Thursday, May 28, 2020 | 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM PDT
An Anishinaabe Prophecies, this time is known as the 7th Fire. The prophecy says that to move to the 8th Fire, we face a choice between two paths. One path is well-worn, scorched, and leads to our destruct.ion. The other path is new, green, and leads to Mino-Bimaadiziwin (the good life)
Join us as internationally-renowned activist and author Winona LaDuke – an Anishinaabekwe (Ojibwe) member of the White Earth Nation – discusses how the pandemic provides us with an opportunity to walk a new path, taking care of each other, and our Mother Earth.
Crisis can bring out the best or the worst in communities. Winona will discuss what it’s going to take to herald in a restorative, regenerative, and just society, one where we appreciate each other, localize our economy, get cleaner, and healthier.
Let us put our minds and hearts together to make a good future for our children!
Winona LaDuke is one of the world’s most tireless and charismatic leaders on issues related to climate change, Indigenous rights, human rights, green and rural economies, food justice, alternative sources of energy, and the priceless value of clean water over a career spanning nearly 40 years of activism. She is Program Director of Honor the Earth, the founder of the White Earth Land Recovery Project, and Winona’s Hemp and Heritage Farm. A graduate of Harvard and Antioch Universities, she is the author of five books, including Recovering the Sacred, All our Relations and a novel, Last Standing Woman.
TICKETS ARE SLIDING SCALE $5 – $25 to benefit speakers and artists impacted by the cancellation of events due to the pandemic. All who register will receive a link to watch live or later at their own convenience.
Closed caption version will be available 3-4 days after the live event.
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Message from Omyene Grandmother Bernadette Rebienot, Owansango:
The period we are going through, like every ordeal that life brings us to endure, invites us to question our way of living and to see things in a new light. What message is hidden behind everything that happens to us?
Today, most of the world’s population is confined and Nature can reclaim her rights. In this regard, a break in human activity is more than welcome. Pollution is declining, animal species are repopulating. The whole world is at rest. What could be more natural after so many years of excess?
The real question to ask ourselves is how did we get here, reaching such a level of imbalance without any respect for natural laws, without harmony or restraint? Never in human history have we reached such levels.
We were all surprised by this crisis, generating doubt among some, acceptance among others. Everyone analyzes it in their own way. Can’t we see in it a form of natural justice which comes to impose itself and enlighten us on our condition?
This virus affects the entire population, no one is spared. Isn’t this a sign that nothing separates us, whatever our origin or our social rank? It is up to us to realize that the future of the human being is written together. We all come from diverse communities, with values and traditions that define our reality and determine where we recognize ourselves as an individual, but this richness must be lived with an opening towards our neighbor, whoever it may be.
Again, justice is expressed. It is social but also spiritual, because it shatters the illusion of separation in which we live. It shows us that humanity is One being and its survival depends on this achievement.
It is precisely this call that we, the Grandmothers of the whole world, must heed. If we are among those most at risk, it may be because we have a crucial role to play. It is we who transmit knowledge to new generations, remembering where we come from and who we are.
It’s time to get back to basics. Through prayer and the invocation of our ancestors, it is up to us to hear this global warning properly, and to share the message with as many people as possible.
Human beings are endowed with intelligence but, despite their desire to dominate nature, the latter will always triumph.
Let us remember that the central element is Life. It’s up to us to keep the flame alive.
Grandmother Bernadette
International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
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