1Earth Institute’s  dialogue circle ‘Voice of the Earth’

 

Our dialogue circles are intentionally cross-cultural by design, and our Santa Fe (NM) circle was co-led by two outstanding dialogue leaders: our director and Colombian Arhuaco elder Calixto Suarez Villafañe and a well-known author, Glenn Aparicio Parry, Phd. 

Calixto is an Arhuaco elder from the Sierra Nevada De Santa Marta in Colombia who acts as emissary for the mamos majores (Chief Elders of the Arhuaco and Kogi peoples) who rarely descend from their high mountain sanctuaries.  Whenever Calixto returns from his travels, he drives for three hours up the Sierra and walks or rides a horse for another sixteen hours to report back to the ‘mamos majores’ and to receive his instructions. Uniquely, Calixto is also a Director of 1Earth Institute Inc.

The Mamos are the highly trained spiritual and secular leaders of the Indigenous peoples of the mountain ranges in
Colombia. They are survivors of an ancient civilization called the Tairona, from which the Inca and Aztec descended, who have safeguarded largely unaltered their cultural and spiritual heritage
and knowledge for thousands of years.

Glenn is the author of the Nautilus award-winning book Original Thinking. His book was inspired by the groundbreaking ‘Language of Spirit’ conferences from 1999-2011 that brought together Native and Western scientists in dialogue circles, moderated by Leroy Little Bear.

Together with Calixto’s deep cultural and spiritual training, they made a superb team to guide this dialogue circle. 

Dialogue circle architecture

We ran three dialogue circles over two days, each one building on the other with questions by the two co-leaders.  We were welcomed into the circle by an Indigenous elder, who also closed our meeting.

Our traditional talking stick was brought into the circle by Glenn, a magnificent staff with an eagle head and the corn symbol carved out of wood, which he then most generously bequeathed to us.

We chose as our location the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC). We interspersed the intensity of the dialogue circles on those two days through movement and tactile learning by apprenticing to the fundamentals of Navajo weaving led by Joyce Begay-Foss, MIAC Director of the Living Traditions Education Center.

We beat the drums and danced, led by our Havasupai elder Uqualla James. At the young age of 26, Uqualla was chosen by his people as their chief and served as such for many years. Uqualla is one of our Advisory Board members. 

We visited the MIAC exhibition ‘Here, Now and Always‘, which presented an exquisite extension to the theme of our dialogue. Curated by MIAC director Della Warrior and prepared over eight years of collaboration among Native American elders, artists, and scholars it tells the story of the Southwest’s oldest communities. From elder to younger, each generation has taught the next: We are here, now and we will be here always.

It truly was exquisite weaving in and around the circle “...to remember and lovingly celebrate our sacred relationship with our Mother Earth, all relatives of our One Human Family and our kinship with all Life”. And yes, we are listening!

Gratitude

Event such as these can only be created with the support of a community of people. Calixto and I  convey our deep gratitude and acknowledgement to each and every one who made Voice of the Earth possible: Glenn A. Parry, PhD, splendid co-leader of the circle and dear friend, Uqualla James, Havasupai elder, our beloved ceremonial keeper, Governor Walter Dasheno and his wife, who so graciously welcomed us to country and closed our circle. Delia Warrior, glorious director of MIAC and our circle co-architect, Angela Crispin, Joyce Begay-Foss, Andrew Albertson and our guides to the exhibition, Harlan McKosato, former host of Native America Calling, our generous champion, splendid radio co-host and together with Scott Hicks manned the cameras with quiet professionalism, Weldon Fulton of Museum Hill Café who kept body and soul fed with delicious morsels, and Alejandro Lopez, able interpreter to Calixto with a warm sense of humor. A special thank you goes to the Lush Charitable Giving Program for their generosity in helping to fund our program, and to all our Santa Fe friends, especially Merle Lefkoff, Marilyn Winter Tamkin and Krystala Kali, and all our wonderful dialogue circles participants. Thank you.

 

WE CAN PROVIDE THESE SERVICES TO YOU

Contact us if a dialogue circle is required for your transnational policy meetings, or for your conferences and workshops to deepen an understanding of an important topic or issue, or for your boardroom and corporate meeting. If this is of relevance/interest, please contact us on ew@1earth-institute.net for more information on our services.

 

 

 

Dialogue circles are an effective way of bridging cultural complexities and giving voice to disparate understandings of an issue and of challenging or opposing positions. Our cross-cultural 1Earth Institute dialogue circles aim to expose assumptions, perspectives and beliefs that no longer serve us, foster deep listening and allow the space for original insights to refresh our way of thinking.

What makes 1Earth Institute Inc. unique is that our Directors Board and our Advisory Board consists of a balanced Indigenous-Non-indigenous representation. Our focus is on integration of sustainable solutions from a shared knowledge base.  

We work globally and are incorporated in the USA as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with offices in the USA & Australia. Eva Willmann de Donlea and Calixto Suarez Villafañe are directors of 1Earth Institute Inc

 

1EARTH INSTITUTE INC –   EIN 81-4218210 – 1Earth Institute Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. 

Donations are TAX DEDUCTIBLE – as applicable by law.