Phil Lane Jr.'s Posts - The Four Worlds International Institute2024-03-19T02:37:53ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejrhttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1543062976?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://www.fwii.net/profiles/blog/feed?user=280aj0jr2h4nv&xn_auth=noThe TLC Funds' first community project is a TLC Playground and Basketball Court, for the children and young people of the Community of Wakpala, the People of Chief Gall, on the Standing Rock Sioux Re…tag:www.fwii.net,2020-06-22:2429082:BlogPost:1690872020-06-22T16:59:40.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<div class=""><div class="_1mf _1mj"><span>The TLC Funds' first community project is a TLC Playground and Basketball Court, for the children and young people of the Community of Wakpala, the People of Chief Gall, on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.</span></div>
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<div class=""><div class="_1mf _1mj"><span>The Wakpala Spiritual Unity Society will facilitate planning and construction.</span></div>
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<div class=""><div class="_1mf _1mj"><span>The story of Tonja Toni's prior…</span></div>
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<div class=""><div class="_1mf _1mj"><span>The TLC Funds' first community project is a TLC Playground and Basketball Court, for the children and young people of the Community of Wakpala, the People of Chief Gall, on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.</span></div>
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<div class=""><div class="_1mf _1mj"><span>The Wakpala Spiritual Unity Society will facilitate planning and construction.</span></div>
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<div class=""><div class="_1mf _1mj"><span>The story of Tonja Toni's prior involvement with the community of Wakpala is shared below.</span></div>
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<div class=""><div class="_1mf _1mj"><span>All who contribute to the TLC Playground and Basketball Court, whatever the amount, will be honored and surrounded in thankful love and prayers. Your names enshrined and remembered with Tonja Toni.</span></div>
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<div class=""><div class="_1mf _1mj"><span>Tonja Toni and our Dakota people deeply love and appreciate the Generosity of Spirit, which is not measured in material riches.</span></div>
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<div class=""><div class="_1mf _1mj"><span>When given with the Generosity of Spirit, even the smallest amount, the TLC Playground and Basketball Court will be actualized by October 2020.</span></div>
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<div class=""><div class="_1mf _1mj"><span>Your sharing the Vision and Work of the TLC FUND, with other friends and relatives, is greatly appreciated, as well as, your prayers for TLC.</span></div>
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<div class=""><div class="_1mf _1mj"><span>Tonja Toni, also, assisted us to establish a Cryptocurrency Account, to support this Community Development Initiative, as well as, Uplifting the Voices, Vision, and Presence of Indigenous Children, Young People, and Elders, in all dimensions of Social Media.</span></div>
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<div class=""><div class="_1mf _1mj"><span>Four Worlds Exodus Crypto account is: bc1q76vp0yurcsn9fdwjzf0880ll9l99yy0jtnfcpc</span></div>
</div>FREEDOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS, AN INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVEtag:www.fwii.net,2020-06-06:2429082:BlogPost:1687752020-06-06T04:00:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="s1"><b>Presented by theYear 2000 Recipient of the Swiss Foundation for Freedom and Human Rights, International Award for Freedom and Human Rights</b></span></span></p>
<p class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="s1"><b>Hereditary Chief Phil Lane, Jr., </b></span><span class="s1"><b>Bern, Switzerland November 11, 2000…</b></span></span></p>
<p class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="s1"><b>Presented by theYear 2000 Recipient of the Swiss Foundation for Freedom and Human Rights, International Award for Freedom and Human Rights</b></span></span></p>
<p class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="s1"><b>Hereditary Chief Phil Lane, Jr., </b></span><span class="s1"><b>Bern, Switzerland November 11, 2000</b></span></span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">My very respected friends and relatives of the Human Family, it is my hope and prayer that you and your loved ones are in the very best of health and happiness.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">I want to extend a heartfelt thanksgiving to the Swiss Foundation for Freedom and Human Rights for the great honor you have bestowed not only upon me, but also upon the many dedicated friends and relatives that have guided, inspired, and supported my work over the years, on behalf of Indigenous people and the Human Family.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Your award is deeply honored, respected, and appreciated.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">I also extend my warm, respectful, and loving greetings and handshake to my brother and fellow award recipient, the much respected Akim Birdal from the great Kurdish Tribes and Nation, who has given a lifetime of dedicated service and sacrifice to uplift the freedom and human rights of his Kurdish Peoples. I pray that your dreams and hopes for the happiness, health, and prosperity of the Kurdish Peoples will be completely fulfilled.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">In fact, may all of us who are gathered here together today, join forces to help bring about a future in which all members of the human family, both individually and as different communities and spiritual traditions, fully realize the deepest meaning of freedom and human rights.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Realizations of freedom and human rights that will fully empower us to manifest a world whose sacred hallmark is unity in diversity.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">Earlier in my spiritual journey my Grandfather, Frank White Buffalo Man, shared with me another spiritual insight and understanding that relates, among other things, of how we must also learn to respect, honor, love, support, and understand each other as different nations, tribes, communities, peoples, religions, and cultures of the human family and the spiritual qualities needed to be victorious in manifesting freedom and human rights. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He said, “You know grandson, the Great Spirit has given all people wisdom.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> To every living thing, he has given something special.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Some people receive their knowledge and understanding through books.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> In your life grandson, you too must read and study books, but remember to take with you on your journey only those things that bring more unity within yourself and others, that bring goodness and understanding and help us to serve one another in better ways.”</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">“The Great Spirit,” he continued, “also gave our Indigenous people and all other people who live close to Mother Earth, both wisdom and knowledge through dreams, visions, fasting, and prayer, and the ability to see the lessons the Creator has put in every part of creation.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Look at those trees standing over there; the alder does not tell the pine tree to move over, the pine does not tell the fir tree to move over, each tree stands together in unity, their mouths pressed toward the same Mother Earth, refreshed by the same breeze, warmed by the same sun, with their arms upraised in prayer and thanksgiving, protecting one another.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> If we are to have peace and true freedom in the world,” he said, “we too must learn to live like those trees.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Look, grandson, at the beautiful teachings the Creator has put in the little stream.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Feel the water and see how gently and lovingly it touches your hands.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> It travels through deserts, mountains, and many places, but it never turns its back on anyone or anything.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Even though it gives life to all living things, it is very humble, for it always seeks the very lowest spot.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> But it has great faith, power, and patience for even if a mountain stands in its path, it keeps moving and moving until finally that mountain is washed into the sea and is no more.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> These are spiritual gifts that the Creator has given each one of us and if we are to be happy within ourselves and with one another, and find true freedom, we too must develop these sacred gifts,” he concluded.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">We know from our ancient Indigenous teachings that the sacred eagle of humanity has two perfectly balanced and harmonious wings—one representing woman and one representing man. In all our relationships as women and men, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, we must join together to eliminate all forms of disrespect, mistreatment, prejudice, or lack of sharing in the responsibility of raising all of the humanities children.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">It is only through understanding, experiencing, developing and manifesting our spiritual nature and capacities as human beings, in harmony and balance with our physical nature, will we be able to fully understand the ancient spiritual truth that “the hurt of one, is the hurt of all and the honor of one, is the honor of all.”</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">In fact, even the scientific world is echoing this sacred truth.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> With work on the human genome now substantially complete, the clear result is, except for a few superficial surface features, that we, the human family are all 99.9% the same.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> We are all related!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> We are much more alike than we are different!</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">Therefore, we also need to respect and honor all the different Spiritual Traditions and Sacred Teachings of the human family, that help us to become more loving, kind, forgiving, gentle, and just human beings.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> In fact, if we look deeply, we will find that each of our Spiritual Traditions teaches us to love and respect others and their loved ones, as we would want others to love and respect ourselves and our loved ones. </span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">It is with this spirit of love, respect, truth, and understanding that we need to respect, honor, and protect the Holy Places of all members of the human family.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">When I traveled to the sacred lands of the great tribes of Israel and Palestine, I prayed at the Wailing Wall, a Holy Place of Prayer of the great tribes of Israel for so many centuries, and I felt the Spirit of the Creator.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> When I prayed at those Holy Places held sacred by the great Christian tribes, I felt the Spirit of the Creator and when I prayed at the Dome of the Rock Mosque on the Temple Mount and other Holy Places held sacred by the great tribes of Islam, I felt the Spirit of the Creator.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> I equally felt the Spirit of Creator at the Buddhist and Hindu Holy Places that I made a spiritual pilgrimage to in both Thailand and India, just as I always feel the Spirit of the Creator at the Holy Places held sacred by Indigenous Peoples around the world.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Even more important is the full realization that every Holy Place, every Sacred Site, on Mother Earth, is simply a reflection of that divine Holy Place that resides in the sacredness of every human heart and soul.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">I look forward with great hope and expectation to the day when all of humanities’ Holy Places will be considered to be part of the infinite spiritual heritage and divine treasury of all members of the human family and will be governed accordingly, as Holy Places of international peace and unity, and not the source of war, hatred, revenge, or conflict.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">For until we fully understand and experience that all members of the human family are intimately related and that our greatest honor, privilege, responsibility, and meaning is to love, serve, understand, and respect our own sacred divinity and the sacredness of all life, there will be no ultimate justice, freedom, and human rights. </span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">Only when our hearts experience the divine reality that there is only one race, the human race and that Mother Earth is the common spiritual heritage of all living beings, will we then be able to develop the economic, educational, social and political systems that are life-preserving, life-sustaining, and everlasting.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Then and only then, will we be able to completely eliminate the growing extremes of wealth and poverty that is being supported and fuelled by the spirit destroying sickness of unbridled materialism and consumerism.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> For a spiritually enlightened Human Family would never tolerate a world where 80% of our beloved family members live in substandard housing, where 70% of our beloved family members are unable to read and write, where 50% of our beloved family members suffer from malnutrition and survive on less than $2.00 [U.S. dollars] a day, an unbalanced world where only 6% of humanity possesses 60% of the world’s wealth.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> A world where our beloved Mother Earth and her many life forms are on the verge of complete destruction in the name of economic progress and selfish consumption by a small minority of the human family. </span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">It is with this spiritual vision and understanding that the Indigenous people that we serve and work with are beginning to rise up in fulfillment of our sacred prophecies.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Sacred prophesies that foretold that after going through a very long spiritual wintertime, a time of great suffering and spiritual testing, there would come, as sure as the sun rises, a great spiritual springtime that would unfold, slowly but steadily, with ever-increasing beauty and healing in every direction.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> These ancient prophecies also foretold that as our Indigenous people heal themselves and their communities, that we will have a greater and greater role to play in the positive unfolding of this dynamic change we are all experiencing. This world-encompassing change that will eventually transform the spiritual understanding and consciousness of every human being, tribe, and nation on Mother Earth.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">To achieve this great, promised future before us, we must learn to walk the spiritual path with practical feet and fully translate our dreams and visions into living examples and models of what this change will actually look like.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> By walking the path, we make the path visible.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">It was for this very purpose in December 1982, on the high plains of Alberta, forty wise, respected, and dedicated elders, spiritual leaders, and community members from different tribal societies across North America came together for four days and nights of in-depth purposeful consultation.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Our common purpose was to develop a model of human and community development, inspired and guided by organizing principles, values, strategies, and processes of sustainable change, healing, and development, all deeply rooted in the natural laws that are at the inmost heart and core of tribal cultures throughout Mother Earth, that would enable us to free ourselves from the hurt and oppression of the past and present.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">From this humble beginning – perfectly synchronized with a full eclipse of the moon, and empowered, guided and sustained by an ever-deepening understanding of the natural laws, prophecies, spiritual values, wisdom and prayers formally shared with us over the past nineteen years by the many tribal elders, who have so patiently and faithfully assisted our humble efforts – we have steadfastly continued our healing journey into the new millennium towards the promised time of unity and prosperity for Indigenous peoples and the human family long foretold by our ancient prophecies.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">In the Western Hemisphere, this emerging network of unity is called the “Reunion of the Condor and Eagle”, the joining together of Indigenous tribes and nations of South, Central, and North America and the Caribbean in a comprehensive trade and social development network that is destined, according to our ancient prophesies, to eventually embrace Indigenous tribes, peoples, and nations everywhere.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">At the heart of the formal process of the Reunion of the Condor and Eagle, are Sixteen Principles for Building a Sustainable World that emerged from a formal consultation process over the past eighteen years with hundreds of Indigenous elders and spiritual leaders from across North America and internationally. These Sixteen principles form the spiritual foundation for the first International Indigenous Trade and Social Development Agreements that have been signed with other Indigenous peoples in the Commonwealth of Dominica and the United States of Mexico. We are also in discussions with other Indigenous peoples of the Americas to initiate similar agreements that will further expand our Indigenous trade and social development network in greater and greater circles of unity.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">Fundamental to the success of these initiatives is the healing of the oppression, abuse, hurt, and injustice of the past and present.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Without question, any human being, tribe, community, or nation is as sick as it’s darkest secrets.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> and fully If we do not face up to resolve the abuse, oppression, and injustice of the past, from all perspectives, these destructive patterns will continue to destroy our future.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> We need to fully understand that only abused people, abuse people, only oppressed people, oppress people, and only hurt people, hurt people.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">Therefore, only by healing our own abuse, oppression, and hurt can we be assured that we will not continue the same abusive, oppressive and hurtful patterns of behavior that we ourselves, have suffered from. </span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">This means we must stop blaming others for the conditions in which we find ourselves. We must also completely dedicate ourselves to developing the human and spiritual capacities to transform that which is oppressing us.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> For as long as we continue to blame others for our current condition, we will continue to give away our own sacred power to grow and develop, and ultimately overcome that which oppresses us.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> It is a sacred truth that we will only be able to overcome that which oppresses us when our spiritual values, consciousness, and strength become even greater than that of the oppressor.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">To achieve this promised future the moral, spiritual, and material support of the great tribes and nations of Europe is vitally needed by the Indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> This support will help empower Indigenous people; this support will enable us to have the freedom, independence, support, and capacity to consult with and negotiate new social, cultural, economic, and political relationships with the larger and physically more powerful Nation States that surround us in the Western Hemisphere.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> As an elder once told me, “Grandson, it is very difficult to negotiate with somebody who is giving you the money to negotiate with them.” </span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">Finally, I want to thank the government of my beloved Canada for their heartfelt support of our international work on behalf of Indigenous peoples.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Although we have very critical domestic issues that we need to resolve together, like the heartbreaking legacy of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools and the resolution of long-standing Indigenous land claims, Canada is a world leader in promoting international Indigenous to Indigenous trade and social development initiatives.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">I have complete faith in the guiding spiritual principles of our elders, along with the courage and dedication to utilize their wisdom that we will be completely victorious on the path to a peaceful and equitable future. When we enhance the capacity of our Indigenous brothers and sisters we will find that we have the power and ability to carefully and lovingly remove any barriers that have limited the development of our full potential as human beings and communities. As the Ancient Ones have taught us, “The greater the challenge in our path, the greater the opportunity for our growth and ultimate victory.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> We can always become more than we have ever been before.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">Therefore, it is my deepest prayer that with every new sunrise, we can recognize more and more that the most sacred and holy of all the wonderful ceremonies and gifts that the Creator has given us is the birth of a child, and that everything we can do to provide our children and communities with the best possible future is a sacred gift, privilege, and responsibility.</span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;">Is not the moment long, long overdue, through the unfailing power and love of our good Creator, for us to free ourselves completely from the hurt of both the past and present, so we may truly soar with the freedom of majestic condors and eagles to the promised greatness of our sacred destiny and future as honored members of our Human Family.</span></p>
<p class="p3"></p>Swiss Foundation for Freedom and Human Rights International Award for Freedom and Human Rightstag:www.fwii.net,2020-06-05:2429082:BlogPost:1687772020-06-05T15:30:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p class="p1" style="text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;"><b><span class="s1">Swiss Foundation for Freedom and Human Rights International Award for Freedom and Human Rights~Laudatorio, </span>Hereditary Chief Phil Lane Jr., 11/</b></span><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>11, 2000 - Berne, Switzerland</b></span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span class="s1" style="font-size: 14pt;"><i>There is a well known Dakota teaching…</i></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" class="p1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><b><span class="s1">Swiss Foundation for Freedom and Human Rights International Award for Freedom and Human Rights~Laudatorio, </span>Hereditary Chief Phil Lane Jr., 11/</b></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><b>11, 2000 - Berne, Switzerland</b></span></p>
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<p class="p4"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><i>There is a well known Dakota teaching story called “The Great Wolf and Little Mouse Sister,” in which a tiny, insignificant mouse feels compassion for a great wolf that has lost his eyes because of his greed, arrogance, and foolishness.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> As the story opens, the Wolf is howling, crying, and flailing the ground in despair.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Now he is blind.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> How can he hunt?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> How will he survive?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The little mouse should have had the good sense to stay away, for, after all, she was nothing more than a small bite of food to a wolf.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Anyway, what could she possibly do to help?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> And yet something called her, and she bravely approached the Wolf with curiosity and compassion in her heart.</i></span></p>
<p class="p5"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><i>We live in a world in which many of the great wolves of power have lost their eyes.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> And because they lead nations and influential organizations, their blindness plunges many others besides themselves into darkness.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> When these powerful self-centered beasts become desperate and afraid or are absorbed in self-interest, they often hurt vulnerable people within their reach.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Sometimes they do it intentionally to deflect opposition to themselves onto a convenient scapegoat.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Other times, they simply roll over little people without really even consciously realizing what they are doing.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> When the great wolves are blind, we are all in danger.</i></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">[Pause]</span></p>
<p class="p7"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Phil Lane Jr. was born at Haskell Indian Residential School, where his mother, Lena Parker Vale, and his father Philip Nathan Lane Sr. first met and later married.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Having tribal ancestors that made all of North America their home, he is a citizen of both Canada and the United States.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Although he considers Canada home, he is a real North American of Turtle Island.</span></p>
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<p class="p9"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">From the European perspective of hereditary leadership, Phil was born of true “royalty” in every meaning of that word; he is an ancient lineage of hereditary spiritual and political leadership that has never compromised nor surrendered their age-old promises to serve the best interests of the people with justice, compassion, respect, nobility, love, and courage in the face of the greatest adversities and challenges.</span></p>
<p class="p9"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">In 1992 Phil, himself, was formally recognized as a hereditary Chief, following in the footsteps of those that went before him, through a traditional headdress ceremony conducted by respected tribal elders from across North America.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> This sacred headdress ceremony was respective, operates with the awareness of the spiritual dimension of human existence, and demonstrates concrete actions of the benefit for humans and all living systems of the Earth. Other Windstar winners include Oceanologist Jacques-Yves Cousteau; Yevgeni Velikhov, Vice President of the Soviet Academy of Sciences; Wangari Maathai, founder of Kenya’s Greenbelt Movement.</span></p>
<p class="p9"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">On his father’s side, Phil’s great-grandfather was Chief Philip Deloria or Teepee Sapa (Black Lodge), who raised Phil’s father during his younger years, after the young boy’s beloved mother died at an early age from tuberculosis.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Along with being a hereditary Chief and Spiritual Leader of the White Swan Dakotas, Chief Deloria, without ever rejecting or demeaning Dakota traditional ways, also became an Anglican Minister.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">For forty years, Chief Deloria ministered to the spiritual and physical needs of the Great Sioux Nation, as well as representing his Dakota people of the Yankton Sioux Tribe in their on-going treaty negotiations with the U.S. government.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> In 1936, in honor of his noble character, selfless service, and dedication to uplifting his people, Chief Deloria’s image was included as one of the 60 Saints of the Ages whose statues grace the High Altar of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">A generation earlier, Phil’s Great-Great-Grandfather, Owl Man (Teepee Sapa’s father), was also a traditionally recognized Chief, as well as the leader of his people’s “Holy Man’s Society.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> As a Head Chief, Owl Man represented the Dakota people in meetings at the White House in Washington, D.C., and in the signing of the 1858 Treaty with the U.S. Government.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">It was Owl Man that carefully trained the horse, Eagle Claws, and the rider, Brown Bear, that slew the White Buffalo, as prophesied, and whose hereditary lineage of leadership is the recipient of the spiritual understanding, power, and vision symbolized and empowered by the prophesied act of slaying this White Buffalo.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He was also widely known and respected for his great healing powers as a Holy Man and a Spiritual Visionary.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">On his mother’s side, Phil’s great-grandfather was John Wesley Parker, a full-blooded Chickasaw, who was raised by his aunt and uncle (who was the Governor (Chief) of the Chickasaw Nation), after his parents died tragically on the Trail of Tears. The infamous Trail of Tears occurred when the U.S. Military force-marched the Chickasaw people over 1,000 miles through the dead of winter from Tennessee to the Oklahoma Territory.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Many of the Chickasaws died of starvation, exhaustion, and the bitter, freezing cold.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">John Wesley Parker spoke 17 different Native American languages and served as the Official Translator between the many different tribes who lived in the Oklahoma Territory.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He was also Commissioner of the Chickasaw Nation, a Senator and President of the Chickasaw Senate, and a representative to the Chickasaw Legislature.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He was known throughout the Oklahoma Territory as a man of great integrity and wisdom.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Phil’s beloved parents have continued this age-old traditional lineage of spiritual leadership and service.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Over the years, they both have been publicly recognized through various prestigious awards and honorary positions for their lifetime of dedicated service to indigenous people.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> They both are regarded as among the most respected and well-loved tribal elders of North America.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">At 85 years of age, Phil’s father still loves to ride and train quarter horses, and Phil’s mother, who is 82, is still very active at home and in serving the community. Phil’s beloved Sister, Deloria and her husband Jacob Bighorn have also, dedicated their lives in service to the people.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">From his childhood, Phil’s father and mother never let Phil forget that he inherited an important legacy of responsibilities for service and leadership among his people from the lineages of both his father and his mother.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> As well, Phil’s Chickasaw grandmother Ella Parker Vale, his Chickasaw aunt Marlema Vale Dugan and his Cherokee aunt Dr. Lee Piper were particularly influential in instilling a sense of destiny and a deep connection to his indigenous cultural roots.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> On his Dakota side, Phil’s grandmother Ella Deloria and grandfather Vine Deloria Sr. and his uncles Vine Deloria Sr., Samuel Deloria, and his Hunka father, Lionel Kinunwa (Comes Home Swimming), also, served as inspirational role models. His father sometimes reminded him of an old Dakota teaching that said,</span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">Friend, do it this way.</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">When a man stands in the hoop of the people,</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">he must be responsible</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">because he does not stand-alone.</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">Many others stand behind him,</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">depending on him, praying for his success.</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">Not only his living relatives but also</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">those who have gone on to the spiritual world</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">and those who are yet unborn;</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">all of these stand with him.</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">And so when a man stands in the hoop of the people,</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">he must be responsible.</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">And when he has a need and wants to serve the people</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">he must ask for what he needs</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">with the pure heart of the Creator.</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">And when he asks what he needs in that way to serve the people,</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">he must have no trace of doubt</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">that what he has asked</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">will be given to him</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">according to his needs.</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p10"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">Then exactly as he has asked,</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p11"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><em><span class="s1">that is the way it will be.</span></em></span></p>
<p class="p7"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">performed during the same occasion that Phil received the prestigious Windstar Award, presented annually by the late John Denver and the Windstar Foundation to a global citizen whose personal and professional life exemplifies commitment to a global pe</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="s1">True to the inner meaning of his sacred Dakota names (Shunkmanu — a Leader of Warriors Who Takes the Enemies Best Horses</span><span class="s2">,</span> <span class="s1">given when he was 12 by his grandfather, Walter Strong Heart, and Chanupa Sapa — A Sacred Black Pipe of Peace, Born of Thunder, Lightning, and Rain, given when he was 24 by his grandfather, Frank White Buffalo Man) Phil was eventually to travel to many lands and peoples in order to gain further knowledge, wisdom and understanding that would be used to bring healing, peace, and development to Indigenous people.</span></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">When Phil was eighteen years old – having just graduated from Walla Walla High School (in Walla Walla, Washington) as senior class president, an award-winning football, wrestling and track champion, and all-around the wild character – he decided to “see the world.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> So he and a friend hitchhiked to New York City and worked their way on a freighter across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> They then hitchhiked across Europe and eventually were drawn to East Berlin. Phil felt led by a powerful curiosity to understand who the real people were behind the “Iron Curtain,” and “the Soviet Menace” he had been taught was the enemy for most of his life.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">And so one day he went across “Checkpoint Charlie”, walked up the steps of the Embassy of the USSR in East Berlin, and rang the bell beside the huge double doors.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> His ringing echoed within hollow and long.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He waited and rang again.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> A voice spoke through the speaker beside the door, first in Russian, then in German<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> (presumably asking who he was and what he wanted.)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> When the voice stopped, obviously expecting an answer, Phil gave greetings in English.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> There was a long pause and then someone said very loud in English, “Who is this?”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Phil was so surprised he blurted out “Hello.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> It’s Phil from Walla Walla.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> I would like to speak to someone.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">After some time, one of the big doors opened, and a Russian who spoke perfect English invited Phil to come inside the Embassy.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> They talked for more than three hours about why the United States and the Soviet Union saw each other as enemies, the politics of Cuba, and how they all wanted the same things for their children, and how perhaps one day the walls would be taken down.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> They had tea and parted as friends.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Phil learned from that experience that every issue has many sides and that each perspective must be carefully and respectfully considered.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> As his tribal Elders taught him, you should never judge another human being until you have walked at least a mile in their moccasins.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">[Pause]</span></p>
<p class="p5"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><i>Remember the little mouse?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The great blind Wolf?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The story says the Wolf lost his eyes because he was very selfish, arrogant, and foolish (another story tells how he was tricked out of them by four weasels and that they were able to trick him because he was already blind in his heart).</i></span></p>
<p class="p5"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><i>Well, our story goes on to tell how the little mouse felt great compassion for the wounded Wolf, once so noble and proud and strong.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> She marched right up to where he was laying with his face on the ground and she stood before him.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “Great Wolf, why are you crying?” she said.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “Because I lost my eyes and now I cannot see,” answered the Wolf.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “Don’t cry,” she said, “I will help you.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “You?” he said,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “What can you do?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> You’re just a little mouse.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “My mother taught me always to give my very best,” she said, “I will give you my eyes.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> And before the Wolf could even respond, she popped out her eyes and placed them gently in the sockets where Wolf’s eyes had been.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> And suddenly, he leaped into the air and whooped and howled and danced for joy.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “I can see,” he said.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “I can see.”</i></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="s1">[Pause]</span><span class="s3"><i> </i></span></span></p>
<p class="p7"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><b>Formative years</b></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">As a child and as a young man, Phil Lane, Jr. was taught his tribal traditions and responsibilities by his mother and father as well as his grandparents and extended family.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> As well, he served as an altar boy in the Anglican Church.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">His parents never let him forget that his legacy of leadership and service among his tribal people carried great spiritual responsibilities.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> As a young boy, his parents and elders filled his heart and mind with the courageous stories of the sacrifice, dedication, and selfless service of those loved ones who had gone before him.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">He learned to respect, appreciate, and practice the traditional teachings of his people as well as to respect and appreciate the other spiritual and cultural traditions of the human family.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He also learned that if he was to ever fulfill his destiny as a servant to his people, he first had to learn many hard lessons and to acquire both spiritual and material disciplines that took years to acquire.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> From early childhood, Phil developed an almost insatiable thirst for learning.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">He listened intently to the Elders.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He read and studied everything he could find about the history and life of the indigenous people of the Americas.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He also studied western science and technology.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> His parents were outstanding role models in this regard, constantly learning themselves, and never afraid to build bridges between their traditional identity and all the best learning and technology the non-Native world had to offer.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Phil’s father was one of the first Native North Americans to ever receive a university degree in forestry. He eventually became an award-winning environmental engineer who was given a Presidential Citation by President Lyndon B. Johnson for his design of fish ladders that enabled spawning salmon to travel upstream past hydro-electric dams. As well, Phil Sr. was awarded the prestigious Eli S. Parker Award given to him by the American Indian Science and Engineering Society for his lifetime of distinguished work in the fields of Science and Engineering.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Phil was also very industrious as a young person.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He sold newspapers, magazines, and Christmas cards.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He raised cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, and rabbits and beginning at age 12 until he was a young man, he spent long hours working every summer as an agricultural worker to help pay for his education and clothing.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">So, try to picture it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Here you have a boy of 18.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He’s a young man, a Native North American who grew up in a deeply prejudiced white America in the 1950s and ’60s where Indians were considered second-class citizens if anything.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Their tribal communities, in most cases, were almost completely socially and economically devastated.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">On the other hand, he has been told all of his life that he comes from a noble lineage and that one day, along with the rest of his extended family, he must take up the mantle of leadership and service on behalf of his tribal people.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Well, maybe so, but right now its 1962.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">In order to survive, Phil has become as tough as a sack of nails.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He is an all-around champion athlete, and he is angry.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Angry at how he knows Native North Americans have been treated; angry at the injustices of an America that was beating up and killing black people for trying to exercise their right to vote in the South; angry at the materialistic system that had so thoroughly crushed the spirit out of so many Indigenous communities, leaving them in grinding poverty, dependency and alcoholism.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">And so after high school, Phil Lane, Jr. joined the ranks of other angry young men of color in North America.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He drank a lot of alcohol, he used drugs, he fought at the drop of a hat, he had unhealthy relationships with women, and he hated the materialistic system that surrounded his tribal people and himself and was determined to find a way to weaken its stranglehold on Indigenous people.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">In years to follow, Phil often commented on that “wild” period of his life.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “I am very thankful for my experiences with alcohol and drugs,” he explains.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “Those experiences have given me some humility not to judge others, as well as deep compassion and understanding for others who suffer from the hurts of the past because I have been there myself.”</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Phil did, however, go on to university, eventually receiving Master's degrees in both Public Administration and Education, with doctoral work in Human and Community Development.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> During that time he excelled as an all-around athlete, and he actually did quite well academically, for someone who rarely studied, and whose life focused primarily on sports and on unhealthy ways to kill the hurt and anger he carried during those days.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Like many of his generation, Phil was deeply troubled by the ugliness and cruelty of the racism and injustice Indigenous people were forced to live with, in their own homelands.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> And despite his anger and pain during all this time, there was also another kind of fire that burned slowly in Phil’s soul.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">[Pause]</span></p>
<p class="p5"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><i>Remember the little mouse who gave her eyes to the Wolf?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Well, the story goes on that she just stood there, listening to the Wolf as he whooped and danced around the meadow.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> But now she was blind, and it gradually dawned on her that she had done a very, very foolish thing.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> She waited, her little brow furled in worry and fear, fully expecting the Wolf to discover her, and to eat her like a kernel of popcorn.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> She had given her eyes because her heart prompted her to do so.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> She had listened to the voice of the spirit.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> But now she was exposed, helpless, and vulnerable.</i></span></p>
<p class="p5"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><i>To her surprise, the Wolf quite suddenly stopped his celebration and walked quietly over to where she stood in the grass.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> For a long time, he said nothing; and she waited in fear.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Then he bent down and said in a very gentle voice.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “Little Sister, how could you do such a thing for me?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Now you are blind.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> All she could say was “My heart told me to do it.”</i></span></p>
<p class="p5"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><i>And then the Wolf wept the weeping of regret, loss, and shame.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He wept a long time, and the little mouse could only wait and be with him while he wept.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> And when his heart had been washed clean of the anger, fear, pride, and selfishness that had for so long covered up his true nature as a noble being, he stopped weeping, and after a time he said, “Little Sister, do you remember the old teaching about a Sacred Lake high up in the mountains?”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “Yes,” she said, suddenly filled with hope.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> My grandmother told me that whoever prays on its shores and drinks of its waters will be healed of any infirmity.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> But do you think it really exists?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Maybe it’s just an old story.”</i></span></p>
<p class="p5"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><i>The Great Wolf was quiet for a moment, and then he said, “Little Sister, if a tiny mouse can make a blind wolf see, maybe there is such a thing as a Sacred Lake.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> We will look for it together.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> And so the Great Wolf lowered himself to the ground, and invited his Little Mouse Sister to climb up on his back; and together they set out on a long, long journey.</i></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">[Pause]</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">I was telling you that when Phil was a young man, he went through a period of rather wild and self-destructive behavior.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He was angry; he was hurt; and by his own admission, he would sometimes hurt others.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> But all through this time, he never really lost his connection to the Creator, and he never really forgot (for very long) that he had the destiny to fulfill that was connected to his lineage.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The heat of the fire of search burning within him began to rise.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Increasingly, he found himself spending time with elders and spiritual teachers, always searching for answers and a spiritual way out of the hurt and pain of the past and present.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">The laser searchlight of his soul began to seek out and explore spiritual teachings from around the world.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The more he searched, the more it seemed to him that the spiritual foundations of all the diverse religions and great traditions (including his own Dakota and Chickasaw traditions) are really one.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">It was during the darkest hours of this search and struggle to walk the path of his traditional spiritual teachings, free of the destructive forces of materialism that Phil had a spiritual awakening.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> This awakening in 1967 filled him with a burning love for the Creator and a great desire and energy to serve the people and to fulfill the vision of the future given to him by those who had walked the path of service before him.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">A great and abiding faith was born in his heart that the time, long prophesied by his tribal elders, for the spiritual and material rehabilitation of all the peoples of the world has come. This is the responsibility of everyone who believes in the Creator (by whatever name we call our Creator), to build bonds of trust and collaboration with other races and nations, and to work with all of the strength and capacity of one’s being to bring justice, unity, peace, and well-being to the people of every race and nation.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">And that is exactly what Phil Lane, Jr. began to do.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> For more than thirty years Phil has worked unceasingly, often to the point of total exhaustion, for the upliftment of the human family, and especially of Indigenous people.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He has continuously sacrificed personal comfort, income, professional advancement, old age security, and even the simple pleasures of spending time with family and friends or taking a vacation.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> The following</span> are a few highlights of his early years of service.</span></p>
<ul class="ul1">
<li class="li7"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="s1">Presented Native culture and history programs at elementary schools, high schools, colleges, and universities.</span></span></li>
<li class="li7"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="s1">Guided the development of rural community development and basic literacy programs for Quechua and Aymara Indians across Bolivia.</span></span></li>
<li class="li7"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="s1">Developed and managed programs for single parent Indian mothers and their children from across North America.</span></span></li>
<li class="li7"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="s1">Led education program development initiatives for many schools and programs across North America.</span></span></li>
<li class="li7"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="s1">Served as the founding Director of the Native American School of Government at the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington.</span></span></li>
<li class="li7"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="s1">Started the first native cultural education and self-help program for Indian men in the North American prison system.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> From the beginning, this kind of programming for Indigenous inmates has now spread to most prisons in Canada and the United States.</span></span></li>
<li class="li7"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="s1">Served as the Director of Planning, the Director of Education, and the Assistant Director of the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation in Seattle, Washington.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> This organization grew from a staff of three to a staff of more than one hundred, through Phil’s guidance and irresistible energy and the leadership vision, support, and inspiration of his Executive Director and beloved mentor, the late Bernie White Bear.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></li>
<li class="li7"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="s1">From this work, the 24,000 square foot Day Break Star Arts and Education Center was built, the first-ever Native American film festival was launched, a host of innovative education programs ranging from curriculum design and development to adult education, to early childhood education were developed and delivered.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> These education programs became a model, in their time, for Native education programs across North America. </span></span></li>
</ul>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">As valuable and impressive as these contributions were, they were only a prelude to the work which has made the name of Phil Lane, Jr. known and deeply respected in hundreds of Indigenous communities across North America and around the world.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> This next phase of Phil’s life began when he accepted a position in 1980 as an Associate Professor of Education at the University of Lethbridge, in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.</span></p>
<p class="p7"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><b>Four Worlds</b></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">In the 1970s and early 1980s, Indigenous communities in Canada and the United States had sunk into a black pit of despair, poverty, alcoholism, violence, abuse, and misery.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">In the late winter of 1982, Phil called a historic meeting of respected Indigenous elders and spiritual leaders from many different tribal groups across North America.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The purpose of this meeting was to look deeply at the dilemma of everyday life in native communities, to find solutions that would actually cause an awakening of the spiritual power and greatness that was hidden deep within the heart of Indigenous nations, and to establish a foundation for rebuilding healthy and self-actualizing communities.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">The fact that these distinguished leaders came at all (despite traditional rivalries and pervading community despair) speaks eloquently of the impact Phil had already made in “Indian Country,” and to the genius of his leadership.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> It is important to bear in mind that when the human rights and freedom of people are systematically violated for generation upon generation, there is a tendency for those people to internalize that oppression, and to turn against each other.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> This paralyzing phenomenon routinely undermines the capacity of oppressed people to sustain their own healing and development processes.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">This historic four-day meeting took place in Lethbridge and at the Blood Indian Reserve on the high plains of southern Alberta, Canada in the week between Christmas 1982 and the 1983 New Year.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">With the utmost skill and wisdom, Phil orchestrated a gathering, the like of which had not occurred for hundreds of years, if ever.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The importance of this gathering was that forty of the wisest, most experienced, and influential people of many tribes of North America came together to deliberate about problems and challenges that were destroying every one of their communities, and required common effort to overcome.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Invitations were sent using high plains traditional protocol, which requires that tobacco and cloth be sent, and if accepted, signifies that the process to follow would take place on spiritual grounds (beyond politics and personal interest).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The meeting itself was held in traditional Council fashion.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> A buffalo robe filled the center of the great circle around which participants gathered.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Sage was burned.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Songs were sung.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Prayers were offered, and an eagle fan (i.e. wing of eagle) was passed from person to person, the elders speaking first, each delegate speaking in turn, and everyone else listening respectfully.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">From that meeting, a bold project was conceived to build an instrument for the healing and development of Indigenous communities.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> That instrument, in the form of research, technical assistance, and capacity building program, became known as “Four Worlds.”</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">What the elders said at that meeting was basically the following.</span></p>
<ol class="ol1">
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">It was prophesied a long time ago that Indigenous people would go through long wintertime of oppression, sickness, and suffering.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> This period, some said, would last for “seven generations.”</span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">That the condition of native communities, beaten down by centuries of oppression, abuse, and deprivation, was neither inevitable nor necessary.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Healing is possible.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Transformation is possible.</span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">That the process of bringing healing and change to Indigenous communities needed to be guided by principles that reflect who we are as whole human beings (mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual) and whole communities (political, economic, social, and cultural).</span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Foundation principles were given that became the cornerstone of all of Four Worlds work; principles such as development come from within, no vision, no development, authentic development has spiritual and moral foundations, and no participation, no development,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> shaped the way Four Worlds approached every community and every problem for years to come.</span></li>
</ol>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Phil emerged from this meeting with the solid mandate of respected spiritual leaders and elders from many tribes to build programs and eventually a movement that would serve as a catalyst and support for healing and development processes in indigenous communities.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> But moving from talk to action is never easy.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> There is an old proverb that says “Whenever the cry of truth is raised, so also is the cry of denial.”</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Phil worked tirelessly and with great courage to build Four Worlds and to serve communities in the face of tremendous criticism from many people, including some native people.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> For example, when (in 1982) he articulated the goal of “the elimination of alcohol and drug abuse in native communities by the year 2000,”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> he was condemned and attacked by native leaders and community members who were deeply addicted to alcohol and drugs, as well as, by a number of people who were working in the treatment of native alcoholism (of all groups!).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Privately, they actually said, “If this goal is realized, we’re all out of work.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He was criticized for involving non-natives as members of his inner working group, even though the elders had clearly advised that it was critical to work with people of “all four directions” (symbolically, red, yellow, <span class="s1">black, white, </span>), and to bring together the gifts of each of these peoples in the work of uplifting tribal communities.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">He was attacked for seeking spiritual understanding and wisdom from teachers and traditions around the world that seemed “strange” and “foreign” to his attackers.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He was, also, attacked (often by jealous program leaders) for his insistence on integrating traditional cultural wisdom and modern science and technology.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> But through it all, Phil kept his attention focused on working toward the accomplishments of the positive goals of community healing and empowerment.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">This he did despite the fact that the attacks (especially in the early years) were so treacherous, mean spirited and hurtful, that he would sometimes weep with pain and frustration when he thought nobody was watching.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The fact that the most painful attacks came from other Indigenous peoples was perhaps the most difficult thing of all to bear.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Following is a list of some of the most important contributions that have been made to the upliftment and empowerment of Indigenous people as a result of Phil Lane Jr. and the work of Four Worlds.</span></p>
<ol class="ol1">
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">When Four Worlds began visiting native communities in 1983, few in those communities believed that healing (from the massive levels of alcoholism, abuse, oppression, and poverty) was even possible.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “This is the way we are now,” people would say.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Indeed, people could not imagine anything different.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> But gradually, in community after community, a healing movement was born, and Four Worlds was certainly one of its primary originators.</span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">From Four Worlds came a language, principles, models, and an integrative scheme of thought for reflecting on and talking about human and community development in an Indigenous context.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The models and approaches developed by Four Worlds are rooted in Indigenous cultural perspectives related to who we are as human beings, about the interconnected and wholistic nature of living systems, and about the dynamics of healing, transformation, and development.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">The Four Worlds approach addresses both the spiritual and material dimensions of life and is expressed in symbols, metaphors, and a language that resonates deep within the heart of native cultures, largely because it comes from that indigenous heart itself.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> What Four Worlds developed has now become a primary Indigenous people’s development paradigm in North America and internationally, and constitutes the only comprehensive approach to people-centered development that can be said to be a truly Indigenous model of development theory and practice that, also, draws upon, the best development thinking and experience of other members of the human family.</span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Four Worlds designed and piloted a large collection of prototype learning materials and programs for Indigenous schools and for adult learners.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> These materials and programs became the international standard for a culturally-based curriculum that places human development and well-being in the center of learning processes and reflects the cultural knowledge and wisdom of Indigenous people.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Examples include the “Sacred Tree” (now in its 21st print in English, and also translated into German, Spanish, Norwegian, Italian, Icelandic, French, Thai, and Braille).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The award-winning video series “Walking with Grandfather” and the film that helped give birth to the native healing movement “The Honor of All:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The Story of Alkali Lake.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> A recent example of this work involves the design and implementation of a fully accredited university Masters Program in development leadership.</span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Four Worlds also piloted many prototype community-based programs designed to model how to address critical healing and development issues facing native communities.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> A few examples include programs related to youth development, cultural recovery, women’s empowerment, alcohol, drug, and sexual abuse healing and prevention, community development, restorative justice, health promotion, elder health, leadership development, civil society strengthening, teacher education, and economic development and trade.</span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Four Worlds was originally core funded by the Canadian government, but since 1994, it has received no government funding for its core funding, choosing instead to survive on its own economic enterprises and revenues received for services it provides to contracted partners.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The intent has been to model self-sufficiency to the communities being served.</span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Through Phil’s leadership and tireless efforts for more than twenty years, the devastating issue of the physical, sexual, psychological, spiritual, and cultural abuse of five generations of native children in residential schools run by the Canadian and U.S. government and various churches has become an international concern.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">The Four Worlds film “Healing the Hurts” (1989) was one of the primary catalysts that ignited the Residential School Healing Movement in Canada.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Four Worlds has single-handedly guided and helped to fund the initiation of one of the largest legal actions ever to be filed in Canadian history on behalf of residential school victims, comprised of more than 600 individual plaintiffs from the Blackfoot Confederacy in southern Alberta.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The purpose of this legal action is to secure resources for healing and development, and for individual compensation that will help the victims of the residential schools to move beyond the crippling trauma of the past, that has for so long plagued native families and communities with a legacy of shame, suicide, violent death, personal dysfunction, and social paralysis.</span></li>
</ol>
<p class="p12"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">One of the consequences of Phil’s efforts to bring the residential school issues to public attention, healing, and resolution is that he has been severely attacked by people and interests who want the residential school issues covered up and forgotten.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> These people are presumably acting out of fear that their own culpability and legal, as well as, moral responsibility for what happened in their schools will be brought to light.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The most severe of these have come from other native people who were physically and sexually abused as children, and who then bullied and abused, sometimes sexually, other (usually younger and weaker) children in the residential schools.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>
<p class="p12"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">As adults, these same people have continued the cycle of physical and sexual abuse and other oppressive behavior and are now doing their utmost to prevent their predatory behavior from being exposed.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Some of them have even become leaders who continue to oppress their own tribal people through fear, intimidation, and bullying learned through their own abusive residential school experience.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Phil’s only response to their attacks has been to explain over and over again, that “only hurt people, hurt people; only people who have been abused, abuse others”.</span></p>
<p class="p12"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">On the Canadian National front, the work of Phil and others to address the issue of residential schools continues.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The Canadian Government has come forward with $350,000,000 (about $217,000,000 US) Residential School Healing Fund to be spent over a five-year period.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Although this amount falls far short of the 2 billion per year called fair and needed by the Canadian Royal Commission on Aboriginal People in its final report (1997) “Gathering Strength”, it is a beginning.</span></p>
<p class="p12"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Currently, more than 10,000 individual legal cases have been filed by Residential School survivors, and more are being filed every week.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> It is saddening to note that as the residential school issue finally comes to light, it is too late for many of the former victims of residential school abuse who have already died of alcoholism, suicide, or violent deaths.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Phil’s focus now is to find alternative ways that the legal issues can be resolved in a manner that is just, as well as, healing for all concerned, rather than being forced to use a legal system that is adversarial, demeaning, and disunifying in nature.</span></p>
<p class="p12"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">In 1994, Phil left his job as a tenured professor of education at the University of Lethbridge, and set up an economic development arm of Four Worlds called “Four Directions International.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The purpose of this initiative was (and is) to create viable businesses and sustainable economic enterprises in partnership with Indigenous communities (and other partners) that will eventually provide economic opportunities and generate prosperity for those communities, while at the same time, providing revenue to Four Worlds that can be used to fund humanitarian work.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>
<p class="p12"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">This effort has concentrated on the information technology sector (such as the manufacture of made-to-order computers, and the development of a computer-managed learning platform for distance education to Indigenous communities around the world), and advanced environmental recovery and agricultural technologies (such as the use of natural enzymes for environmentally safe road construction, super absorbent polymers for improving agriculture and cutting-edge technologies for water remediation and purification).</span></p>
<ol class="ol1">
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">In 1999-2000, Phil and Four Worlds became a catalyst and one of the prime movers in the development and negotiation of inter-continental Indigenous to Indigenous trade and social development agreements between Indigenous nations of Canada and Indigenous nations of Latin America and the Caribbean.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> This movement to reunite the Indigenous peoples and First Nations of the Americas in a comprehensive trade and socioeconomic development network is called “The Reunion of the Condor and the Eagle.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Indigenous spiritual leaders and elders in both the North and the South say this is the fulfillment of ancient prophesies that foretold that after a “long wintertime” of oppression, suffering, and decline at the hands of other nations, the Indigenous peoples of the Americas and eventually around the world would unite and one day become strong and healthy, and would eventually take their renewed spiritual wisdom and strength to the whole world.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">This ancient prophecy is so strong that in 1970, the elders of the Otomi Nation in Central Mexico told their people to build a sacred ceremonial center carved out of solid rock in the ancient Toltec and Aztec tradition and to dedicate this center to the “Reunion of the Condor and the Eagle,” because, they said, in the future, the actual fulfillment of the ancient prophecy of the formal reunion of the Condor (Indigenous people of the South) and the Eagle (Indigenous people of the North) would begin at that sacred site.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> With the guidance of the Otomi elders, and after seven years of careful planning, more than 100,000 Indigenous people of Mexico worked for three years to complete the Center in 1980.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> It is located in the mountains just outside Mexico City.</span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">As instructed, the ceremonial center is built on the side of <span class="s2">a</span> <span class="s1">mountain and is beautifully carved out of solid rock integrated with stones gathered from sacred places from all over Mexico.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The Center holds more than 40,000 people.</span></span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">As prophesied, on May 5, 1999, at this sacred ceremonial center an International Indigenous Trade and Social Development Agreement and Unity Pact formalizing the “Reunion of the Condor and the Eagle” was signed by leaders of Indigenous people of Canada and Mexico.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Since this historic event, another comprehensive agreement has been signed with the Carib First Nation in the Commonwealth of Dominica, and processes leading to similar agreements have been initiated in other Indigenous areas of Latin America.</span></li>
</ol>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">These Indigenous trade and social development agreements are connecting hundreds of thousands of Indigenous people in Central and South America and the Caribbean, with their Indigenous relatives across North America.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The first fruits of these international agreements are already ripening in the form of projects now being planned for Dominica, and Mexico that will see development assistance and business opportunities exchanged between tribes in the south and those in the north.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">While the governments of Canada, Mexico, and Dominica have indicated their support and enthusiasm for this bold undertaking, the animating vision, as well as thousands of hours of negotiations and support building work and the initial cost of that work has been carried by Phil Lane Jr. and Four Worlds. </span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="s1">On a more personal note, Phil has a wonderful wife (Suthida), four daughters, an infant son, and two young grandsons.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> His three oldest daughters are all professional health care providers and are happily married.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="s1">His youngest daughter, Deloria Lane Many Grey Horses has already emerged, at the age of eighteen, as a future Indigenous leader following in her father’s footsteps.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> She is a North American Indigenous Games track and field champion, Captain of her cross country team and is currently featured in a new film,</span> <span class="s2">A Place At The Table</span><span class="s1">, about transcending racism and prejudice being produced by the South East Poverty Law Center, a group well known in North America for its constant battle against such organizations as the Ku Klux Klan, and for its tireless defenses of oppressed peoples.</span></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="s1">As well as receiving her father’s hereditary lineage of leadership, Deloria, through her mother is also a direct descendant of spiritual leaders and hereditary chiefs of the Blackfoot Confederacy, including Many Grey Horses, Black Bear, Long Time Squirrel, Riding at the Door, Red Crow, and the great Spiritual Visionary, Seen From A Far.</span></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">[Pause]</span></p>
<p class="p5"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><i>Remember the little mouse?</i></span></p>
<p class="p5"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><i>She was blind and yet somehow there was greatness within her.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> She had made the Great Wolf see, and she brought him to his knees, with tears in his eyes, ready to dedicate himself to helping her find the Sacred Lake.</i></span></p>
<p class="p5"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><i>The two of them traveled a long time and met many interesting characters along the way.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> There was the owl, who thought their search was a foolish waste of time.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> He was sure the idea of some “sacred lake” that could bring healing and renewal was nothing but superstition.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> There was a coyote, who sensed something of value in the little mouse, and hoping to gain something for himself, tried to poison her relationship with the Wolf with mistrust and lies.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> There were the otters, for whom comfort and enjoyment were reasons enough to look no further in life and to avoid difficult challenges.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> And all of these for their own reasons tried to persuade the travelers to change their goals or to give up their journey altogether.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> But the little mouse and the Great Wolf were friends now, and they did not give up.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> They traveled on, believing deep in their hearts that they would find what they were looking for.</i></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">[Pause]</span></p>
<p class="p7"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><b>Looking ahead</b></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Phil Lane has been a midwife to the birth of dreams. For more than three decades, he has labored unceasingly toward the fulfillment of ancient prophecies that said Indigenous people would experience,a long wintertime of oppression, suffering, and misery.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> It was foretold that this dark period would eventually be followed by a beautiful springtime of healing and renewal.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The prophecies say that not only would Indigenous people recover the spiritual and material greatness of bygone ages, but also that they would contribute to the healing of the whole world.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">The elders and spiritual leaders who gathered at that first historic meeting in 1982 fully confirmed that the time for the fulfillment of the prophesies had come.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> What was needed, they said, was the creation of effective processes and mechanisms for making the vision a reality.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> It is to this work that Phil Lane, Jr. has dedicated his life.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">In summary, Four Worlds has developed and refined a comprehensive and uniquely Indigenous approach to community healing and development; an approach that has been successfully tried and tested in many parts of the world.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> In Phil’s own words,</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">“What is now needed is the sustained resources that will allow us to actually implement this approach in partnership with Indigenous nations and the other members of the human family.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> It is as though we have been preparing a sacred feast for 30 years.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Now is the time to serve this spiritual food on a worldwide basis.”</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Phil is now working to develop a coalition of donors and Indigenous communities to (collectively) undertake an international campaign of development assistance for Indigenous people focused on the well-being of children and young people, guided by the love and wisdom of the elders, and the transformation needed to ensure that the poverty, abuse, and oppression of Indigenous people ends with this generation.</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">In order to achieve this, the following immediate steps will be taken.</span></p>
<ol class="ol1">
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">The establishment of an international technical assistance and training team that can work with (selected) Indigenous nations to build internal capacity for the fostering of sustainable social and economic development; and</span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">The establishment of training and development centers in the heart of Indigenous nations.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> These centers would serve as a vehicle for capacity building, institutional development, and leadership training, and would foster trade and development initiatives aimed at bringing sustainable prosperity and well-being to the people it serves.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> These centers would have their own Indigenous teams of trainers, and the international Indigenous development team would work with the regional teams to develop their capacity to work effectively with the communities they serve.</span></li>
<li class="li6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Collectively, this initiative will be known as the Four Worlds College of Indigenous Development.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “Indigenous people are beginning to fulfill their promised destiny everywhere,” says Phil, “but they need capacity building and technical support that is specifically designed to fit within an Indigenous context.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Four Worlds and other Indigenous organizations are ready.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Indigenous people are ready, and we believe that with the Creator’s help, and the support of others who understand this critical crossroads of human history upon which we stand, all the sacred prophecies will be fulfilled.”</span></li>
</ol>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">[Pause]</span></p>
<p class="p5"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><i>The Great Wolf and his Little Mouse Sister climbed high into the mountains, and one day, quite unexpectedly, they came upon the most beautiful lake they had ever seen burning brilliant turquoise in the morning sun, and they knew they had found what they were looking for.</i></span></p>
<p class="p5"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><i>The Wolf began to describe the beauty of the scene to his Sister, but she interrupted him.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “I can see it with my heart,” she said.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> They fell silent.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Then the Wolf took out tobacco and prayed to the Four Directions thanking the Creator for bringing them to their goal, and asking the Creator to bless and protect the Little Mouse whom he loved.</i></span></p>
<p class="p5"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><i>“Little Sister,” he said to her, “we have found the Sacred Lake.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> What shall we do now?”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “I cannot thank you enough, she said, but now I must ask of you a difficult thing.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Leave me.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The rest I must do myself.”</i></span></p>
<p class="p5"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><i>And so the Wolf placed his Little Sister gently at the water’s edge, kissed her good-bye, and set out down the mountain.</i></span></p>
<p class="p5"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><i>The little mouse felt strangely at peace, and yet she could not imagine what to do next.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Suddenly, a voice boomed from the sky.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “Little Mouse, jump and reach for the heavens.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> So she jumped.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “Jump higher,” said the voice.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> So she jumped again.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “Jump still higher,” the voice commanded.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> And she jumped again still higher.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> “Little Mouse, jump as if life depended on it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Jump as you have never jumped before.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Jump and touch the sky.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> And she jumped as she had never jumped before, and she felt herself soaring, floating dizzily, flying and swooping, and she could see a great distance.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The sun poured yellow warmth upon the land.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> The Sacred Lake below shone like a jewel.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> And she could see her Wolf Brother far below, making his way down the mountain.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> And she heard the voice again but now like a whisper within her.</i></span></p>
<p class="p13"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><i>You have given much, Little Sister, and you have traveled far.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Because you have given your very best to help another life, and because you have continued on your journey to find the Sacred Lake, and because you have asked of me healing, and I have heard you, for now, and forevermore, you have become the Sacred Eagle and when the people see you, they will remember me, and you will guide them.</i></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">[Pause]</span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">We are here today to honor an Eagle among us, not only for what he has done but also because of the future toward which he guides us.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> If honoring Phil Lane Jr. is to mean anything beyond words, then our admiration and our respect for him must be backed up with our deeds.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1">Indigenous nations everywhere are awakening, and Indigenous peoples in their millions are ready to step out of the shadow of oppression, and the grinding burden of poverty and powerlessness that has for so long held them back.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> It was for this that Phil Lane Jr. was instructed by Indigenous elders and spiritual leaders to reach out to the world.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> Phil is doing his part.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> It now falls to us to do ours.</span></p>
<p class="p6"></p>
<p class="p6"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="s1"><span class="s1">Prepared by Dr. Michael Bopp</span></span></p>
<p class="p8"></p>July 9, 1971, Island of the Sun, Lake Titicaca, Fulfilling the Prophecy of the Reunion of the Condor and Eagletag:www.fwii.net,2020-06-04:2429082:BlogPost:325112020-06-04T18:30:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p style="text-align: left; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560174651?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560174651?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="450"></img></a> July 9, 1971~Sitting at the Heart of the Island of the Sun, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia, sitting with my Beloved Quechua Elder and Spiritual Teacher, Meleton Gallardo, (on my right side) and other Beloved Quechua Brothers.…</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left; font-style: italic;"></p>
<p style="text-align: left; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560174651?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="450" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560174651?profile=RESIZE_480x480" class="align-left"/></a>July 9, 1971~Sitting at the Heart of the Island of the Sun, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia, sitting with my Beloved Quechua Elder and Spiritual Teacher, Meleton Gallardo, (on my right side) and other Beloved Quechua Brothers.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size: large;">At this Sacred Place, more than 700 years ago, the First Incas, Manco Capac, (Splendid Foundation), and his Beloved Wife were born of the Sun. From this hill where we are sitting, Manco Capac, walked across the water of Lake Titicaca, carrying a Golden Staff (Tapac Yauri) with the Divine Instructions to share the "Art's of Civilization" and awaken “those who were lost and immersed in spiritual darkness." Elder Melton was very clear that other Divine Messenger's had done the same for many spiritual Cycles before. As it was then, so is it now!</span></p>
<p><font size="4"><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">Manco Capac was Divinely instructed to plant the Golden Staff into Mother Earth, each evening, and whatever way the Staff was leaning at sunrise, to walk in that direction the next day! Manco Capac was to follow this Divine Guidance until the Staff sunk into the Ground. When Manco Capac reached Cuzco, Peru, the Staff, as promised, sank fully into the ground. On that Sacred Spot, Manco Capac built the Temple of the Sun, thus forming the Foundation of the Inca Empire. This Spiritual Foundation is rapidly rising again today, as prophesied.</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">It was during these days of prayer and supplication in our Spiritual Pilgrimage to the Holy Places, in and around Lake Titicaca, that I began to learn about the spiritual depths and meaning of the Prophecy of the Reunion of the Condor and the Eagle and the 4th Way. This learning and understanding continue to deepen and gracefully unfold until today.</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">After we prayed and made our offerings, at all the Holy Points on the Island of the Sun, we went to pray at the Island of the Moon. At dusk, we then returned to the shore of the Lake Titicaca, to the point where we had left before Sunrise.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-style: italic;">As the night fully darkened, I was lovingly guided along a seldom walked, hidden path, through the underbrush. After quietly walking, for some time, we arrived at the Royal Seat of Justice of High Court of the Incas. The Seat of Justice is beautifully carved into a hillside of solid stone.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-style: italic;">My Beloved Elder and Spiritual Teacher, Meleton, and other Beloved Quechua Brothers accompanying me honored me by having me sit on at the apex of the cascading Royal Seats of Justice. The beauty and exaltation of this Sacred Time together will forever be etched in the inmost chambers of my soul.</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-style: italic;">It was here that we concluded our heartfelt songs, supplications, offerings, and prayers. Again, we implored the Ancient Ones and their Sacred Messengers to hasten the Springtime of the Oneness of the Human Family. To free us all from the chains and shackles of the, sometimes, overwhelming, intergenerational, spiritual, cultural, mental and physical oppression, pain and suffering that, as prophesied, encompassed us across the Americas, almost 500 years before! To manifest with Love, Compassion, Forgiveness and Wisdom, the Reunion of the Condor and the Eagle!</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">As I sat there, At 12'500 feet (3812 meters), surrounded and encompassed by the most beautiful and majestic Full Moon and Twinkling Stars of my life, my heart, my soul, my mind and my soul could hear and was energized by the rustling of our Indigenous Peoples awakening and arising, like the wings of locust brushing against each other before they arise as One Mind, One Body, One Heart, and One Soul and fly.</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">My Very Beloved Relatives, it is as clear as the brightest sunlight, that each of us is, a Sovereignty, Ancient, Imperishable and Everlasting, and the Promised Time for us to spiritually arise, everywhere, all at once, has come! The new Era and Cycle of our Sacred Journey, of ever-increasing Unity and Oneness, is now unfolding, as promised! There are many more Sacred Stories, Prophecies, and Visions, past, present, and future, that are yet to be understood, realized, completed, and shared! Let us hasten! With Great Love and Respect, let us fully enter the Inmost, Sacred Chambers of our Eternal Heart and Covenant!</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">With Warm, Respectful and Loving Greetings,</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">Brother Phil</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">Shunkmanu He Miye Lo!</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">Chanupa Sapa He Miye Lo!</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">My Sacred Names are Horse Thief and Black Pipe a</span><span style="font-style: italic;">nd I Stand Fully Responsible Before the Creator For All Of My Words and Actions.</span></font></p>We Are Only Here For a Short Time-Remembering and Honoring Tonja Toni Lane.tag:www.fwii.net,2020-04-18:2429082:BlogPost:1227642020-04-18T11:30:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p><span class="font-size-4"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560179906?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560179906?profile=original" width="278"></img></a> I give my heartfelt thanksgiving to our Beloved Creator, that I can say at 75 Winters, as my beloved father always told me, “Son we are only here for a short time!" Or like Crow Foot said, "Life is like the breath of a Buffalo on a cold day or a fire fly on a warm summer day or the shadows vanishing before the setting sun!"…</span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560179906?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560179906?profile=original" width="278"/></a>I give my heartfelt thanksgiving to our Beloved Creator, that I can say at 75 Winters, as my beloved father always told me, “Son we are only here for a short time!" Or like Crow Foot said, "Life is like the breath of a Buffalo on a cold day or a fire fly on a warm summer day or the shadows vanishing before the setting sun!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Then we travel to other planes of existence as different from this physical world as this physical world is different from the womb world in which we were conceived! When we leave behind our "Earth Suit" we only take with us those spiritual qualities that we have developed on our spiritual journey in this physical world. </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">It is my experience and understanding that these spiritual qualities are primarily manifested through our selfless service to the spiritual upliftment of our beloved Human Family and our dedication to possessing a “Pure, Kindly and Radiant Heart" that we each may be a "Sovereignty, Ancient, Imperishable and Everlasting!"</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">As difficult and painful as it is to accept, sometimes, the more spiritual tests and difficulties we are given the greater the harvest of spiritual qualities and gifts that we will take with us when we journey to the “Other Side Camp!" Understanding this, I have the utmost faith that Wakan Tanka and the Ancient of Days truly love all of those "Walking the Red Road", far, far beyond the “murmur of syllables and sounds!"</span></p>Four World’s Talking and Healing Circle Leader/Facilitator-Online Learning Programtag:www.fwii.net,2020-03-30:2429082:BlogPost:1684462020-03-30T07:51:35.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/4273006932?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/4273006932?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="360"></img></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Dear Beloved Friends and Relatives, </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">As always, it is my prayer that you and your beloved ones are finding inner peace and spiritual strength, in every and all conditions.…</span></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/4273006932?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/4273006932?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="360" class="align-left"/></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dear Beloved Friends and Relatives, </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">As always, it is my prayer that you and your beloved ones are finding inner peace and spiritual strength, in every and all conditions.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <b>Healing the Hurt: “If You Can Feel it, You Can Heal It”</b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">My father always shared with me, " Son, if you can feel it, you can heal it. If you talk about it, you can understand it.” Today our Human Family is deeply "Feeling It" and wants to “Understand It,” but lack the safety, proven guidelines and processes of spiritual and emotional healing and trusted Healers and Co-Counselors, so they may! </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">“Talk About It, and Heal it !” Talking and Healing Circles are a powerful, but gentle way to Transform Fear and other Forms of Intergenerational Trauma and Lateral Violence into Spiritual, Emotional and Mental Understanding, Strength, Unity and Conscious Faith.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">This comes with the understanding that the "Tears are not the Pain, they are a Release of the Pain." "The Shivering, Trembling and Cold Perspiration are not the Fear, they are a Release of the Fear."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>The 7-Week, 22-Hour, Four Worlds Talking Circle Leader/Facilitator OnlineTraining Program</b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">With many years of Elder guidance, practice, and personal experience, we have developed a 7-week, 22-hour, principle-centered, mentoring and Talking Circle training program for recognizing trusted, Talking Circle Leaders. In this Zoom delivered training, we will learn and participate together, building on more than 52 years of service and experience, with culturally-based, participatory human and community development processes, to co-create further dimensions of healing and prosperity. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">I look forward to</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">sister</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Karin Lindeman-Boerge</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and Brother</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Bernhard Holtrop joining me in this learning process.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Karin is from Four Worlds Europe, the Sacred Circle of the Indigenous Women of Europe, the Global Council of Indigenous Women. Brother Bernhard is the former chairman of the former World Dialogue foundation, now affiliated as a founding member to the Academy of Professional Dialogue These 18 years of love, learning and sharing together, since we met in 2002, goes the World of Names. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We will share our collective knowledge about "Dialogue," “Living Ceremony,” and “the Unity of Science and Spirituality,” while learning about and participating in and facilitating Talking and Healing Circles. As well, we will visit about how we have addressed and transcended the issue of "cultural appropriation.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Special invited Elders and Healers, during our Seven Weeks together, include, Grandmother and Healer, Dene Elder and Healer,</span> <a href="https://www.patmccabe.net/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pat McCabe, Woman Stands Brightly,</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Mohawk Elder and Healer,</span> <a href="https://www.evolutionaryleaders.net/leaders/dlongboat"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kahontakwas Diane Longboat, Turtle Clan, Six Nations Grand River Territory</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Tsilhqot'in Elder and Healer</span> <a href="https://learningcircle.ubc.ca/2016/07/28/safetyplanning/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Corinne Stone</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">,</span> <a href="https://www.google.com/search?biw=853&bih=459&sxsrf=ALeKk03GoBEQtzEbej2GrEjZQmHYAPhvaw:1585518480004&q=Tl%27etinqox-Anahim+Band&nirf=Tl%27etinqox-Anaham+Band&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiD-qPO1MDoAhUhL30KHftTDOcQ8BYoAXoECAwQKA"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tl'etinqox-Anahim First Nation</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">,</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Hopi/ Havasupai/ Kewa Grandmother, and Healer,</span> <a href="http://www.grandmotherscouncil.org/who-we-are/grandmother-mona-polacca/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mona Polacca</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Frisian Elder and Sound Healer,</span> <a href="https://www.ankedejong.com/?fbclid=IwAR3DF2GaA_EsDaXG-r-oGx4hkjq-GdsQZuNjxG5mybSyVqKuCniqan638Vo"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Anke De Jong</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Netherlands and 7th Generation Leader,</span> <a href="https://www.lylajunejohnston.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lyla June Johnston</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tonja Lyla June is an environmental scientist, doctoral student, educator, economist, community organizer and musician of Diné, Tsétsêhéstâhese and European lineages, Taos, NM.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br/><br/></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">It is my experience of the past 75 Winters, that cultures, communities, and systems open to transform and share together, in a culturally-respectful and a principle-center manner, thrive, and those that are closed, die. In our journey together, we are seeking the light of oneness and unity. We do not care what the lampshade looks like! </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Chaske Tiger and Tonska Rajiv will be facilitating Zoom sessions, including large and small Learning and Talking Circle. Talking Circles will be limited to seven learners to ensure maximum participation and learning.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Prior to the training, all participants will be supported to set up a personal Zoom account and initiate and participate in 3-way Talking Circles. By the conclusion of this 7-week process,</span> <b>April 9-May 21, 2020</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, everyone will be thoughtfully equipped to facilitate a Zoom-Based Talking Circle , if they have the online capacity. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">As well, for those that are recognized Healers and Counselors, you will have the capacity to facilitate one-on-one Counseling and Healing and Three-Way Counseling, without cost. These are the features of a Free and a First Level Zoom account.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Closing Ceremony and Staking Ceremony</b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">As we initiated at Alkali Lake, in 1985, and at our yearly Four World's International Summer Institute, and other Four World's Indigenous Training Programs in the 1980s and 1990s, our 7-Week Talking Circle Training, will conclude with a virtual Staking Ceremony and Recognition as Talking Circle Leaders/Facilitators, by our Four Worlds Elders Council.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Along with the 22-hours of online learning, there will also be an equal number of hours of suggested readings and videos, for those beloved friends and relatives who have the interest, time and energy to further deepen their understanding. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Breath of Life Ceremony</b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">In 1987, drawing upon the holotropic breathwork of our good brother, Dr. Stanislof Groff, and other related Indigenous Ceremonial Healing Processes, the Breath of Life Ceremony was born. Hundreds of Indigenous peoples and other members of our Human Family participated in these Breath of Life Ceremonies. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Building on this foundation of healing and understanding, we will also share the Breath of Life Ceremony, virtually, with you. If you are going to participate in the Breath of Life Ceremony, there will need to be one or more couples together, to support and heal together. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The Breath of Life Ceremony, for some, maybe very strong, sometimes, almost overwhelming. As well, it is also important, for yourself, to be in good health. This will be further explained and discussed in our learning process. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The program includes the following: </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The 7-week, 22-hour, Online Learning Process</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Talking Circle Facebook Group to connect with other relatives</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Hosted Zoom calls every week.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Complimentary Related Resource Materials and Recordings of Sessions</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Closing and Staking Ceremony</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Breath of Life Ceremony</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">And, more...</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The Tuition for the training is $160.00. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">If your budget doesn’t allow payment in full or in part, scholarships are available. No one will be excluded who wishes to fully participate in the Talking Circle Leader/ Facilitator Training. We will work with whatever your budget allows you to contribute or not contribute financially to this healing initiative and the work of Four Worlds. Your love, prayers, and sharing the training with others, is greatly appreciated. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">If you need a full-scholarship, there will be a place to register for full-scholarships, on our registration page. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">We warmly invite friends and relatives, who are experienced in leading/facilitating and participating in Talking/Healing Circles to join us. If you would like to participate as a Talking Circle Leader/Facilitator or would like further information, please contact Tiger: “</span><a href="mailto:tigerlane3@gmail.com"><span style="font-weight: 400;">tigerlane3@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” or Rajiv: “</span><a href="mailto:Rajiv@Sankarlall.com"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rajiv@Sankarlall.com</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">”) </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Global, Online Opportunities for Healers, Addictions Counselors, Social Workers, and Talking Circle Leaders/Facilitators</b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Even though the casino, tourism, restaurant, and other service industries are being impacted in our World of Turtle Island, we have awesome healers, addictions counselors, social workers, and Talking Circle Leaders/Facilitators. We as, Indigenous peoples have in-depth</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, on-going experience in healing and understanding intergenerational trauma, lateral violence, internalized oppression and colonization.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Our Human Family is in growing need of spiritual and emotional healing expertise, gifts and wisdom. Join us in being at the heart of global healing, as prophesied, as we transform and heal ourselves, in Oneness with all Life! </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Thank you, beloved friends and relatives, for taking the time and energy to read through my musings. Chaske Tiger and Tonska Rajiv, will take it from here and ensure there is no "Devil in the Details." You may look forward to hearing from them soon.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">With Warm and Loving Greetings, </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Lala, Dekshi, and Lala Phil </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/10P4GurV3FZmeueCmgv01H9wVKiNTXx04iR6sUf8iZUI/edit?usp=sharing"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brief History of the Four World's Talking Circle Teachings </span></a> <a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/4273027385?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/4273027385?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="300" class="align-left" style="padding: 30px;"/></a></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>Four World’s Talking and Healing Circle Leader/Facilitator-Online Learning Programtag:www.fwii.net,2020-03-30:2429082:BlogPost:1685602020-03-30T07:48:37.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/4273006932?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/4273006932?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="360"></img></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Dear Beloved Friends and Relatives, </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">As always, it is my prayer that you and your beloved ones are finding inner peace and spiritual strength, in every and all conditions.…</span></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/4273006932?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/4273006932?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="360" class="align-left"/></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dear Beloved Friends and Relatives, </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">As always, it is my prayer that you and your beloved ones are finding inner peace and spiritual strength, in every and all conditions.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <b>Healing the Hurt: “If You Can Feel it, You Can Heal It”</b></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">My father always shared with me, " Son, if you can feel it, you can heal it. If you talk about it, you can understand it.” Today our Human Family is deeply "Feeling It" and wants to “Understand It,” but lack the safety, proven guidelines and processes of spiritual and emotional healing and trusted Healers and Co-Counselors, so they may! </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">“Talk About It, and Heal it !” Talking and Healing Circles are a powerful, but gentle way to Transform Fear and other Forms of Intergenerational Trauma and Lateral Violence into Spiritual, Emotional and Mental Understanding, Strength, Unity and Conscious Faith.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">This comes with the understanding that the "Tears are not the Pain, they are a Release of the Pain." "The Shivering, Trembling and Cold Perspiration are not the Fear, they are a Release of the Fear."</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>The 7-Week, 22-Hour, Four Worlds Talking Circle Leader/Facilitator OnlineTraining Program</b></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">With many years of Elder guidance, practice, and personal experience, we have developed a 7-week, 22-hour, principle-centered, mentoring and Talking Circle training program for recognizing trusted, Talking Circle Leaders. In this Zoom delivered training, we will learn and participate together, building on more than 52 years of service and experience, with culturally-based, participatory human and community development processes, to co-create further dimensions of healing and prosperity. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">I look forward to</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">sister</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Karin Lindeman-Boerge</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and Brother</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Bernhard Holtrop joining me in this learning process.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Karin is from Four Worlds Europe, the Sacred Circle of the Indigenous Women of Europe, the Global Council of Indigenous Women. Brother Bernhard is the former chairman of the former World Dialogue foundation, now affiliated as a founding member to the Academy of Professional Dialogue These 18 years of love, learning and sharing together, since we met in 2002, goes the World of Names. </span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We will share our collective knowledge about "Dialogue," “Living Ceremony,” and “the Unity of Science and Spirituality,” while learning about and participating in and facilitating Talking and Healing Circles. As well, we will visit about how we have addressed and transcended the issue of "cultural appropriation.”</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Special invited Elders and Healers, during our Seven Weeks together, include, Grandmother and Healer, Dene Elder and Healer,</span> <a href="https://www.patmccabe.net/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pat McCabe, Woman Stands Brightly,</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Mohawk Elder and Healer,</span> <a href="https://www.evolutionaryleaders.net/leaders/dlongboat"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kahontakwas Diane Longboat, Turtle Clan, Six Nations Grand River Territory</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Tsilhqot'in Elder and Healer</span> <a href="https://learningcircle.ubc.ca/2016/07/28/safetyplanning/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Corinne Stone</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">,</span> <a href="https://www.google.com/search?biw=853&bih=459&sxsrf=ALeKk03GoBEQtzEbej2GrEjZQmHYAPhvaw:1585518480004&q=Tl%27etinqox-Anahim+Band&nirf=Tl%27etinqox-Anaham+Band&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiD-qPO1MDoAhUhL30KHftTDOcQ8BYoAXoECAwQKA"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tl'etinqox-Anahim First Nation</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">,</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Hopi/ Havasupai/ Kewa Grandmother, and Healer,</span> <a href="http://www.grandmotherscouncil.org/who-we-are/grandmother-mona-polacca/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mona Polacca</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Frisian Elder and Sound Healer,</span> <a href="https://www.ankedejong.com/?fbclid=IwAR3DF2GaA_EsDaXG-r-oGx4hkjq-GdsQZuNjxG5mybSyVqKuCniqan638Vo"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Anke De Jong</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Netherlands and 7th Generation Leader,</span> <a href="https://www.lylajunejohnston.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lyla June Johnston</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tonja Lyla June is an environmental scientist, doctoral student, educator, economist, community organizer and musician of Diné, Tsétsêhéstâhese and European lineages, Taos, NM.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br/><br/></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">It is my experience of the past 75 Winters, that cultures, communities, and systems open to transform and share together, in a culturally-respectful and a principle-center manner, thrive, and those that are closed, die. In our journey together, we are seeking the light of oneness and unity. We do not care what the lampshade looks like! </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Chaske Tiger and Tonska Rajiv will be facilitating Zoom sessions, including large and small Learning and Talking Circle. Talking Circles will be limited to seven learners to ensure maximum participation and learning.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Prior to the training, all participants will be supported to set up a personal Zoom account and initiate and participate in 3-way Talking Circles. By the conclusion of this 7-week process,</span> <b>April 9-May 21, 2020</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">, everyone will be thoughtfully equipped to facilitate a Zoom-Based Talking Circle , if they have the online capacity. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">As well, for those that are recognized Healers and Counselors, you will have the capacity to facilitate one-on-one Counseling and Healing and Three-Way Counseling, without cost. These are the features of a Free and a First Level Zoom account.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Closing Ceremony and Staking Ceremony</b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">As we initiated at Alkali Lake, in 1985, and at our yearly Four World's International Summer Institute, and other Four World's Indigenous Training Programs in the 1980s and 1990s, our 7-Week Talking Circle Training, will conclude with a virtual Staking Ceremony and Recognition as Talking Circle Leaders/Facilitators, by our Four Worlds Elders Council.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Along with the 22-hours of online learning, there will also be an equal number of hours of suggested readings and videos, for those beloved friends and relatives who have the interest, time and energy to further deepen their understanding. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Breath of Life Ceremony</b></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">In 1987, drawing upon the holotropic breathwork of our good brother, Dr. Stanislof Groff, and other related Indigenous Ceremonial Healing Processes, the Breath of Life Ceremony was born. Hundreds of Indigenous peoples and other members of our Human Family participated in these Breath of Life Ceremonies. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Building on this foundation of healing and understanding, we will also share the Breath of Life Ceremony, virtually, with you. If you are going to participate in the Breath of Life Ceremony, there will need to be one or more couples together, to support and heal together. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The Breath of Life Ceremony, for some, maybe very strong, sometimes, almost overwhelming. As well, it is also important, for yourself, to be in good health. This will be further explained and discussed in our learning process. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The program includes the following: </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The 7-week, 22-hour, Online Learning Process</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Talking Circle Facebook Group to connect with other relatives</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Hosted Zoom calls every week.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Complimentary Related Resource Materials and Recordings of Sessions</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Closing and Staking Ceremony</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Breath of Life Ceremony</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">And, more...</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The Tuition for the training is $160.00. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">If your budget doesn’t allow payment in full or in part, scholarships are available. No one will be excluded who wishes to fully participate in the Talking Circle Leader/ Facilitator Training. We will work with whatever your budget allows you to contribute or not contribute financially to this healing initiative and the work of Four Worlds. Your love, prayers, and sharing the training with others, is greatly appreciated. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">If you need a full-scholarship, there will be a place to register for full-scholarships, on our registration page. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">We warmly invite friends and relatives, who are experienced in leading/facilitating and participating in Talking/Healing Circles to join us. If you would like to participate as a Talking Circle Leader/Facilitator or would like further information, please contact Tiger: “</span><a href="mailto:tigerlane3@gmail.com"><span style="font-weight: 400;">tigerlane3@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">” or Rajiv: “</span><a href="mailto:Rajiv@Sankarlall.com"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rajiv@Sankarlall.com</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">”) </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Global, Online Opportunities for Healers, Addictions Counselors, Social Workers, and Talking Circle Leaders/Facilitators</b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Even though the casino, tourism, restaurant, and other service industries are being impacted in our World of Turtle Island, we have awesome healers, addictions counselors, social workers, and Talking Circle Leaders/Facilitators. We as, Indigenous peoples have in-depth</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, on-going experience in healing and understanding intergenerational trauma, lateral violence, internalized oppression and colonization.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Our Human Family is in growing need of spiritual and emotional healing expertise, gifts and wisdom. Join us in being at the heart of global healing, as prophesied, as we transform and heal ourselves, in Oneness with all Life! </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Thank you, beloved friends and relatives, for taking the time and energy to read through my musings. Chaske Tiger and Tonska Rajiv, will take it from here and ensure there is no "Devil in the Details." You may look forward to hearing from them soon.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">With Warm and Loving Greetings, </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Lala, Dekshi, and Lala Phil </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/10P4GurV3FZmeueCmgv01H9wVKiNTXx04iR6sUf8iZUI/edit?usp=sharing"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brief History of the Four World's Talking Circle Teachings </span></a> <a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/4273027385?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/4273027385?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="300" class="align-left" style="padding: 30px;"/></a></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>How to Be A Good Parent and Grandparent!tag:www.fwii.net,2020-01-16:2429082:BlogPost:632912020-01-16T08:00:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560183054?profile=original"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560183054?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="420"></img></a> <em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Look into the mirror. What you see, is what is reflected to your beloved “Mitokozapi,” grandchildren. The first thing is to try to be all that you want your grandchildren to be. Reflect all of the attributes of a whole, loving, compassionate, well-balanced human being. When they look at you, let them see respect, integrity, loyalty,…</span></em></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560183054?profile=original"><img width="420" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560183054?profile=RESIZE_480x480" class="align-left"/></a> <em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Look into the mirror. What you see, is what is reflected to your beloved “Mitokozapi,” grandchildren. The first thing is to try to be all that you want your grandchildren to be. Reflect all of the attributes of a whole, loving, compassionate, well-balanced human being. When they look at you, let them see respect, integrity, loyalty, honesty, courage, concern, humbleness, tenderness, justice, optimism, and compassion – the whole range of positive characteristics neatly wrapped in a beautiful red ribbon of LOVE!</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Develop your grandchildren’s imagination. Encourage them to expand their thinking patterns by becoming involved in their imaginings, their make-believe, and their daydreams. Show them old photos of the little girls at play with their little “doll-babies” and their little tipi's, hand-sewn and made to scale. Show old pictures of the little boys playing at hunting or horse games. Unconditional love and the development of their imagination is their initiation into early adulthood.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Delay academic training, the regimenting kind, at least in their early years. What if they don’t start the first grade until they reach their 7th or 8th birthday or later? </span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Let them enjoy and relish their first years where they can expand their bodies, feelings, minds, and spirits– those things not of an academic nature. Let them see a little nest of bird eggs hatch or Sweet Pea have her colt or take them with you when you cut willows for a “sweat lodge.” </span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">There are so many things of nature for young minds and hearts to discover and experience. Our young ones are truly free for such a brief period.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">In the fall of 1928, we were living in the little town of Mobridge, South Dakota, just across the Missouri River from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, where I was born. When the school opened in the fall, I went up to the local school to enroll in school. I had never been to a school like that one, being more familiar with the Indian Mission Boarding School at St. Elizabeth's on the Reservation. </span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Well, the first day I walked up to the school and entered a big room, much like a lobby. I noticed doors were leading into several different rooms, a broad stairway leading to an upper floor, and a stairway leading down to a back doorway. </span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Soon a bell rang, and all of the students disappeared into the rooms, and I was left alone in the lobby. After standing there for a while, I walked to the back stairs, descended to the lower level and since the door was wide open, I walked out and returned home.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">I enjoyed going to that school, but after a week of it, I quit making the fruitless walk and remained home. After some time my Tunkasila, my grandfather Tipi Sapa, Philip Deloria, said, “Takoja, I notice you around the house lately. Aren’t you going to school?” I said, “No Lala.” He very nonchalantly said “Oh,” and that was all that was ever said.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;"><span style="color: #000000;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560183099?profile=original"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560183099?profile=original" width="272"/></a></span></span></em><em><span class="font-size-4">That was the winter that old grandpa Low Dog, who fought in the Custer Battle, at Greasy Grass, came in October and stayed until April. We call this, “An Indian visit!”</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Of course, it was my duty to always be at grandfather’s side, as he had great difficulty in getting around due to a stroke he had suffered a year and a half earlier. Well, I spent that entire winter in the company of those great, old men, listening to them reminisce. I heard many great old stories of our Dakota people in their days of glory. It seemed that every story had to be accompanied by a good song.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Late in the spring, my Aunt Ella Deloria, my late mother's younger sister, returned home and she noticed me around the house every day. Of course, the inevitable question came up, and I had, to tell the truth. Aunt Ella then asked Lala about my school status, and he said, “Yes, he has been with me every day! This time with me will be more valuable in his life than the time he would spend in a school that my grandson, doesn't understand the first thing. I am an old man. My grandson is just a young boy. The things he has learned and will learn here with me, he can never learn in a school.”</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Just as he said, I learned more in that year than I would have learned in any academic situation. In my 89 winters, I too have found that there are so many things to learn beyond academics that enrich our lives.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">In our relationship with our grandchildren always look at the big picture. Encourage and support them through all phases of their development. Don’t be short-sighted or narrow. Try to visualize the young man or woman – fully in balance on all four sides, physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Do not restrict children to time limits. Permit them to be free – no clock, which comes all too soon.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Never trap a child in any situation; always give them a way to escape. Don’t ever put a child’s dignity in jeopardy. This opportunity is the right moment and place to tell them an interesting and meaningful “ohukaka” story, a story that teaches them the spiritual meanings and lessons of life.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Don’t ever be critical of a child, even though deserved. Be wise in your appraisal of any situation and address it in a positive tone rather than in a negative way.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Be very positive in rewarding honesty. Honesty is the very foundation of integrity (moral soundness). You can never give them too much.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">In your discussions with children, get down on their level, physically, on your knees or lower. Remember they live in a world of giants. Speak in pleasant tones, never shout. Give them 100% of your attention. </span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">This respectful and loving approach develops trust, faith, and confidence in them. Trust, faith, and confidence are the foundations of respect and dignity.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Maintain the grandfather-grandchild relationship. A beautiful relationship that lasts a lifetime and beyond the grave. </span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Try always to use those terms of relationship “mitakosa” (my grandchild), they in turn reply, “Lala ” or other similar words that exist in our beautiful Indigenous languages! It creates a sense of belonging. </span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">The worst and most painful, destructive emotion to a child is abandonment; it can lead to suicide. Among our Dakota people, the fundamental importance of the extended family is to maintain security.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;"> Build this sense of safety in your grandchildren. Always be a strong spiritual warrior in the eyes of your grandchildren. If there is ever a chance of any danger, always stand between this risk and your family. Then, in the case of danger, their first thought will be, “we will be safe with Lala.”</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Always strive to motivate your grandchildren in every way possible. This motivation will take some effort, as you must always approach life with dedication, courage, compassion, and purpose. The value of sincere praise and gratitude toward your grandchildren is never to be under-estimated!</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Inspire your grandchildren to try new things and let them make mistakes. Never continually correct a grandchild so they might avoid mistakes – they’re smart, they will soon turn the whole job over to you. When they reach maturity, and they are on their own, a lot of pain and frustration is waiting for them. Ensure that they prepared to take care of themselves!</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Develop a sense of humor in your children by always trying to see the humor in everyday life. Be free with your jokes and kidding but never make them a butt of a joke – no mean-spirited teasing, it brings no good.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">When it is necessary to discipline a child, do it only in the presence of the two of you. Never let what took place between you be known to anyone else. </span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Develop respect by being respectful. Maintain a value system that helps the child, at an early age, to begin distinguishing character building and spiritual qualities from those things of only temporal, transitory value.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Teach children their role or place in the scheme of creation and relationships with relatives and all life, so that they will learn to respect all living things. First, they start by learning to treat themselves with respect and dignity. Then they learn what their role is within their immediate family, their extended family, and finally to all of the society. </span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Practice charity at all times!<br/></span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Always be aware of a child’s overall development and unique gifts. Unusual talent usually manifests itself at an early age. Creator given talents should be nurtured and recognized, at all times. In the days gone past our great medicine men and women, leaders, and thinkers were identified at a very early age and so were developed by their older peers from a young age. The mainstream people may think they were first to come up with the “Gifted Child” program – well they weren’t too far off – a few hundred years or more, maybe.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Always keep your grandchildren's confidence. Let them know that Lala is a safe place to share their closest secrets. Help them to share all those things that may be painful. Never betray their confidence and what they share with you!<br/></span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Develop integrity and self-respect. Let your grandchildren see the order and harmony that exists in Nature.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Do not let injustice prevail. When you are wrong, be quick to admit it and make amends.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Be very clear in defining anything to children. Be very positive that they understand explicitly every detail that you are sharing with them. Never let them proceed with the least amount of doubt.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Be honest in all of your associations with your grandchildren. It is disrespectful and not easy to fool Children. Worse yet, dishonesty will affect their belief system and break their trust in you!<br/></span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Be just in any disciplinary action. Never act on hearsay. Always allow your children to present their side of any situation. The one bringing a complaint against a child sees only one side. On the other hand, from their way of thinking, the child may be completely justified for their action. This kind of justice builds character.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Never let your grandchildren dwell on failure. If we want our grandchildren to be winners, then we must put the emphasis on winning, but make sure that they are never over-matched or above their level of competence.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">As they begin getting older, push them enough so that they can learn to function under pressure, but always be aware of how much pressure they can stand.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">In their relationship with others, playmates, brothers, sisters, cousins, impress on them how important it is to respect each others space. This the right place and time to emphasize the Golden Rule and growth on the moral side.</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Finally, inspire your grandchildren to look for joy and happiness. Joy and happiness strongly rooted in spiritual understanding, commitment, and a moral foundation. </span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Pray, with your grandchildren. Make prayer and selfless service to others a natural function of everyday life, like eating or sleeping. Teach your children the Sacredness of all Creation that they may love and respect all things of our Creator.<br/></span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">I quote young Phil Jr., who once made this statement, "Great Nations are a natural result of great People!"</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">With great love, encouragement, and respect to all those Walking The Red Road! When it comes time to go to "The Other Side Camp," may you make this journey with happiness, thanksgiving, and without regrets!</span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Mato Gi, Brown Bear, Phil Lane Sr., Ihanktonwan Dakota,<br/></span></em></p>
<p><em><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Born Jan 11, 1915, Wakpala, South Dakota- Died March 29, 2004, Walla Walla, Washington</span></em></p>Spiritual Qualities of Leadership-An Indigenous Perspectivetag:www.fwii.net,2019-12-17:2429082:BlogPost:894932019-12-17T19:00:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182026?profile=original"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182026?profile=original" width="278"></img></a> 1. Spiritually centered – actively in a relationship with the Creator or Higher Power!</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b><br></br> 2. Morally strong – lives a good moral life, suitable to stand as a role model to younger people, with particular attention to the issues of addictions, relationships, and honesty regarding money.…</b></span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4"><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182026?profile=original"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182026?profile=original" width="278"/></a>1. Spiritually centered – actively in a relationship with the Creator or Higher Power!</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b><br/> 2. Morally strong – lives a good moral life, suitable to stand as a role model to younger people, with particular attention to the issues of addictions, relationships, and honesty regarding money.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b><br/> 3. Believes in the People’s capacity to heal and develop, and shows this belief in the way they work with the People.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b><br/> 4. Is engaged in his or her healing journey and is dedicated to being a healthy person.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b><br/> 5. Has a good mind and clearly understands the process of healing and development and the issues the People are facing.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b><br/> 6. Has demonstrated devotion to the People’s healing and development by hard work and a good attitude over time.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b><br/> 7. Shows true respect for the Creator, Mother Earth, and all Human Beings. With the understanding that we are all members of One Human Family and the Hurt of One is the Hurt of All, strives not to show disrespect for anyone including women, men, youth, the less fortunate, other races, and does not practice any form or shape of prejudice.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b><br/> 8. Can work well with others in a circle.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b><br/> 9. Strives to work from a position of forgiveness, unity, and harmony with all members of the Human Family!</b></span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-4"><b>Summarized from discussions at the Four Worlds Elders Council, February 1987. <br/></b></span></p>
<p></p>Wopida Tanka-Great Thanksgiving for Alltag:www.fwii.net,2019-11-28:2429082:BlogPost:1678882019-11-28T20:00:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3745788714?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" height="345" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3745788714?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="419"></img></a> Wopida Tanka, Great Thanksgiving to All!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In March of 1972, my father had an unexpected and severe heart attack. I rushed home from San Diego, where I worked at the American Indian Career Center and I wept because I thought for sure my dad had passed on to the "Other Side Camp," as he…</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3745788714?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3745788714?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-left" width="419" height="345"/></a>Wopida Tanka, Great Thanksgiving to All!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In March of 1972, my father had an unexpected and severe heart attack. I rushed home from San Diego, where I worked at the American Indian Career Center and I wept because I thought for sure my dad had passed on to the "Other Side Camp," as he always called the Spiritual Worlds beyond.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I arrived at my Dad’s bedside. Although he was unable to speak with all the medical apparatus connected to him, very thankful I could see in my father’s eyes that he was not going to the Other Side Camp yet! In fact, he "stayed around to see how everything turned out," as he always said he would, for another 32 years.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">After my father was feeling up to travel, I wanted to give Thanksgiving to honor his recovery when he and my mother came to visit me in San Diego. I called my Lala, (Grandfather) Vine Deloria Sr. in South Dakota for counsel. He had been my Dakota Elder Advisor on these cultural and spiritual matters, for many years.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">My father was a very close relative to Lala Vine Sr. since birth. Vine Sr. was my Grandmother's younger brother. I remembered my father often speaking about giving Thanksgiving for all that comes in our lives! He used to say, “If we can’t be happy and thankful today, then for what day are we waiting?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">My Lala Vine Sr. echoed this same wisdom with me on the phone -- there were infinite ways to understand and give prayerful Thanksgiving and gratitude to the infinite, Creator of All. One of those ways Lala shared was, "Feeding the People!" He suggested a Wopida Ceremony. So without telling my parents, I flew my Lala Vine Sr. to San Diego to help me surprise my father and mother when they came to San Diego to visit me after my father’s recovery.</span></p>
<p><br/> <span style="font-size: 14pt;">With the support of all the Sisters, their Children, and the Staff at the American Indian Career Center we had a great Wopida Ceremony for the recovery of my father. After eating, Lala Vine Sr. gave a great talk about the meaning of “Wopida.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Wopida is a Dakota word, with profound, infinite, eternal meaning and transforming spiritual force. It is sometimes called a Giveaway Ceremony or a Potlatch. Wopida also reflects honoring our Sacred Relationship with all Life of Mother Earth. Lala Vine Sr. said, “All Life is a Gift of our Great Spirit, for which we should always give Thanksgiving!"</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It was during this experience that I begin to realize that my life and actions needed to be a Wopida. Sometimes, I forget, especially during challenging times, but I am still working on making my life a Wopida, as I see the blessings that manifest from such a living Thanksgiving.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">When we strive to make our lives, every thought, word and action, a living Wopida, we are blessed by a great spiritual gift. Whenever the inmost chambers of our heart and soul are filled with Thanksgiving and gratitude, our lives also naturally become filled with compassion, love, understanding, forgiveness, joy, happiness, and oneness.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">With our lives centered on Thanksgiving, there is no room left for the experience of fear, hate, prejudice, revenge, jealousy, loneliness, and disunity. Nothing remains that separate us and our Oneness with our Beloved Creator, our Human Family and all Life, seen and unseen.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">This spiritual understanding of Wopida requires each of us to live with honor, compassion, love, respect, and harmony with all life, including ourselves! This spiritual wisdom and understanding recognize that the Hurt of One is the Hurt of All and the Honor of One is the Honor of All!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">We are all Indigenous Peoples of Mother Earth, the Beloved Children of one Father and one Mother. Each one of us a Sovereignty -- Ancient, Imperishable, and Everlasting. For all of these blessings and many more, may we be infinitely and eternally thankful!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Wopida Tanka to All,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Brother Phil Lane Jr. and Family, Ihanktonwan Dakota and Chickasaw Nations</span></p>Hinhan Wicasta's ( Owl Man's ) and his Descendants Challenges, Singing for a Spirit, by Vine Deloria Jr.tag:www.fwii.net,2019-10-29:2429082:BlogPost:338952019-10-29T02:30:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p><span class="font-size-5"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560174099?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560174099?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="400"></img></a> “The Red Road was fraught with danger but filled with life... Hinhan Wicasa (Owl Man) would have great powers as a medicine man, the Thunders would be his close friends, and many birds and animals would help him. His descendants would have a responsibility to work for the good of the people, but would face many trials, tribulations, and…</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-5"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560174099?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="400" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560174099?profile=RESIZE_480x480" class="align-left"/></a>“The Red Road was fraught with danger but filled with life... Hinhan Wicasa (Owl Man) would have great powers as a medicine man, the Thunders would be his close friends, and many birds and animals would help him. His descendants would have a responsibility to work for the good of the people, but would face many trials, tribulations, and disappointments. This prophecy hung over Hinhan Wicasa and his son, Tipi Sapa's (Philip Deloria) lives like a shroud. The decisions that Hinhan Wicasa, Tipi Sapa, and their descendants would make in life have always been subject to the elements of this vision.”</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-5">Vine Deloria Jr., <u>Singing For a Spirit ( 1999 )</u></span></p>
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<p></p>Remembering Mato Gi, (Brown Bear) Phil Lane Sr. Who Passed To The Other Side Camp More Than Fifteen Years Agotag:www.fwii.net,2019-10-02:2429082:BlogPost:535852019-10-02T11:00:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
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<div align="center" class="pageheader"><span class="font-size-3" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175039?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175039?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a> Philip Nathan Lane, Sr., 11 January, 1915 - 29 March, 2004…</strong></span></span></div>
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<div class="pageheader" align="center"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175039?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175039?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></a>Philip Nathan Lane, Sr., 11 January, 1915 - 29 March, 2004</strong></span></span></div>
<p><br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">Seven years ago today, after 89 well-lived winters, Mato Gi (Brown Bear), Philip N. Lane, Sr. passed to the spiritual world on the beautiful spring morning of March 29, 2004. After joking, laughing, and eating a plate of his favorite pancakes made by his daughter Deloria, (Pictured Above) Brown Bear sat peacefully in his favorite chair and looked out over his beloved Mill Creek and the Blue Mountains. Then in a moment he was gone, his absence only noted by the tilt of his head. He told his good friend, Father Steve Woolley last fall, when he discussed his Dakota-Christian funeral celebration... "I will die in the spring, in March!" In the winter of his life, he left in the new spring, as promised, leaving his relatives to cherish the life he lived so well.</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">Born to a long lineage of hereditary chiefs and spiritual leaders of the White Swan Band of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, Brown Bear was born on January 11, 1915 on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. His parents were Lyma Deloria and Fred Lane. He was largely raised by his grandfather, Philip Deloria (Tipi Sapa), who was the first American Indian to become an ordained Episcopalian minister. As well, Tipi Sapa retained his chieftainship until his death. Brown Bear never lost his deep connection with his many cherished relatives in the Dakotas and made many visits with his family back to his beloved homeland throughout his lifetime.</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">He started his education at St. Elizabeth Mission School in Wakpala, SD. He then went on to Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, KS to finish his high school education. In 1994, he was given the Haskell Outstanding Alumni Award.</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">It was at Haskell where Phil met Lena Rose "Bow" Vale, a 13-year old Chickasaw from Oklahoma who later became his wife. He always liked to tell about their meeting . . . he was 17, she was 13. Ten years after they met, he came to Oklahoma with $2,000 and a marriage proposal . . . coming to "claim what's mine" he'd say. If you spent any time at all with Phil, you'd know that his life revolved around his family and most especially his sweetheart of 70 years, Bow.</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">At Haskell Phil learned to box and met his lifelong friend Boots LaCourse from the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Phil accompanied Boots home in 1934 after graduation. He stayed in the Pacific Northwest, largely due to generous and warmhearted hospitality of the Umatilla and Warm Springs people. Coming from a buffalo culture himself, he appreciated the central role he saw the salmon playing in the lives of the Plateau people.</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">From Pendleton he went to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, where he was employed with a Bureau of Indian Affairs survey crew. His supervisor Charlie Chester suggested he go to Oregon State where he was a boxer on the varsity team for 4 years. He graduated in 1941 with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry. Phil was honoured by Oregon State University (OSU) with the E.B. Lemon Distinguished Alumni Award in 1992, the OSU Alumni Association's highest award, and the Forestry Alumni Association's Individual Achievement Award.</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">During World War II, he was recruited to work on the Third Locks Project in the Panama Canal. He served on active duty from October 30, 1943 to April 23, 1946 with the Naval Air Corps and the Sea Bees. In 1948, he transferred with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to McNary, Oregon. He worked in structural design on Columbia River dams and retired after 30 years in 1971. His innovative design for fish ladders led to saving migrating salmon and his design of vertical locks merited two Presidential Citations from Lyndon B. Johnson.</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">Phil raised and trained quarter horses. Phil had "horse medicine." He had such an amazing understanding with his horses, which enabled him to win Sixth in the world in cow cutting in 1982 on Bold Mount, one of his many championship horses. In 1990 he won the open championship for Area I National Cutting Horse Association with Tivios Hired Hand.</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">Phil had over 250 amateur and professional fights spanning 18 years. At Oregon State he was the runner-up of the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Lightweight Boxing Championship. In 1947 he was the All-Service Lightweight Boxing Champion, Panama Canal Division. During the years when money was scarce, he fought professional fights under the names Billy Sunshine, Flash Gordon, Pug Lane, and the Kansas Express.</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">He always reminded us that we needed to "slow down." He cherished a real "Indian visit," telling the story about his grandfather Low Dog, a Custer battle veteran, who came to visit and stayed for 6 months.</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">The way Phil demonstrated the respect principle he inherited from his beloved old people was through the way he cared for and took care of everything in his life. The way he groomed his horses, kept up his machinery, tended his relationships, oiled his tack, and even swept his driveway was evidence of his respect for all living things. He was completely enamoured of children of all sizes and shapes. He insisted they all call him Lala (grandpa). He could play "make-believe" with the best of them. If you knew him, you heard him exclaim, "My friend," each time he ran into someone he knew.</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">One of Phil's very favorite sayings was "Aren't we all the Children of One Father (the Creator) and one mother (the Earth)?" That sacred teaching guided him during a long career of volunteering. In 1946 he served on the Umatilla School Board and was Chairman from 1953-54. In 1969 Phil Sr. and Phil Jr. established the first ever Native American prison group in North America with the brothers at the Washington State Penitentiary. Phil cherished this service and still continued to be in close contact with the many brothers he worked with, who are now enjoying their freedom due to Phil's loving and wise influence. For this effort, in 1984 he received the Governor's Distinguished Volunteer Award and the State of Washington Certificate of Appreciation.</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">In 1975 Phil received the Baha'i Human Rights Award. In 1982 he was a founding member of the Four Worlds International Elders Council. He received the Eli S. Parker Award from the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) in 1987 and served on its Council of Elders until going to the spiritual world. Every year he looked forward with great anticipation to attending the annual conference so he could share all his energy with students and old friends. Each one received a full measure of his love, attention, and encouragement.</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">Phil is lovingly remembered by his wife, Bow, at home, son Philip N. Lane, Jr. of Lethbridge, AB, daughter Deloria Bighorn (Jacob), of Duncan, BC, and son Michael Finnegan (Denise) of Snohomish, WA, Sister Jean Wallace (Norman), grandchildren Shannon Lane Seaver (Rick), Gina Hensley (Joey), Joslynn Santa Cruz (Kris), Deloria Lane-Many Grey Horses, Philip N. Lane, III, Dale Henderson (Nicole), Jordan Bighorn, Jelana Bighorn, Kai Bighorn, Tahirih Varner, Bahie Rassekh, Margo Hill (Tim), Regan Vaughn, Mikala Finnegan, Perry Tonasket, Lyda Nicholai, Brett Parker, and Amber Parker, 9 great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews and their families. At the other side camp Phil joins his sister Elizabeth and his brother Wilfred. Also his adopted brothers Ben Pease Sr., Lionel Kinunwa, Bill Minthorn, and Winnie Loves War.</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">Pallbearers: Jordan Bighorn, Kai Bighorn, Lee Brown, Dale Henderson, Kris Santa Cruz, Rick Seaver, Vic Johns, Michael Finnegan, Randy Scott, Steve Old Coyote, Darrell Wallace, Rob Wallace, Jacob Bighorn, Greg Mulhair, and Phil Lane, Jr..</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">Honorary Pallbearers: Vine Deloria Jr., Sam Deloria, Jiggs Johnson, Hap Johnson, Bob Barker, Bob Sherwood, Oliver Eagleman, Vernon Iron Cloud, Norm Wallace, Harold Belmont, Ben Pease III, Bill Burke, Jim Roanhorse, James Vale, John Vale, Jack Hansen, Leon Kinunwa, Phil Lucas, Louis Parker, Antone Minthorn, Douglas Minthorn, Coop Cooper, Burt Hoare, Gary Zukov, Norbert Hill, Bob Whitman, Vince Two Eagles, Norman Conner, Bill Klein, J.C. Penny, Chuck Keeler, Dick Livingston, Phil LaCourse, Ken McCann. We are truly unable to list all of Phil's beloved friends and relatives-please know you are forever appreciated and remembered in his heart.</span></span></p>
<hr/><p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;"><br/> MITAKUYEPI - WOPILA</span></span> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">"In our old Lakota viewpoint on life, with all of its aspects of the human heart, our old old elders could see that everything that has life tries to be round, with a very holy center. The center wherein resided our beautiful old grandmothers and grandfathers. Together, they extended out to all who could hear their voices, their love, their encouragement, their gratitude, their understanding, their compassion always softened by their actions and words of their forgiveness."</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">HO, MATO GI, HE MIYELO,</span></span> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">Philip Lane, Sr., Nov. 2001</span></span> <br/> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">ONLY WORDS</span></span> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">"The heart is always in search of happiness. Nothing makes one feel lonelier nor more helpless than no one to appreciate one's being and efforts to make the home a haven from life's daily problems. I charge you to hold one another gently but firmly. The strength, courage and love united in one union can withstand the bitter storms that may be faced in one's journey.</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">There is nothing so satisfying as to toil for someone you love or someone by whom you are loved.</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">Press on Mitakuyepi, there is no time to waste!"</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">- Phil Lane, Sr.</span></span> <br/> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">TRIBUTE TO INDIAN HONOUR</span></span> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">"Our people love to honor people. We are a race of people who believes in honor. We know honor stimulates people. The man honoured his wife and the wife honoured her husband. And they lived in such beauty. They had a devotion which individually and collectively we all need if we're going to make this a better world to live in."</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">TRIBUTE TO THE OLD PEOPLE</span></span> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">"There were prophecies I remember, as a boy, saying we're going to go through some bitter, bitter times. We're going to shed some tears. But the time would come when we begin to see the light again. When spring would start coming again. Think of all the potential that you have. Think of the contributions you all can make. Think of the love in your hearts that you can share with other people. Be quick to forgive people (if they can hurt you in some way). Be like the old people..."</span></span> <br/> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">Phil Lane, Sr.</span></span> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">Winds of Change</span></span> <br/> <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #000000;">Winter 1992</span></span></p>An Emerging Vision of the Global Council of Indigenous Womentag:www.fwii.net,2019-08-31:2429082:BlogPost:1673412019-08-31T06:13:08.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Beloved Members of the Global Council of Indigenous Women and Allies,</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3491172983?profile=RESIZE_710x" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3491172983?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="750"></img></a> <span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The Connective Tissue that binds our Human Family together with Mother Earth and Father Sky is Womenkind. Just as all members of the Human Family are born and nourished from and…</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Beloved Members of the Global Council of Indigenous Women and Allies,</strong></span></p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3491172983?profile=RESIZE_710x" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3491172983?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="750" class="align-full"/></a><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The Connective Tissue that binds our Human Family together with Mother Earth and Father Sky is Womenkind. Just as all members of the Human Family are born and nourished from and on the Sacred Breasts of our Beloved Mother Earth, so does Womenkind give birth to and nourish our Future Generations, in loving partnership with Mankind.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3491172983?profile=RESIZE_710x" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> </a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">When all Beloved Sisters are regrounded and reunited in our intimate Oneness with Mother Earth and all Life, so will the Countless Generations that issue forth from our Sacredness live in harmony with All Life. As we actualize our infinite, sacred potentialities, in harmony and balance with all Life, Peace on Earth will dynamically unfold and actualize, as promised. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3491172983?profile=RESIZE_710x" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> </a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">We extend our heartfelt invitation and we welcome you and your Beloved Ones to support and participate in the Global Council of Indigenous Women’s Sacred Vision and Intent.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">The Global Council of Indigenous Women is Dedicated to Unifying the Awakened and Awakening Indigenous Women, Mother Earth, including gently awakening those who are asleep, including ourselves, for Unprecedented, Unified, Action to Protect and Restore the Sacredness of All Life. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3491172983?profile=RESIZE_710x" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> </a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Global Council has a Page and Group. The Page is open to all who may be interested. The “Group”, we would rather call it</span> <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">a Circle</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, as a Sacred Place of Learning and Sharing of</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Beloved Grandmothers, Aunts, Sisters, Mothers, Daughters, and Granddaughters who were born and nourished on the Sacred Breasts of Mother Earth. This is our spiritual and non-political perspective as Indigenous Peoples. While some may not understand or appreciate this perspective, this Unity Consciousness, in time, will enlighten and illumine every member of our Human Family. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Womenkind ~</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">beloved Grandmothers, Aunts Sisters, Mothers, Daughters and Granddaughters ~</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;"> are the very Core and Foundation of the “</span><b>Sacred Hoop of Many Hoops”,</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">as envisioned by Ogala Lakota Visionary, Black Elk, as well as other similar Prophetic Symbols found in Indigenous Prophecies across the Americas, and in other Faiths and Spiritual Traditions from around the world.. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3491172983?profile=RESIZE_710x" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> </a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">With Great Respect, Love, and Honor to all our Sisters of our Mother Earth, </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3491172983?profile=RESIZE_710x" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> </a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The Global Council of Indigenous Women</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3491172983?profile=RESIZE_710x" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><br/></a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/GCIWME/?modal=admin_todo_tour"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Global Council of Indigenous Women</span></a> <a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3491172983?profile=RESIZE_710x" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">-</span> <b>PAGE</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/353826188860733/?epa=SEARCH_BOX"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Global Council of Indigenous Wome</span></a><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3491172983?profile=RESIZE_710x" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">n -</span> <b>GROUP</b></a></span></p>The Reunion of the Condor and Eagle is Dynamically Unfolding Across the Americastag:www.fwii.net,2019-08-24:2429082:BlogPost:1213522019-08-24T03:00:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<div><p align="center" style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560179778?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560179778?profile=original" width="315"></img></a> Prior to the arrival of the first European explorers an Indigenous kinship network, based in spiritual and cultural relationships, existed for centuries across the Americas. Through this “Sacred Hoop of Many Hoops”, Indigenous Peoples shared their collective spiritual wisdom, cultural protocols, ceremonies, scientific…</b></p>
</div>
<div><p style="text-align: left;" align="center"><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560179778?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560179778?profile=original" width="315"/></a>Prior to the arrival of the first European explorers an Indigenous kinship network, based in spiritual and cultural relationships, existed for centuries across the Americas. Through this “Sacred Hoop of Many Hoops”, Indigenous Peoples shared their collective spiritual wisdom, cultural protocols, ceremonies, scientific knowledge, and vast physical resources.</b></p>
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<p><b>This network was known by many Indigenous Peoples across the Americas as the Union of the Condor and Eagle. It was shattered, as prophesized, with the arrival of the English, French, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish colonizers! The subsequent decimation of Indigenous Nations and Peoples across the Americas was massive. </b></p>
<p><b>Charles Mann, for instance, in his book <u>1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus</u>, quotes respected scholars who believe that 90-100 million Indigenous Peoples perished from disease by the mid- 1600’s, a catastrophe on an even greater scale than the “black deaths” in Europe. Many more died afterward as the direct result of hostile colonial policies. The latest estimates, by some researchers, is there were more than 108 million Indigenous peoples living across the Americas prior to European contact. What happened was a Holocaust of historic dimensions. </b></p>
<p><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560179817?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560179817?profile=original" width="259"/></a>The prophecy of the Reunion of the Condor and the Eagle is interrelated with many other Indigenous prophecies across the Americas.</b> <b>All of these prophecies predict, after a long and bitter spiritual wintertime of 500 years, that the “Reunion of the Condor and the Eagle” will begin slowly, at first, but then rapidly accelerate following the end of the long-count of the Mayan Calendar, December 21, 2012 and the beginning of the 5<sup>th</sup> Sun. It is prophesied that this spiritually-based movement, led by Indigenous Peoples, will ultimately result in a great era of compassion, peace, justice and prosperity that will unite all members of the Human Family.</b></p>
<p><b>As well, the Reunion of the Condor and Eagle is intimately related to other Indigenous prophecies across the Americas. These include the Eighth Council Fire, the Slaying and Return of the White Buffalo, the Emergence of the Fifth Sun, the Return of Quetzalcoatl and the Prophecies of the Hopi’s, Chilam-Balam, Sweet Medicine, and Black Elk.</b></p>
<p><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560180001?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560180001?profile=original" width="259"/></a>So strong is the belief in this prophecy that the Otomi Nation in the State of Mexico, for instance, has built a vast ceremonial amphitheater dedicated to the “Reunion of the Condor and the Eagle.” The focal point of this amazing construction is a gigantic stone carving of a Condor and an Eagle joined in a loving embrace. It was built largely by the volunteer labor of thousands of materially poor Indigenous Peoples out of love and faith in this prophecy.</b></p>
<p><b>Through the unprecedented, unified actions of many different Indigenous networks and Allies, these interrelated Indigenous-led movements are unifying across the Americas. At the forefront of all these movements are Indigenous women! This is happening despite growing opposition from adversarial political and economic forces led primarily by natural resource extraction industries. </b></p>
<p><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560183148?profile=original" target="_self"></a><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560183240?profile=original" target="_self"></a>This opposition is easy to understand. Once the Reunion of the Condor and Eagle is fully realized, Indigenous Peoples and their Allies will become a major and decisive economic and spiritual force not only in the Americas but around Mother Earth. Indigenous Peoples and their Allies will then be in a position to mandate the wise and harmonious ways our Mother Earth's gifts will be, respectfully, safely and sustainability developed, as well as, when development is not appropriate, no matter how much profit is to be made! For more background on the Vision and Strategy for fulfilling the Prophecy of the Reunion of the Condor and the Eagle, sometimes called the Reunion of the Condor, Quetzal, and Eagle please read the Fourth Way linked below.</b></p>
<p><b><a href="https://www.fwii.net/profiles/blogs/the-fourth-way?fbclid=IwAR2W0sDXCmEwtF3X2YY3V1WmH_QGz31BWXt01eJO4g5f6cmdP1T66CeEKtU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Fourth Way-An Indigenous Strategy for Building Sustainable and Harmonious Prosperity in the Americas and Beyond</a></b></p>
<p></p>Introduction to the Reunion of the Condor, Quetzal, and Eagle via the Fourth Waytag:www.fwii.net,2019-08-15:2429082:BlogPost:1359482019-08-15T15:00:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p align="center" style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"><b><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182108?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182108?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a> The Fourth Way reflects the view that the Human Family is at a crossroad facing diverging paths; on one side lays the path of assimilation, resignation, conflict, militarism, economic insecurity and war, on the other, a Sacred Path, the Red Road leading to healing, mutual understanding,…</b></span></p>
<p align="center" style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"><b><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182108?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182108?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-left"/></a>The Fourth Way reflects the view that the Human Family is at a crossroad facing diverging paths; on one side lays the path of assimilation, resignation, conflict, militarism, economic insecurity and war, on the other, a Sacred Path, the Red Road leading to healing, mutual understanding, reconciliation forgiveness, cooperation and sustainable and harmonious prosperity. </b></span></p>
<p align="center" style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"><b>“We”, the likeminded Indigenous Peoples of Mother Earth, offer the Fourth Way based on the conviction that Indigenous Peoples, in the fullest sense of our understanding, have the vision, the guiding principles, the values, the growing capacity, and the collective resources to co-create a peaceful and harmonious future for our children and grandchildren. </b></span></p>
<p align="center" style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"><b>We submit that our Indigenous Peoples, who care for Mother Earth and all living beings, hold an important key to peace, security and sustainable well-being for all members of the Human Family. In the Fourth Way, we discuss the issues and outline a strategy for the constructive engagement of all concerned. Our collective future is at stake. </b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"><b>The implementation of the Fourth Way requires each to look at the world around us in a new way. We are accustomed to seeing the world through a prism uniquely anchored in our background, experience, and to the narrative or founding “myth” of our Indigenous land or group. We are especially bound together by spiritual values, traditions, guiding principles and prophecies like the Reunion of the Condor, Quetzal, and Eagle and the Slaying of the White Buffalo. </b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"><b> We must learn to respect both religious belief and religious differences rooted in mutual love and respect! The Fourth Way honors all forms of Faith Traditions but also respects freedom of conscience. </b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"><b>We must learn to widen our prism to see and understand more than we did before, to see ourselves as others see us and to see the issues we face from differing points of view. In the end, we must come to understand the true meaning of Black Elk's vision, that despite our differences, we are in fact, all related.</b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-4"><u>BLACK ELK’S VISION</u></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-4"><i>Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them all, and round about beneath me was the whole hoop of the world. And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I saw in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being. And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father. And I saw that it was holy.</i></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-4"><i>Then as I stood there, two men were coming from the east, headfirst like arrows flying, and between them rose the Daybreak Star. They came and gave a herb to me and said: "With this on earth you shall undertake anything and do it." It was the Daybreak-Star herb, the herb of understanding, and they told me to drop it on the earth. I saw it falling far, and when it struck the earth it rooted and grew and flowered, four blossoms on one stem, a blue, a white, a scarlet, and a yellow; and the rays from these streamed upward to the heavens so that all creatures saw it and in no place was there darkness.</i></span></p>
<p align="center"></p>Prophecies, Dynamic Change, and a New Global Civilization: 2020 - 2030 - 2050tag:www.fwii.net,2019-08-11:2429082:BlogPost:1621452019-08-11T18:30:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Parliament of World Religion, November 7, 2018, ( Update from June 21, 2018 )</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/133924591?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/133924591?profile=original&width=750" width="750"></img></a></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Very Beloved Friends and Relatives,…</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Parliament of World Religion, November 7, 2018, ( Update from June 21, 2018 )</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/133924591?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/133924591?profile=original&width=750" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Very Beloved Friends and Relatives,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">We pray that 2018 is continuing to unfold, as we approach 2019, as a year passing of high hopes, faith, strength, thanksgiving, gratitude, and courage, no matter what challenges or temporary setbacks we are destined to face. 2018 is proving to be a very critical year, as we continue our journey toward actualizing a new, just, inclusive Global Civilization</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">,</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">a culture of world peace that respects and honors all members of our Human Family and all Life.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">During 2017, rapidly emerging global challenges have clearly been demonstrated:</span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Increasing global environmental disintegration, natural disasters, and unforeseen calamities in many parts of the world.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Growing financial instability and signs of an inevitable collapse of our corrupt global economic system.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Increasing extremes of wealth and poverty.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The unraveling of humanity’s social and cultural fabric.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Deepening ethnic and inter-religious strife.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Increasing impotence and gridlock of outworn political systems and governance structures.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Further destruction of Indigenous Peoples and their Sacred Homelands.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Persisting unchecked global arms and drug trades.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Debilitating behaviors associated with competing ideologies that are unable to meet humanity's basic physical, social, economic, environmental and spiritual needs.</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">At the same time, we can clearly see dynamically increasing ecological, social, economic, interfaith and Indigenous Movements for Protecting and Restoring the Sacred, rapidly unifying. It is important to remember when looking at this Movement of Movements, just gathered, together, at the Unity Earth Convergence, Parliament of World Religions, October 31, 2018, Toronto, Canada, the counsel of Black Elk, Heka Sapa, “The Center of the Universe is Everywhere!” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/133925623?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/133925623?profile=original&width=700" width="700" class="align-center"/></a></span></p>
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<h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><b>A Turning Point</b></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The continuing fulfillment of the Prophecy of the Reunion of the Condor, Quetzal, and Eagle signals the global rise of Indigenous leadership in facing the growing threat of runaway climate change, loss of biodiversity, ecosystemic collapse, and the pollution and poisoning of our global freshwater supplies. As well, t<span>here is a growing global understanding and recognition that market fundamentalism, an economic system which encourages massive consumption, has resulted in a global economy that is hostile to the health of Mother Earth, our Human Family and all Life.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">This was clearly demonstrated, when a vision of a young Hunkpapa Lakota women, from Wakpala, on the <span>Standing Rock Sioux Reservation</span> inspired, in less than seven months, a Global Movement to Protect the Sacred. This vision resulted in prayerful and peaceful actions to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">These actions to safeguard the waters of the Missouri River and other Sacred Sites of the Oceti Sakowin, attracted global attention and support. The dedicated, unified and courageous work of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (SRST), Elders, Young People and the Seven Districts of SRST, generated the formal support of more than 300 First Nations, Water Protectors, Interfaith Movements and US Military Veterans, representing all Members of our Human Family. </span></p>
<h2><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>The 7th Generation</b></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The unprecedented, unified actions at Standing Rock and other similar transformational actions around Mother Earth to Protect and Restore the Sacred, highlight the growing global involvement of young people. These young people referred to in prophecies, as the 7th Generation, now represent more than 50% of the world’s population. As well, the Spirit of Standing Rock is now, everywhere.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Members of this 7th Generation are, increasingly, stepping into the global dialogue centered around the need for fundamental change. This emerging leadership of young people, in every dimension of human and community transformation, was long prophesied by Indigenous Peoples. We have now entered the long-promised Spiritual Springtime and the Emergence of the 7th Generation. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The young people, the 7th Generation, of Parkland, Florida, who saw their schoolmates gunned down, rose up to tell the world that it is time to silence the guns with the power of the law. There is a mobilization of young people from everywhere on Mother Earth to address climate change and biodiversity loss with unprecedented, unified action. One such example is</span> <a href="https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Our Children’s Trust</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">who have filed a landmark U.S. federal climate lawsuit.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is the time of the emergence of the 7th Generation and the Day that shall not be followed by night! </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Across</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">the Americas and around Mother Earth, the 7th Generation is resonating with a call for a political, social and spiritual transformation to address an ineffective and unacceptable political and economic system, everywhere all at once.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">This outworn, disintegrating global system based solely in a materialistic and mechanistic understanding of life has resulted in a global society where 62 individual human beings have as much wealth as the bottom 3.5 billion. This disintegration continues to increase by the day!</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">At the same time, we have begun to accelerate the transition to 100% clean, renewable energy. At Stanford University, the</span> <a href="http://thesolutionsproject.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Solutions Project</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">is charting the course to 100% renewable energy in 139 countries by 2050. The direction and harmony of these global changes depend upon the values that are inspiring this change. If these values continue to be about short-term, self-interest in materialistic gains solely, we will continue to experience a deepening cycle of death and destruction. When these values are life-preserving and life-enhancing, we will move forward to a new, just global civilization.</span></span></p>
<h2><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Global Convergence</b></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">It is becoming clearer and clearer with every passing day that walking a prayerful, peaceful, spiritual path is the only way forward to a just, sustainable, and harmonious world for all people and all purposes. This is being manifested </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">For the first time, the Nation States of Mother Earth finally recognized, through the</span> <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Paris Agreement on Climate Change</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, that our Human Family plays a major role in causing an impact on our climate and that we must work cooperatively to address this global challenge. While this unity of understanding between the Nation States may vary, in time, human-caused climate change and</span> biodiversity loss <span style="font-weight: 400;">is a reality that all will eventually clearly see and understand.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Part of this Powerful Spirit of Global Change and Transformation is birthing new scientific discoveries, technological breakthroughs, digital communications and innovations that are dynamically increasing. The Internet is bringing dramatic change to cultures and peoples everywhere. The accelerating use of mobile phone, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain technologies are emerging vehicles for financial and other distributed applications that are empowering people everywhere. It is clear that there are new financial and social systems that are emerging with the potentiality and promise to balance and harmonize the growing extremes of wealth and poverty. </span></p>
<h2><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/133926145?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/133926145?profile=original&width=300" width="300" class="align-left"/></a>Our Global Storm</b></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Without question, we will witness in 2018 and beyond, a growing Global Storm. This Global Storm, now beginning to visibly sweep the face of our Mother Earth, will prove ultimately, unless we awaken, to be unprecedented in its violence, unpredictable in its course, and sometimes catastrophic in its immediate effects. In 2018, we will witness the driving power of this Global Storm gaining in range and momentum. Its cleansing force, however much undetected and misunderstood, will increase with every passing day. It appears, no place on Mother Earth is protected from the cleansing, healing and unifying power of this Global Storm. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">No matter what challenges may be in our path, we will all eventually awaken to the spiritual and scientific reality that we are all part of One Human Family. A Human Family that is intimately related to all Life, wherein the Hurt of One is the Hurt of All and that the Honor of One is the Honor of All!</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Our “Paralysis of Will and Action”</b></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Certainly, there is no lack of recognition by national and international leaders of the global character of these challenges, as we observed at COP21 in Paris, France, at COP 22 in Marrakech, Morocco</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, at the United Nations in bringing forth the</span> <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sustainable Development Goals</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, an</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">d at other International Forums. It is also self-evident in the mounting issues that are confronting all members of our Human Family on a daily basis.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">There are many accumulating studies and solutions, proposed by many concerned and enlightened groups, as well as by agencies of the United Nations, for there to be any possibility of ignorance of the requirements to be met to bring about a just, peaceful, and harmonious world for all Life.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">There is, however, from our perspective, a “paralysis of will and action” to make the essential decisions and behavioral changes needed to move forward positively and constructively. This “paralysis of will” must be understood, transformed and dealt with resolutely, to collectively reverse our downward global spiral.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The gridlock that supports this “paralysis of will and action” is the reluctance to entertain the possibility of subordinating national and personal self-interests to the needed requirements of concerted global actions. Many times, this “paralysis of will and action ” is reinforced by a deep-seated conviction in the inevitable adversarial nature of humankind. Many Human Beings simply do not believe that we are capable of addressing these challenges and adopting new solutions.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">This “paralysis of will and action” is also traceable to the living conditions of the uninformed masses of our Human Family, who speak different languages, are denied basic universal education, and do not have a voice in their future. Under these unjust conditions, they are unable to articulate their desire and need for a world in which they can live in peace, harmony, and prosperity for all members of our Human Family.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The primary question to be resolved is how the present world, with its entrenched systems, patterns of conflict and resignation will make this change? How, with our collective participation, will we transform our world so that harmony and cooperation will prevail leading to healing of our Human Family, Mother Earth and the establishment of a New Global Civilization. </span></p>
<h2><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>A New Global Civilization </b></span></h2>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The global change that leads to a New Global Civilization, and a vision of what that New Global Civilization will look like, is what we would like to share. We will do this by drawing on the best spiritual and prophetic sources that we know of from Indigenous Prophecies, the Ancient of Days, Call to the Nations and Black Elk Speaks (books that have been Phil’s constant companion for more years than he can remember), Wisdom Keeper Patricia Anne Davis, a key Indigenous Mentor of Jon’s, the Universal House of Justice, and our many friends, relatives, and elders.</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The New Global Civilization, which Indigenous Peoples and other related prophecies speak of is not to be confused–even remotely–with the various new world orders fearfully alluded to by various contending sources!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">This New Global Civilization is not a new world order where the extremely wealthy or a secret elite enslave most of humanity for their own selfish and greedy purposes. This New Global Civilization is not a new world order where everyone is forced to look, act and think the same or a new world order dominated by anyone nation-state or a new world order created by an Anti-Christ before an Armageddon. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The manifestation of this new way of life leading to a New Global Civilization, now unfolding, is based on the full spiritual recognition of the Oneness of the Human Family and is promised by spiritual teachers and faith traditions everywhere on Mother Earth. This new way of living and resulting relationships will become clearer and clearer to each of us over the coming days, months and years, in our own way and at our own appointed time. Without question, 2018 and each succeeding year will be filled with more unexpected and dynamic changes than ever before.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">A primary prerequisite for our success in this journey is our full commitment to the unfettered and independent investigation of the truth for ourselves. This prerequisite is the fundamental obligation of each human being to acquire knowledge and understanding through their "own eyes and not through the eyes of others." This includes our very careful, in-depth reflection, consideration, and investigation of the sources from which we receive our “news”.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We recognize that the “knowledge of knowledge compels” and that once people know for themselves, they will change the way they feel, speak and act. This knowledge of knowledge obliges us to wisely see that the world will be different only if we live differently. This knowledge and experience are rooted in gaining an ever-deepening spiritual understanding and purpose in our lives. This will require changing how we coexist and live together.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The advent of this New Global Civilization was foretold by our Indigenous Peoples, the Ancient of Days and Family and many other Faith Traditions Globally. These prophecies, of the Americas, include the 2012 Mayan Prophecies, The Reunion of the Condor and the Eagle, the Eighth Council Fire, the Return of the White Buffalo, the Prophecies of Black Elk, The Peacemaker, Quetzalcoatl, Sweet Medicine, Handsome Lake, the Hopi, and many others.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">These prophecies are firmly and unshakably rooted in the spiritual understanding and consciousness of the Oneness of the Human Family and all Life. From this spiritual understanding and consciousness naturally unfolds the realization of:</span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The Equality of Men and Women! </span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The Balancing of the Extremes of Wealth and Poverty!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The Elimination of All Prejudices!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The Unity of Science and Spirituality!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Universal Education,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The Independent Investigation of Truth and</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Unity in Diversity. </span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">A New Global Civilization where the voices, the wisdom, and vision of Indigenous Peoples are justly and respectfully represented and whose ancient wisdom is listened to and acted upon!</span></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>The</strong></span> <b><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Oneness of Humankind </span></b></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The vision of all these prophecies that a New Global Civilization is inevitable is clearly evident. This New Global Civilization is in the process of being founded on the unshakable consciousness of the Oneness of Humankind, a spiritual truth which all the human sciences confirm. Anthropology, physiology, and psychology recognize only One Human Race, although infinitely varied in the secondary aspects of life.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The full recognition of this fundamental truth requires the abandonment of all prejudice–prejudice of every kind– race, class, sexual orientation, color, creed, nationality, gender, the degree of material wealth, everything which enables people to consider themselves superior or inferior to others. Abandoning all prejudice is a great spiritual challenge and requirement for all of us at this time.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The full consciousness and acceptance of the Oneness of the Human Family is the fundamental prerequisite for the reorganization and administration of the world as One, the Home of humankind. Universal acceptance and realization of this spiritual principle are essential to any successful attempt to establish Peace on Earth.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The spiritual reality of the Oneness of the Human Family should, therefore, be universally proclaimed, taught in every school, and affirmed in every nation as preparation for fundamental changes in nation states and the systemic structures of our unfolding global society. World peace will only be fully achieved when this spiritual reality of the “Oneness” of all Life is realized. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">As prophesied, organizations like the</span> <a href="https://www.uri.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">United Religions Initiative (URI)</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the</span> <a href="https://www.parliamentofreligions.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Parliament of World Religions</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and others are promoting interfaith and interspiritual understanding awareness and unprecedented, unified actions. The URI Preamble, Purpose and Principles and organizational framework and integrative scheme of thought are one of the key global movements that are clearly supporting the fulfillment of the prophecies.</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><b>URI Preamble and Purpose</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Preamble</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We, people of diverse religions, spiritual expressions and indigenous traditions throughout the world, hereby establish the United Religions Initiative to promote enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and to create cultures of peace, justice, and healing for the Earth and all living beings.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We respect the uniqueness of each tradition and differences of practice or belief.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We value voices that respect others and believe that sharing our values and wisdom can lead us to act for the good of all.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We believe that our religious, spiritual lives, rather than dividing us, guide us to build community and respect for one another.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Therefore, as interdependent people rooted in our traditions, we now unite for benefit of our Earth community.</span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We unite to build cultures of peace and justice.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We unite to heal and protect the Earth.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We unite to build safe places for conflict resolution, healing, and reconciliation.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We unite to support freedom of religion and spiritual expression, and the rights of all individuals and peoples as set forth in international law.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We unite in responsible cooperative action to bring the wisdom and values of our religions, spiritual expressions, and indigenous traditions to bear on the economic, environmental, political and social challenges facing our Earth community.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We unite to provide a global opportunity for participation by all people, especially by those whose voices are not often heard.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We unite to celebrate the joy of blessings and the light of wisdom in both movement and stillness.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We unite to use our combined resources only for nonviolent, compassionate action, to awaken to our deepest truths, and to manifest love and justice among all life in our Earth community.</span></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>Purpose</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The purpose of the United Religions Initiative is to promote enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and to create cultures of peace, justice, and healing for the Earth and all living beings.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The Guiding Principles of URI are outstanding. One, among many Principles, that is very important: Members of URI shall not be coerced to participate in any ritual or be proselytized.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Both the Parliament of World Religions and URI welcome Indigenous Faith Traditions as equal and sacred as any other Faith Tradition. These are global movements, among many other global movements, that are uniting and moving us toward World Peace and a new Global Civilization.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The recognition of the Oneness of Humankind calls for no less than the reconstruction and the demilitarization of the whole world. A world that is naturally unified in all the essential aspects of its life–its political machinery, its spiritual aspiration, its trade and finance, its script and language–and yet infinite in the diversity of the unique characteristics of each culture and bioregion.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">This promised future will take some faith, vision, patience, time and unprecedented, unified action. The implementation of these promised far-reaching measures extends far beyond 2020, 2030, and even 2050.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">In essence, these prophecies share that, “The time will come when the imperative for the holding of a vast, an all-embracing assemblage to actualize World Peace will be universally and undeniably realized. The elected representatives and cultural and spiritual leaders of the Human Family will attend and participate in its deliberations. They will consider the ways and means to lay the foundations of the Most Great Peace for and among all members of the Human Family. Whether or not the current world leaders of Humanity are prepared to consider these issues, these issues will eventually be fully examined by the Human Family!” This will be accompanied by the rising global leadership of Indigenous Women from every part and dimension of our Human Family.</span></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><b>The Greater Peace: A New Global Civilization</b></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Then a Voice said: ‘Behold this day, for it is yours to make. Now you shall stand upon the center of the earth to see, for there they are taking you.’ I was still on my bay horse, and once more I felt the riders of the west, the north, the east, the south, behind me, as before, and we were going east. I looked ahead and saw the mountains there with rocks and forests on them, and from the mountains flashed all colors upward to the heavens. </span></i></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them all, and round about beneath me was the whole hoop of the world. And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I saw in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being.</span></i></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father. And I saw that it was holy. </span></i></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Then as I stood there, two men were coming from the east, head first like arrows flying, and between them rose the daybreak star. They came and gave a herb to me and said: "With this on earth you shall undertake anything and do it."</span></i></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">It was the Daybreak-Star herb, the herb of understanding, and they told me to drop it on the earth. I saw it falling far, and when it struck Mother Earth, it rooted and grew and flowered, four blossoms on one stem, a black, a white, a scarlet, and a yellow. The rays from these streamed upward to the heavens so that all creatures saw it and in no place was there darkness.”</span></i> <span style="font-weight: 400;"> –Hehaka Sapa, Black Elk, Oglala Lakota, Oceti Sakowin</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">These prophecies, like Black Elk’s, were given when our Indigenous ancestors still rode free on the High Plains of Turtle Island, clearly outline the emergence of a “Hoop of Many Hoops” a “Global Commons” in which all nations, races, creeds, and classes are closely and permanently united in our prior unity and oneness of our Human Family.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">This “</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hoop of Many Hoops</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">” will be manifested when there is a shared commitment to place the common good ahead of any national, ethnic, religious and selfish interests. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The “Hoop of Many Hoops” is a new Global Civilization that ensures the autonomy of each of its representative members, as well as completely safeguarding the personal freedom and initiative of all the individuals that compose them. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">This Global Civilization, as visualized, will consist of:</span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">A new Global Governing System, rooted locally, organized and scaled bio-regionally, and synergized globally. The members of this new Global Governing System, are elected, in a non-partisan, principle-centered manner. One of the key responsibilities of this Global Governance System, with free, prior, and informed consent is the stewarding and ensuring the sustainable and harmonious development of our global resources and cultures. Another key responsibility will be enacting such laws as shall be required to regulate the life, satisfy the needs and adjust the relationships of all members of the Human Family.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The extremes of wealth and poverty will be balanced, with the spiritual and moral understanding that every Human Being has the fundamental right to clean water to drink, healthy food to eat, health care, adequate housing, universal education</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and free expression.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">This rebalancing comes as a result of recognizing that each one of us is a Sovereignty, Ancient, Imperishable, Everlasting, and part of a Whole Living Systems Design.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Again, with free, prior and informed consent, as a fundamental organizing principle, this Global Governance System will carry out the decisions arrived at and apply the laws enacted by this Global Governance System, and will safeguard the organic unity of a Global Commons. Through the use of blockchain and other emerging DLT technologies, we will multiply our capacity to govern interdependently.</span> <a href="https://medium.com/blockchannel/blockchain-is-governance-e0d827b97b3f?source=linkShare-95c5231a53fa-1528953229"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Blockchain</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">can perform the core functions of governing bodies and can act as recorders, organizers, restrictors, and incentivize structures of human activity. “Smart contracts” enable better structured, more inclusive decision making, they can handle well-defined tasks, and their supervision and coordination can be handled by the crowd. Blockchain offers the potential for a systemic way to solve collective action problems.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">These prophecies clearly stated, long before the innovation of the internet, that a mechanism of world inter-communication would be devised, embracing all of Mother Earth, freed from national hindrances and restrictions, and functioning with marvelous swiftness and perfect regularity. The elders called it the “Everywhere Spirit made physically manifest.” They said that all that had been covered up and hidden during the long spiritual wintertime would be revealed at this time. A new understanding of security, accountability, and trust would become transparent, with honesty and integrity, as it was in days gone past.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">A world language will evolve from among all of our Human Families existing languages. This world language will be taught in the schools of all the nations in addition to their mother tongue. A world script, a world literature, a uniform and universal system of currency, of weights and measures, will simplify and facilitate unity and understanding among all the nations and peoples of the Human Family.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Science and spirituality, the two most potent forces in human life, will be reconciled, will co-operate, and will harmoniously develop. The manifestation of this prophecy has been unfolding, for instance, for more than forty years, in the work of the</span> <a href="http://www.aises.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">American Indian Science and Engineering Society, (AISES)</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The press under this global system, while giving full scope to the expression of the diversified views and convictions of humanity, will cease to be manipulated by vested interests, whether private or public. The press will be liberated from the influence of contending governments and peoples. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The economic resources of the world :</span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Will be organized for the welfare of all members of the Human Family,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Will ensure its sources of natural materials will be sustainably and harmoniously developed, and fully utilized without waste. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Its markets will be coordinated and developed, </span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">the distribution of its products and services will be equitably regulated. Destitution on the one hand and gross accumulation of ownership on the other will disappear.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">National rivalries and prejudice replaced by racial amity, understanding, and cooperation. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The causes of religious strife will be permanently removed, economic barriers and restrictions will be completely abolished, and the inordinate distinction between classes obliterated.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;"><span>Racial, religious and ethnic animosity, rivalries, hatreds, and intrigues will cease.</span> </span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The enormous resources and energy dissipated and wasted on war, economic or political, will be dedicated to </span><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">extending the range of scientific inventions and technological developments, the increase in the productivity of humankind and exterminating disease.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">This scientific research will be devoted to:</span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Raising the standard of physical and whole systemic health,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The harmonization, integration, and optimization of the human brain,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The prolongation of human life in an ethical manner</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The ecologically sustainable development of the unused and unsuspected resources of Mother Earth,</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The furtherance of any other agency that can stimulate the intellectual, the moral, the cultural, the artistic and spiritual life of all members of our Human Family.</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">In summary, these prophecies foretell:</span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">A Global Oneness, encompassing the participation of the entire Human Family, everywhere, all at once, and exercising wise, respectful, sustainable and harmonious development of our vast global resources. </span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">A Global Civilization were life-enhancing Indigenous Cultural, Spiritual and Wisdom Teachings, Sacred Ceremonies and Medicines, Prophecies and profound understanding of our Mother Earth’s Natural Laws, will help to enlighten and illumine all members of our Human Family.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">A Global Civilization that blends and embodies the ideals of both the East and the West liberated from the curse of war and its miseries and focused on the sustainable and harmonious development of all the available sources of clean energy on the surface of Mother Earth.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">A Global Governance System where Force is the servant of a Justice that is rooted in Love and Compassion and All Life is sustained by the universal recognition of One Creator.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">A Global Commons is a goal towards which our Human Family, impelled by the unifying forces of Life is undeniably and swiftly moving.</span></li>
</ul>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Everywhere Spirit Made Physically Manifest Here on Earth, as Prophesied</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">All of these future societal and technological changes will be impacted and facilitated by a new distributed model of sharing power and resources. This emergence of the Everywhere Spirit made physically manifest here on Earth, as prophesied, is a direct reference to the emergence of the internet.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The internet itself is an emerging example of this new distributed model. It is not just a new technological innovation, it is a new type of technological innovation that brings out the very essence of technology. What the internet will allow us to do is unlimited. For many, life online has become central, and the Internet has become an irresistible alternative culture. However even though we are more connected than ever, many people experience being socially isolated and disconnected from each other.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">To bridge this isolation there needs to be, grounded in</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">life-preserving and life-enhancing values,</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">a balancing of how we relate to each other, both off and online, to</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">establish, maintain and restore trust, relevance, meaning and involvement in shared concerns. For example,</span> <a href="http://unity.earth"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Unity. Earth</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and the</span> <a href="http://udayfestival.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">U Day Festival</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">foster real-life community, connect cultures and has led to a Campaign for a New Earth and the establishing the first stage of World Peace by 2030.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">This new medium of communication is moving us towards new ways of relating to each other and being able to work and move together toward unprecedented, unified action. We can all think of ourselves as spiritual explorers who have landed in a new hyperconnected world–a world in which we are one heart and one mind in many bodies.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">This movement of movements (MoM) is a network of networks and “emergent innovation” is a critical practice for envisioning, understanding and mobilizing new ways of organizing, communicating and cultivating the solidarity and joint actions needed at this time. Ten years ago we called these networks</span> <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9gAtu92PteYZWlKWHY3MUsweFk/view?usp=sharing"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Deep Social Networks</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">with a focus on building trust and producing results. The impact that we now seek is to create within this network of networks the synergies that empower each of us to achieve our networks missions and take our social change behavior strategies to scale. As examples, the</span> <a href="http://www.imagineprogram.net/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Imagine Program</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, where women from all over the world are finding their voice, expressing their power, and becoming leaders in their community or the</span> <a href="https://www.braveheartsociety.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brave Heart Society</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">where elder grandmothers are mentoring the emergent 7th Generation of young Indigenous Women.</span></span></p>
<h3><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Deep Social Synergized Networks</b></span></h3>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">We are living in an era of accelerating historical change and uncertainty.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">We can choose to open ourselves to new ways of being and relating to helping navigate this critical moment in our collective human history, a path that can take on the uncertainty of the present moment and make decisions that affect not only ourselves but have equal concern for unborn future generations.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The way the world works was not invented yesterday. Within the eternal, natural laws, we are in the process of constant change in our everyday way of doing things as we adapt to changing circumstances, threats and opportunities. Do we live in a world with artificially intelligent machines that are leading us to reconsider what does it mean to be a conscious human being in such a world? The decoupling of intelligence from consciousness is a hallmark of our time. We are destined to learn to live and act in new and creative ways in this unique and unparalleled time of fundamental global change. The manifestation of these prophecies is unfolding in many examples of local, bioregional, and global social change. Here is a video we produced to show some of the key Stops on the Road to 2020! This will launch an International Decade to achieve the Global Sustainable Development Goals and create Peace on Earth by 2030.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qgDN4p2xWy0?wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>A Reverent Revolution of Radical Hope</b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We are immersed in individual, group, community, and societal practices that we are not always consciously aware of. As we awaken and remember, we will design new ways of relating to ourselves, each other, and the natural world. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We have currently been swept along into economic and social systems based upon a win-lose paradigm. These systems frame the real-life games that make up the familiar contests, tests, and challenges of our everyday lives. As players in these finite “games”, we obey the rules and recognize the boundaries, while we are stuck in a win-lose = no win transaction pattern. If not changed, this pattern will continue to lead our Human Family down the path of destruction.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">A</span> <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">finite</span></i> <span style="font-weight: 400;">game is played for the purpose of winning, an</span> <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">infinite</span></i> <span style="font-weight: 400;">game is played for the purpose of continuing the play and expanding the boundaries. We can choose to break free from such systems and participate in new kinds of</span> <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">infinite social change strategies</span></i> <span style="font-weight: 400;">to make this transition to win-win leadership and to architect the volition to manifest compassionate action and peace on earth. For example,</span> <a href="http://compassiongames.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Compassion Games</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">fosters creativity to develop empathy into action. This approach can leverage elements of cooperation and competition for creative problem solving while sparking community engagement. We are piloting</span> <a href="https://www.empowermentinstitute.net/index.php/peace-on-earth/277-7-actions-to-create-peace-on-earth"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Seven Actions to Create Peace on Earth</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">with David Gershon from the Empowerment Institute and Matt Turner from Serve Community by working with an innovative school in Kabul, Afghanistan, As well, we are partnering</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">with the</span> <a href="http://earthwisecentre.org/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">EARTHwise Centre</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and</span> <a href="http://www.fourworlds.net"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Four Worlds Europe</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">toward the development of New Paradigm Leadership, Thrivability Education, and Global Indigenous Women’s Leadership. This includes supporting the development of the Sacred Circle of the Indigenous Women of Europe.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Dakota Elders always teach children that the purpose of Life is to acquire infinite spiritual qualities like kindness, compassion, love, and forgiveness. To teach children that the purpose of Life is to acquire material possessions is to lead them into a life of unhappiness, and fear for survival, because the material world is finite.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">To harness the tremendous potential of globally networked real world infinite games, leaders let go of conventional wisdom and shift their focus from organization-level goals to network-level impact. At this level, we are able to harness the power of the relationships we cultivate and develop. By playing together, we share and create deep trust among network partners, benefiting from the “return on relationships”, convinced that sustained, authentic relationships are the foundation on which all successful collaborative efforts thrive. In this new world, we will understand the “Platinum Rule,” and we will learn to treat others as they want to be treated.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Evolving from operating as single-cell organisms to multicellular structures is where we can accumulate and strengthen our collective capacity to synergize. In the transformation of the caterpillar to a butterfly, there appear</span> <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">imaginal cells</span></i> <span style="font-weight: 400;">that resonate at a different frequency and cluster together to share and begin to resonate with each other. Mirroring this natural process we have launched</span> <a href="http://networkexchange.earth"><span style="font-weight: 400;">SINE (Synergized Impact Network Exchange)</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, a membership alliance offering network exchange services that members and their networks co-create and benefit from. These relationships and exchange services co-create synergized impacts to directly benefit SINE members and the people they serve. Members “trade shares” with each other in an exchange intent on co-creating peace on earth and reviving Mother Earth by 2030.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">These relationships strengthen and develop a reverent way of knowing and living within the interrelatedness between people and the natural laws that affirm our individual holiness and our collective wholeness.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">For instance, in the Dakota worldview, the most important spiritual quality and capacity are "being a good relative." We need to expand and evolve our networks far beyond the walls of our organizations and our own limiting beliefs to make sure that our ego-based power fades and integrates with supporting the capacity of others and ourselves to harmoniously grow and evolve together.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">This evolution is the shift from an “Egocentric” to an “Ecocentric” way of organizing together. This global transformation is being supported and inspired by our growing spiritual awareness of the Oneness of the Human Family and Interrelatedness of all Life. This transformation of consciousness will continue to unfold in our collective journey in co-creating an ever-advancing Global Civilization. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">“Each movement has its strengths and its limitations, which leads to the following proposition: collaboration that interweaves and amplifies the best that each has to offer is our best chance of creating the more beautiful, healthy, and just world we know is possible. We honestly can go further together, and we must—through a movement of movements created at a higher octave, a movement of movements (MoM) birthed from a whole new level of unity-in-diversity, so as to be capable of recreating humanity.” – Jordan Luftig</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Though the Spiritual Path that the Creator has traced for us may at times seem lost in the ominous shadows that are now enveloping a stricken humanity, that the Eternal Light that is continuously shining upon us is of such brightness that no earthly darkness can ever eclipse its splendor.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Though we are small in numbers, and limited as yet in our experiences, powers and resources, the Divine Force which energizes our vision and unprecedented, concerted action is limitless in its range and incalculable in its potency. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Without question, the enemies whom every acceleration in the progress of our unified work will raise up are fierce, numerous and unrelenting. Yet if we persevere, invisible Spiritual Hosts will, as promised, rush forth to our aid, enable us to vanquish any hopes of our destruction, and will annihilate the forces of disunity. A conscious faith above today’s reas</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">on is a c</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">all for a Reverent Revolution of Radical Hope.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The final blessings that will crown our ultimate victory are undoubted! The Divine promises given to us are firm and irrevocable. Yet, the measure of the goodly reward, which every one of us is to reap, will depend on the extent to which our daily lives will contribute to the expansion of the vision and mandate at hand and the hastening of its triumph.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Though our work will be long and arduous, the prize which the Great Spirit has chosen to confer upon us is so precious that neither tongue nor pen can fittingly appraise it. The fulfillment of this ultimate vision and the fulfillment of the prophecies of our Indigenous Peoples and the Ancient of Days is assured!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">A New World Civilization is in the process of being manifested. No matter what may happen in this temporal plane of existence, we will be and are always together, both in this world and the spiritual worlds yet to come. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Our heartfelt thanksgiving to those countless Spiritual Visionaries, Elders of All Nations, and Sacred Messengers, since the beginning of time that has no beginning, who have walked the Spiritual Path before us and have empowered our words and our Indigenous Prophecies! We are eternally grateful and thankful! Wopida Tanka!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">With Warm, Respectful and Loving Greetings,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brothers Phil Lane Jr. and Jon Ramer and Sisters</span> Kahontakwas Diane Longboat and <span style="font-weight: 400;">Rev. Deborah Moldow.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">A special thanksgiving to my son, Philip Tiger Lane, for digital technology and social media support.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jon is a proud patron of the work of Four Worlds International Institute. You can support the work of Chief Phil and Four Worlds</span> <a href="https://www.patreon.com/fourworlds/posts"><span style="font-weight: 400;">here</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b><i>Background of</i></b> <b><i>Prophecies, Social Change, and a New Global Civilization: 2020 - 2030 - 2050</i></b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first draft of</span></i> Prophecies, Dynamic Change and a New Global Civilization was <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">shared at 12 AM, 2012, from Bangkok, Thailand. Every year, since, I have done my best to update this unfolding “Living Story” of the fulfillment of the Sacred Prophecies.</span></i></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">In 2017, I invited brother Jon Ramer to be an ongoing contributor of emerging digital communication technologies and other related technologies and innovations like Blockchain, Hologram and other emerging Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT), that will assist and support, as prophesied, the global unfolding of World Peace and a New Global Civilization.</span></i></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">For June 21, 2018, and beyond, we are very honored to have</span></i> <a href="http://www.revdeborah.com/index.html"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reverend Deborah Maldow</span></i></a> <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">with us, to ensure, as we share the unfolding of these Prophecies, we are always respectful and compassionate to all Faith Traditions that are based in Love and Forgiveness</span></i><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Thank you, sister Deborah, for your heartfelt contribution and support!</span></i></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">In preparation for our presentation at the World Parliament of Religions, in Toronto OF ,</span></i> <b><i>Prophecies, Dynamic Change and a New Global Civilization</i></b><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, we are very honored and thankful that respected Sister</span></i> <a href="https://www.sacredfire.foundation/elder/diane-longboat/"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kahontakwas Diane Longboat</span></i></a> <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">accepted our invitation to review and add changes, as she chooses, of our what we shared on June 21, 2018 . After a careful, prayerful review and reflection, Sister Diane suggested one change. Our Sister reminded us to use the name Peacemaker when referring to the Sacred Teacher who came and unified and established warring nations into the Iroquois Confederacy The Confederacy still stands strong and is getting stronger with every passing day.</span></i></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Thank you, sister Diane, for all the wonderful, meaningful and inspiring contributions you have and are giving to Indigenous Peoples and all members of our Human Family.</span></i></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">This Living Story of the fulfillment of the Prophecies we are sharing will continue to be shared! Your input and suggestions on other emerging local, regional, or global movements for manifesting any dimension of our Vision of Global Peace, please share.</span></i></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">With Warm and Loving Greetings,</span></i></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brother, Deksi, Lala and Ate Phil Jr. </span></i></span></p>
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<p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></i></p>The Story of The Sacred Treetag:www.fwii.net,2019-04-20:2429082:BlogPost:404602019-04-20T07:00:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3440885579?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3440885579?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="300"></img></a> For all the people of Mother Earth, the Creator has planted a Sacred Tree under which they may gather, and there find healing, power, wisdom, and security. The roots of this tree spread deep into the body of Mother Earth. Its branches reach upward like hands praying to Father Sky. The fruits of this tree are…</span></font></p>
<p><font size="4"><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3440885579?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3440885579?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="300" class="align-left"/></a>For all the people of Mother Earth, the Creator has planted a Sacred Tree under which they may gather, and there find healing, power, wisdom, and security. The roots of this tree spread deep into the body of Mother Earth. Its branches reach upward like hands praying to Father Sky. The fruits of this tree are the good things the Creator has given to the people: Teachings that show the path to love, compassion, generosity, patience, wisdom, justice, courage, respect, humility, and many other beautiful gifts.</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">The Ancient Ones taught us that the life of the Tree is the life of the people. If the people wander far away from the protective shadow of the Tree, if they forget to seek the nourishment of its fruit or they should turn against the Tree and attempt to destroy it, great sorrow will fall upon the people. Many will become sick at heart. The people will lose their power. They will cease to dream dreams and see visions. They will begin to quarrel among themselves over worthless trifles. They will become unable, to tell the truth, and to deal with each other honestly. They will forget how to survive on their land. Their lives will become filled with anger and gloom. Little by little, they will poison themselves and all they touch.</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">It was foretold all this will come to pass, but that the Tree will never die. And as long as the Tree lives, the people live. It was also foretold that the day would come when the people would awaken, as if from a long, drugged sleep; that they would begin, timidly at first but then with great urgency, to search again for the Sacred Tree.</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span style="font-style: italic;">The knowledge of its whereabouts and of the fruits that adorn its branches have always been carefully guarded and preserved within the minds and hearts of our wise elders and leaders. These humble, loving and dedicated souls will guide anyone who is honestly and sincerely seeking along the path leading to the protecting shadow of the Sacred Tree.</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span><i>The Story of the Sacred Tree is a short excerpt from <span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Sacred Tree</span>, includes a foreword by Dr. Jane Goodall, UN Messenger of Peace, and author of My Life with the Chimpanzees. The First Edition was published by the Four Worlds International Institute (FWII) in 1984. It has now been translated into 16 languages.</i></span></font></p>Sixteen Indigenous Guiding Principles for Co-Creating a Sustainable, Harmonious, Prosperous Worldtag:www.fwii.net,2019-03-10:2429082:BlogPost:274262019-03-10T23:00:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-5"><em><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560171333?profile=original"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560171333?profile=original" width="278"></img></a></b></em> <b><br></br></b>The Sixteen Principles for building a sustainable, harmonious and prosperous world, emerged from a 50-year process of reflection, consultation and action within Indigenous communities across the Americas. They are rooted in the concerns of hundreds of Indigenous Elders, Spiritual Leaders, and Community Members,…</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-5"><em><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560171333?profile=original"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560171333?profile=original" width="278"/></a></b></em><b><br/></b>The Sixteen Principles for building a sustainable, harmonious and prosperous world, emerged from a 50-year process of reflection, consultation and action within Indigenous communities across the Americas. They are rooted in the concerns of hundreds of Indigenous Elders, Spiritual Leaders, and Community Members, as well as in the best thinking of many non- Indigenous scholars, researchers and human and community development practitioners. As our Universe and ourselves, these Principles are always in a draft! Input is always appreciated. <br/> <br/>These guiding principles constitute the foundation for the process of healing and developing ourselves (mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually), our human relationships (personal, social, political, economic, and cultural) and our interrelationship with all life on Mother Earth. They describe the way we must work and what we must protect and cherish.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"><br/>We offer these Guiding Principles as a gift to all who seek to build a sustainable and harmonious Global community.<em><br/> <br/> <b>PREAMBLE</b><br/> <br/>We speak as one, guided by the sacred teachings and spiritual traditions of the Four Directions that uplift, guide, protect, warn, inspire and challenge the entire human family to live in ways that sustain and enhance human life and the lives of all who dwell on Mother Earth, and hereby dedicate our lives and energies to healing and developing ourselves, the web of relationships that make our world, and the way we live with Mother Earth.<br/> <br/></em> <strong><em>THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES<br/> <br/></em> <em>Starting from within, working in a circle, in a sacred manner, we heal ourselves, our relationships and our world.</em><em><br/> <br/> <br/></em> <em>STARTING FROM WITHIN</em></strong><b><em><br/> <br/></em></b> <em><u>Human Beings Can Transform Their Worlds<br/></u> The web of our relationships with others and the natural world, which has given rise to the problems we face as a human family, can be changed.<br/> <br/></em> <em><u>Development Comes From Within<br/></u> The process of human and community development unfolds from within each person, relationship, family organization, community or nation.<br/> <br/> <u>No Vision, No Development</u><br/>A vision of who we can become and what a sustainable world would be like, works as a powerful magnet, drawing us to our potential.<br/> <br/></em> <em><u>Healing Is A Necessary Part Of Development<br/></u> Healing the past, closing up old wounds and learning healthy habits of thought and action to replace dysfunctional thinking and disruptive patterns of human relations is a necessary part of the process of sustainable development.<br/> <br/> <br/></em> <b><em>WORKING IN A CIRCLE<br/> <br/></em></b> <em><u>Interconnectedness<br/></u> All is related to everything else: therefore, any aspect of our healing and development is connected to all the others (personal, social, cultural, political, economic, etc.). When we work on any one part, the whole circle is affected.<br/> <br/></em> <em><u>No Unity, No Development<br/></u> Unity means oneness. Without unity, the universal oneness that makes (seemingly) separate human beings into ‘community’ is impossible. Disunity is the primary disease of community.<br/> <br/></em> <em><u>No Participation, No Development<br/></u> Participation is the active engagement of the minds, hearts, and energy of the people in the process of their healing and development.<br/> <br/></em> <em><u>Justice<br/></u> Every person (regardless of gender, race, age, culture, religion, sexual orientation) has the right and is accorded equal opportunity to participate in the process of healing and development and to receive a fair share of the benefits.<br/> <br/> <br/></em> <b><em>IN A SACRED MANNER<br/> <br/></em></b> <em><u>Spirit<br/></u> Human beings are both material and spiritual, in nature. It is therefore inconceivable that the human community could become whole and sustainable without bringing our lives into balance with the requirements of our spiritual nature.<br/> <br/></em> <em><u>Morals and Ethics<br/></u> Sustainable human and community development requires a moral foundation centered on the wisdom of the heart. When this foundation is lost, morals and ethical principles decline and development stop.<br/> <br/></em> <em><u>The Hurt of One Is the Hurt of All: The Honor of One Is the Honor Of All<br/></u> The basic fact of our oneness as a human family means that development for some at the expense of well being for others is not acceptable or sustainable.<br/> <br/></em> <em><u>Authentic Development Is Culturally Based<br/></u> Healing and development must be rooted in the wisdom, knowledge and living processes of the cultures of the people.<br/> <br/> <br/> <b>WE HEAL AND DEVELOP OURSELVES, OUR RELATIONSHIPS AND OUR WORLD</b><br/> <br/></em> <em><u>Learning<br/></u> Human beings are learning beings. We begin learning while we are still in our mother’s wombs, and unless something happens to close off our minds and paralyze our capacities, we keep learning throughout our entire lives. Learning is at the core of healing and development.<br/> <br/></em> <em><u>Sustainability<br/></u> To sustain something means to enable it to continue for a long time. Authentic development does not use up or undermine what it needs to keep on going.<br/> <br/></em> <em><u>Move to the Positive<br/></u> Solving the critical problems in our lives and communities is best approached by visualizing and moving into the positive alternative that we wish to create, and by building on the strengths, we already have, rather than on giving away our energy fighting the negative.<br/> <br/></em> <u><em><u>Be the Change You Want To See<br/></u></em></u> <em>The most powerful strategies for change always</em> <em>in</em><em>volve</em> <em>positive role modeling and the creation of living examples of the solutions we are proposing. By walking the path, we make the way visible.</em></span></p>The Fourth Way-An Indigenous Strategy for Building Sustainable and Harmonious Prosperity in the Americas and Beyondtag:www.fwii.net,2019-01-23:2429082:BlogPost:963452019-01-23T17:00:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-6"><b>The Fourth Way</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-4"><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560178659?profile=original"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560178659?profile=original" width="278"></img></a></b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"><strong><i>An Indigenous Strategy to Build Sustainable and Harmonious Prosperity in the Americas and Beyond…</i></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-6"><b>The Fourth Way</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-4"><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560178659?profile=original"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560178659?profile=original" width="278"/></a></b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"><strong><i>An Indigenous Strategy to Build Sustainable and Harmonious Prosperity in the Americas and Beyond</i></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-5"><strong><i><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">(</span></i></strong></span><strong style="font-size: 16pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Abbreviated)</span></i></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><b><i> </i></b></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><b> </b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="font-size-2"><b> TABLE OF CONTENTS</b></span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><b>Preface </b></p>
<p align="left" style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-2"><b>Introduction </b></span></p>
<p align="left" style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-size: 10pt;">The Sixteen Guiding Principles </b></p>
<p align="left" style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-2"><b>A Brief History of the Sixteen Principles </b></span></p>
<p align="left" style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-2"><b>An Indigenous Perspective <br/></b></span></p>
<p align="left" style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-2"><b>Indigenous Response </b></span></p>
<p align="left" style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-2"><b>Indigenous Analysis </b></span></p>
<p align="left" style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-2"><b>Towards Implementing the Fourth World Strategy </b></span></p>
<p align="left" style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-2"><b>An Indigenous Cultural and Spiritual Awakening and Growing Unity </b></span></p>
<p align="left" style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-2"><b>So What’s the Fourth Way? </b></span></p>
<p align="left" style="text-align: left;"><b>Is This Realistic? </b></p>
<p align="left" style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-2"><b>Conclusion </b></span></p>
<p align="left" style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-2"><b>An Indigenous-to-Indigenous Call For Action </b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="font-size-3"><b>PREFACE</b></span></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The Fourth Way is a movement of the Human Family to address the unfolding crisis of the 21<sup>st</sup> century, a crisis of multiple dimensions that has slowly revealed itself over the last 12 years since publishing the first Draft of the Fourth Way. The size and the scope of this crisis are unprecedented in that it is global and multifaceted involving the prospect of economic, political, social and ecological chaos. The result of this crisis is the birthing of a fundamental organic change on a level few Human beings now contemplate. </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The inhabitants of Mother Earth now face a choice. Will we will emerge from this crisis into a new golden age of human understanding or will we will continue to witness greater and greater social conflict, increasing human suffering, the loss of ecological health and democratic society. Until we believe that we can build a New World Civilization, based in the Oneness of the Human Family and all Living Beings, free of inequality, injustice, and abuse of any form, our suffering will continue to deepen! </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>This Global Transformation of consciousness will prove to be the most significant global challenge experienced by the Human Family since the dawn of recorded Human History. This transformation will change the very foundations of modern economics, the nation-state, our social structures, current agricultural and eating practices, religious cooperation and respect, and contemporary politics. </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Stated simply, among other equally crucial dimensions, like the environment, we have reached the end of a long cycle of credit and debt expansion increasingly characterized by destructive asset bubbles, income stagnation, and the enormous concentration of wealth and political power in the hands of the corporate-led global financial elite. The debt is now due! Current income will not pay!. In addition to un-payable debt, we face a massive volume of derivatives on that debt that would come due if and when the debt goes into default. Since the debt is unpayable, we face the prospect of a global crisis that will unravel the traditional financial and political order on a worldwide basis.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b> If you add to the mix the impact of a hard landing in China, the potential for serious global economic problems is now clear. The struggle of ordinary people for economic survival, political power, and even for the right to have a degree of personal privacy and autonomy will characterize the next years. Modern communications, computing power, and crowd suppression techniques have radically increased the capacity to track and record all human interactions whether via telephone, cell phone, e-mail, car, train, bus or plane, and to brutally suppress all dissent. These changes have all happened in the last five years. Equally, if utilized in a collaboratively, principle-centered, purposeful manner these digital communications technologies can be invaluable tools to for forging a whole new social, political, economic, spiritual, cultural relationship between all Members of the Human Family!</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Our environment is increasingly unstable as our climate changes. The last several years have been some of the hottest on record, and we are witnessing unprecedented drought conditions in many parts of the world. The severity of storms is increasing, and we have seen several category five tornados wreak havoc in many parts of the world. </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>As the Fukushima nuclear disaster demonstrates, current designs expose us to the risk of atomic meltdowns if power and water are cut off to any nuclear plant—and there are thousands globally. We have entered into a new age of energy insecurity.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Modern corporate agricultural techniques destroy soil health, compromise water quality and create massive dead zones in our gulfs and bays. Confined animal feeding operations add to the environmental havoc. Traditional farmers are in an enormous disadvantage as developed economies continue crop subsidies and other policies that destroy rural economies in the developing world.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Meanwhile, human health is deteriorating at a rapid pace as an epidemic of diabetes, obesity, and heart disease devastates the developed world. Food prices are rising while the nutritional quality of food deteriorates. We need to return to a diet of fresh whole, natural foods such as pioneered by our Indigenous brothers and sisters.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The Fourth Way describes and points the way for Indigenous Peoples to return to their roots and in the process contribute to the survival of our</b> <b>H</b><b>uman Family and the protection, health, and restoration of our Mother Earth. We must relearn the contributions Indigenous Peoples have made to human health and prosperity, to cooperative human social institutions, democratic governance, and human dignity and equality so that we can apply those lessons to the crisis at hand. We must re-learn to tools of human survival through cooperative effort, partnership, trust, and reciprocity. So let us review some of this history.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>After a long winter time of loss and grieving it is now time for the Indigenous Peoples of Mother Earth to awaken and help lead us through the struggles ahead. The winter for the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas and beyond has lasted over 500 years. This spiritual winter began with a “great die-off” of 90-95% of all Indigenous Peoples in the Americas, most as the result of European diseases which killed them before they ever saw a European.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Charles Mann, in his book <u>1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus</u>, quotes scholars who believe that 80-100 million Indigenous Peoples perished from disease by the mid- 1600’s, a catastrophe on an even grander scale than the “black deaths” in Europe. Many more died afterward as the direct result of hostile colonial policies. Thus, Indigenous Peoples have been subjected to profound challenges resulting from intergenerational trauma, the loss of identity, and culture, and have experienced great poverty and abuse. Indigenous people need to reclaim their customs, values, and traditions and to take advantage of common material resources to play a critical role in humanity’s advancement thus fulfilling their highest potential.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>History shows that Indigenous Peoples made essential contributions to the Human Family before the devastation of the long foretold, great spiritual wintertime. If we start with food, we find that 85% of the foods we eat each day throughout our Mother Earth were developed and cultivated by Indigenous agronomists in the Americas before the European conquest. The development of many of these foods represented remarkable scientific accomplishments. Europeans used these new foods to improve health and nutrition leading to a population explosion throughout Europe, especially in Ireland and Scotland ultimately increasing the number of colonists in the New World. These foods include potatoes, corn, peanuts, squash, tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, chocolate, and many types of beans, berries, and fruits. </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Further, tobacco, sugar cane, and rubber were developed in the Americas and had a profound impact on global economic growth as the North American fur trade. Indigenous agronomists developed a form of cotton that had longer fibers and made weaving cloth much more manageable. Europeans had previously worn mostly linen and wool. Indigenous weavers wove some of the most beautiful cotton cloth available anywhere and wore these colorful clothes every day. Many of the vast fortunes of Europe and their colonies and the comfortable cultured lives of the economic elite based on these Indigenous products and black slavery see Jack Weatherford, <u>Native Roots, Indian Givers</u>.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The gold and silver of the Americas increased the supply of money and led to great fortunes throughout Europe. The discovery of an island off the coast of Ecuador with hundreds of feet of compacted bird droppings fertilized the crops of Europe until the development of petroleum-based fertilizers. The bounty of foods, timber, minerals, fertile land and the oil and gas found throughout the Americas truly made the developed world we see today.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Indigenous Peoples gave the world its first view of human freedom. While most assume that Indigenous Peoples of North America adapted to the colonists, the facts show that at least in the beginning in North America, the adaptation went the other way and fused into a unique “Americanism.” As Ian Fraizer notes in his book On the Rez, “when Columbus landed, there were about eleven people in Europe who could do whatever they felt like doing.” In many parts of the Americas, tens of millions of Indigenous Peoples customarily lived as they pleased via the Indigenous Legal Order. The colonists saw this and concluded that if Indigenous Peoples living in freedom “no tyranny can hold us.” Everyday examples of individual freedom among the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas inspired writers throughout Europe and helped spur the Enlightenment and the American and French Revolutions. These writers included Rousseau, John Locke, Thomas Moore, Voltaire, Jefferson, and even Shakespeare. <i>See</i> Jose Barreiro, <u>Indian Roots of American Democracy</u>. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington all spoke Mohawk and had an on-going dialogue with Iroquois Confederacy. </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Members of the Iroquois Confederacy attended extensive meetings with the colonists in the years before the American Revolution and advised unity based on a system of self-government similar to the Confederacy that ruled the Iroquois Confederacy. The Iroquois Confederacy lasted for centuries, keeping the peace across a broad swath of North America and was a fundamental influence in the manifestation of the Federal system adopted by the <span style="font-size: 12pt;">United States and the ideals embodied in Declaration of Independence.</span></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3" style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>In many nations, women were well respected and exercised real power. In some cases, tribal societies were matriarchal. Most tribes were egalitarian and accepted each tribal member for the contributions they could each make to the welfare of the tribe. Even highly specialized civilizations like the Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans, offered better nutrition, better hygiene, and a better standard of living than did any European society — the largest and most prosperous cities in the world lasting in the Americas during much of early history.</b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="font-size-3"><b>Europeans were amazed at the bounty of available foods and at the fact that many Indigenous Peoples were taller and healthier than most Europeans. Many Indigenous Peoples learned to use such their resources in an equal and sustainable way. The Iquitos area of the Northern Peruvian Amazon is still considered one of the most bio-diverse regions of the world. In 1542, one explorer Francisco de Orellana remarked that there was enough food in one village to feed an army of a thousand for one year. This abundance of food was found throughout the Americas, but has since been lost and replaced by the non-sustainable agricultural practices and mono-cropping techniques that characterize modern farming. </b> <strong>These </strong></span><strong>non-sustainable agricultural practices and mono-cropping techniques have led to the loss of knowledge of the methods of permaculture that served Indigenous Peoples for centuries. Now, most Indigenous Peoples suffer from levels of malnutrition and chronic disease that were unknown before colonization. All reversed by a revival of the farming and permaculture techniques pioneered by Indigenous Peoples.</strong></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>One example of sustainable farming technology was the development of “terra preta” or “Indian dark earth” by Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon. This ingenious combination of partially combusted organic material (a form of charcoal), with pottery shards, stimulated microfauna and created high levels of microbial biomass dramatically increasing soil fertility and allowed the soil fertility for years with minimal fertilization. The Kayapo in central Amazonia continues to create terra preta today. Instead of destroying soil fertility, Indigenous people learned how to improve the soil sustainably, something that modern humans have not yet learned to do. Much of the Amazon basin was one huge permaculture providing a variety of healthy sustainable food—allowing to the genius of the Indigenous population that had learned to work with and not against, Mother Earth. See, Charles C. Mann, 1491. </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The Fourth Way will renew this tradition of working with Mother Nature in a way that benefits all Members of the Human Family.</b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b>INTRODUCTION - The Fourth Way</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The Fourth Way reflects the view that the Human Family is at a crossroad facing diverging paths; on one side lays the path of conflict, militarism, economic insecurity, and war, on the other, a sacred path leading to mutual understanding, cooperation and sustainable, harmonious prosperity. “We”, the likeminded Indigenous Peoples of Mother Earth, offer the Fourth Way based on the conviction that Indigenous Peoples, in the fullest sense of our understanding, have the vision, the guiding principles, the values, the growing capacity, and the collective resources to co-create a peaceful and harmonious future for our children and grandchildren. We submit that our Indigenous Peoples who care for Mother Earth and all living beings hold an important key to peace, security and sustainable well-being for all members of the Human Family. In the Fourth Way, we discuss the issues and outline a strategy for the constructive engagement of all concerned. Our collective future is at stake. </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The implementation of the Fourth Way requires each of us to look at the world around us in a new way. We are accustomed to seeing the world through a prism uniquely anchored in our background, experience, and to the narrative or founding “myth” of our Indigenous land or group. Centered on spiritual belief and tradition, we must learn to respect both spiritual faith and religious differences. The Fourth Way honors and appreciates all forms of spiritual understanding, but also respects freedom of conscience. We must learn to widen our prism to see and understand more than we did before, to see ourselves as others see us and to see the issues we face from differing points of view. In the end, we must come to understand the true meaning of Black Elk's vision, that despite our differences, we are in fact, all related.</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-family: arial black,avant garde;"><span class="font-size-3"><b>BLACK ELK’S VISION</b></span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;"><em><span class="font-size-3">Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them all, and round about beneath me was the whole hoop of the world. And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I saw in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all forms as they must live together like one being. And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father. And I saw that it was holy.</span></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;"><em><span class="font-size-3">Then as I stood there, two men were coming from the east, head first like arrows flying, and between them rose the Daybreak Star. They came and gave a herb to me and said: "With this on earth you shall undertake anything and do it." It was the Daybreak-Star herb, the herb of understanding, and they told me to drop it on the earth. I saw it falling far, and when it struck the earth it rooted and grew and flowered, four blossoms on one stem, a blue, a white, a scarlet, and a yellow; and the rays from these streamed upward to the heavens so that all creatures saw it and in no place was there darkness.</span></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;"><em><span class="font-size-3"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560178708?profile=original"><img width="280" class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560178708?profile=RESIZE_320x320"/></a></span></em></span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" class="font-size-5"><span class="font-size-4"><b>The Four Worlds Guiding Principles for Building a Sustainable and</b></span></span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" class="font-size-4"><b>Harmonious World</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b>These 16 principles for building a sustainable and harmonious world community emerged from a 40-year process of reflection, consultation and action within Indigenous communities across the Americas. They are rooted in the concerns of hundreds of aboriginal elders and leaders and thinkers, as well as in the best thinking of many non-aboriginal scholars, researchers and human and community development practitioners. </b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b>These guiding principles constitute the foundation for the process of healing and developing ourselves (mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually), our human relationships (personal, social, political, economic, and cultural) and our relationship with Mother Earth. They describe the way we must work and what we must protect and cherish.</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b>We offer these principles as a gift to all who seek to build a sustainable and harmonious world community.</b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="font-size-3"><b>PREAMBLE</b></span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b>We speak as one, guided by the sacred teachings and spiritual traditions of the four Directions that uplift, guide, protect, warn, inspire and challenge the entire human family to live in ways that sustain and enhance human life and the lives of all who dwell on Mother Earth, and hereby dedicate our lives and energies to healing and developing ourselves, the web of relationships that make our world, and the way we live with Mother Earth.</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="font-size-3"><b> THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES</b></span></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b>Starting from within, working in a circle, in a sacred manner,</b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b>we heal an develop ourselves, our relationships and our world.</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b>STARTING FROM WITHIN</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>Human Beings Can Transform Their Worlds</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The web of our relationships with others and the natural world, which has given rise to the problems we face as a human family, can be changed.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>Development Comes From Within</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The process of human and community development unfolds from within each person, relationship, family organization, community or nation.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>No Vision, No Development</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>A vision of whom we can become and what a sustainable world would be like, works as a powerful magnet, drawing us to our potential.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>Healing Is A Necessary Part Of Development</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Healing the past, closing up old wounds and learning healthy habits of thought and action to replace dysfunctional thinking and disruptive patterns of human relations is a necessary part of the process of sustainable development.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b>WORKING IN A CIRCLE</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>Interconnectedness</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Everything is connected to everything else; therefore, any aspect of our healing and development is related to all the others (personal, social, cultural, political, economic, etc.). When we work on any one part, the whole circle is affected.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>No Unity, No Development</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Unity means oneness. Without unity, the universal harmony that makes (seemingly) separate human beings into ‘community’ is impossible. Disunity is the primary disease of community.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>No Participation, No Development</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Participation is the active engagement of the minds, hearts, and energy of the people in the process of their healing and development</b><b>.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>Justice</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Every person (regardless of gender, race, age, culture, religion, sexual orientation) is accorded equal opportunity to participate in the process of healing and development and to receive a fair share of the benefits.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b>IN A SACRED MANNER</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>Spirit</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Human beings are both material and spiritual. It is therefore inconceivable that the human community could become whole and sustainable without bringing our lives into balance with the requirements of our spiritual nature.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>Morals and Ethics</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Sustainable human and community development requires a moral foundation centered on the wisdom of the heart with the loss of this foundation, morals and ethical principles decline and development stops.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>The Hurt of One Is the Hurt of All: The Honor of One Is the Honor Of All</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The basic fact of our oneness as a human family means that development for some at the expense of well being for others is not acceptable or sustainable.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>Authentic Development Is Culturally Based</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Healing and development must be rooted in the wisdom, knowledge and living processes of the culture of the people.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b>WE HEAL AND DEVELOP OURSELVES, OUR RELATIONSHIPS AND OUR WORLD</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>Learning</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Human beings are learning beings. We begin learning while we are still in our mother’s wombs, and unless something happens to close off our minds and paralyze our capacities, we keep learning throughout our entire lives. Learning is at the core of healing and development.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>Sustainability</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>To sustain something means to enable it to continue for a long time. Authentic development does not use up or undermine what it needs to keep on going.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>Move to the Positive</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Solving the critical problems in our lives and communities is best approached by visualizing and moving into the positive alternative that we wish to create, and by building on the strengths, we already have, rather than on giving away our energy fighting the negative.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>Be the Change You Want To See</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The most powerful strategies for change always involve positive role modeling and the creation of living examples of the solutions we are proposing. By walking the path, we make the road visible.</b></span></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">A Brief History of the Sixteen Principles</span></strong></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The Sixteen Principles for Building a Harmonious and Sustainable World emerged from an extensive process of consultation with Indigenous spiritual, cultural and community leaders spanning more than two decades.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>This consultation process began with a historic gathering that took place during the closing days of December 1982, on the high plains of Southern Alberta. This gathering of forty traditional elders and community leaders came together to find a solution to the terrible darkness of substance abuse, poverty, suffering and death that seemed to have engulfed nearly every Indigenous community in Canada and the United States, and to share Indigenous visions and prophesies of the future.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Four core principles emerged from this traditional council that became the foundation and guiding framework for extensive development, learning, and action in hundreds of communities around the world. These four core principles are as follows:</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>1. Development From Within</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Healing and growth must come from within the communities of people who desire change and must be directed by those people.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>2. No Vision; No Development</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>If people have no vision of human possibility other than the one in which they find themselves, they cannot heal themselves; they cannot develop and, ultimately, they cannot survive. Culture is the mother of vision. Developing people need to rediscover the life-preserving, life-enhancing values and insights of their own traditional experience.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>3. Parallelism: Individual and Community Development are connected.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The development of individuals and the development of their families and communities go hand-in-hand. Personal and social developments are interdependent. </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b> 4. A great Learning enterprise is required.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Learning drives the process of development. People have to learn how to live in the world as individuals, families, and communities in new ways that are life-preserving and life-enhancing. Learning is the fundamental dynamic of human development.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b> Four years after the initial gathering (in 1987) another elders’ conference was called to review the work underway, and the original four principles were expanded to seven, adding (at the direction of elders and spiritual leaders attending the second visioning conference) such concepts as “the spiritual and moral dimensions of development are inescapable”; “development must be shaped and guided from within the culture of the people”, and the importance of integrating the “top-down and bottom-up approaches”, because both grassroots participation and strong leadership, as well as effective institutions, are needed. In July 1991, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and Four Worlds International sponsored a gathering of Native American elders in Loveland, Colorado, to further discuss the Guiding Principles and Indigenous visions and prophesies of the future. </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Finally, for seven days, in the summers of 1993 and 1994, Summer Institutes were held at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, attended by some five hundred Indigenous peoples each year, for reflection and dialogue on their experiences in healing and developing their communities. Based on this in-depth reflection and consultation process, Sixteen Guiding Principles emerged from this participatory development process. Thes Guiding Principles reflect what works, and is needed, in the process of community transformation toward sustainable well-being and prosperity. </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>It is important to note that these Sixteen Guiding Principles have been tested and reviewed by many Indigenous (and other) communities, and have been found to be a practical guide for positive transformational processes. A principle is not a recipe, however; it is a statement of fundamental truth. It describes the nature of things as they are, what is primary or essential, what works and what doesn’t, what to include, and what cannot be left out. These Sixteen Guiding Principles reflect the experiences and distilled wisdom of hundreds of communities and Indigenous nations as they struggle to heal themselves and develop a sustainable and harmonious pattern of life.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Finally, it is important to stress that these Sixteen Guiding Principles, as with all life, are in the draft. They are not the last word. We have certainly not learned all that we have to learn. New guiding principles will emerge, and new insights about the meaning of the guiding principles we already know will come to light. Consider this an invitation to dialogue. </b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b> <u>An Indigenous Perspective</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The Indigenous Peoples of Mother Earth, who still have a connection to their land, language, culture, history and spiritual traditions, are the poorest and most socially and politically marginalized populations in every country in which they reside. They have the poorest health, the worst levels of infant and child mortality, they are the most exposed and vulnerable to environmental pollutants, they have the lowest levels of education and the highest levels of perceived powerlessness, political oppression, and frustration.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Indeed, many Indigenous Peoples have been, and are still being, pushed into extremes of poverty and misery, or even to the brink of extinction in some regions, all in the name of “progress” or “development.” Many have been forced to leave their traditional lands, sometimes at gunpoint, after having been falsely accused of being “rebels” (or, more recently, “terrorists”) by those who intended to profit from the seizure of Indigenous land. Indigenous land holds much of the world’s remaining natural resources, including oil and gas as well as a host of other minerals, forest products, and, of course, water which, as the foundation of all life, is increasingly being commodified.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Millions of Indigenous Peoples have watched helplessly as their traditional means of livelihood were wiped out by unsustainable environmental practices used by sizeable transnational fishing, timber, oil, and mining corporations, by plantation style agricultural operations, and by sizeable government-subsidized agribusiness corporations usurping agricultural markets in their countries. Hundreds of thousands of Indigenous small farmers can no longer earn a basic income because of the intentional destruction of local agrarian markets through predatory global trade practices dictated by the agribusiness industry. These farmers have joined the millions of illegal immigrants flooding into the United States. When viewed through the eyes of Indigenous people, these conditions are not exaggerations; they are the unembellished facts of life.</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>An Indigenous Response</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Over the years, there have been a variety of responses among Indigenous Peoples to this cruel set of conditions, ranging from assimilation, and passive resignation to resistance. At the same time, there has always been a powerful core of Indigenous elders and spiritual leaders who advocated holding on to the ancient spiritual vision of the oneness of the Human Family. And the teaching that the way out of this period of oppression and suffering Indigenous peoples have endured is not through violence, but rather through healing the broken trust, and through building constructive partnerships with all nations and peoples. These elders and spiritual leaders have continued to believe in the ancient prophecies. These prophecies include the Reunion of the Condor and the Eagle, the Eighth Council Fire, the Return of Quetzalcoatl and the Return of the White Buffalo. As well, the Hopi and Mayan Prophecies and the fulfillment of Black Elk’s Daybreak Star Prophesy. In the past, their wise voices and vision were overcome by those who advocated resistance and violence. We believe that the time has now come to witness the fulfillment of their vision. </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Indigenous Peoples have traditions rooted in community, sharing, reciprocity and mutual responsibility somewhat akin to the political philosophies at the foundation of the Canadian confederation: namely, that every person is a “trust of the whole,” and as such holds rights and privileges as well as responsibilities. For example, it is likely that many Indigenous movements will oppose private ownership of natural resources, but would support the development of these resources if the community benefits.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Policy makers need to understand that attempting to make policy without understanding culture is a dead end and that one cannot equate culture with values. Culture is what people share, not just what they believe. Indigenous people share BOTH culture AND a system of values often different from that of the developed world. There is an Indigenous Legal Order</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-3"><b>A critical factor in diffusing violence and advancing economic prosperity is developing an understanding of what it is like to see the world (past, present, and future) through the eyes of those who believe they have nothing left to lose. With the rise of Indigenous leadership in America's, there is new hope created with the prospect of political power as the result of recent successes in elections reviving the hope of changing unresponsive governments. The old passive resignation replaced by social and political activism, but chronic poverty and lack of power endure. This </b></span><span style="background-color: #f5f6f5; font-weight: bold;">rise of Indigenous leadership</span><b> is a potent recipe for one of two outcomes: conflict, or renewal and advancement. Those who hope for peaceful and harmonious results should support renewal and progress. </b></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3" style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>An Indigenous Analysis</strong></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Conversations with Indigenous leaders across the Americas have provided the following analysis:</b></span></p>
<ol>
<li><span class="font-size-3"><b>A. </b> <b>Indigenous Peoples are facing grinding poverty and have endured the ongoing suppression of self-development efforts by our governments (i.e., the governments of the nation states in which they reside, including many Indigenous communities within Canada and the U.S.). Now, in some regions around Mother Earth, there is hope for change. What will the reaction of the world community be? Will self-development and new leadership be supported or crushed by violence, assassination or lack of support?</b></span></li>
<li><span class="font-size-3"><b>B. </b> <b>Many Indigenous Peoples see only three options:</b></span><ol>
<li><span class="font-size-3"><b>1.</b> <b><i><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Assimilation</span> -</i></b> <b>to give up our Indigenous identities, our history, our culture, our spiritual beliefs and our way of life, and become part of the blended homogenous mass. Some of our people have tried to do this, and most of them have lost their land and remain marginalized, poor and increasingly desperate.</b></span></li>
<li><span class="font-size-3"><b>2.</b> <b><i><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Resignation</span> -</i></b><b>to accept powerlessness, poverty, victimization, sickness, and despair as our destiny; in other words, to give up.</b></span></li>
<li><span class="font-size-3"><b>3.</b> <b><i><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Resistance</span> –</i></b></span> <b><span class="font-size-3">to enter into organized struggles to defend our lands, our families and our lives, and to win concessions from our governments. Resistance can range from non-violent protests to armed conflict and can even include participation in the black market for drugs and weapons.</span> </b></li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><i><span style="text-decoration: underline;">We believe that there is the Fourth Way: Empowerment and Constructive Development</span> –</i></b> <b>to create organized Indigenous and related social movements focused on promoting the well-being and prosperity of people and electing and supporting leaders who are genuinely responsive to the majority of the people. Leaders who will not only improve education, health care, infrastructure, and economic development but will also work to create social and political “spaces” within the countries where Indigenous people reside, for genuine participation in an inclusive and equitable project of rebuilding nations.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>This approach is not merely political. It also implies a systematic reclamation and recovery of Indigenous cultural foundations, identity and language, and the re-anchoring of social, economic and political change in the spiritual and cultural values and traditional knowledge at the heart of Indigenous cultures. This approach in no way implies a retreat into the historical past, but rather it is an active engagement in the challenge of shaping the future of nations within the framework of life-preserving, life-enhancing, and sustainable values and patterns of action in harmony with all members of the human family.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Indigenous leaders have noted that those Indigenous groups that take up arms get a great deal of attention. If those who participate politically and win elections achieve nothing. If not, violence and armed struggle will be all that is left, from some perspectives. </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>This active participation not only has implications for Indigenous communities but also for the rest of the Hemisphere’s marginalized poor, many of whom have Indigenous roots and are increasingly identifying with their Indigenous backgrounds. These relatives have significant cultural, spiritual, economic and political contributions to make in implementing and developing the Fourth Way strategy across the Americas.</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>Towards Implementing the Fourth Way Strategy</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>We spoke earlier of four options. Indigenous people see for themselves in all of this: Assimilation, Resignation, Resistance or Constructive Development. Empowerment and Constructive Development is the “Fourth Way” that will lead to sustainable peace, social justice, and shared economic prosperity should it be vigorously and wholeheartedly pursued. As shared earlier, this is a pathway that has always been known and advocated by Indigenous spiritual leaders. It is a way of healing, peace and partnership building. </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>What is relatively new is that many leaders of Indigenous movements across the Americas are now more open than ever to “The Fourth Way” because they are beginning to see that the other three pathways (and especially the pathway of violence and conflict) are creating even deeper misery and suffering for their people. Many Indigenous people have tried the other three pathways and understand that another path is necessary. The challenge is that “The Fourth Way” is not a path. Indigenous people can walk solely on their own. They will need the collaboration, support, and true partnership of their governments, the business community, NGOs and international funding agencies. </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>In the work of Four Worlds across the Americas over the years, we have had the opportunity to sit in community-level meetings with thousands of Indigenous people and their leadership from many different tribes and nations. What we have seen and heard in these meetings is the same consistent message:</b></span></p>
<ol>
<li><span class="font-size-3"><b>The vast majority of Indigenous peoples want what most people everywhere on Mother Earth want. They want peace, freedom from poverty and disease and to end oppression. As well, a respect for their cultures, languages, and Mother Earth, a reasonable level of sustainable prosperity and well-being for their families and communities, access to education (including higher education), opportunities to sustainably and harmoniously participate in the global economy, and a meaningful voice in shaping the policies, programs and conditions that impact their lives.</b></span></li>
<li><span class="font-size-3"><b>Governments who hold the reins of political and economic power in their countries, often present a stone wall of ignorance, prejudice, and greed, with no significant will to understand the appalling realities and conditions of Indigenous peoples. They have no real awareness that their wealth production activities (in oil, gas, agriculture, forestry, mining, etc.) are, at best, cutting Indigenous people out of any opportunity for economic advancement, and, at worst, setting into motion environmental, economic, political and social forces that are directly destroying the lives of Indigenous communities. With new leadership coming to power across the hemisphere, it is essential that political change is carefully channeled to achieve positive outcomes. The current struggles in Bolivia demonstrate the challenges political leaders face in reconciling competing interests both nationally and internationally.</b></span></li>
<li><span class="font-size-3"><b>As viewed through the eyes of many Indigenous people, the forces of globalization, centered in institutions and programs, like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and giant transnational corporations, and much so-called aid and development programs also seem to be driven by the policies of the wealthy and powerful. These policies (it is perceived) are creating and perpetuating the intolerable conditions with which Indigenous people are now living. This perception continues despite the supposed efforts of the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank to increase their focus on the role of spirituality and culture in development.</b></span></li>
<li><span class="font-size-3"><b>Indigenous people are increasingly becoming organized and politicized in their efforts to pressure governments and international institutions for change. Their organizations and movements are powerful enough to directly challenge and destroy the legitimacy and power of some governments. Indigenous people have been successful recently in electing leaders who have pledged their support for changing this pattern. Will these new government leaders be successful? Now, as governments elected with Indigenous participation and leadership take power, it is critical that they succeed, and that the movement of harmonious constructive development through spiritual empowerment spread across the Americas. Indigenous people across the Americas are asking: what will be the response of the developed world to these new political movements? Will they be supported or undermined and opposed? Will we see constructive engagement and development or a new cycle of militarization, assassinations and military coups? </b></span></li>
</ol>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> </u></b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>An Indigenous Cultural and Spiritual Awakening and Growing Unity</u></b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b><u><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560181954?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560181954?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></a></u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Despite the challenges, there is a spiritual awakening occurring throughout the Indigenous world. This awakening is coming from within Indigenous Peoples in response to years of suffering and potential destruction, as well as from their cultural and spiritual treasures of Sacred prophecies, gifts, teachings, songs, ceremonies and the spiritual guidance of wise teachers and elders both past and present. Throughout the Indigenous world, there is a mosaic of prophecies that share, in essence, that after a very long wintertime of spiritual and physical suffering, a new spiritual springtime will emerge for Indigenous Nations, Tribes and Peoples which will lead to a spiritual awakening among other members of the human family throughout the Americas and around the world.</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-3"><b>As this global awakening progresses, a powerful new spirit and energy are releasing within the Indigenous world. This empowering spirit has its roots in the Indigenous peoples’ strong belief in the promises of ultimate justice and renewal found within Indigenous prophecies. This growing, animating, dynamic, and empowering spirit can be directed towards rapidly and systematically building a new global civilization, beginning in the Americas or co-opted and translated into further insurgencies, violence, and terror. This choice is the decision we face. The ancient prophecies of an Indigenous awakening and renewal are steadily moving toward fulfillment. This development should be welcomed, as the prophecies also speak of how this Indigenous awakening and renewal will benefit the entire human family by helping to usher in an era of global peace prosperity and well being.</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>So what is the “Fourth Way”?</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The Fourth Way consists of a multi-pronged strategy for empowering Indigenous peoples to move toward sustainable peace, prosperity, and well-being, taking into account the history, culture, and values of Indigenous communities. The Fourth Way entails the following lines of action: </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>I. <i>Constructive diplomatic work,</i> top down and bottom up, to empower Indigenous people and assist governments and national and international institutions to make critical policy and program shifts to create an environment for viable partnerships between Indigenous peoples across the hemisphere and between Indigenous people and the governments of the countries in which they reside. This diplomatic work would, as well, assist Indigenous leaders to move past feelings of mistrust and suspicion, and into a process of consultation leading to effective partnerships.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b> What is needed are new strategic initiatives that will allow Indigenous people to contribute to and receive a just share of the wealth of the nation states in which they reside, but which also do not require those now in positions of wealth and power to feel that they will lose everything. The guiding principle of these strategic initiatives should be harmonizing the extremes of wealth and poverty. We see each government’s diplomatic corps playing a critical role in this aspect of the work, in partnership with specialists in Indigenous peoples’ development.</b></span></p>
<h3><span class="font-size-3">II. <i>Partnership Building-</i></span><span class="font-size-3"><b>Extensive and sustained partnership-building work are needed.</b></span></h3>
<ol>
<li><span class="font-size-3"><b>a)</b> <b>Inter-Indigenous partnerships. These will entail partnerships between Indigenous people and nations across the Americas for mutual assistance in the development, economic cooperation, and educational activities. These partnerships and related activities should include exchange programs in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish through the creation of language institutes (especially for young people); as well as scholarships and internships focused on building Indigenous capacity and developing Indigenous leadership necessary to implement the Fourth Way;</b></span></li>
<li><span class="font-size-3"><b>b)</b> <b>Indigenous to Government Partnerships. Constructive partnerships established between Indigenous people and the government of the countries in which they reside, aimed at giving Indigenous people a real voice in shaping the policies and programs that impact them. These partnerships must ultimately result in significant improvements in the social and economic life of the Indigenous communities;</b></span></li>
<li><span class="font-size-3"><b>c)</b> <b>Indigenous Institutions and international development agencies. Collaborative working partnerships are also required between appropriate Indigenous institutions and selected NGOs and international development and funding agencies, focused on various aspects of development assistance and capacity building;</b></span></li>
<li><span class="font-size-3"><b>d)</b> <b>Expand partnerships between newly elected Indigenous leadership along with the Governments they now control, and the Governments of Canada and the U.S. need to include direct support and assistance in advancing development objectives, diffusing conflict and violence and stopping militarization, assassinations, and military coups.</b></span></li>
<li><span class="font-size-3"><b>e)</b><b>North-south Indigenous Peoples’ partnerships. Finally, collaborative working partnerships need to be developed between Indigenous Peoples in the north (Canada and the United States) and their counterparts in the south, to allow for the sharing of knowledge, capacity, and resources for mutual aid, trade, and development.</b></span></li>
</ol>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182096?profile=original"><img width="365" class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182096?profile=RESIZE_480x480"/></a></b></span><span class="font-size-3"><b>This connection existed for centuries before it was broken apart by European colonization and the subsequent decimation of Indigenous nations across the Americas. For example, an ancient prophecy predicts the “Reunion of the people of the Condor (i.e., Indigenous people of the South), and the people of the Eagle, (i.e., the Indigenous people of the North),” and predicts that when realized, a great era of peace, well-being and prosperity will follow. So strong is the belief in this prophecy among Indigenous people that the Otomi people in the state of Mexico have built a vast ceremonial amphitheater dedicated to the “Reunion of the Condor and the Eagle.” The focal point of this fantastic construction (which rivals the ancient Mayan, Aztec and Zapateca pyramids in its size, grace and beauty, and which was primarily built by the volunteer labor of thousands of poor Indigenous people out of love and faith in the prophecy) is a gigantic stone carving of a Condor and an Eagle joined in loving embrace. </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>It was at this location that the first Reunion of the Condor and Eagle, International Indigenous Trade and Social Development Agreement and Unity Pact was signed, on May 5, 1999, between Indigenous Leaders of more than 100,000 peoples from Mexico and representatives of First Nations from Canada and the U.S.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182128?profile=original"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182128?profile=original" width="480"/></a></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Following the first Reunion of the Condor and Eagle Agreement and Unity Pact in Mexico, further Sacred Agreements and Unity Pacts based in the Sixteen Principles signed at the Indigenous Summit of the Americas in Ottawa, Ontario in March 2001, and at the Reunion of the Condor and The Eagle Indigenous Action Summit in the Commonwealth of Dominica in March 2003. These Sacred Unity Pacts now unite Indigenous representatives and their allies from Greenland, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Guyana, Guatemala, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and the Commonwealth of Dominica, with populations of more than 57 million Indigenous peoples. As well, in April 2002, a fourth Sacred Agreement and Unity Pact was signed in Bern, Switzerland, with Canadian and European supporters and NGOs. </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>III.<i> The creation of effective participatory governance institutions and mechanisms</i> through which Indigenous people can negotiate constructively with governments and the business community to address their ongoing needs and concerns, and through which they can manage and direct their development programs and processes.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b><i> </i></b><b>IV.<i> Targeted and sustained development assistance to support comprehensive social and economic development programs in the heart of Indigenous nations</i> focusing on such critical issues as education, social and economic development, leadership, governance and institution building, and civil society. The focus should also be on strengthening, food production and food security, business and enterprise development, sustainable environment and resource management, primary health care, cultural revitalization, and building and preserving a culturally appropriate social safety net. This targeted aid must be sustained for at least a decade, as capacity is building and a self-sustaining process of development fostered.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>In essence, the Fourth Way (a pathway that moves beyond assimilation, resignation and resistance to actual empowerment) works towards Indigenous nation building and development and occurs within a context of cooperation and partnership with government, business, and civil society in general as well as within the legal framework of each nation-state within which Indigenous peoples reside.</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>Is This Realistic?</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Twenty years ago, such a proposal might have seemed fanciful, outside the context of Indigenous communities, but events in New York, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Russia, Georgia., Palestine, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, the European Union, and many other places have overtaken us. These events, made it crystal clear, that the disempowered and impoverished masses can no longer be considered as a “neutral” environmental factor, ignored in the process of doing business and running countries.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>At this stage in history, no country in the Americas can afford to continue doing "business as usual." The risks are too great. While it is true that to make the shifts required in a "fourth way" approach will not be without costs, the costs of failing to invest in Indigenous Peoples’ development and that of those who have become the “marginalized poor” will be very great indeed, and holds the potential to destabilize entire societies.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The Fourth Way strategy and analysis respects human dignity, calls for the empowerment of people and comprises a framework for action that can be implemented anywhere in the world where sustainable development and nation-building constitute critical lines of work in diffusing terror, violence and poverty, and creating conditions that lead to constructive growth, spiritual empowerment, social justice, and economic prosperity. </b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3" style="text-decoration: underline;"><b>Conclusion</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Ending terror and violence cannot be accomplished by military means alone. We must also assist in empowering people to achieve a socially just and reasonable measure of well-being and prosperity in their lives. Recent experience in Iraq and Afghanistan seems to show that a heavy-handed military “solution” may make situations much more difficult to resolve. Indeed much of what is needed to eliminate the scourge of terror and violence from the face of our Mother Earth is related to empowering the Human Family to become engaged in constructive processes of change, and in bringing processes of harmonious development and social and economic justice to the dispossessed and the poorest in every region of Mother Earth.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The Fourth Way is not merely a strategic option or an alternative path for Indigenous Peoples of the Americas (as well as Human Beings like them elsewhere in the world) to take. It is the only option leading to sustainable peace and prosperity, and it is, therefore, an essential component in the struggle to end violence and poverty.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>This strategy, selectively employed in other areas of the world, will be successful where the pressure of prolonged social and economic injustice and poverty have significantly increased the susceptibility of those populations to desperate and extreme measures, including terror and violence.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>At this uncertain crossroads in human history, Indigenous Peoples and their Allies have a unique and powerful role to play as champions of peacemaking and sustainable development, which are critical lines of action in diffusing violence and poverty across the Americas and around the world. We know that the Governments of Canada and the U.S., as well as other Governments, face difficult and expensive decisions and that national security must have a very high priority.</b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b><u> The Fourth Way is a Strategic Security Initiative</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>We submit that the Fourth Way <i>is</i> a strategic security initiative. From an Indigenous perspective, the Fourth Way offers a strategic option for Indigenous Peoples to provide the spiritual leadership to support the transformation of frustration, violence, hopelessness, and poverty into sustainable and harmonious processes of active development, initially in the Americas and then around the world.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b> </b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b><u>An Indigenous Call for Urgent, Collective Action For Protecting and Restoring the Sacred To All Members of the Human Family</u></b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>The spiritual foundation of the International Indigenous Leadership Gathering is the understanding of the fundamental oneness and unity of all life. All members of the Human Family are all part of the ancient Sacred Circle of Life. Since we are all part of the Sacred Circle of Life, we are all Indigenous Peoples of our Mother Earth. This reality makes every Human Being responsible for the well-being of one another and all living things upon our Mother Earth.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Therefore, whether or not the nation-states, multinational corporations or international development agencies, that surround us, are willing to participate with us at this time, it is clear our Indigenous Peoples and Allies are moving forward in rebuilding and reunifying the Americas and beyond. Rebuilding and reunifying through the Natural Laws and Guiding Principles that are inherent in our Indigenous World View and Legal Order on an eternal and spiritual enduring foundation.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>1. We have the ancient prophecies and the clear vision of a future of social justice and collective prosperity for the Americas, and beyond that, we are in the process of manifesting. This new global civilization that is unfolding, as promised by the Ancient Ones and the Ancient of Days, fully honors the Natural Laws and Rights of Mother Earth and the Unity and Diversity of Human Family. This New Spiritual Springtime foretold by our Elders is now unfolding globally, as sure as the sun rises every morning.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>2. We have a robust, enduring and unbreakable spiritual foundation of cultural values and guiding principles that have empowered us to survive and arise, with greater strength and wisdom than ever, after great spiritual wintertime. This long spiritual wintertime was filled, at times, with the utmost human cruelty, violence, injustice, abuse, and physical and cultural genocide.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Despite these challenges, throughout the Americas and around Mother Earth, our Indigenous Peoples are reawakening to their spiritual and cultural identities and are healing our Sacred Relationships between ourselves, Mother Earth and all members of the Human Family.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>3. Together, with our other Indigenous Peoples and other Members of the Human Family, we have the cultural, spiritual, scientific, technological, social, environmental, economic and agricultural capacities and wisdom needed to co-create and rebuild our Families, Tribes, 8and Nations stronger and more unified than ever before.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>4. Our Indigenous Peoples of Mother Earth have the growing collective social and economic capital, coupled with vast natural resources, to bring our greatest dreams and visions to reality. These combined resources include fully protecting, preserving, and restoring our Beloved Mother as the sacred heritage of all generations, yet to come!</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Furthermore, it is crystal clear that these collective resources are in the process of empowering us to become a primary spiritual and economic force, not only in the Americas but throughout Mother Earth.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>We are destined, in the future, to play a higher and more significant role, as critical global leaders, in wisely mandating the sustainable and harmonious development of Mother Earth's gifts and resources. We will ensure that the unsustainable development of the natural resources of Mother Earth, no matter how much profit, will be left in their natural state!</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>Our Sacred Places and the Healthful Life of our Beloved Mother Earth are not for sale and exploitation for any price!</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>5. We, the Indigenous Peoples of the Eagle of the North (Canada and the U.S.) have the material resources to directly support our Indigenous Relatives of the Condor of the South (Latin America) in developing their collective resources, as they choose. The Condor of the South equally has critical resources to share with the Eagle of the North. Our greatest strength yet to be fully realized is our spiritual and cultural unity.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>6. By utilizing emerging digital communications technologies and similar green technologies and economies, in harmony with our vast, collective social, economic, cultural and spiritual capacities, we are manifesting, as promised, a future with social, environmental and economic justice for all members of the Human Family and our Beloved Mother Earth!</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>7. The primary challenge that stands before us as Indigenous Peoples and we as a Human Family, in rebuilding the Americas, and beyond, is disunity. This disunity caused by genocide and colonialism. This genocide and colonization have resulted in unresolved inter-generational trauma and internalized oppression that is the process of being fully recognized and addressed.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b> As we move courageously and wisely forward, in greater and greater love, compassion, justice, and unity, we are reconnecting to our enduring and unbreakable spiritual and cultural foundation for healing, reconciliation and collective action for “Protecting and Restoring the Sacred," everywhere on Mother Earth.</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><b>With the realization of this spiritual and cultural foundation for prayerful, wise and unified action, all needed for our ultimate victory will gracefully and assuredly unfold at the right times and places, as foretold by our Ancient Ones.</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b>With Warm and Loving Greetings and Our heartfelt Thanksgiving to All the Many Relatives Who Contributed to the Articulation and Vision of the Fourth Way!<br/></b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b>Sun Dance Chief Rueben George, Director of Community Development, Tsleil-‐Waututh Nation<br/></b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b>Hereditary Chief Phil Lane Jr., Chairman -Four Worlds International Institute</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b><i>Po Box 75027</i></b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3"><b><i>Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, V4A 7A5</i></b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><a href="mailto:phillanejr@gmail.com"><b>phillanejr@gmail.com</b></a><b> </b> <a href="http://www.fwii.net"><b>www.fwii.net</b></a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b>Tele: 1-604-542-8991 Skype: planejr1234</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span class="font-size-3"><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182315?profile=original"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182315?profile=original" width="278"/></a></b></span></p>Avatar Movie Directly Parallels Sacred Tree Story Written Thirty-Four Years Agotag:www.fwii.net,2019-01-16:2429082:BlogPost:270062019-01-16T15:30:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560171398?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560171398?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="320"></img></a></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">The “Tree of Souls” in the film Avatar is the Na’vi “link” to the spiritual and guiding force Eywa. The Na’vi held the Sacred Tree of Souls in great respect and understood that without it, their way of life and their world, would die.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">In the book, <strong>The Sacred Tree</strong>, Indigenous values and…</span></p>
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<p><span class="font-size-3">The “Tree of Souls” in the film Avatar is the Na’vi “link” to the spiritual and guiding force Eywa. The Na’vi held the Sacred Tree of Souls in great respect and understood that without it, their way of life and their world, would die.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-3">In the book, <strong>The Sacred Tree</strong>, Indigenous values and traditions are taught as a primary key to unlocking the spiritual force of the Archetype of the Sacred Tree that will move us on the path of personal growth and development. Indigenous Elders prophesy that by returning to the life-preserving and life-enhancing spiritual values and guiding principles of the Sacred Tree, Indigenous Peoples and the Human Family will be awakened and transformed.<br/></span></p>
<p><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-3" style="font-weight: bold;">This transformation will have a healing effect on all of Mother Earth. We will all come to realize that we are Indigenous Peoples of Mother Earth.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The symbolism of The Sacred Tree</span> is found at the heart of the cultural and spiritual traditions of all members of the Human Family. With great love and respect for those Walking the Red Road of spiritual understanding and personal growth, please enjoy this excerpt from <strong>The Sacred Tree</strong>.</span></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3" style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Story of the Sacred Tree</span></div>
<p><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span class="font-size-3" style="font-style: italic;">“For all the people of the earth, the Creator has planted a Sacred Tree under which they may gather, and there find healing, power, wisdom, and security. The roots of this tree spread deep into the body of Mother Earth. Its branches reach upward like hands praying to Father Sky. The fruits of this tree are the good things the Creator has given to the people: Teachings that show the path to love, compassion, generosity, patience, wisdom, justice, courage, respect, humility and many other wonderful gifts.</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span class="font-size-3" style="font-style: italic;">The Ancient Ones taught us that the life of the Tree is the life of the people. If the people wander far away from the protective shadow of the Tree, if they forget to seek the nourishment of its fruit or they should turn against the Tree and attempt to destroy it, great sorrow will fall upon the people. Many will become sick at heart. The people will lose their power. They will cease to dream dreams and see visions. They will begin to quarrel among themselves over worthless trifles. They will become unable to tell the truth and to deal with each other honestly. They will forget how to survive in their own land. Their lives will become filled with anger and gloom. Little by little, they will poison themselves and all they touch.</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span class="font-size-3" style="font-style: italic;">It was foretold that these things would come to pass, but that the Tree would never die. And as long as the Tree lives, the people live. It was also foretold that the day would come when the people would awaken, as if from a long, drugged sleep; that they would begin, timidly at first but then with great urgency, to search again for the Sacred Tree.</span><br style="font-style: italic;"/><br style="font-style: italic;"/><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-style: italic;">The knowledge of its whereabouts and of the fruits that adorn its branches have always been carefully guarded and preserved within the minds and hearts of our wise elders and leaders. These humble, loving and dedicated souls will guide anyone who is honestly and sincerely seeking along the path leading to the protecting shadow of the Sacred Tree.</span>"</span></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-3">***</span></div>
<p><span class="font-size-3">The Sacred Tree includes a forward by Dr. Jane Goodall, UN Messenger of Peace, and author of <span style="font-style: italic;">My Life with the Chimpanzees</span></span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-3">The Sacred Tree is available in English and Spanish, US residents may order at <a href="http://www.shop4worlds.com/1BK/1BK993090.cfm">4 Worlds Native American Bookstore</a></span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-3">Canadian shoppers may receive free shipping by ordering from <a href="http://4worlds.org/medicine-wheel.html">The Sacred Tree Bookstore</a></span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-3">International customers may purchase the book at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Tree-Reflections-American-Spirituality/dp/0941524582/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268400226&sr=8-1">Amazon.com</a></span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-3">Also available for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Sacred-Tree-ebook/dp/B0028UBEVE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1268400226&sr=8-3">Amazon Kindle</a>!</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-3">The Sacred Tree has been translated in more than 10 languages. Please email 4worlds@uleth.ca for more information.</span></p>International Treaty to Protect and Restore Mother Earthtag:www.fwii.net,2019-01-12:2429082:BlogPost:1647002019-01-12T12:30:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p><b><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/734753810?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/734753810?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="360"></img></a> <span style="font-size: 14pt;">Mother Earth Day, April 22, 2016, New York City, N.Y.</span></b></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Preamble</b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We, the Members of the Human Family speak as one, guided by the sacred teachings and spiritual traditions of the Four Directions that uplift,…</span></p>
<p><b><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/734753810?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/734753810?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="360" class="align-left"/></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Mother Earth Day, April 22, 2016, New York City, N.Y.</span></b></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Preamble</b></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We, the Members of the Human Family speak as one, guided by the sacred teachings and spiritual traditions of the Four Directions that uplift, guide, protect, warn, inspire and challenge the entire Human Family to live in ways that sustain and enhance human life and the lives of all who dwell on Mother Earth. We hereby dedicate our lives and energies to healing and developing ourselves, the web of relationships that make our world and the way we live with Mother Earth.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The spiritual foundation of the Indigenous world-view is the ancient understanding of the fundamental oneness and unity of all life. Therefore, all members of the Human Family are a part of the Sacred Circle of Life. Since all members of the Human Family are a part of the Sacred Circle of Life, we are all Indigenous Peoples of our Mother Earth. Therefore, every Human Being is responsible for the well-being of one another and all living things on our Mother Earth.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Whether or not the nation-states, multinational corporations or international development agencies that surround us are willing or able to participate with us at this time, our Indigenous Peoples and Allies of the Human Family are moving dynamically forward in rebuilding and reunifying the Americas and beyond. Our actions and vision, guided by the Natural Laws and Guiding Principles inherent in our Indigenous Worldview and Legal Order, are based on an eternal and spiritually enduring foundation:</span></p>
<p></p>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We have the ancient prophecies and the clear vision of a future of social justice and collective prosperity for the Americas and beyond, that we are in the process of manifesting. This new global civilization that is unfolding, as promised by the Ancient Ones and the Ancient of Days, fully honors the Natural Laws and Rights of Mother Earth and the Unity and Diversity of our Human Family. This New Spiritual Springtime foretold by our Elders is now unfolding globally as surely as the sun rises every morning.</span></li>
</ol>
<p></p>
<ol start="2">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We have always had a strong, enduring and unbreakable spiritual foundation of cultural values and guiding principles that have empowered us to survive and arise, with higher strength and wisdom than ever, despite a long and bitter spiritual wintertime. Even though we experienced the utmost human cruelty, violence, injustice, abuse, and physical and cultural genocide during this spiritual winter, we have never surrendered our inherent sovereignty. Despite these long suffered challenges, throughout the Americas and around Mother Earth, our Indigenous Peoples are reawakening to their spiritual and cultural identities and are healing our Sacred Relationships between ourselves, Mother Earth and all members of the Human Family.</span></li>
</ol>
<p></p>
<ol start="3">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Together, our Indigenous Peoples and Allies of our Human Family have the cultural, spiritual, scientific, technological, social, environmental, economic and agricultural capacities and wisdom needed to co-create and rebuild our Families, Tribes, and Nations stronger and more unified than ever before.</span></li>
</ol>
<p></p>
<ol start="4">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Our Indigenous Peoples of Mother Earth have the growing collective social and economic capital, coupled with vast natural resources, to bring our highest dreams and visions to reality. With growing collective strength, we dedicate ourselves to protecting and restoring our Beloved Mother as the sacred heritage of all generations, yet to come. </span></li>
</ol>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Furthermore, it is clear that these collective resources will empower us to become a primary spiritual and economic force, not only in the Americas but also throughout Mother Earth. We are destined to play an ever-increasing role as global leaders in wisely mandating the sustainable and harmonious ways for developing Mother Earth's gifts and resources. We will ensure that when the development of the natural resources of Mother Earth is not sustainable, no matter the profit, they will not be developed. Our Sacred Places and the Healthful Life of our Beloved Mother Earth are not for sale or exploitation for any price.</span></p>
<p></p>
<ol start="5">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We, the Indigenous Peoples of the Eagle of the North have the material resources to support the development of the collective resources of our Indigenous Relatives of the Quetzal and Condor of the South, as they choose. The Quetzal and Condor of the South equally have critical resources to share with the Eagle of the North. We fully realize that our greatest strength is our spiritual and cultural unity.</span></li>
</ol>
<p></p>
<ol start="6">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Through utilizing emerging digital communications and green technologies in harmony with our vast, collective social, economic, cultural and spiritual capacities, we will manifest a future with social, environmental, and economic justice for all members of the Human Family and our Beloved Mother Earth.</span></li>
</ol>
<p></p>
<ol start="7">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">The primary challenge that stands before us as Indigenous Peoples and as a Human Family, in rebuilding the Americas and beyond, is disunity. This disunity has been caused by all forms of colonialism, injustice, and genocide, and is a direct result of the three Papal Bulls of 1452-1493 and the resulting Doctrine of Discovery. This ongoing colonization with its injustice and genocide has resulted in unresolved intergenerational trauma, internalized oppression, and other deepening global suffering and inequities. We are fully committed to recognizing, addressing, healing, balancing and eliminating, by every peaceful and legal means possible, the extreme destructive impacts of disunity.</span></li>
</ol>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">As we move courageously and wisely forward, in greater and greater love, compassion, justice, and unity, we are reconnecting to our firm and eternal spiritual and cultural foundations for healing, reconciliation and collective action for Protecting and Restoring the Sacred everywhere on Mother Earth. The full realization of our spiritual and cultural foundations for prayerful, wise, unprecedented and unified action, assures that our ultimate victory will gracefully unfold at the right time and place as foretold by our Ancient Ones. With the full understanding of these unshakable, spiritual and cultural foundations, we fully dedicate ourselves and our resources to realizing these unprecedented and unified actions to stop runaway climate change.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Articles~International Treaty to Protect and Restore Mother Earth</b></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Article 1</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">We, the Members of the Human Family, commit to Protecting and Restoring the Sacred. We will remind ourselves and our Human Family, through our sacred prayers, songs, ceremony, and our ancient prophecies, that Mother Earth is our holy provider of life. </span></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Restoring the Sacred includes preserving and protecting sacred sites worldwide and returning holy heirloom objects taken from their rightful owners. We will return to these sacred sites and objects to their original cultural and spiritual purposes.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Article 2</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">We, the Members of the Human Family, commit to supporting the global emergence of the Seventh Generation, as promised, by fostering youth participation, leadership, and wisdom in all decision-making processes impacting all life on Mother Earth.</span></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Article 3</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">We, the Members of the Human Family, commit to reducing consumption and waste. These reductions must start in the prosperous nations among the wealthy and comfortable, to restore the values of simplicity, respect, and humility. Our Human Family can live much happier and more fulfilling lives with less consumption, and without wasting any of Mother Earth’s body and energy.</span></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Article 4</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">We, the Members of the Human Family, commit to protecting women’s reproductive rights and to stabilizing human population. We’ve grown past Mother Earth’s capacity, and our human numbers cannot keep growing. Our ancient relatives knew that their communities had to fit their habitat. We practiced natural patterns of creation that resulted in extended families in balance with the natural world. Today, over a billion of our Human Family are hungry daily, and 10 million of these relatives starve to death every year.</span></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">For the population of our Human Family to be stable, it is essential to ensure that women everywhere have reproductive rights and health. Wherever women have rights over their reproduction, and where contraception is freely available, the birth rate naturally declines. Universal education, social justice, and ecological justice allow communities to limit their population growth.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Article 5</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;"> We, the Members of the Human Family, commit to transitioning to ecologically sustainable and renewable energy sources and to zero waste. We will take every peaceful action possible to reduce, mitigate, and eliminate fossil fuel emissions — coal, oil, gas — and to build the renewable zero-emission infrastructure for solar, wind, and hydropower, where it is acceptable and approved through a process of free, prior and informed consent. Conservation and zero-waste will be components of any genuine energy transition, using power modestly and carefully to minimize consumption and eliminating any non-conforming resource extraction projects like the Alberta Tar Sands.</span></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We call for nation states everywhere on Mother Earth to use all possible means to support the transition to solar technology and other proven renewable energy sources. And we call for nation-states to increase carbon taxes and eliminate subsidies to the petroleum industry, and to use these funds to subsidize renewable energy research and installation.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Article 6</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">We, the Members of the Human Family, commit to restoring and protecting the health and vitality of our planetary ecosystems and ecosystem services by restoring and protecting the biodiversity of our ecosystems on land, water, and air, and by reversing the decline of forests, coral reefs, wetlands and other productive ecosystems. We commit to replanting, restoring and protecting the wild forests to provide natural species diversity to grow again and to supply human communities with materials and renewable energy solutions for modest lives connected to productive ecosystems.</span></span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">To achieve this, we require a paradigm shift in our economic systems, a change from unsustainable growth and extraction to the preservation of real wealth: our natural ecosystems. Rather than monetize nature, we must do the opposite and naturalize the economy.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Article 7</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">We, the Members of the Human Family, commit to permitting only organic and traditional farming by ending the industrial farming methods that have destroyed soils, spread toxins, and harmed our planetary ecosystems. For Indigenous Peoples, organic agriculture is conventional agriculture. Through our farming methods, we also aim to protect and restore the biodiversity in our planetary ecosystems, with special emphasis on the protection of organic seeds from GMO manipulation and any other forms of genetic manipulation.</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Article 8</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;"> We, the Members of the Human Family, commit to building a robust zero-emission infrastructure for public transportation by eliminating the overuse of fossil-fueled vehicles and restoring efficient public transportation systems including light-rail, zero-emission trains, and trolleys. We will rebuild our communities so people can access their needs by walking and bicycling.</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Article 9</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">We, the Members of the Human Family, commit to waging peace with the understanding that war is the highest consumer of oil and energy, the most significant contributor to ecological destruction and the most destructive force among the Human Family. War benefits only the powerful, the wealthy and the weapons industry.</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We will make peace a global priority, refuse to fund war machines, refuse to participate in war-making, and stop glorifying war. We call the nation states to eliminate the weapons industry that lives off the misery of the victims among our relatives.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Through the full realization of the spiritual awareness of the Oneness of the Human Family, the elimination of all forms of prejudice, the elimination of anything that causes a human being or society to feel superior and entitled to oppress to another, World Peace will be realized.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Article 10</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">We, the Members of the Human Family, are committed to restoring, promoting and protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Industrial economies have consistently pushed Indigenous communities from their productive land. By restoring the rights of all Indigenous communities, indeed of all members of the Human Family who know how to live in harmony with the natural world, we take an essential step forward towards healing our world and Mother Earth.</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">These Indigenous rights include the full legal implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, with particular emphasis on the principle of free, prior and informed consent.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Article 11</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">We, the Members of the Human Family, commit to cleaning up and redeveloping toxic waste sites. We call for all nation-states and multinational corporations responsible for generating dangerous waste - including nuclear, petroleum, chemical, agricultural and any other poisonous waste - to immediately develop and implement a global plan to eliminate those toxins from all ecosystems, air, land, and water, by 2020.</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Article 12</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">We the Members of the Human Family commit to implementing universal gender equality by realizing that the full equality of women and men is a prerequisite of peace. The denial of such balance is an injustice against half of the world’s population and promotes harmful attitudes and habits among males, from the family into the workplace, into political life, and international relations.</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Ultimately, any gender discrimination, including gender violence, leads directly to a negative relationship with Mother Earth. There are no grounds — moral, practical or biological — by which this can be justified. Only when women and men have a full partnership in all fields of human endeavor will we be able to create the moral and psychological climate to realize international peace.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Article 13</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">We, the Members of the Human Family commit, to facilitating decision-making and leadership that remains beneficial for seven generations into the future, a policy known by Indigenous people as "Seven Generations" decision-making.</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">In the Ihanktonwan Dakota Traditions, the thirteenth tepee pole is the women's pole, around which the hide or canvas is tightly wrapped. After erecting the first twelve poles, the thirteenth pole is put in place, and the skin of the tepee is unwrapped around the others, covering all. Without this pole, of course, there is no shelter.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Scientific evidence shows that the toxic pollution of industrial culture is poisoning the wombs of womankind, infecting our future generations, causing disease, diabetes, congenital disabilities, cancers, and chemical violence. These toxins are breaking the thirteenth pole, harming our women and all women, endangering unborn children so that there may not be the seventh generation. Making decisions to generate money rather than maintaining the health of all members of our Human Family is the opposite of Seventh Generation decision-making.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Article 14</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">We, the Members of the Human Family commit, to establishing and maintaining Bioregional Marine Sanctuaries throughout Mother Earth, as soon as possible.</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Bioregional Marine Sanctuaries are named areas of Earth, Water and Air where natural animal populations, protected and restored to more than 50% of historic levels as soon as possible, and water quality and forest biomass levels are preserved and restored to very high concentrations.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">Bioregional Marine Sanctuary boundaries correspond to natural features such as watershed topography, vegetation types, oceanic continental shelves, and margins, including all rivers, creeks, lakes, ponds, estuaries, and aquifers.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Article 15</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">We, the members of the Human Family, commit to reducing the large-scale farming of animals. Despite livestock being the world’s leading emitter of methane, the role of animal agriculture in climate change has been largely ignored during climate conferences. Furthermore, the increased demand for raising animals for human consumption is leading to the destruction of the rainforests and rural land that many of our brothers and sisters call home; causing human rights abuses, poverty, and violence.</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We will hold the factory farming industry and the governments who shelter them with laws, accountable for these tragedies. We will also play our part in protecting Mother Earth from further destruction.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Article 16</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">We, the Members of the Human Family, commit to holding governments and corporations responsible for making genuine progress to solve the growing challenge of Climate Change. Historically, after decades of climate conferences, governments and corporations have accomplished little to address the ever-increasing global problem of climate change, and have instead subsidized the petroleum energy industry that intensifies it.</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">While we will hold governments and corporations responsible for making genuine progress, we will not rely on them to restore the harmony and balance of life. The majority of the work to protect and restore the sacredness of life remains with every one of us.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 14pt;">We call all members of Human Family of Mother Earth, including all levels of non-Indigenous and Indigenous governments, citizen organizations, businesses, labor unions, non-governmental organizations, and third parties to recognize, support and uphold this International Treaty to Protect and Restore Mother Earth. We invite you to signify your commitment by signing the Addendum to this International Treaty.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Signed by Indigenous Leaders from across the Americas, Indonesia, and other Allies of our Human Family, April 22, Mother Earth Day, 2016, New York City, New York.</b></span></p>Principles of Consultation and Talking Circles for Creating Trust and Unified Action in the Work Place.tag:www.fwii.net,2018-12-26:2429082:BlogPost:1113052018-12-26T17:30:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> …</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span> <span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560179460?profile=original"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560179460?profile=original" width="280"/></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;" align="center"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">FOUR WORLD`S PRINCIPLES OF CONSULTATION</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;" align="center"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Purpose</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: 14.65pt;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">• Create team commitment, trust among diverse participants<br/>• Identify opportunities and solve problems<br/>• Determine the best course of action</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Ten Principles for Success</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">1. Respect each participant and appreciate each other’s diversity. This is the prime requisite for consultation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">2. Value and consider all contributions. Belittle none. Withhold evaluation until sufficient information has been gathered.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">3. Contribute and express opinions with complete freedom.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">4. Carefully consider the views of others --- if a valid point of view has been offered, accept it as your own.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">5. Keep to the mission at hand. The extraneous conversation may be important to team building, but it is not consultation, which is solution driven.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">6. Share in the group’s unified purpose --- desire for the success of the mission.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">7. Expect the truth to emerge from the clash of differing opinions. Optimum solutions emerge from the diversity of opinion.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">8. Once stated, let go of opinions. Don’t try to ‘‘defend’’ your position, but, rather let it go. Ownership causes disharmony among the team and almost always gets in the way of finding the truth.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">9. Contribute to maintaining a friendly atmosphere by speaking with<br/>courtesy, dignity, care, and moderation. This will promote unity and<br/>openness.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">10. Seek consensus. But if a consensus is impossible, let the majority rule. Remember, though, that decisions, once made, become the decision of every participant. After the group has decided, dissenting opinions are destructive to the success of the mission. When decisions are undertaken with total group support, wrong decisions can be more fully observed and corrected.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></p>
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<h1 style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: arial black,avant garde;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">Guidelines for Talking Circles</span></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" class="font-size-3"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">Talking circles are useful when the topic under consideration has no right or wrong answer, or when people need to share feelings. Moral or ethical issues can often be dealt with in this way without offending anyone. </span></strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" class="font-size-3"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">The purpose of talking circles is to create a safe environment for people to share their point of view and experiences with others. This process helps people gain a sense of trust in each other. They come to believe that what they say will be listened to and accepted without criticism. They also gain an appreciation for points of view other than their own. </span></strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" class="font-size-3"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">During the talking circle, people are free to respond however they want as long as they follow these guidelines.</span></strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" class="font-size-3"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal;"> </span></span> <span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">All comments should be addressed directly to the question or issue, not to comments that another participant has made. Both negative and positive comments about what anyone else in the circle says should be avoided. Just say what you want to say in a positive manner. Speak from the heart.</span></strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" class="font-size-3"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal;"> </span></span> <span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">Only one person speaks at a time. Everyone else should be listening in a non-judgmental way to what the speaker is saying. Some groups find it useful to signify in some way who has the floor. Going around the circle systematically is one way to achieve this. Another is to use some object (such as a stone or stick) which the person who is speaking holds and then passes to the next person who has indicated a desire to speak.</span></strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" class="font-size-3"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal;"> </span></span> <span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">Silence is an acceptable response. No one should be pressured at any time to contribute if they feel reticent to do so. There must be no negative consequences, however subtle, for saying “I pass.”</span></strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" class="font-size-3"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal;"> </span></span> <span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">At the same time, everyone must feel invited to participate. Some mechanism for ensuring that a few vocal people don’t dominate the discussion should be built in. For instance, no one speaks twice until everyone in the circle has been given the opportunity to speak once. An atmosphere of patient and non-judgmental listening usually helps shy people to speak out and the louder ones to moderate their participation. Going around the circle in a systematic way, inviting each person to participate simply by mentioning each name, in turn, can be an effective way to even out participation.</span></strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" class="font-size-3"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal;"> </span></span> <span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">It is often better to hold talking circles in groups of five to fifteen rather than with a large group because in smaller groups everyone has time to say what they need to say without feeling pressured by time.</span></strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" class="font-size-3"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal;"> </span></span> <span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">The group leader facilitates the discussion by acknowledging contributions in a non-judgmental way (that is, by avoiding comments such as “good comment” or “great” which can be seen as making comparisons between different contributions), and by clarifying comments when necessary, (e.g. “If I understand what you’re saying, you’re...”).</span></strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" class="font-size-3"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal;"> </span></span> <span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">No comments which put down others or ourselves are allowed. Some agreed-upon way of signaling the speaker when this is occurring should be established. Self-put-downs include such comments as, “I don’t think anyone will agree with me, but...” or “I’m not very good at...”</span></strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" class="font-size-3"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">·<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal;"> </span></span> <span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">Speakers should feel free to express themselves in any way that is comfortable: by sharing a personal story, by using examples or metaphors, by making analytical statements, etc.</span></strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-indent: -18pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" class="font-size-3"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US"><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal;"> </span></span> <span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">Some groups have found it useful to encourage participants to focus on consciously sending the speaker loving and compassionate feelings. In this way, listeners are supporting the speaker and not tuning out so they can think about what they will say when it is their turn.</span></strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" class="font-size-3"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US"> </span></strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;" class="font-size-3"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US">(Excerpted from The Sacred Tree Curriculum Guide produced by The Four Worlds International Institute)</span></strong></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: -19.9pt; line-height: 15.95pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; font-family: 'Arial Black','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> </span></p>Coming Hometag:www.fwii.net,2018-10-28:2429082:BlogPost:1621972018-10-28T16:00:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560177099?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560177099?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="420"></img></a> <span style="font-size: 18pt;">My name's Dan Wilson, and I’d like to tell you my story. I was born in a nondescript little town close to Montreal, nothing special about it. I have a mom, a dad, and two older brothers. </span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 18pt;">My mom’s name is Elizabeth, and my father’s name is Oliver. Dad is a…</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560177099?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="420" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560177099?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="420" class="align-left"/></a><span style="font-size: 18pt;">My name's Dan Wilson, and I’d like to tell you my story. I was born in a nondescript little town close to Montreal, nothing special about it. I have a mom, a dad, and two older brothers. </span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 18pt;">My mom’s name is Elizabeth, and my father’s name is Oliver. Dad is a member of the Mohawk Nation, and my mother is an immigrant from France. The only other relative I have been close with, for as long as I can remember, is my Uncle James, who is my dad’s oldest brother. Uncle James has been a tremendous help throughout my entire life, but I’ll get to that later.</span></p>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">For the first few years of my childhood, things were straightforward and typical. It was fun, and there was no worry. My brothers and I got along, and my parents were decent people. I noticed they begin to fight when I was about five, especially when they were drinking, but I was too naïve to think anything of it. Thinking back, when they drank, they'd always end up fighting about money, about how to use it, to save it, and how much to spend.</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">We were not penniless for a low-income family compared to the homeless in the East Side of Montreal. My mother always said we were rich compared to them. When we would not have money for food, some days, I would question that point of view!</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Uncle James would chip in sometimes, but he wasn’t wealthy enough to donate a huge amount. Still, mom would blame him for not doing more to help us. Despite all that, I never knew why they fought about money so often, instead of trying to be productive and doing something about it. The more they drank, the more they fought, sometimes all weekend!</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">In my early years, I went to a school called Tallpine Elementary. For a school, Tallpine was average. As far as frozen foods go, the food there was decent. I am a picky eater, though, so I didn't have a taste of the full menu. There were stupid bullies who just liked hurting others, but every school has those, so I didn’t complain much about it. I learned to ignore them most of the time! Whatever they said to me, I would say, “Thank you for noticing,” smile respectfully, and walk away!</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">The thing I remembered the most from Tallpine were the teachers. There were different types of teachers at Tallpine. Ones who came for their paycheck only and did their job just because they had to, ones that were interested in running the classroom as militarily as possible rather than teaching, and rarely, ones that were passionate about instructing and made learning a pleasant experience. I usually got the first two types.</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">My favorite teacher, Mr. Dantes, was the only teacher I had that was from the third category. He was young, in his 20s, and a fun guy despite me and my classmate's view that all teachers were slave drivers.Mr. Dantes was blonde, had blue eyes, and wore glasses. I thought he was tall when I was a kid, but 5'2” isn't that remarkable when I think about it. Still, the fact that I remembered what Mr. Dantes looked like, in the first place, shows I held him pretty high. He had a way of engaging kids in learning and had methods to make it like we were playing a game.</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">My only problem with him was that sometimes his humor didn’t fit the situation. Even with that, he was able to tell when he needed to shift his tone and get serious.</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">I’d say I got decent grades in my first years at Tallpine. Some B’s, some C’s, maybe an A, here and there. I never really cared to study except for tests. Being a school that had a French program in it, it was also mandatory to learn some of that. Honestly, French was something I struggled with a bit, even though I had learned a lot of French swear words from my mom, otherwise, things were excellent and straightforward.</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Then, when I was in about 6th grade, things started going wrong. I had an elementary understanding of what my parents had been shouting about, but I was still too young to think too deeply of it. </span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">My dad was usually busy doing high steel work. It was when he came home drunk, and my mom started asking about his income and where his money went that there was conflict. Mom was not innocent herself. She kept her "medicine" hidden in different places, so she could have a quick drink when needed.</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">My parents started fighting and drinking more and more often, and my brothers and I got stuck in the crossfire. I always managed to be the one that got involved the most since my older brothers were at the age where they could find convenient excuses to be gone.</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Eventually, it got to the point where I told one of my friends at school about what was going on because I felt like I needed to vent so badly. Give or take a week or two, rumors were all over the place about me and my drinking, fighting parents. </span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">The bullying started getting worse because there were more reasons to make fun of me. My friends played coy or acted like I was overreacting. Even classes with Mr. Dantes started to lose their appeal when the bullies found ways to reach me there. </span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">I got followed back home once or twice. Sometimes I’d find mean messages on the doorstep, but, for then, the bullies never did anything worse than that.</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Uncle James would come over and lend me emotional and spiritual support, from time to time, so I have him to thank for helping me endure this part of my life. My mom told me that my Uncle James was on the wagon. </span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">When I was young, I did not understand what she was talking about because Uncle James always drove a pickup truck. When I got older, I knew that this meant. He did not drink alcohol like my parents.</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Eventually, a huge fight broke out between my mom and dad, with screaming and yelling on levels I’d never experienced before. When it finished, my mom noticed me and walked over, screaming "It's all your fault!" before slapping me across the face. </span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">I'd never been hit, much less hurt by my parents before, so it was natural I was pretty shocked. I just stood there for a few seconds before I ran off to my room crying and screaming. It was a profoundly traumatic experience for me.</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">The next day, dad was gone, which didn’t make things better. I waited for him to come back, but he never did, leaving my brothers and me with mom. It was at about this time that Uncle James became absent as well. </span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Come graduation from Tallpine; I was very miserable. My grades had fallen, I was sure all my friends were disregarding me, my brothers were away from home, more and more, and Mom got meaner and meaner!</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Being the school it was, nobody at Tallpine cared enough to see what the problem was before I left for the summer break, before going to high school. Mr. Dantes did show some concern, but I never had a real opportunity to tell him all my problems. </span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Summer went by pretty horribly, with every day filled with yelling and fighting, especially between Mom and my older brothers. After each fight, she would require more and more of her "medicine." I was hardly able to enjoy myself because my mother kept punishing me for the littlest things and making sure I had nothing enjoyable time to myself.</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Some of the bullies would come by and taunt me through the windows of my house. I never found out if they lived nearby or if they had the dedication to ruin my life. My mom never did anything about it because she was too busy yelling her head off to listen to me. </span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">In the last days of summer, a group of older boys started hovering around my house. They’d come by when mom wasn’t around and vandalize our yard or egg us. I didn’t know them, but my brothers claimed they were a group of delinquents from their High School that they somehow managed to piss off.</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">The day before we had to go back to school, they came and broke into our house while my mom was out getting more medicine. My brothers had to hold back the bullies so I could run, and so I did. As it turned out, my brothers had been beaten-up and humiliated to the point of one of them getting hospitalized. </span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">My brother, not hospitalized, told me that the scars he got ran deeper than flesh and that they would never heal. He did not say what happened in words, but I felt and understood what happened to him! It made me sick!</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">I do not know how to repay my older brothers for sacrificing themselves for my protection. They told me that was what older brothers did. When mom came home, of course, she found some ridiculous way to blame us for all that happened.</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">It was about this time that Uncle James came back into my life. My dad went to New York to work on high steel, and Uncle James had spent almost two years trying to help him get sober. After Uncle James had realized it was a lost cause, he told me he decided to to do the next best thing and take care of me. </span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">About that time my older brothers moved out. They could not take it anymore at home and found their "medicine" in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighborhood in East Montreal. They call their medicine "Crack" and to keep getting it; they sell it.</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Uncle James didn’t know too much of what I had been going through, but as I told him more and more, Uncle James began to understand. He’d regularly take me out to movies, the park, and stuff like that, to get away from home’s problems. We’d eat and chat, do fun activities away from town, lots of stuff that helped me out. </span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Something I didn't know was that he was fighting for custody of me and getting social services involved. By that time all my mom lived for was her medicine and didn’t care. Uncle James always said she was sick, and we would pray that she would wake up and recover.</span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560177150?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560177150?profile=original" width="341" class="align-left"/></a>Uncle James, eventually won, and, although I was confused about what happened, I admit I was glad when he took me away to go live with him. I even got to have my room to myself. </span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">The first thing he had me do after I settled in was to go a Sweat Lodge with him. After I had entered the dark Lodge with my new friends and family, the first splash of cold water on the red-hot rocks let me know I finally had come home. </span></div>
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<div class="_2cuy _3dgx _2vxa"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Short Story by Tiger Lane, 15, Chickasaw and Ihanktowan Dakota Nations, Earl Marriott High School, White Rock, B.C. </span></div>Keynote Address~"Healing Intergenerational Sexual Abuse"tag:www.fwii.net,2018-08-15:2429082:BlogPost:1089882018-08-15T20:00:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p align="center" style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="font-size-3"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560181031?profile=original"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560181031?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="420"></img></a> <span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Healing Intergenerational Sexual Abuse</span></span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-size: 14pt;">Keynote Address</b></p>
<p align="center" style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;"><b>First…</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b><span class="font-size-3"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560181031?profile=original"><img width="420" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560181031?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="420"/></a><span style="color: #000000;" class="font-size-4">Healing Intergenerational Sexual Abuse</span></span></b></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b style="font-size: 14pt;">Keynote Address</b></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;"><b>First International Indigenous Sexual Abuse Conference</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;"><b>February 13, 2003</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;"><b>Edmonton</b><b>, Alberta, Canada</b></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: left;"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">My Very Beloved Relatives, </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">With a grateful heart, I want to extend a warm, respectful, and loving greeting to each of you who have gathered here from the Four Directions to unite further, deepen, expand, and empower the healing and transformation process of our Indigenous <b>P</b>eoples and communities. It is a great honor and inspiration to be with you as we fulfill the divine prophecies of the wise visionaries and spiritual leaders of all our tribes and nations. These ancient prophecies promised that after very long, difficult, and painful wintertime our Indigenous Peoples would fully rise from the ashes of our suffering and play a significant role in the spiritual transformation of the entire Human Family.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000000;" class="font-size-4">Some years ago, a beloved tribal grandmother asked me a profound and soul-searching question. “Grandson,” she asked me, “what is the most sacred, the most powerful, the holiest of all ceremonies?” With some pride, I began to recount some of the traditional tribal ceremonies that I had participated in over the years. After I described the Sun Dance, Sweat Lodge, Vision Questing, and other ceremonies I had taken part in she<span style="background-color: #f5f6f5;"> looked very, very deeply into my eyes and soul! </span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000000;" class="font-size-4">“Grandson, those are all very sacred, powerful, and holy ceremonies, but the most sacred, the most powerful, the holiest of all ceremonies is the birth of a child. Then who are you?” This beloved grandmother firmly reminded me that this very sacred and intimate ceremony and creative power that ignites human life is holy. To be respected and honored at all times and conditions!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000000;" class="font-size-4">My relatives, it is evident that the abuse of this sacred, creative power and expression of life, including widespread sexual violence, the rape of children, incest, pornography, prostitution, HIV/AIDS, and gang rape found within our communities, destroys<span style="background-color: rgba(250, 214, 51, 0.25);"> the foundation of ourselves, families and our communities. Sometimes, this destruction continues for many generations!</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Through sexual abuse, our trust, faith, and belief in ourselves, our loved ones, our communities, and in life, itself, is broken. Our purity, innocence, and unconditional love are shamefully betrayed and brutally violated. We become our abusers and the abusers of others. We become isolated and alone. We become filled with fear and shame. We no longer care if we live or die. Some of us even chose suicide rather than live any longer in the intense and overwhelming pain and suffering that seems to have no end. This abuse has happened to many of us gathered here today, our loved ones, and countless others who feel hopeless, alone, and in deep pain and suffering throughout our sacred lands.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000000;" class="font-size-4"><span style="background-color: #f5f6f5;">I applaud each of you, from the bottom of my heart, for your great love, courage, and determination for coming here to address the many forms of sexual abuse that are destroying the Sacred Heart of our communities. </span>For months, I have prayed and reflected, with great respect and honor for the pain and suffering of our lives and our communities on what I could share with you about the realities and healing of sexual abuse that would support and empower our healing journey!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">Do I share with you my own great heartfelt belief in the beauty, healing, and unifying power of our cultures, spiritual traditions, sacred prophecies, the sacredness of who we are as human beings and the enormous healing power of this spiritual understanding? Do I share an overview of the growing challenges of sexual abuse in our communities and steps on our healing journey we can take to transform this profound sickness into healthy, prosperous completely, and unified human beings and societies? Or do I tell you about my own experience of sexual abuse over the generations and how facing, confronting, and healing this injury has helped me to become a more loving, understanding, and forgiving human being?</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #000000;">As I prayed about what I should share with you, it became that I needed to follow the healing path, walk my talk, and share some of the details of my own experience with the impact of sexual abuse over the years. Including some of the unified steps, we can take together to heal ourselves and our communities. For a primary key to healing and transforming our sexual abuse is being completely open, truthful, and honest about our own experience, no matter how painful and fearful this disclosure may be. As a wise elder once told me, “If we can feel the pain and shame and talk about what we are feeling, we can understand, heal and transform it into a spiritual strength!”</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560181183?profile=original"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560181183?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-left"/></a></span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Both my parents attended residential schools. As a result of their abusive experiences in residential schools and the world they grew up in, I also suffered physical and emotional abuse growing up as a child. By the time I was twelve I had become so physically and emotionally tough that when I cut the meaty part of my hand almost to the bone with an ax, I felt no pain. I was so proud of myself for being able to go beyond the pain that I walked up to my father and said with big a smile, “I cut myself.” When the doctor sewed me up, I refused to take anything for pain so I could show my father my toughness. Because of their own experiences and teachings growing up, my parents never discussed anything sexual with my sister or me. When I asked my parents where a baby came from it took months for them to give me a very vague answer.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">At twelve, with no real understanding of sexuality, an older boy from the European tribes, who I deeply trusted and admired, got me drunk for the first time and sexually abused me. Afterward, I became so angry, drunk, and sick that I tore up the basement he abused me in, vomited everywhere and eventually passed out. (I realize now that, in a way, this was my first act of protesting and showing resistance against sexual abuse.) The next day the older boy who I loved and admired so very much, totally rejected me, as if I did not exist. This experience of sexual abuse at the beginning of my life as a young man hurt me very, very deeply. </span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">As I understood more and more the reality of what had happened to me, combined with intergenerational trauma and the impact of the sick, racist, materialistic world that surrounds us, my shame, fear, self-hatred, rage, and anger grew stronger and stronger. As a young man, when I was not involved in athletics, I abused myself with alcohol and drugs. I had unhealthy relationships. I would strike out with violence if I felt the slightest disrespect. </span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">One time, I beat up a 6’5” United States Marine, who had just returned from the Vietnam war, so severely, that they had to remove his eye. Everyone present witnessed that he started the fight. Therefore, the police exonerated me of any responsibility for my actions. </span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">I had very unhealthy relationships with women. During one period of my life, I didn’t care if I lived or died. During this time, I sincerely considered suicide. Because I felt so ashamed, fearful and unworthy, I did not trust anyone! I was unable to have a trusting, honest, warm, and loving relationship with others. I couldn’t talk to anyone about any of my feelings. </span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182016?profile=original"><img width="400" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182016?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="400"/></a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">While intergenerational trauma strongly impacted my family in many parts of our life, I was very fortunate never to hear my father raise his voice to my mother, hit her, or even swear in her presence. I also have always known deep in my heart that my parents always loved my sister and me more than life itself, even though, due their residential school experience, my parents could be very abusive in their punishment of me for any misbehavior, as I was growing up.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"><span>The only thing, which saved me from painful, premature death, was the spiritual and cultural teachings, prophecies, and stories of the greatness of our Indigenous Peoples shared with me by my beloved parents, elders, extended family, and loved ones! Learning about the spiritual teachings and prophecies of other Spiritual Teachers who have guided the Human Family spiritually helped me as well! </span></span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">Through these spiritual influences, in June 1967, in the darkest heart of my suffering,</span> <span class="font-size-4">I had a religious experience that inspired and empowered me to free myself from my self-destructive addictions and to do all I could to serve the People and the Creator. During this time of my spiritual renewal and "spiritual honeymoon, "I met a beautiful and deeply spiritual woman who I believed I would be with forever. We had a beautiful wedding, and for three years our life together was filled with great spiritual love, unity, growth, and beauty. In our mutual desire to be of service to Indigenous Peoples and the Human Family, we left our jobs, our home, and all our possessions and traveled to Bolivia.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">We found Bolivia to be a sacred land filled with millions of Indigenous relatives with exceptional spiritual strength, understanding, and wisdom. In a way, it was like going back in history when our Indigenous Peoples of North America retained our spiritual purity, innocence, and unified strength. I never wanted to leave for the rest of my life, </span><span class="font-size-4">but the Creator had another plan.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560185092?profile=original"><img width="400" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560185092?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="400"/></a>Every morning, I would pray and meditate for an hour. I realized that forgiveness was a primary key to my healing, so I began to pray fervently to the Creator to learn to be forgiving. After three months of praying, with all my heart, to learn to be merciful and forgiving, my beloved wife was brutally raped, by the drunken son of a wealthy Bolivian family, well known for their long-time brutality and abuse of Indigenous Peoples. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Even though I confronted him shortly after the rape and he was arrested, because of the wealth and power of his family and the corrupt justice system, he was eventually set free after spending 100 days in the Sucre, Bolivia jail.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">It was through this experience I realized that along with our hurt, pain, and rage, we also carry the intergenerational trauma of our ancestors. When this happened, it seemed like the unresolved hurt, suffering, bitterness, and resentment of 1000 generations came boiling up inside me. My faith in the Creator shattered. I spoke to the Creator with great anger and pain. “I tried with all my heart to serve the people and fulfill your sacred teachings! Why did you allow the brutal rape? What did she do to deserve this brutal attack on her sacredness as a woman and a human being?” In the end, our relationship was destroyed by this brutal act of rape and all the pain and hurt that comes with such an experience. </span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">This violation shattered my faith in our Beloved Creator!. I spoke to the Creator with great anger and bitterness. “I tried with all my heart to serve the people and fulfill your sacred teachings! Why did you allow the brutal rape of my beloved wife? What did she do to deserve this brutal attack on her sacredness as a woman and a human being?” In the end, our relationship was destroyed by this brutal act of rape and all the pain and hurt that comes with such an experience. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">To all my beloved relatives here today that has also suffered from rape and other abuse, I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that I stand with you and will support you, in all your efforts for justice and healing. Together, through our unified prayers and the power and strength of our Creator, we will live to see the day, either in this world or the world to come, when rape and other forms of sexual abuse will be eliminated from our sacred lands forever.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">It was through this harrowing and heartbreaking experience of rape and other abuse I have faced in my life that the Creator taught me some fundamental spiritual principles. These spiritual principles and teachings have never failed me!</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">"Be careful what you pray for, the Creator will always answer your prayers. Sometimes the answer will come in ways we don’t expect, but the Creator will never give us a test we can’t pass, as long as we keep praying and remain faithful."</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">"We cannot learn to be a truly forgiving human being unless we are treated with great injustice and with hurtful actions we don’t deserve. The only one who can teach the person with the whip what forgiveness is about is the person whipped."</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">"There is One Human Family and the Hurt of One is the Hurt of All, and the Honor of One is the Honor of All!</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">"When we ask the Creator for strength, we will receive tests and difficulties to make us strong. When we ask for wisdom, the Creator will give us many problems to solve. When we ask for great courage, the Creator will give us heroic obstacles to overcome. If it were not for tests, how would the courageous be distinguished from the cowardly? Without tests, how would the precious diamond be distinguished from the worthless pebble? For we can not be a good leader of warriors unless we have been in front of the fiercest battles and received the deepest wounds."</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">And, finally, as our wise spiritual leaders have always taught us, “Do you think you say you believe in the Creator and your belief, will not be tested? "When the Cry of Truth is raised, so is the Cry of Denial.”</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">With these and other spiritual understandings and principles to support me, I have had the opportunity to work on the healing of many forms of abuse, both personally and with the thousands of our Indigenous Peoples that I have had the honor to listen to and heal with over the past thirty-six years. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">The most difficult challenges of sexual abuse that I have ever had to confront and deal with personally was the sexual abuse of my nine-year-old daughter and the sexual assault of a very dear sister. The man who sexually assaulted my sister, I had previously helped to get sober and on his healing journey working with young people. I loved him like a son. He called my parents, his grandfather, and grandmother, the sister he sexually assaulted, his aunt and me, his uncle. The man who sexually abused my daughter was the husband of a dear friend and spiritual sister who I worked with at the University of Lethbridge. </span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">What was most hurtful about both these experiences, as I’m sure many of you fully understand, was that the sexual abuse involved Indigenous relatives that I deeply loved and trusted and who claimed to believe in and practice our spiritual and cultural traditions. The same occurs in many of our communities and extended families. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">I found that this profound betrayal of love and trust, followed by a complete denial of what they had done, ignited a rage and a desire for revenge so deep within me, that without our sacred spiritual teachings, healing ceremonies, and the heartfelt counsel of my father and otherwise elders, I could have very easily savagely killed both these people and the other abusers who supported them in their lies and deceit. When these devastating incidents occurred, I vowed to the Creator that I would do everything within my power, no matter how long it took or what attacks, however vicious, were directed at me, to ensure that my beloved daughter and sister got the justice and healing they deserved. I also vowed I would do everything within my power to confront, prevent, and heal sexual abuse for the rest of my life, forever.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">Both abusers were given the full opportunity to avoid legal action and travel the healing path, including the spiritual support of respected elders and a restorative justice process. Not only did they completely deny and lie about what they had done, but they did everything within their power to destroy the credibility and lives of my beloved daughter, sister, myself, and anyone else who dared to support us. </span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">Both of these men were friends and joined forces in their efforts. In the end, after seven years of pursuing justice and healing, the man who sexually assaulted my sister, who has since become a comedian, finally pleaded guilty to the sexual assault in a New Brunswick court. Although he received a conditional sentence from the court, he never apologized for his actions or did anything to make amends, as he was directed to do by the New Brunswick, Court. The man who sexually abused my daughter eventually fled Canada and returned to the United States. </span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">Even though these issues are not, yet, completely resolved, I have complete faith that the Creator’s Divine Justice will eventually deal with both of these men and those that supported them in their abuse, lies, and deceit, in either this world or the world to come. As a wise elder once told me, “the Grinding Wheel of the Creator’s Justice grinds slowly, but exceedingly fine.” At the same time, I know that our Beloved Creator is the ever-forgiving and no matter what abuse we have done in our life, if we are sincere in our prayers and desire for forgiveness and we try the best we can to make amends to those we have abused, the Creator will always forgive us. The big challenge is bringing our selves to account for what we have done to hurt others and ourselves and forgiving our selves! As long as we can forgive ourselves, we will continue to suffer!<br/></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">It was during this arduous and challenging process of trying to find healing and justice that I discovered, just as we come together at healing conferences and workshops for strength, healing, mutual support, and networking, there are also informal networks of abusers who support one another’s abusive behaviors across our sacred lands. These abusers and predators, including some of our own political and spiritual leaders, are so mentally sick that they will do anything to cover up being a sexual predator. They will use anything within their power and authority, no matter how dishonest, unjust, or damaging to others, to try to cover up their abusive behaviors and the abusive behaviors of their friends and relatives and stop any efforts toward healing and reconciliation.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">I have found that the vast majority of this abusive behavior and denial is a direct result of the intergenerational impact of residential schools and the reality that along with abusers in authority, there were also older and stronger children abused, that were allowed or encouraged to physically and sexually abuse younger or physically weaker students. This type of abuse happened with both girls and boys. </span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">In one related case, on the Blood Reserve, the high school gymnasium is still named after the very man who sexually abused, sometimes brutally, boys under his care at the St. Mary’s Residential School. Imagine the feelings of hurt, betrayal, and injustice that those who were abused by this man and those who witnessed or know about this abuse experience, every time they see or think about this gymnasium. Some of the boys he abused, and who then brutally abused other boys, have continued in their abusive patterns, in one form or another, to this very day. Some of these men helped and supported the lies, deceit, and attacks of the men who sexually abused my sister and daughter, even though my daughter is a member of the Blood Tribe. One of the Blood Sun Dance leaders who I went to for spiritual assistance, turned around and made the man who sexually abused my daughter one of his Sun Dance leaders. I have also found very similar scenarios, realities, and obstacles to the healing of our Indigenous people throughout Canada and beyond.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">When we look around this room at the heartfelt dedication and commitment, of each one of you to ending and healing sexual abuse and the many other peoples and communities, across Canada, we are growing stronger! So many other friends and relatives are dedicated, as well, to the healing of themselves and our communities, there is no question, that through our spiritual unity and the Creator’s Love and Grace, we will be able to eliminate all forms of abuse across our Sacred Lands. In this healing journey, we will rebuild our Nations, even stronger than before, as prophesized by the wise visionaries and spiritual leaders of all our tribes and nations.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">There are significant actions that I would like to share with you for your consideration, that we need to take together, in complete unity, at this stage of our healing journey. These actions make the healing and rebuilding of ourselves, our communities, and our nations a full reality. They are justice, continued support, healing and restoration, and love and appreciation.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">First, I would ask again, from the bottom of my heart and soul, that we, as individuals, First Nations, Metis communities, and regional and national organizations, including the Assembly of First Nations, firmly stand together in full unity! And in unprecedented unity action, do whatever is necessary to ensure that any Government of Canada or Church action for healing and justice addresses all residential school abuse, including emotional, educational, physical, cultural, and sexual abuse and the loss of our beloved languages. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">Only addressing sexual and physical abuse, the current legal position was taken by the Government of Canada and the Churches, will not adequately and thoroughly discuss the healing and justice issues caused by Residential Schools. As well, this very limited and unjust approach will only further hurt and divide us. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">All our relatives who suffered abuse in Residential Schools need a full apology and compensation in some respectful manner. This position is not a unified position against anyone, including the Government of Canada and the Churches, but the collective vision and robust and concerted action required for the full healing, restoration, health, and prosperity of our Indigenous Peoples, and thus all Canadians. For as we know, “The hurt of one, is the hurt of all and the honor and healing of one is the honor and healing of all.” In essence, there can not be full healing and justice without the full recognition and resolution of the injustice and abuse committed against our Indigenous Peoples.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">At the same time, it has been my conclusion based on the experience in my healing work over the decades, that money, by itself, will not stop the pain, abuse, and our addictions. Only healing, reconciliation, and ultimate forgiveness can bring true happiness and spiritual fulfillment. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">This is the reason why, after some of our relatives have won their residential school cases and received compensation, they have committed suicide or completely wasted their money away. In the end, they were in more significant pain, anguish, and suffering than before. Therefore, we also need to encourage all our relatives who are pursuing legal justice for their abuse to begin and deepen their healing journey before they go to court or participate in any alternative dispute resolution process.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">If the Government of Canada and our political leaders are concerned about improving governance and rebuilding our nations, then much, much more not less funding needs to be directed towards healing and capacity building. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Increasing resources to support the healing and development of our Indigenous Peoples will accomplish far more than wasting resources in political battles over a foreign political system that does not serve us. Only when each of us, our families, and our communities are healed from the inside out, will we be able to manifest good governance, true participatory democracy, and nation-building. With this inner unity we will be ready, as spiritually and physically active and healthy people, to completely transform the materialistic systems that surround us into systems of governance and programming that are culturally and religiously harmonious.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">We need to develop as soon as a possible formal healing and restorative justice processes in each of our communities to assist both those relatives, sexually abused, and those that did the abusing, toward healing, reconciliation, justice, and ultimate forgiveness. If an abuser is willing to follow the path of healing and restorative justice, we should give them all the love, mercy, compassion, and support we can. If they refuse to take the healing path, then we need to pursue justice through every legal means at our disposal. Reconciliation and Forgiveness are entirely in the hands of the abused. It is their choice of how far and when or if they choose to engage in a healing process with the abuser!</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560188181?profile=original"><img width="400" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560188181?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="400"/></a>When our tribes and nations were still spiritually and socially healthy and fully understood the devastating impact of sexual and physical abuse, abusers of women and children were dealt with very severely, including castration, death, or banishment. As an example, my great-great grandfather, Owl Man, was told in a great vision that he would kill four men justifiably in his role as Head Chief and Leader of the Holy Man’s Society of the White Swan Dakotas. Two of the men he killed were husbands who abused their wives, who were Owl Man’s sister and daughter. Part of the fulfillment of this vision is in <u>Singing for a Spirit</u> written by my uncle, Vine Deloria Jr.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">Again Owl Man was informed that his son-in-law had abused his daughter again. Without saying a word, he picked up his shotgun, mounted his horse and rode to his son-in-law's tipi. He walked inside and said to his son-in-law, “I warned you three times not to abuse my daughter, and now I am going to kill you.” With that Owl Man pulled the trigger of his shotgun and dispatched his son-in-law to the spiritual world.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">A similar event occurred with a brother-in-law who abused his sister. After both killings, as was his responsibility as a hereditary chief and spiritual leader, he went to a hill overlooking his camp circle. As was common tribal protocol, Owl Man waited there all night, unarmed, for anyone who believed that he had killed the men unjustly. On both occasions, Owl Man returned to his relatives at sunrise, with sorrow, but thanksgiving to the Creator, that he had protected his relatives, for a little longer, from the great spiritual sickness foretold in his great vision, that would almost overwhelm our Indigenous people until the coming of the Fourth Generation. </span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">One way or the other, for the sake of ourselves, our beloved children and our future generations, sexual abuse in all its forms needs to be faced, confronted, healed, forgiven, when possible, and be eliminated from our Sacred Lands forever.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">Fourth, we need to take time, every day, to genuinely love and appreciate our self and loved ones. To give our heartfelt love and thanksgiving to the Creator of All Good Things for the great blessing of being on our healing journey, supported by the Creator’s Divine promise and spiritual assurance that we will ultimately have complete victory over all forms of abuse.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">In conclusion, so we can again remember one of our primary purposes for our being here together, our very beloved children and grandchildren, I want to read a letter to you written by a little girl of 11 years to the man who sexually abused her. This letter has given me great strength, encouragement, and inspiration over the years when I felt like giving up in my efforts to address and heal sexual abuse. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">It was written by my beloved daughter, who has given me her permission to share it with you. I share this letter, with the sincere and heartfelt prayer, that all of us will be given the love, courage, strength, and understanding by our Beloved Creator, to stand up together in unprecedented unified action, and ensure that every one of our abused children, in any manner, has the full support they need from each of us to break the silence and begin their journey to complete healing . I pray that we will live to see the day when our children will never be abused again in any manner.</span></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b>January 31, 1994</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b> </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b>Dear George,</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b> </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b>With what you have done to me, I want you to know you have brought shame onto your family and before I die, I will prove you have done this to other girls and me. After I had told about this I was ashamed I let you do this to me and was embarrassed but now when I wake up, I understand you are a sick man and was acting like nothing was wrong. Now all my friends know and support me. I just want you to know and think every time you are introducing your self, don't forgot to say your a child molester, every time you are causing my father problems & are denying everything I want you to feel guilt, and every time you are thinking of molesting another girl my family will be watching your every move. I also want you to know you to know you have perspired my father to stop <u>all</u> sexul abussing.</b></span></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-4"><b>Deloria Lane Many Grey Horses</b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-4"><b> </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b>P.S (Get a life!!) As you said in a paper you wrote I was abandoned. Well if you go to any of my teachers, I have good grades and no sense of abandonment. Why don’t you just worry about your kid and him being abanded. Everything I wrote in my last letter to Lenore was true!</b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b> </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Today, Deloria is completing her second year at the University of California, Berkeley. Along with being a very active member of the Native American Student Association and a member of the cross country and track teams, Deloria has maintained almost a straight 4.0 average including straight “As” during her last semester. This past summer at the North American Indigenous Games, Deloria won gold medals in the 400m, 800m, 1500m, and a silver medal in the 200m. Next weekend we will speak together in Northern California at a Healing Gathering of Indigenous peoples and share our stories of intergenerational trauma and healing. Deloria has not forgotten her promise to her abuser.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">My beloved sister Susan continues her healing work with our Indigenous people and is building a healing center. Every time I have the blessing of being with her, she seems to become more and more loving, gentle, and wise. Her heart is thankful, happy, and at peace.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">For myself, I am very thankful to the Creator for all that I have experienced in my life. I have a beautiful and loving wife, a young son of thirty-two months, four beautiful daughters, three very devoted and loving sons-in-law, three grandsons, and another grandchild on the way. My beloved mother and father are strong and healthy, and my extended family supports me in all my efforts.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Through the love and grace of the Creator, I also have many treasured relatives from the Four Directions. From the bottom of my heart I give thanksgiving to the Creator of All Good Things for teaching me through all of my life’s experiences, that everything that comes into our lives, is a gift from the Creator, for our spiritual growth, perfecting, and, as well, for always nourishing, guiding, and protecting my loved ones.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><b> </b></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">From the bottom of my heart and soul, I want to thank the organizers of this Historic First National Indigenous Sexual Abuse Conference, the Mikisew Cree First Nation! As well as, all those relatives, who have supported, with your love, patience, kindness, and understanding, in allowing me to share my healing journeys, and taking the time to listen to my thoughts, experiences, and perspectives. Thank you! </span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">May we all leave here in spiritual unity and return home in safety, with a reliable, faithful, and happy heart, wise thoughts and a full dedication and commitment to the extraordinary healing journey that lies before each of us. In words, my Dakota elders always use, when completing a full statement of their heart and mind to our beloved relatives,</span></p>
<h1 align="center"><span class="font-size-4">Shunkmanu He Miye Lo!</span></h1>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-4"><b> Chanupa Sapa He Miye Lo!</b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-4"><b> </b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-4"><b>My sacred names are Horse Thief and Black Pipe</b></span></p>
<p align="center"><span class="font-size-4"><b>and I Stand Fully Responsible Before the Creator For All My Words and Actions.</b></span></p>Indigenous Code of Ethics from the Sacred Treetag:www.fwii.net,2018-07-12:2429082:BlogPost:548312018-07-12T07:00:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p><span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175033?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175033?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="400"></img></a> The Indigenous Code of Ethics From the Sacred Tree</span></p>
<p><br></br> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">1. Each morning upon rising, and each evening before sleeping, give thanks for the life within you and for all life, for the good things the Creator has given you…</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175033?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="400" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175033?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="400" class="align-left"/></a>The Indigenous Code of Ethics From the Sacred Tree</span></p>
<p><br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">1. Each morning upon rising, and each evening before sleeping, give thanks for the life within you and for all life, for the good things the Creator has given you and for the opportunity to grow a little more each day. Consider your thoughts and actions of the past day and seek for the courage and strength to be a better person. Seek for the things that will benefit everyone.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">2. Respect. Respect means "To feel or show honor or esteem for someone or something; to consider the well being of, or to treat someone or something with deference or courtesy". Showing respect is a basic law of life.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">- Treat every person from the tiniest child to the oldest elder with respect at all times.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">- Special respect should be given to Elders, Parents, Teachers, and Community Leaders.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">- No person should be made to feel "put down" by you; avoid hurting other hearts as you would avoid a deadly poison.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">- Touch nothing that belongs to someone else (especially Sacred Objects) without permission, or an understanding between you.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">- Respect the privacy of every person, never intrude on a person's quiet moment or personal space.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">- Never walk between people that are conversing.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">- Never interrupt people who are conversing.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">- Speak in a soft voice, especially when you are in the presence of Elders, strangers or others to whom special respect is due.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">- Do not speak unless invited to do so at gatherings where Elders are present (except to ask what is expected of you, should you be in doubt).</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">- Never speak about others in a negative way, whether they are present or not.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">- Treat the earth and all of her aspects as your mother. Show deep respect for the mineral world, the plant world, and the animal world. Do nothing to pollute our Mother, rise up with wisdom to defend her.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">- Show deep respect for the beliefs and religion of others.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">- Listen with courtesy to what others say, even if you feel that what they are saying is worthless. Listen with your heart.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">- Respect the wisdom of the people in council. Once you give an idea to a council meeting it no longer belongs to you. It belongs to the people. Respect demands that you listen intently to the ideas of others in council and that you do not insist that your idea prevail. Indeed you should freely support the ideas of others if they are true and good, even if those ideas are quite different from the ones you have contributed. The clash of ideas brings forth the Spark of Truth.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">3. Once a council has decided something in unity, respect demands that no one speak secretly against what has been decided. If the council has made an error, that error will become apparent to everyone in its own time.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">4. Be truthful at all times, and under all conditions.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">5. Always treat your guests with honor and consideration. Give of your best food, your best blankets, the best part of your house, and your best service to your guests.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">6. The hurt of one is the hurt of all, the honor of one is the honor of all.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">7. Receive strangers and outsiders with a loving heart and as members of the human family.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">8. All the races and tribes in the world are like the different colored flowers of one meadow. All are beautiful. As children of the Creator, they must all be respected.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">9. To serve others, to be of some use to family, community, nation, and the world is one of the main purposes for which human beings have been created. Do not fill yourself with your own affairs and forget your most important talks. True happiness comes only to those who dedicate their lives to the service of others.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">10. Observe moderation and balance in all things.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">11. Know those things that lead to your well-being, and those things that lead to your destruction.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;">12. Listen to and follow the guidance given to your heart. Expect guidance to come in many forms; in prayer, in dreams, in times of quiet solitude, and in the words and deeds of wise elders and friends.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;"><u>The Sacred Tree</u> published by the Four Worlds International Institute in 1984 is available at <a href="mailto:4worlds@uleth.ca"><i>4worlds@uleth.ca</i></a>. A Four Worlds Sacred Tree Curriculum Package, including a comprehensive Curriculum Guide, is available for Jr. and Sr. High School, College and University and Adult Education Programs.</span></p>Hinhan Wicasa, Owl Man, Raised, his Son, Tipi Sapa, Black Lodge, Philip Deloria from Deathtag:www.fwii.net,2018-04-26:2429082:BlogPost:474952018-04-26T00:00:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p><span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><em><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175109?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175109?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="400"></img></a> One of the stories that my beloved father, Mato Gi, (Brown Bear) recounted to me, on many occasions, about his Grandfather Tipi Sapa, ( Black Lodge ), Philip Deloria, and his Great-Grandfather, Hinhan Wicasa ( Owl Man ) has always haunted me with deep meaning, inspiration, and mystery. It had a…</em></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><em><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175109?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="400" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175109?profile=RESIZE_480x480" class="align-left"/></a>One of the stories that my beloved father, Mato Gi, (Brown Bear) recounted to me, on many occasions, about his Grandfather Tipi Sapa, ( Black Lodge ), Philip Deloria, and his Great-Grandfather, Hinhan Wicasa ( Owl Man ) has always haunted me with deep meaning, inspiration, and mystery. It had a direct impact on my father, who was raised by his Grandfather Tipi Sapa, and obviously on all of Hinhan Wicasa and Tipi Sapa's descendants and relatives, including my sister, myself, our children, grandchildren, and our extended family. It was not known outside our family until our Uncle Vine Deloria Jr. recounted this story in " Singing For a Spirit " in 1999. From my perspective, it reflects the inherent, restorative spiritual power in the " Soul " of all members of the Human Family. It is with understanding and purpose I share it with you now.<br/></em></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><em>In 1856, when Tipi Sapa was about three years old, Hinhan Wicasa had to go on a long trip. When he returned, the women were all wailing and mutilating themselves. Hinhan Wicasa immediately knew that a relative had died. When Hinhan Wicasa asked the women who died, they cried harder and ran away from him. He entered his Tipi and found his beloved son's lifeless body laid out on a buffalo robe. Tipi Sapa had caught a fever and, in spite of the best the people could do, had passed away the day before Hinhan Wicasa returned.</em></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><em>Hinhan Wicasa stayed inside the tipi for a long time. People heard his terrible cries of grief, but no one dared to go in and talk with him. Hinhan Wicasa had named my Great Grandfather, Tipi Sapa—Black Lodge—as a dedication to a Black Tipi that was one of the key dimensions of a life-changing vision he had received on Medicine Butte. It through his spiritual experience within the Tipi Sapa that Hinhan Wicasa received his healing gifts and saw more than four generations into his descendants future. Now, with the death of his beloved son, his hopes for the future seemed to be futile.</em></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><em>Hinhan Wicasa finally emerged from the Tipi, his arms, and legs bloody with knife wounds of grief, carrying Tipi Sapa's body in his arms. He mounted his gray horse and rode off to a high hill, where he dismounted and began to pray. All night and all the next day Hinhan Wicasa sat there singing lamentations with his beloved son's body in his arms.</em></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><em>My father told me that Hinhan Wicasa spoke very gruffly with the Thunders. Hinhan Wicasa boldly said that he had done everything they had asked and told them that they could take anything of his except his beloved son. Hinhan Wicasa pleaded that they return him. Just about sundown the people looked anxiously toward the hill, wondering if Hinhan Wicasa was going to spend another night and day there, and also wondering how they would get Tipi Sapa’s body away from him, they could proceed with the burial.</em></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><em>To their surprise, they saw Hinhan Wicasa walking down the hill, hand in hand, with Tipi Sapa, the grey horse trailing behind them. No one spoke a word as the two walked into the Tipi and sat down. Finally, one of the women prepared some food and broth for them and broke the spell. My father said that after this demonstration of his powers, people became frightened of Hinhan Wicasta. Among some of his relatives of the Mahaska Ptesan Wicoti, White Swan Camp there was a profound sense of alienation because it was evident that Hinhan Wicasa significantly favored Tipi Sapa.</em></span></p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175556?profile=original"><img width="750" class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175556?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"/></a></p>1995-PROPHECIES, REALITIES AND GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR THE FUTUREtag:www.fwii.net,2018-01-15:2429082:BlogPost:1597852018-01-15T19:00:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p style="text-align: center;"><br></br> <span class="font-size-4"><strong>April 1995, </strong><strong>Presentation to UN Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar and the World Commission on Culture and Development, UN Headquarters</strong></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560176991?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560176991?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="220"></img></a></span> <span class="font-size-4" style="font-size: 12pt;">Very Respected Friends and…</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><br/> <span class="font-size-4"><strong>April 1995, </strong><strong>Presentation to UN Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar and the World Commission on Culture and Development, UN Headquarters</strong></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560176991?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="220" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560176991?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="220" class="align-left"/></a></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="font-size-4">Very Respected Friends and Relatives,</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="font-size-4">As always, it is my hope and prayer that you and the many loved ones who surround you are in the very best of health and happiness.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">With the spiritual understanding that each one of us is the representative of all those beloved relatives, who walked the Red Road before us, I have complete faith that, together, we will be able to build a just, new world civilization. Drawing on the collective consciousness of countless previous generations, we have the divine capacity to resolve and heal all past grief, fear, hatred and broken trust, while building a just, sustainable and harmonious world that will fully realize the unlimited potential of our Human Family, both individually and collectively.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">We are living in the days of the fulfillment of sacred prophecies. An Elder once told me, “Grandson, the longest road you will ever have to walk in your life is the sacred journey from your head to your heart.” Another wise Elder said, “We will never solve the many critical and life-threatening issues before us solely through the intellect, for every problem the intellect solves, it creates ten more.” The intellect is a sacred gift of the Creator, but without an open, visionary and creative heart, there is no wisdom. Both our heart and mind are gifts from our Creator and inseparably connected.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4">Countless centuries before the birth of our generations, the Ancient Ones gave us prophecies that foretold these very days that we are living. This new Divine Springtime that is unfolding with ever-increasing clarity. It is toward actualizing this long-held vision of the emergence of a new world civilization, founded in spiritual principles and values, that I wish to share with you, from the innermost feelings and thoughts of my heart and mind.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4">In December 1982, on the high plains of Alberta, forty wise, respected and dedicated elders, spiritual leaders and community members from different Indigenous Communities across North America came together for four days and nights of in-depth purposeful consultation. Our common purpose was to develop a holistic model of human and community development, inspired and guided by organizing principles, values, strategies and processes of sustainable change, healing and growth rooted deep in the Natural Laws that are at the inmost heart and core of tribal cultures throughout Mother Earth.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Through this prayerful, elder-guided, consultation process emerged the spiritual guidance, understanding, wisdom, strength, vision, and faith that the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas that were committed and dedicated to doing so had the potential to develop sustainable, healthy, creative and spiritually balanced communities free of alcoholism and drug abuse. This humble beginning, perfectly synchronized with a full eclipse of the moon was empowered, guided and sustained, by an ever-deepening understanding of the natural laws, prophecies, spiritual values, and wisdom shared with us, over the years, by Elders, Spiritual Leaders, and Communities. With this patient, faithful and prayerful support, we have steadfastly continued our healing journey into our long-awaited future.</span> <br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4">With the unfailing guidance and assistance from those beloved elders that are walking the path before us, it has become evident that the long spiritual wintertime of our tribal peoples is over and the long-awaited springtime is unfolding, slowly, but steadily, with ever-increasing beauty and healing in every direction. It is, also, apparent that as we heal ourselves and our communities that Indigenous peoples everywhere will have a higher and more significant role to play in the final unfolding of this dynamic change throughout Mother Earth.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4">Before outlining the fundamental guiding principles that have emerged from the ongoing consultative process of the past twelve years, it is crucial that we reflect briefly on the challenges before us. Those critical and pressing issues to be addressed if we are to prosper as noble, just, compassionate, truthful and forgiving human beings and societies.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4">(1) Environmental destruction is increasing throughout our Mother Earth. Along with this increasing destruction, Indigenous peoples and their way of life are rapidly disappearing. Unless there is a dramatic change in our actions towards our sacred Mother Earth, humanity’s ultimate survival is more than doubtful.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">During the early years of North American’s “new” ecological consciousness, my grandfather had a conversation with an old friend, while visiting the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. He asked my grandfather to explain to him what ecology was all about.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">“Well,” my grandfather said, “you know, Tahansi, we have these educational places where you can go study books, talk and learn about life. Some people attend these learning places, for many, many years. After people have read enough books, written about what they read and talked about what they wrote about, they become Doctors of Life. These Doctors then get jobs where they earn a lot of money, so they can read, talk and study more. They have machines that look at things that are very small and make them look big, other mechanisms that look at things far away and make them look close. They even put different materials in containers and pour them back and forth so they can find out more about Mother Earth.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">They have spent vast amounts of money and studied Mother Earth for many, many years, and they have recently made a discovery. They found out that everything is interrelated. They found out that when you pollute the air which all living things breathe and poison the water which all living things depend on, you pollute all living things. What do you think about that?”</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4">The old man smiled knowingly and shook his head. “I was wondering when they would get around to that! Just look at what we do to our Mother Earth. We cut her hair where it should not be cut up and rip up her skin where it should not be ripped up, then we drill holes inside her and suck all of her blood out and put things inside of her and blow her bones up.” He then looked deeply into the eyes of my grandfather, shook his finger and said, “And what would happen if you did that to your mother? She would die! We will all prematurely die, as well, if we do not learn to respect and understand the spirit and teachings of our Mother.”</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4">(2) Along with the dramatic increase in, environmental destruction, natural disasters are synergistically and simultaneously increasing everywhere on Mother Earth. These natural disasters include; earthquakes, droughts, hurricanes, weather changes, incurable diseases, air, soil and water pollution, floods, tornadoes, insect infestations, and the destruction of the ozone layer and polar ice caps. The Western medical complex is just beginning to realize that their worldwide war on disease is failing on many fronts. Super drugs have created superbugs that are breaking through every line of defense that has been created by Western Science, with little hope that more expensive and powerful drugs will prevent these super diseases from having rapid, deadly, widespread global impact. It is important to note, in desperation to find new “cures”; the Western Medical Complex is currently spending $ Millions to research plants and herbs that were developed and utilized for countless centuries by Indigenous Science Systems, to find alternative ways to deal with these new, deadly, human-created diseases.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4">(3) The world’s population is increasing by more than 92,000,000 human beings every year, with a current human population of more than 5 Billion! In fact, if every human being who now lives on Mother Earth were able to experience the average economic status found in middle-income homes in Canada and the US, we would need two more entire planets. Until we thoroughly understand the true meaning of respect for all life, the sacred relationship between women and men, and the spiritual purpose of our physical existence, we will continue to move towards worldwide disaster.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4">(4) Global economic competition is increasing. The current world financial system is spinning out of control despite the best efforts of our nation states to stabilize a system that no longer serves the needs of the human family. Instead of sovereignty, in its purest meaning, financial institutions of this world are attempting to manipulate and control our economic and social destiny for selfish purposes. For instance, global financial markets are increasingly being de-stabilized by financial speculators whose primary motive appears to be the unquenchable thirst for material riches, at whatever the cost to future generations. More economic theories and external controls will not solve this deepening crisis.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Only when our hearts experience the divine reality that there is just One Race, the Human Race and that all Mother Earth is the common spiritual heritage of all beings, will we be able to develop economic systems that are life preserving and life-sustaining. As a wise Elder once told me, whenever we make a financial gain on the weakness of others or unfairly exploit others for our selfish purposes, we will pay a very high price. In essence, the hurt of one is the hurt of all, and the honor of one is the honor of all.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4">(5) The social and cultural disintegration of human beings and their communities is increasing with every passing day. Divorce, child sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, family violence, abuse of women, violent crimes, suicide and other distinctive signs of our increasing spiritual sickness are as bright as the midday sun. Only when we can understand and embrace one another as members of the same Human Family will we have an everlasting foundation for rebuilding our communities and the world.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4">As one of my grandfathers said to me, “You know grandson, the Great Spirit, Wakan Tanka, has given all people wisdom. To every living thing, he has given something special. Some people receive their knowledge and understanding through books. In your life grandson, you too must read and study books, but remember to take with you on your journey only those things that bring more unity within yourself and others, that bring goodness and understanding and help us to serve one another in better ways.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Wakan Tanka also gave our Indigenous peoples, and all other human beings who live close to Mother Earth, knowledge and wisdom through dreams, visions, fasting, prayer, and the ability to see the lessons the Creator has put in every part of creation."</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">He said, "Look at those trees standing over there. The alder does not tell the pine tree to move over; the pine does not speak to the fir tree to get out of the way. Each tree stands there in unity, with their mouth pressed toward the same Mother Earth, refreshed and warmed by the same breeze and sun, with their arms upraised in prayer and thanksgiving, protecting one another. If we are to have peace in the world, we too must learn to live like those trees.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Look, grandson, at the beautiful teachings the Creator has put in the little stream. Feel that water and see how gently and lovingly it touches your hands. It travels through deserts and mountains and many places, but it never turns its back on anyone or anything. Even though water gives life to all living things, it is very humble, and always seeks the very lowest spot. But water, also, has great faith, power, and patience for even if a mountain stands in its path, it keeps moving and moving until finally that mountain is washed into the sea and is no more. These are spiritual gifts and capacities that the Creator has given each one of us. If we are to be happy with ourselves and with one another, we must always do the best we can to develop these sacred gifts and capacities.”</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4">(6) As the old, outworn, global order becomes increasingly more unstable, governments, will try and control the social and political disintegration process by increasingly violating human rights. As these abuses increase, an even higher number of people will react to them with greater and greater resistance, including violence; resistance not only against governments but, also, growing conflict between ethnic and racial groups as well.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">The spiritual reality is that the old, global order, based on materialism, is no longer able to meet the needs and the growing consciousness of our Human Family. Only by providing positive alternatives to our destructive and inharmonious patterns of living will we be able to rebuild our families and communities. Without love and forgiveness for ourselves and others, we will be unable to heal the age-old fear, mistrust, greed, selfishness, and hatred that is destroying the innermost heart of the human family. External control and repression of the human spirit will not end the devastation of our global social order. Only self-discipline and penetrating vision in the service of the Creator, others and ourselves, will enable us to be victorious over all the abuse of the human spirit that surrounds every human being and every human community.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4">(7) As governments become more rigid, abusive and uncompromising in a last-ditch effort to save the disintegrating institutions of the old world order, terrorism and random acts of violence will increase dramatically. This movement of disintegration will continue until the ancient teachings found at the heart of all living cultures and spiritual traditions that teach us how to live in harmony and balance with all life are once again alive. We have a critical decision before us. Will we continue to walk the path of hatred and revenge or will we choose to walk the path of healing? Each has their clear consequences. As the spiritual greatness of our tribal peoples returns with greater and greater strength, it is clear to see that we are choosing the sacred path of healing, the way foretold in our ancient prophecies.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4">Not only is each one of these seven challenges monumental in themselves, but it is obvious to see that we are approaching a global catastrophe as the crossroads at which they all meet is coming rapidly into view. It will take bold, courageous, unified and selfless action to avert such destruction; the choice to do so is ours, and that decision is ultimately a spiritual one.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4">These Sixteen Principles for Building a Sustainable and Harmonious World emerged from a twelve-year process of reflection, consultation and action within a wide variety of Indigenous Communities across Turtle Island. They are rooted in the concerns of hundreds of Aboriginal elders and leaders, as well as in the best thinking of many non-aboriginal scholars, researchers, and human and community development practitioners. These principles describe the way we must work together, and what we must protect and cherish. We offer them as a gift to all those who seek to build a sustainable world, and as a foundation for a worldwide consultation process for actualizing a new world civilization based on justice!</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Sixteen Principles for Building a Sustainable and Harmonious World</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Preamble</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-4"><strong>We speak as one, guided by the Sacred Teachings and Spiritual Traditions of the Four Directions that uplift, guide, protect, warn, inspire and challenge the entire human family to live in ways that sustain and enhance human life and the life of all who dwell on Mother Earth. We dedicate our lives and energies to healing and developing ourselves, the web of relationships that make our world, and the way we live with Mother Earth.</strong></span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4" style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>“Starting from Within, Working in a Circle, in a Sacred Manner, We Heal Ourselves, Our Relationships and Our World."</strong></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span class="font-size-4"><strong> </strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>STARTING FROM WITHIN</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">We Can Transform our Community and our World </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="font-size-4">The web of our relationships with others and the natural world, which has given rise to the problems we face as a human family, can be changed.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span class="font-size-4">Development Comes From Within</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="font-size-4">The process of human and community development unfolds from within each person, relationship, family organization, community or nation.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span class="font-size-4">No Vision, No Development</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A vision of who we can become and what a sustainable world would be like, works as a powerful magnet, drawing us to our potential.</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span class="font-size-4">Healing Is A Necessary Part Of Development</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">Healing the past, closing up old wounds and learning healthy habits of thought and action to replace dysfunctional thinking and disruptive patterns of human relations is a necessary part of the process of sustainable development.<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><strong style="text-align: center; font-size: 12pt;"> </strong></span></p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #ff0000;"><strong style="text-align: center; font-size: 12pt;"> WORKING IN A CIRCLE</strong></span></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span class="font-size-4">Interconnectedness</span></strong></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">Everything is connected to everything else; therefore, any aspect of our healing and development is related to all the others (personal, social, cultural, political, economic, etc.). When we work on any one part, the whole circle is affected.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span class="font-size-4">No Unity, No Development</span></strong></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">Unity means oneness. Without unity, the common oneness that makes (seemingly) separate human beings into ‘community’ is impossible. Disunity is the primary disease of community.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span class="font-size-4">No Participation, No Development</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="font-size-4">Participation is the active engagement of the minds, hearts, and energy of the people in the process of their own healing and development.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span class="font-size-4">Justice</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="font-size-4">Every person (regardless of gender, race, age, culture, religion) must be accorded equal opportunity to participate in the process of healing and development, and to receive a fair share of the benefits</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-4"><strong><br/> <span style="color: #ff0000;">IN A SACRED MANNER</span></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span class="font-size-4">We are Spiritual and Physical Beings</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="font-size-4">Human beings are both material and spiritual in nature. It is therefore inconceivable that human community could become whole and sustainable without bringing our lives into balance with the requirements of our spiritual nature.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span class="font-size-4">Morals And Ethics</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="font-size-4">Sustainable human and community development requires a moral foundation centered on the wisdom of the heart. When this foundation is lost, morals and ethical principles decline and developments cease.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;" class="font-size-4">The Hurt Of One Is The Hurt Of All: The Honor Of One Is The Honor Of All</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="font-size-4">The basic fact of our oneness as a human family means that development for some at the expense of well being for others is not acceptable or sustainable.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span class="font-size-4">Authentic Development Is Culturally Based</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="font-size-4">Healing and development must be rooted in the wisdom, knowledge and living processes of the culture of the people.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>WE HEAL AND DEVELOP OURSELVES, OUR RELATIONSHIPS AND OUR WORLD</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span class="font-size-4">Learning</span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4">Human beings are learning beings. We begin learning while we are still in our mother’s wombs, and unless something happens to close off our minds and paralyze our capacities, we keep learning throughout our entire lives. Learning is at the core of healing and development.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span class="font-size-4"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Sustainability</span></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="font-size-4">To sustain something means to enable it to continue for a long time. Authentic development does not use up or undermine what it needs to keep on going. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;" class="font-size-4">Move To The Positive </span></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="font-size-4">Solving the critical problems in our lives and communities is best approached by visualizing and moving into the positive alternative that we wish to create, and by building on the strengths we already have, rather than on giving away our energy fighting the negative </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;" class="font-size-4">Be The Change You Want To See </span></strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;" class="font-size-4">The most powerful strategies for change always involve positive role modeling and the creation of living examples of the solutions we are proposing. By walking the path, we make the path visible.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">With the courage and dedication to utilizing the wisdom and guiding spiritual principles of our elders on the path to a peaceful and equitable future, we will find that we have the power and ability to carefully and lovingly remove any barriers that have limited the development of our full potential as human beings and communities. The higher the difficulty in our path, the even more significant opportunity for our growth and ultimate victory; we can always become more than we have ever been.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4">We know from our ancient teachings that the Sacred Eagle of Humanity has two perfectly balanced and harmonious wings; one representing women, and the other men. In our relationships as women and men, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, we must join together to eliminate all forms of disrespect, mistreatment, or lack of sharing in the responsibility of raising the world’s children. It is my most profound prayer, with every new sunrise, we may increasingly recognize and understand that the most Sacred Ceremonies, of all Ceremonies, given by our Creator is the birth of a child! Therefore, everything we can do to provide our children and communities with the best possible future is a sacred gift and responsibility.</span><br/> <br/> <span class="font-size-4">Beloved friends and relatives, is not the moment long overdue, through the eternal power and love of our good Creator, for us to free ourselves entirely, from the hurt of both the past and present, so we may genuinely soar like majestic eagles to the promised greatness of our Sacred Destiny and Future.</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">With Warm Love and Greetings,</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4">Lala, Dekshi, Tibdo and At'e Phil</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="font-size-4"><strong> </strong></span></p>
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<p></p>Sorrow Nottag:www.fwii.net,2018-01-02:2429082:BlogPost:397912018-01-02T11:00:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175639?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175639?profile=original" width="289"></img></a> <span class="font-size-5">O My servants! Sorrow not if, in these days and on this earthly plane,</span> <br></br> <span class="font-size-5">things contrary to your wishes have been ordained and manifested by the</span> <br></br> <span class="font-size-5">Ancient of Days, for days of blissful joy, of heavenly delight, are assuredly in…</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175639?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175639?profile=original" width="289" class="align-left"/></a><span class="font-size-5">O My servants! Sorrow not if, in these days and on this earthly plane,</span> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">things contrary to your wishes have been ordained and manifested by the</span> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">Ancient of Days, for days of blissful joy, of heavenly delight, are assuredly in store</span> <br/> <span class="font-size-5">for you. Worlds, holy and spiritually glorious, will be unveiled to your eyes. You are destined by the Most Beloved One in this world and hereafter, to partake of their benefits, to share in their joys, and to obtain a portion of their sustaining grace. To each and every one of them you will, no doubt, attain. - The Blessed Beauty</span></div>Life’s Longest Journey-From Our Head to Our Hearttag:www.fwii.net,2017-12-18:2429082:BlogPost:499712017-12-18T20:00:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175009?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175009?profile=original" width="278"></img></a></b></p>
<div><p align="center"><em><span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;"><b>An Elder once told me, “Grandson, the longest road you will ever have to walk in your life is the sacred journey from your head to your heart.” Another wise Elder said, “We will never solve the many critical and life threatening issues before us solely through…</b></span></em></p>
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<p><b><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175009?profile=original"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560175009?profile=original" width="278"/></a></b></p>
<div><p align="center"><em><span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;"><b>An Elder once told me, “Grandson, the longest road you will ever have to walk in your life is the sacred journey from your head to your heart.” Another wise Elder said, “We will never solve the many critical and life threatening issues before us solely through the intellect, for every problem the intellect solves, it creates ten more.” Unto itself the intellect is a sacred gift of the Creator, but equally, without an open, visionary and creative heart there is no wisdom. Both the mind and heart are sacred. Both are inseparably connected.</b></span></em></p>
<p align="center"><em><span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial black,avant garde;"><b>Brother Phil Lane Jr., Ihanktowan Dakota and Chickasaw Nations<br/></b></span></em></p>
</div>The New Emerging Global Civilization Calls for the Creation of Universal Laws and Institutionstag:www.fwii.net,2017-12-05:2429082:BlogPost:737922017-12-05T00:00:00.000ZPhil Lane Jr.https://www.fwii.net/profile/phillanejr
<p><span class="font-size-4"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182713?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182713?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="320"></img></a> <span class="font-size-3">Laying the groundwork for a new global civilization calls for the creation of laws and institutions that are universal in both character and authority. The effort can begin only when the concept of the oneness of humanity has been wholeheartedly embraced by those in whose hands the responsibility for decision making rests,…</span></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182713?profile=original"><img width="320" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1560182713?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="320"/></a><span class="font-size-3">Laying the groundwork for a new global civilization calls for the creation of laws and institutions that are universal in both character and authority. The effort can begin only when the concept of the oneness of humanity has been wholeheartedly embraced by those in whose hands the responsibility for decision making rests, and when the related principles are propagated through both educational systems and the media of mass communication.</span></span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4"><span class="font-size-3">Once this threshold is crossed, a process will have been set in motion through which the peoples of the world can be drawn into the task of formulating common goals and committing themselves to their attainment. Only so fundamental a reorientation can protect them, too, from the age-old challenges of ethnic and religious strife. Only through the dawning consciousness that they constitute a single people will the inhabitants of Mother Earth be enabled to turn away from the patterns of conflict that have dominated social organization in the past and begin to learn the ways of collaboration and conciliation-UHJ<br/></span></span></p>