THE WISDOM KEEPERS

Many of the Native peoples who are opening their ceremonies and sharing ancient traditions, sacred songs, dances, teachings and wisdom teachings come from tribes and cultures whose traditional practices have been suppressed or forbidden by the dominant culture - sometimes for hundreds of years. Some reveal that they are following prophetic instructions that have been passed down from generation to generation in their tribe; they say that “now is the time” for them to share their knowledge.

Karuk medicine man Charlie Thom says, “I will not take my knowledge with me to the happy hunting ground... I want to record these things so that my grandchildren... Lord knows how many years from now, 20 or 30 years, maybe more... will hear my voice and remember the old ways.”

The indigenous elders of peaceful, sustainable cultures know why their people have survived. We can learn from them how to be naturally healthy, create peace in our lives, and bring these things into into our communities and the world.

Wisdom Keepers come from different parts of the world, but they all speak of the same things:

1. •      We have entered a time of chaos, destruction, purification and great  change.
   

•       We must listen to the Earth and learn to respect all living things.      

•       We must recognize the damage we have caused to the Earth - and to each other - and begin to repair what we have done.

1. •       We must learn to see each other as brother and sister, beyond all apparent differences of belief, culture, color, language, and religion.
   

As we become aware of the natural laws of relationship and responsibility, to our Earth and to each other, the more we will be able to understand what interconnection and interdependence means. By discovering and embracing our commonalities, and respecting and honoring our differences, we will be able to develop understanding and forgiveness, increase our capacity for compassion and wisdom, learn how to live in harmony, and make room for true healing. 

Only then will we be able to create lasting peace on Earth!

REMEMBERING THOSE WHO WALKED BEFORE US

Our good friend H.E. Khempo Yurmed Tinly Rinpoche (1950 - 2005) was a Tibetan Buddhist teacher and friend to people throughout the world. Khempo is fondly remembered for his spontaneous laughter and enthusiasm for life.

Born in Tibet, Khempo trained in the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism and lived for several years in Bhutan before immigrating to the US. Khempo was a great scholar and dedicated Green Tara practitioner. His most memorable teachings were about the Buddhist concept of Interdependent Origination. Personally involved in the protection and preservation of the giant ancient twin Buddha Statues in Bamiyan Afghanistan, Khempo worked tirelessly to form new avenues of understanding and mutual respect between people in the development of world peace.

Click here to go to THE BUDDHA PROJECT a documentary film featuring Khempo.

The survival of traditional indigenous peoples and their cultures depends on keeping ancient wisdom alive.

Many traditional elders received their training in ways that are no longer possible or available in our contemporary world. Many have passed on or are soon to leave this world. Some will be the last in their tribe, with a long lineage of medicine people behind them and no one to pass their knowledge down to.

Global materialism and the devastation of addictions, racism and poverty - severe in some indigenous tribes and a plague that threatens all Natives of the younger generations - are long known to be problems that have been perpetuated by the actions and values of the Western world. These things are creating discouraged, angry young people, many who have completely lost interest in traditional practices or in sustaining their cultural heritage... their very life-blood. Additionally, many young people no longer have elders - or even adults - to guide them.

LISTENING TO THE ELDERS

Life was hard on Little Diomede. Pete told us many stories about the harsh, brutal life on the island, and how difficult it was to be a child who was also considered "special".

Pete traveled the world with the Merchant Marines. He was also a talented storyteller and ivory carver.

Pete struggled in many ways throughout his life, often precariously living between the spirit world and the material world. He married and buried three wives. His twin boys were lost to sea.

A humble man, Pete profoundly affected our lives. We will never forget his gentle spirit, his ability to "see", and the ancient hauntingly-beautiful medicine songs he would sing in the purification sweat lodge ceremonies. He was our friend for over 30 years.

Honoring our brother

An Inuit Siberian Eskimo, Peter Synecke (1938 - 2011) was born on Ignaluk (Little Diomede Island), which is located between Alaska and Siberia in the Bering Strait. Foreseen to be a medicine man, Pete's birth was considered auspicious. Tribal leaders and medicine people from all over Alaska - and as far away as Siberia - traveled to Little Diomede to await his arrival.

Little Diomede Island, at about 2 square miles, is in the most extreme north-westerly United States. Habited by about 170 Inupiat Inuit, the entire population live in a village on the west side of the island. 

Natives harvest fish and crab, hunt beluga whales, walrus, seals and polar bears. Almost every part of an animal taken is used for food and clothing, mukluks, and even boats. Many of the people are known for their ivory carving. Weather in the Summer is generally 40-50 degrees; weather in the Winter is relentless and fierce, ranging from -10 to 6 degrees, with strong snowstorms and freezing winds.

A few thousand years ago, Little Diomede was part of a huge land bridge, across which, many scientists now believe, came the first peoples to the Americas. Russia is approximately 30 miles from the island and Alaska even less. When the sea freezes in the winter, the Inuit are able to dogsled and walk from one continent to the other.

John Muir, who visited the Island in 1881, wrote:

“No margin is left for a village along the shore, so, like the seabirds that breed here and fly about in countless multitudes darkening the water, the rocks and the air, the Natives had to perch their huts on the cliffs, dragging boats and everything up and down steep trails, The huts are mostly of stone with skin roofs. They look like mere stone heaps, black dots on the snow at a distance, with whalebone posts set up and framed at the top to lay their canoes beyond the dogs that would otherwise eat them. The dreariest towns I ever beheld; the tops of the islands in gloomy storm clouds, snow to the water's edge, and blocks of rugged ice for a fringe; then the black water dashing against the ice; the gray sleety sky, the screaming water birds, the howling wind, and the blue gathering sludge!”

Little Diomede (above, on the right) is a flat-topped rock of an island located in the Bering Strait between Alaska and Siberia. Diomede Island, much larger, is closer to Siberia.