Honoring Indigenous Peoples, Cultures, Histories
and Current Issues
Land Acknowledgment: We give respect to the ancestors and current Native peoples whose homeland we are living on; people who took and still take care of the land and live in right relationship with the Earth: the many Native American nations on Turtle Island and the many Indigenous peoples across our beautiful Earth. We live on land taken from them along with many of their lives.
We do this acknowledgment as an invitation to remember and bring transformation to the effects of that difficult history and to learn from Native peoples about living in intimate and kinship relationships with all Earth forms and one another.
The nonprofit Our Sacred Earth is located on the land of the Apache, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Ute and 48 tribes who lived and honored these lands in Colorado.
“As humans we know that when we live in reciprocity with nature, we all benefit.”
Natasha Deganello GIraudie from Caracas, Venezuela, director of the film OneWord.org
“Indigenous wisdom or Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) … is humanity's most intimate understanding of the Earth's ecosystems; it is living wisdom ... lives, breathes and grows inside people in our interactions with the land, the river, the forest ....” and all life forms.
Michael “Pom” Preston of the Winnemem Wintu tribe
While comprising 5% of the world’s population, Indigenous people steward and protect 80% of the biodiversity on the planet.
Haudenosaunee Greetings of Thankfulness to the Natural World:
Our Sacred Earth invites you into right relationship with Indigenous people by first educating yourself, reading and listening to Indigenous/Native American and Alaskan Native voices.
1st: Find out who were the original peoples where you now live: https://native-land.ca/
2nd: Seek resources from Indigenous/Native American voices to learn more:
Compiled by subject matter a list of written and video sources https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BS4sfRqFqdOMLtwnXRq-igK3TI4cUnMOqlpRyS29tOU/edit
/how create this as hidden address under word resources /
Be selective about your sources: See this suggested list of criteria: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11E18Peli3oOmP1j19ZlvG3u9qSWQTG6XK2eD9pL-j_k/edit
3rd: Share and educate: In October 2021, Our Sacred Earth co-sponsored with Right Relationship Boulder, the Museum of Boulder and the American Indian Youth Leadership Institute the program Indigenous Resources for Teachers. See the resources for educating, including complete lesson plans: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YERe6JRrafSciNcAt2RFyWWdORKAmuwgYBUWo6D6LCc/edit#slide=id.gefe8d14275_0_17
4th: Reciprocate, a fundamental practice of most Native/Indigenous tribes. When something is given, we give back and offer gratitude. Giving back can be done through sharing what you learn, contributing to Indigenous organizations and signing up for their email communications, learning what legislative action is needed, what campaigns to support and so on.
Information and examples of campaigns and issues related to Indigenous peoples; please explore and contribute:
Local to Colorado:
—Land Back, Education, Restoration: People of the Sacred Land and Rick Williams
—Radioactive waste from the White Mesa Mill is contaminating groundwater in the Ute Mountain Ute tribal community.
—Re-naming of Mount Evans (Gov. Evans put out a proclamation in 18?? to kill hostile Indians, which engendered the Sand Creek Massacre. The proclamation wasn’t rescinded until 2021 ? by Gov. Jared Polis.)
—Boulder’s Fort Chambers’ relationship to the Sand Creek Massacre: a recorded radio program. Listen after first 3 min. to a presentation followed by call-in questions/answers: 55 min.
United States
—Stop the Enbridge tar sands pipeline from Canada going through Anishinaabe land as Pipeline 3 and Pipeline 5. See their latest news: https://www.stopline3.org/
—Granting federal recognition to tribes: Find out if the tribes local to your state have gained recognition and, if not, support them in their efforts. Info: https://ncai.org/policy-issues/tribal-governance/federal-recognition and https://www.bia.gov/as-ia/ofa
—Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) — Does your state have legislation in place to honor the needs of MMIW? For more understanding:
—
Global
The Maijuna of the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest
Need our support of their efforts to call for consultation with the Peruvian government to stop the national highway being built through their land and harming their culture and survival:
--please sign the petition:
--show a film screening of Guardians of the Forest to raise awareness about the Maijuna's efforts-- (if interested, email mgilmore@oneplanet-ngo.org) .
NOTE: I served as a Peace Corp volunteer in Peru and am highly concerned about the protection of the Amazon rainforest and the Indigenous people who live there, on behalf of all life on the planet.
Ecuador: California is the world’s largest consumer of oil from the Amazon rainforest. Bioneers Conference 2022 featured two leading Indigenous Amazonian forest protectors, sisters Nina and Helena Gualinga, who work closely with our friends at Amazon Watch as they appeal to Californians (and all of us) to #EndAmazonCrude.
Please Join Us ~
In a Global Grid of Ceremonies offering Apologies to the Original Peoples & their Ancestors, to bring Reconciliation & Healing Forward.
Sunday, March 19th, 2023 (your time zone)
For Boulder Ceremony: email OurSacredEarth@outlook.com
This world-wide Unified Field of ceremonies has been requested by a number of Indigenous Ancestors from the Spirit Plane, along with Mother Gaia. It is a project of The Great Mother Love Way.
Our Sacred Earth has been collaborating with Right Relationship Boulder since 2017 through the work of our Executive Director Bonnie Sundance. See info about that work at www.RightRelationshipBoulder.org Right Relationship refers to complex threads of connection between natives and non-natives with a focus on equity, respect, and understanding.