In Honor of Native Peoples Day - a Tribute to The 13 Indigenous Grandmothers
"The most important journey the world can make today is the 14 inches from the head to the heart." - Grandmother Agnes
The importance of Grandmothers and is near and dear to my heart. (This website is named after my own 97 year old Grandmother - an amazing woman of wisdom and joy.) The 13 Indigenous Grandmothers (pictured) come from all corners of the earth - from Nepal, to South Dakota, Japan, Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Alaska, to Tibet and further. You can read their full bios here.
The Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers are women of prayer, and women of action. The Grandmothers Council fulfills an ancient prophecy found among many indigenous peoples: that a group of elderly women will come together to save Mother Earth when she is in peril. They travel the globe to spread a message of peace, goodwill and the need to protect Mother Earth. In response to the prophecy, the Grandmothers have held 11 Council Gatherings and numerous other events in North, Central, and South America,Europe, India, Australia, and Japan.
They are Globe-trotters, yes. But the grandmothers are by no means jet-setters . They are true medicine women, shamans, and curanderos, and they travel by donations. Their "work" is prayer and ceremony, and their "tools" are plant medicines, and some with spirit-opening properties like ayahuasca, peyote, and mushrooms. They could spend their time talking of pain and struggle, telling horror stories of hunger and deprivation on reservations, of land stolen, of children in poverty and disease. Instead, they spread blessings for humanity and for the earth as they gently work for justice. They have written a book, stood before the Pope in St. Peter’s Square, prayed with the Dalai Lama and now are being featured in a documentary about their work. They have also inspired thousands of other grandparents and elders to create new councils.
As the Grandmothers' Mission Statement says:
- We represent a global alliance of prayer, education and healing for our Mother Earth, all Her inhabitants, all the children, and for the next seven generations to come.
- We are deeply concerned with the unprecedented destruction of our Mother Earth and the destruction of indigenous ways of life. We believe the teachings of our ancestors will light our way through an uncertain future.
- We look to further our vision through the realization of projects that protect our diverse cultures: lands, medicines, language and ceremonial ways of prayer and through projects that educate and nurture our children.
The Grandmothers are active in many causes on behalf of their communities: they work to prevent their lands being destroyed by illegal logging and mining, to keep their waterways from being poisoned, to protect wildlife on the brink of extinction, to free their youth from poverty, abuse and addictions, and to halt the systematic genocide of their people and the loss of their cultural heritage. The Grandmothers' work is done through prayers, education, actions, and empowerment, for the healing of our Mother Earth, all her inhabitants, all the children, and for the next seven generations to come.