us the nourishment to move along as we prayed.

Arriving to a small church at the Choctaw nation, we were met with a huge meal and people of all different ages. We were then invited to join a sermon inside the church which included Choctaw hymns. They were not something I could understand and as I sat next to a woman, she had her bible and her book of Choctaw hymns. She saw I was peeking over at her book and she smiled at me, sharing the book so I could follow along. I cannot say I understood what was being said, but the language flowed very well with the grammatical structure of the sentences on the pages. It was flowing like water down a small stream, and the songs sung out loud matched so beautifully each and every letter and word. I began to think what the northern runners from Canada felt like when they come south and cannot understand Spanish yet they sit there and just listen. Although this was a very different language, one that people have suffered very harsh times to keep alive.

Later that evening, we heard some of the most powerful, inspiration words. The pastor or maybe the correct term I can say the brother that led the congregation that night shared words about why the world is the way we see it now. Similar to the words of Psalms Chapter 23, Verse 1, the almighty creator God, created us on this earth with everything we will ever need, exactly the way it was. I agreed to how he shared the words but he almost lost me when he mentioned that god created the earth for man to rule, that we as humans are the owners of the land and had full control over it. I still kind of disagreed not knowing where the heck he was going as I thought to myself “Control? Ownership? What nonsense!” yet he clarified what he meant in saying that God made the earth for us to live from and feed ourselves, and that we had an agreement with God that as “owners” we were stewards of the land. Caring for it based on the original instructions given to us at time of creation. As owners of the land we would have all we would ever need. So long as we remember this “glory” that God gave to us we would forever receive all we could ever need. Yet something happened. Somehow humans were tempted to move away from the glory that God gave us and that when we let our guard down, looking away from the light, that sacred connection between god and ourselves, we reached for other things…things we thought we needed, but we did not need them. They became wants…wants that have been detrimental to our well being as humans. Over time this is what has happened to our society and our world that we have lost, disconnected or turned away from the hand of God and reached for the hand of those evil things that have put us here today. As he closed the sermon he told everyone that we as runners carry the message of what we are supposed to be doing. It was simple and moving. I was reminded why we are praying, and why we as runners, decided to take the trek through the hot, humid weather I just mentioned. I was re-energized and ready to move further south.

Austin  – Texas, U.S.A.

Arriving to Austin Texas had special meaning for me. A year before the run started, Jose Malvido and I traveled to Austin to meet with a large group of interested folks wanting to host Peace & Dignity Journeys. Texas was going to be the focal point of three routes coming together, which later did not happen that way yet the work that was done to host the runners coming though showed. When we arrived to Austin, it was already late about 10pm. prior to arriving we lost some runners and the weather was raining. We took a couple rest days in Austin and I recall visiting a spring and sacred water place at a park. I do not remember the name of the park but myself, Yari a runner from Puerto Rica, Teo from Canada and Alberto from Washington all enjoyed swimming in the water which also included some fish. I started to think about all the places we visited in regards to praying for the water. And I know some persons reading this part may become offended and that is ok. I realized that for so long runners were collecting water to pray with just not enjoying it for what it truly is there for. I prefer water to swim, bathe and enjoy in its whole physical sense. It was such a blessing to dive into the water, swim in it, feel it all over me and feel clean. I began to remember how Peace & Dignity Journeys is experienced on the Central California route. Any runner who took that route for 2012 and any other journey since 2000 would tell you they truly experienced the waters of California like nothing else. Waterfalls, natural waterslides, waterholes, rivers, lakes and so many bodies of water that runners had the opportunity to enjoy in the physical came to mind as I was in Austin. I felt that the prayer was not to collect water and capture it in a bottle but to enjoy it and pray that I and many more to come will have access to the water as I have. Nothing more. Keeping water in a bottle for the sake of saying I collected water from so many sacred places means nothing if you cannot enjoy it for what it was truly meant for.



Hurricane Isaac affected four states that we were supposed to run through at the same time it arrived 



Finally, Austin stands out to me because it was a place where I learned about weather on the East Coast route would have really placed a difficult burden on the Taino if we would have ran towards Florida. Because I want to focus on miracles for this writing, I want to mention that when I took the lead with the Taino route, I was at first heart broken that the route could not pass through the entire East Coast into Florida and then towards Texas. The decision to change the route to meet with the runners in Chicago was not an easy decision, but arriving to Austin, one of those moments when you go “Hmmm now I know why it happened that way” went off in my head. You see the Taino route was scheduled to be in Florida by August 20, 2012. Hurricane Isaac hit Florida that same time. I also learned that there was a state of Emergency in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. I don’t know how that would have placed the runners in regards to safety and support but I do know that it would not have been something we would have wanted to experience. For me personally it was a miracle that we avoided that region for the time being.

Ejido La Luz,  – Coahuila México

We had already passed the border coming from Texas, and this community was our first place to stay in Mexico. Ejido La Luz was one of those communities you wouldn’t expect to visit so soon going into Mexico. What I mean by that is the access we had to a clean natural spring. When we ran into La Luz, it felt different. We had to pass a guarded entrance and realized it was an Ejido. Ejidos are communities of farm lands that are used in a communal fashion for growing crops. This system dates back to ancient times where all the families that are part of the Ejido and work the land have the rights to the land not some corporation or group of people sitting in an office somewhere else.  Should some issue face the land or someone want to do anything on the land, the entire community of the Ejido must come to a decision. It is not like regular town municipalities. Arriving to La Luz, we were greeted by a few folks there and as we ran through, more and more onlookers were curious to whom these runners were going through their land. We ran past a very beautiful clear river which flowed into small ponds and water holes. Further back as we ran up the side of this river, we saw fish and trees growing out of the water, small cascades and lush green lily pads. Further up we reached the mouth of the hole of where the water was springing up from the earth. As we arrived, practically the entire community was there. We talked about what we were doing but most importantly we reminded the community to never let anyone come in and take their spring waters from them. I personally did not want to just talk about how sacred the water is and collect it, I asked if we could swim in the water and then it happened.

Then we left and actually came back. First we did not expect to stay at this community; we were only going to go there to collect water. Our original place to stay was at a town called Villa Union but for some reason or another it didn’t happen that way and when we were at La Luz, some elders there told us that we are more than welcome to stay there with them as they liked what we were doing, praying for the water. So we returned and stayed there, only to go swimming again at the water springs. We slept in a small church and received food and other support from the community.

The day we left, one of the women that helped host us sent us with a prayer for her husband named Armando. He had gone missing many years ago. A small wooden cross with his name and a picture of him was sent with us. No one knows what ever happened to him. She is the gatekeeper to the entrance to La Luz. It was my feeling that her husband might have been victim of so many of those crimes against people that stand at the gate and protect such beautiful places like La Luz from corporate greed….from those evil entities that “want” to control and destroy the land for the gain of a few. This might not be the case, but it always seems to me that many communities we run through there is such a similar story towards those who are protecting the land. La Luz translates to “the light” in English. As I experienced this community and all of its sacredness, I came to the realization that there truly is the light in this small community and in the prayer we carry as well. There truly is the light in the water that purifies us all. And that there truly is light in so many communities across this continent. That light which each and every one of you come from, can only survive so long as you continue to pray and fight for it. Spend time on your land; enjoy all the needs God has provided for you. Keep that light alive and strong, never let any evil that wants to put that light out pass, cause you never know how many miracles you just might create with that light.

Conclusion

To say that some of the things I heard or experienced are miracles I cannot prove. I would like to think that they were. As you read along what are your thoughts? Is it a miracle that that in a community in BC Canada, a young girl was the catalyst for pulling her people out of alcoholism? Was it a miracle that over 100 years later a tribe can possibly reclaim their connection to salmon that died away from their traditional fishing grounds only to learn the same salmon are in a river on a land mass thousands of miles away? Was it even a miracle that one of our routes managed to avoid a possible catastrophe of a hurricane?

I leave that up to the reader to decide. Only you know when you think a miracle has happened. I just think that waiting for miracles does not let us off the hook to keep our connection of prayer to the almighty creator, God. My purpose in sharing some of these experiences was to help any of us from our communities realize that prayer is important, and sometimes a miracle might come our way. It has not been easy to write as any PDJ runner can tell you that they are things one can only experience. But as a veteran runner I can tell you that having run more than one journey allows one to put into words that can be shared. I will not be writing anymore about the experiences for the 2012 journey as it does become emotionally difficult to recollect the thoughts, and at times it is very exciting.

Although after arriving home from the 2012 run there are some other things I would like to write about, some very serious concerns I think anyone who believes in the almighty creator would be interested in reading. 2012 was what many called the year of global consciousness, some type of awareness that was suppose to happen worldwide. I always disagreed with such stories and maintain that it was propaganda for the continued assault on the cultural identity of First Nation people, our relationship to the land and connection to God. If you are interested in reading this article I encourage you to stay tuned. I will deliver and I will not hold back what I have observed on this matter. Thank you for taking the time to read.

Coming soon...

Fail? Why the 2012, Worldwide, Unified, Global Consciousness, Awakening Never Happened and What it’s Still All About.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/events/212426032231293/

Are We Really Praying? Pt. 1

By Hector Cerda

Peace & Dignity Journeys 2012

Imagine for just a moment that you have chosen to cease from doing everything you currently are taking on in your life right at this moment. You quit your job, you left your home, community family and everything and anything you know that provides you with the feeling of being safe.  I want you to also take into consideration that with this choice you made, it will be for several months of your life which will mean that you no longer have the luxuries that you enjoy each day. The ability to log onto the internet and communicate with others or wakeup each morning and know for sure that you can walk into your bathroom and enjoy a nice warm shower to cleanse your body. With this choice you made you also have to realize that you will not enjoy anymore of the comforts that your home provides such as a comfy bed, heating or cooling at the flip of a switch or entertaining past times like hockey, football or the show some what titled “I Can Dance/Sing Better Than You” which in fact are misleading shows because I have visited many communities where traditions are still alive and let me tell you, there are hundreds of beautiful songs and dances many of you will probably never experience.

What I have just described above is a small part of what a Peace & Dignity Journeys runner will take on in the choice to carry a prayer across the continent. And I want to stress that word “prayer” which we are carrying because upon my fourth time taking on this prayer, I often ask myself “Are we really praying?” or is it all in vein. Now hold on don’t go answering this question just yet because I have a lot to say that many of you keep bugging me and all the other runners about when you ask “How are things going?” or the common “Is everyone doing well?” and the reality is hell no things are not going the way they should go, and all is not well. Usually the concern is about we as runners and our injuries and health, yet I see an even deeper question that never gets asked which if I could figure it out might be something like “Hell yes we runners are alright but its you folks we left behind in our homes which we should be concerned about….are you guys alright? And I truly mean to look at your everyday actions…are you really alright?”

So allow me to discuss in brief how this writing will be put together. First I will share with you my perspective on what I think “praying” is all about. You don’t have to agree with what I say, however if you still don’t agree somewhat with what I am sharing then I think I have failed to challenge your own thoughts on whether or not you think you are really praying. After I put “prayer” into perspective for the sake of this article, I will then discuss some very specific communities and events that have happened so far since May 1^st, 2012 and although I cannot share them all, the ones I discuss are those which have led me to think about whether or not we, as people or communities are really praying. Each community I discuss will begin with a heading of the name and other details that will help you identify it and possibly encourage you to venture out on your own to research the issues I will bring up with each community. Please note that some communities have their own traditional names and I will respectfully try my best to include those names. I will also suggest other areas of research for those of you reading this if you choose to learn more of the communities I mention. Again, everything I write is of my own experience and knowledge and I challenge you to look further into the issues I discuss and educate yourself on the matters. Let us begin with:

Prayer

When I think of praying I think of it in two basic ways. I think there are those of us who might pray for things we want or expect for god to give us in life. In this form of prayer we expect those things we pray for to come to us and we truly believe that they will if we live a good life and treat others well and are very giving. Sometimes I feel many of us subscribe to this form of prayer. The type where I might believe that if I pray for a car, it will fall from the heavens above and land in my front yard (not literally) or if I pray for the love of my life to fall into my arms it will happen if I pray really hard and just be patient and good (like donate to other causes and help others and so on). Then there is the other form of prayer which I am a strong subscriber to. I think that the only way to pray is to ask the creator for what it is that is being asked for and then you go into your life taking action at all you can to increase the chances of your prayer being successful. The best example I can give actually comes from preparing for Peace & Dignity Journeys. Prior to coming to Alaskawe had no vans. I had no idea where we were going to get them but I knew I couldn’t just pray for them to come from god. I had to pray and put action behind my prayer, which is something I actually did by taking a weekend to the land and focusing my energy and prayers on Peace & Dignity - asking the creator for what I needed to do to make it possible to get some vans. So with my prayer I created a strategic plan to find some vans. Yet the other challenge was…well you also gotta have money to get them. So I had to pray long and hard on what I needed to do to try to make that happen.

We eventually got two vans which are currently with us now on the west coast route and I must share that the vans were not acquired by me alone, Jose Malvido, another organizer and I took a trip to his home n Arizona to recover one van we used from 2008 run and California PDJ committees in San Diego, LA, San Francisco, Fresno, and Watsonville came together to donate partial funds towards purchase of another van. The rest of the money came from a project I worked on during my last week on the job and Ta-Da! We had two vans. The story is actually much more complicated than described yet this was a prayer and it was successful. In summary, the prayer I am discussing for this article can be summed up by doing exactly that, praying and/or meditating for what your seeking to achieve with the creators help, then taking action to go forth and make the prayer become successful. Your thoughts and actions are your prayers. They cannot be separated.

In no way, shape or form do I think creator just gives us what we ask for no matter how good, pure or wholesome we think we live our lives. Life is never that easy and if it was I would be the richest, sexiest and most powerful man on the planet. That is a joke by the way, you can lol anytime now.

Chickaloon Village, Alaska U.S.A.

Chickaloon is small. Matter of fact I would consider it tiny that once again I begin this prayer from yet I could also feel something massive and strong in the environment. Parts of this feeling I sensed were somewhat joyful as the Harrison bros. hosted us once again at the Chickaloon Hatchery yet at the same time there was somewhat of a tension that I knew we would learn about in our few days at Chickaloon. The Chickaloon hatchery from my understanding was started some many years ago by Chief Gary Harrison and other community members who wanted to revive the salmon in Chickaloon River. This was done by constructing a building next to Chickaloon River and creating a temporary hatching station for the salmon eggs as they would grow large enough to be released back into the river. This gave birth to a stable population of Salmon that would return each year and spawn again in the river while at the same time providing food. For hundreds of communities here in the north, salmon are the lifeblood of culture, song, dance and gatherings.

But Chickaloon and its surrounding communities have something evil lurking upon them. There is an open pit mine known as Wishbone Hill Coal Mine being forced upon the residents of Alaska. When I say forced I truly mean forced. The plans of Wishbone Coal Mine are simple: Take heavy machinery, crack open the surface of the earth and dig a huge hole in the ground for coal. The next step is to take the coal and ship it to Japan so that they can burn it to fuel their toys, electronics, bright dazzling city lights and everything else that makes them feel happy and not worry about the poison that was left behind in Chickaloon water and land.

"Open pit mines put holes in the earth where they never should have been"

And if you’re reading this and you might think there is an environmentally friendly way to have “Clean Coal” you might want to ask yourself if you’re losing your spirit. There is no such thing as clean coal. Those who advocate for clean coal must have never been to Chickaloon Alaska or any other mine for that matter. The company that wishes to poison the earth in Alaska with Wishbone Coal Mine is known as Usibelli, a U.S. based mining company. These corporate companies don’t care about your health or your food or your water. They come to the Alaskan residents pretending to be friendly and good neighbors to the local economy with the promise of jobs. It is a smokescreen. If Wishbone Hill Coal mine makes its way, it will poison the waters that the salmon use to regenerate, and the hard work of the Chickaloon community will be destroyed. The most powerful evidence that exists however that such companies like Usibelli don’t care about the well being of Alaskan residents is that they are willing to operate and continue their work without legal permits. I ask myself if there is anything I can do to help Chickaloon and surrounding communities to fight against the sick corporation that is waiting to poison their land and water. I can pray. Yet what does that mean I can pray for Chickaloon? If anyone reading this feels they can do anything more than just pray and wish them luck, it might be a good thing to research who is Usibelli, who owns this corporation and where do they live? Why do they want to send our land and resources to Japan? Is there really anything I or we can do other than just simply pray to help Chickaloon and save the salmon? Keep reading because I think the residents of Chickaloon are doing quite well at protecting their resources….as are other communities…..oh and I ask you this, are you praying yet?

Tanacross Village, Alaska U.S.A.

Allow me to pull way from the discussion of land and water and share with you about culture. Each passing I have made through Alaska, no other community has stood out when it comes to culture the way Tanacross has for me. Tanacross welcomed us with strong prayer, not the type that is met with holding of hands and asking the creator for blessings, but the prayer of song and dance. If anyone has been praying it is the men, women, children and elders of Tanacross. Arriving to this village has always been met with great food and entertainment that puts “dancing with the stars” or “so you thin you can dance” to shame. By the way, in case you are one of those persons, you are all wasting your life away watching others dance and out do each other for points just so that you can wait to hear them be told “that was great” or “that was the most awful thing ever” by some judges who get paid millions of dollars to sit there and promote poison to your mind and body.

Let me share with you what happened in Tanacross. We arrived, and we were fed by people from the village who also believe in the power of prayer. They just didn’t tell us they would pray for us, they put action behind their words and prepared a good meal, then they energized us by pulling us out of our chairs and sharing their dances with us, but that was not just it, they invited us to dance and we danced. This is the way creator made life, to share and dance and sing together for one another. This prayer was brought to life where the exchange of cultures between the people of Tanacross and we the runners, truly had meaning. There was no competing for who can be the most beautiful, graceful couple, or who could get the most txt votes. None of that mattered and it should never matter ever to anyone. I think that when we ourselves allow our lives to get such pleasure out of this type of entertainment, we are losing the prayer.

Think about this for a minute…..there are shows that exist to pull you away from the sacredness of life. People come out on a stage and compete to see who the best is. During breaks your mind is bombarded with tons of messages of what you should buy, what you should eat and what you should drink. These are obviously not gifts from the creator, they are fake products made from toxic materials, for you to buy. You are bombarded over and over to buy these things that were mined, exploited or transformed from their original form into chemically transformed products that will poison you. Now the break is over and you are back to see who is the best on the show….but you are reminded again, look behind the stage, the company of the soda pop that is telling you to buy their poison, and as the judge tells America whether or not the dancer or singer sucks, you are reminded one more time to buy the poisonous water if you look closely at the judges cup. Look closely, you are being told what to buy.

Come back to the prayer. In Tanacross this village knows how to pray. They have not allowed such corporations that bombard us every day with what to buy and who we should be to break their tradition. Their prayer is powerful and I ask myself or better yet I ask you who are reading this… do you now the song and dance of your people? Not just know them, but do you really know them? How often do you share those songs and dance with your family and friends? When the youth of our homes are allowed to spend more time practicing to kill people on video games (and believe me they are practicing to kill people) or using this computer to “learn” things and “communicate” I think there is lack of prayer. I have had my share or such video games and favorite shows in my lifetime and it was a waste of time. In fact it had no prayer or meaning to it. I was not using the gifts that the creator blessed me with. I think in Tanacross I realized that we runners are doing fine as we are hosted by such communities. How are you all doing back home? Are you ok? Are you praying?

Kluane First Nation, Burwash Landing - Yukon Canada

There is a conversation that resonates in my heart that I will never forget took place in Kluane First Nation. We were well received by the Chief and her family, given food and a nice place to stay at their gym and community center. It was not any of those things that are the reason this community is being mentioned. I will tell you why in just a bit.

Most runners had gone to shower or were in the other part of the building where we were going to rest. I chose to stay behind in the gym area where it was cold and dark. After some time had passed a short dark skinned native man with short black hair came walking in. He saw me and waved hello and walked towards the main gathering room where the other runners were, then after about 5 minutes he came over into the gym for reason that I think the other runners were just not too into talking with community members (that happens a lot at the start of this journey where runners seem to forget to engage with community). So then this man walked over to the Gym and said hello to me and started asking questions about the run and what we are doing. I shared with him we are doing a prayer run and this time around it is for the water, etc. etc. you know the usual Peace & Dignity FYI. This time it was different. This man said to me, “Let me ask you something since you say this is a healing run also to heal nations…” and I thought for a minute and said, “Sure go ahead.” and he said, “I always ask people this and I like to see what kind of response I get and I heard you mention the word healing so I thought I would ask you….what is healing to you, what does that mean to be healed?”

I told this man, “Wow you caught me off guard there, and no one has really asked me that in the way you are doing, but I will tell you what my thoughts are.”

“Ok let’s hear it.” he said.

“For me healing begins when the person who is suffering from whatever it is they are having a hard time with, first admits and identifies that they are hurting and that the person is in pain, then there is another part after that where the person not only figures out that they are hurting but they admit it and speak up about it and they share it with someone and finally, healing can only begin when that person ask for help or seeks help to that pain. Only then do I think that healing can happen. That is how I see it.”

The man stared at me and said, “That is very good…let me ask you, have you ever heard of the name Willie Blackwater?” I was not sure why he asked me this, cause it was very familiar and I connected it with residential schools in Canada (I may be U.S. born but I’m not ignorant to Canadian First Nations History) but I didn’t know why he was asking me this. So I said “Well not really, like you mean do I know him?” he said well my name is Willie Blackwater and I was the first one to come forward and talk about the damage that many of us went through in Residential schools here in Canada.”

I was astounded; I was actually having a discussion with Willie Blackwater. I only heard of the case but never thought I would meet the man. He went on to add that what I thought was my way of starting the healing process was a good way to look at it however he added something more powerful than I could imagine yet simple. He went on to share that when he came forward with all the suffering he went through in Residential Schools, he had to go through that process and identify those things that were hurting him, and ask for help and come forward. And he did. Willie Blackwater came forward and started the movement in Canadafor all those who could not come forward. It only took one to come forward and Willie Blackwater was the first case against the abuse, violence and sexual assaults that took place on thousands of native youth across Canada while attending residential schools. Willie Blackwater closed the conversation with this one important ingredient during our talk about what is necessary for healing. He said he had to forgive the people that hurt him.

Forgiving the people that caused him so much pain was the final step Willie said would heal him. He shared with me that he came to realize during all of the court hearings and the testimonies, that no lump sum of compensation would heal him, in the end he had to realize that his life was going to continue and the people who hurt him could either remain a pain to dwell on and let life pass him by, or forgive those persons as they too might need healing, and he can then go on enjoying his life knowing that he has to live his life for himself and not anyone can do it for him.

If you are reading this here is a clear message to you from me. If you have ever been a victim of sexual abuse, violence or any form of pain in your life, only you can choose to heal or not. If you want to be happy in your life but a pain from your past continues to resurface, you must first identify what that pain is and who caused it to you. If you now know what it is that is causing you pain, the next step is to choose whether you want to seek help or not and to do so you must talk about it to begin that healing. Finally, as I learned from my discussion with Willie Blackwater, you must forgive that person. Truly forgive that person and let them go so that you can continue to live your life the way creator intended it to be. Only then do I think someone can heal themselves. It was an honor to meet Willie and I hope this message stays engraved in your mind, whoever you are!

Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, Haines Junction - Yukon Canada

I mention this community because this was the next community after leaving Kluane First Nation where I met Willie Blackwater; I saw the exact process of the healing we discussed. As the runners arrived, we were hosted in the village community hall which was a place for healing and others who were trying to recover from substance abuse. One man in particular came to our closing circle and as comments were being made from the local community members, one man very thin slender but also very stern looking, spoke up a bit and said he wanted to talk and share some things too. He said it very confidently and then hesitated… he was quiet for a long time then began to look about the room and look up and around and took a deep breath. He then looked at all the sacred staffs and continued to do this and again mentioned there is a lot he wants to say but there is some things he cant talk about…he was very quiet for a long time and out of respect we all stood there in silence but also I could sense that he had been through a lot of pain. I could also sense that this man wanted to heal and he was doing that by trying to talk about it but he couldn’t….then he almost wanted to cry and said, “Ahh forget it.” and he walked away from the circle, some of the people in the circle encouraged him to come back but he went outside and walked away from the circle.

It didn’t matter that this man walked away. That was his strength. He was trying to heal and talk about it but he couldn’t arrive to that place yet. After our ceremony was over I went outside to greet him and said that he was a strong person for at least speaking up and sharing that he is hurting…he then said, “Can we talk about this somewhere else not here but like in private?” and I said “Sure.” which only meant take a few more steps away from the door. He said that he is still having a hard time from all the things done to him in residential school. Later this man found it in himself to come spend time with us, have dinner and just enjoy the evening talking and laughing. He is on this path to healing.

Good Hope Lake, British Columbia - Canada

Good Hope Lakeis a place where mining seems to be the general norm. There is an open pit gold mine that has already made parts of the landscape look ugly, but even worse is the contamination that has been left on one of the rivers, where the salmon will not come back. This community used to have a school back in 2000, I remember we slept there. Now it is closed down because the lack of students attending so it had to shut down. This I believe is part of a genocide method used by corporations. Good Hope Lake once had many people living in the community, but  just like all of us, we need money to make income to survive, and the only available jobs made available to the people in this region is mining. This forces families to move to larger cities and thus less people in the village means less children to teach the traditions of living on the land. There was an important prayer that we were asked to share in Good Hope Lake.

One day the goal is to bring back the school and protect those springs in the region that are still clean. Some of the watersheds are already contaminated but the community members are trying their best to produce well minded leaders that will assist in protecting those lands but it’s hard without a school. Multinational corporations are just waiting to bring jobs to the community at the cost of poisoning the region in Good Hope Lake. I learned that some of the mining done in the region and the one that stood out to me the most was mining for gold. Can you imagine that? How many of us purchase gold? How many of us have gold rings? Gold watches or just love gold in general? Is gold necessary for all of this technology and computers that we think is the future? If gold is so necessary for our future, then why must the extraction of it consist of destroying the land and especially contaminating the water? When I left Good Hope LakeI told the members of that community I would pray for them and they said they would pray for us. I know that many of you reading this believe in this prayer and prophecy. I just wonder if I am really praying for Good Hope Lake and should I take action and focus my prayer on purchasing a big screen television or supporting aerospace technologies that are supposed to be the future for children yet to come. Don’t take my word for it, but research for yourself. How much of our everyday purchases and actions are actually supporting the destruction of our resources. You may not see it, but we runners do. We see the open pit mines and clear cut burning forests, we pass by many lakes and rivers that look beautiful and precious but hidden within the chemical composition of those waters are toxic substances known to cause cancer. How many of you at home enjoy the luxuries you do without knowing that it is literally killing people, communities and resources in a place that is closer to you than you think? I will ask you again, are we really praying?

Iskut First Nation, British Columbia - Canada

Before I begin to discuss Iskut, I want to say that if you really want to buy something, don’t buy smokes, coffee or those DVDs. Buy a book called, The Sacred Headwaters: The Right to save the Skeena, Stikine and the Nass. It is a book by a man named Wade Davis and contains some of the most beautiful landscapes of what the Peace & Dignity runners encounter when we run through northern B.C. and keep in mind this book is not costly. It is about $30 and it can be ordered online. I am not trying to make anyone rich by promoting this book; I am merely trying to make the land of the Tahltan Territory stay rich in resources and animals that are interconnected with this region. The Sacred Headwaters is just the beginning of telling a story that is more ancient that anyone alive I know.

Iskut is a name everyone who cares to protect the land should know about. In 2004 we ran through Iskut and we were well received. The youth all ran with us through their village and community. It was like nothing ever before I had seen this far north. In 2008 I expected to see the same type of community involvement but I was taught a hard lesson. 2008, there was no community to receive us in Iskut like before because there was a major stealing of the land that was taking place. Shell Gas & Oil was making an attempt to drill for gas in the traditional region of the people of Iskut. This drilling would pollute the sacred headwaters, bringing in the salmon from the ocean all the way to the people so they can harvest for food. Not only do the people depend on the salmon but so do bears, eagles and many other animals and creatures we take for granted. In 2008 we were told this was happening and that a large group of elders known as the Klabona Keepers created a blockade. They literally dressed up in their traditional regalia, brought their drums and blocked the road from heavy trucks and equipment trying to make their way to destroy their traditional land. Much has changed. Iskut is still fighting the same greedy corporations this time one called Imperial Metals. Imperial Metals is based in Canadaand their Red Chris Mine poison project is proposed to take about 1.218 billion tonnes of copper, gold and silver. Their financial report for 2011 also boasts that they made a net income of 48.7 million dollars in 2011. This is where this company focuses their prayers.

Their action and energy is spent on calculating how much money they will make per year, by the amount of tonnes (1 tonne =1000 Kg) of metals they can dig out of the ground, which does not include the tonnes of dirt rock and gravel they will tear out of the earth to get to it. Did I also mention the water they will use to wash and clean the metals and then take that water and dump it into the watersheds that surround Iskut? When we arrived to Iskut I was reminded of the Chickaloon community fighting to keep a dirty coal mine out of their territory. A company such as Imperial Metals comes in and promises riches and wealth and great things, but in reality, they are only replicating the same lies since the landing of Christopher Columbus.

When the Peace & Dignity runners arrived to Iskut in 2008, an elder name Bertha Louie asked us to pray for her community, after telling us the story of the blockade against Shell. I honored my prayer by making sure I never purchased Shell gas which I am guilty of doing only twice in the past 4 years. When we arrived to Iskut this year for 2012, Shell was gone but another threat is alive in Iskut, that is the Red Chris gold and copper mine owned by Imperial Metals.

It was meant for us to be there at the time we arrived because those members of the Iskut community that still want to protect the sacred headwaters, were having a potluck at the site of the blockade and all I knew was that we could possibly camp out at that location, and we brought hope back to the community. The staff from 2008 has run across the continent and I have shared the story of Iskut with many. Just as we were celebrating in ceremony together, there was a loud machine noise outside of the wooden house made at the blockade campsite. It was a huge truck bringing in a bulldozing machine to take up the road to start the mine. Also later that day a huge gas tanker arrived that would fuel the machines in their journey towards destruction of the earth. All of this happened while the members of Iskut community thought their own elected officials were representing them well to protect the sacred headwaters and their traditional territory. In the 2011 annual report of Imperial Metals,  J. Brian Kynoch writes his President’s Message to show how much success and money they have made over the year. His letter includes comments such as;

“The mill throughput was maintained near the 2010 record level of 21,629 tonnes per day” or others similar comments “At the Red Chris property, 102 shallow reconnaissance drill holes and 14 diamond drill holes totalling 16,500 metres were completed in 2011.”

These are merely smokescreen words, sugar coated phrases in order to refrain from telling the truth. The actual translation of these words results in the fact that this corporation is tearing down mountains, clear cutting trees, poisoning communities and literally destroying precious resources. Towards the end of his letter he also writes that;

“These operations and developments would not have been possible without the efforts and support of our many employees, suppliers and stakeholders.”

Did you get that? Stakeholders are the key persons for such evil doing to our communities. People like you and me. People who invest and put their money towards these projects and expect a higher return each year for their money being put at stake, thus the term stakeholders. Stake holders are what makes a corporation function and in regards to Iskut and other communities that do not want mining to poison their community, stakeholders who guilty of putting their money into such investments and funding the destruction and contamination of the land and water. How do you think these stakeholders are praying? Are they praying to destroy and kill communities? I think they are. How do you as a person reading this, think the people at Iskut are praying? How about you? Do you feel communities like Iskut should have their water poisoned and way of life destroyed so that a small group of stake holders can get rich? I ask you again, are we really praying?

Gitxsan First Nation, Old Hazelton - British Columbia Canada

Nothing is more powerful than a group of hereditary Chiefs exercising their sacred and traditional right to tell a corporation known as Enbridge, NO! I will come back to this in a bit but for sake of sharing the history of Gitxsan First Nation, I recall the first arrival here in 2000 to a campground known as ‘Ksan. It is the location of an ancient gathering place between the Skeena and Bulkley rivers. I recall meeting a woman in 2000 who was married to a man from Jalisco Mexico and together they had two boys. These boys were trilingual and learning English, Spanish and the Gitxsan language. At that time, Gustavo was leading the Peace & Dignity Journeys. I recall us staying there about 3 days and meeting a lot of folks. In 2004 we stayed there again and two staffs were entrusted to us to pray for community members. We returned them in 2008 and we received a beautiful black and red button blanket which was meant for the eagle staff bundle. To this day the eagle staff is still wrapped in that blanket. As we arrived for 2012, we were again received well by the hereditary chiefs at the ‘Ksan campground yet there was a different prayer taking place. Many members unified to call themselves the Gitxsan Unity Movement. We were blessed to be received by them. Similar to other communities that have mentioned in this writing piece, it seems there has been a lie among the corporate media in Canada. According to Canada’s news sources they say that the Gitxsan Nation has signed on and accepted an equity deal, which simply means that the Gitxsan Nation will take money in exchange for the destruction of their land and water so that Enbridge can construct a $5.5 billion dollar twin pipeline project through Gitxsan traditional territory.

These news sources are also good at spreading their lies. The Gitxsan Unity Movement is the Gitxsan people, and non-native people who wish to preserve the land and water. It seems that Enbridge is making back door deals with the supposed elected leadership of the Gitxsan but the elders, the traditional chiefs do not support this as I think they know what would happen to the land if it is allowed. There is power in this Unity group saying NO! to Enbridge because when they say NO! they are telling Enbridge, their President and stakeholders that they do not want to gamble the sacredness of the land over a bet on who will give in and who will not.

Remember that stakeholders are people like you and me, maybe a bit more rich with money but they too are human. When these stakeholders are buying stock from Canadian based corporation know as Enbridge, they are playing a game with your life. They are making a bet like in a casino that the money they put at stake to Enbridge will be used to do whatever it takes to poison that land and construct a pipeline, and if it happens they win the bet and receive their rewards while the losers receive the toxic oil runoff into their water and food. The way I see it, Enbridge is no different than the first colonizers that came from Europe. It is a war, and the winners get the gold and riches if they can loot the community of Hazelton and the Gitxsan Unity Movement to give up and allow this rape of the earth. Yet they say NO! What will the stakeholders do ensure they win their bet?  Well I will leave that up to you to research that, but I can assure you that the Enbridge commercials I see here in Canadaof multicultural families looking happy and secure in their homes if the communities allow Enbridge to come into their land is a fallacy.

I encourage you to research who Enbridge is and learn what they will do with the $264 Million they earned as reported in the Enbridge 2012 first quarter report for shareholders.

The project Enbridge is proposing is known as the Northern Gateway Project. Of all the billions of dollars this corporation claims to spend on its projects, why is there no one willing to actually create and produce sustainable clean projects? Does every way of gathering material have to include a process where we poison the land thus poison ourselves? The status of the Gitxsan Unity Movement was to board up the Treaty office and hold setup a blockade to the Gitxsan Treaty Office. A fire has been lit outside and the hereditary Chiefs and other members of the community seem to be keeping guard. By doing this I think they have exercised their traditional and sacred right to tell corporations such as Enbridge, that they are not welcome and that Gitxsan Treaty Office does not support Enbridge at all. So If you read anywhere that Enbridge is supported by the Gitxsan Nation, you are being lied to again and again. You ant make deals when the office is closed and we runners have witnessed this first hand. Saying NO! to Enbridge is sends a clear message that the Gitxsan pray for the land and that they choose the way of love and care for the gifts given by the creator. When we ran through this community, we felt the power that is on the side of those who stand up against such evil corporations. That feeling is the feeling of god! It was very clear to me that the Gitxsan Unity Movement is praying for us and for the land and water; they proved that to us by their actions. They refuse money in exchange for poison. How about you? Are you aware of the poisons being dumped or proposed to be dumped in your community? Are you supporting such destruction? Are you sure? Think again. Are you really praying?

Conclusion

To close this portion of this writing I want to say that i am not sure if I will give another update. It is not easy to maintain so many things on the Peace & Dignity Journeys but I will say that if another update might depend on the feedback I receive.

If this reading makes you think, i am glad it did. I wanted to give a different perspective on how we are doing and what we encounter as Peace & Dignity runners from another lens rather than the cut and dry, “Oh we are doing great running lots of miles” cause that is the obvious. What I am realizing as time passes is that I am wondering how you are doing back home in civilization. Of all the things I mentioned I wonder who the people are that are leading these sick, evil projects.

How sick are some of these decision makers that they have to be told by those below them that the decision they are making is sick and destroying the water?

The way of life as we enjoy it is generally infested with sickness and I ask you folks reading this…..why do you continue to subscribe to it? Why are you so happy with your smokes, alcohol, drugs and poison infested lifestyles that it is literally killing us? Why do we not go back to the ways of living in the bush? Dancing and singing in ceremony the way we were reminded in Tanacross. Why do we cling to this electronically connected, gassed up, supersize, drugged up, Timmy Horton/Starbucks caffeinated, dependent lifestyle?

I personally want to be free. I want to paddle the rivers and lakes by canoe. I want to run the trails that connect us to each other for sharing of song, food and dance. I want to fish for food, hunt for my meat and be by the fire and water.

I can live without the computer, the cell phone, the 9-5 job, the loud city, and the disgusting trash filled civilization. The question is... can you do the same? Can you do the same if it means saving the earth and preserving the land and water for all the communities I mentioned and even more? What is your prayer? If many of us are still addicted and can’t live without many of sicknesses I mentioned above, then what are you really praying for? Again I ask you whoever you are reading this….are we really praying?