Last Update: 6/15/08 Click Projects for information on events and activities for sponsored projects of the Grandmothers)

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Exciting new events that the Grandmothers and/or the Center for Sacred Studies are planning. Please visit our site regularly for further updates.

Gabon Update

The Grandmothers Gathering in Gabon has been canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. Thank you for your prayers.

OTHER EVENTS:

July 17-26, 2008: Grandmothers Council in Spain - All thirteen Grandmothers will be gathering for teachings and ceremonies in Borga and Barcelona, Spain. They will be praying for the waters of the world and celebrating the release of the Spanish translation of their book. For information see the website at www.consejo13abuelas.es  and contact Marianna Leger at Arboleda de Gaia arboledadegaia@yahoo.es

October 5-12, 2008: Grandmothers Speak – All thirteen Grandmothers of the Council will be featured in a gathering in upstate New York, sponsored by the Women’s Gathering of Groton and Cornell University. We will be sending out more information as the program develops. Contact Sidney Moonchild at: sidney_moonchild@yahoo.com for information.

October 13, 2008: Heartbeat for Peace (October 10-13, 2008) - On the fourth day of a four-day event, and on the fourth anniversary of their founding as an Alliance, the Grandmothers will participate with Eli Painted Crow and Turtle Women Rising in a Drum Gathering for Peace on the Ellipse in front of the White House in Washington, D.C.   The Grandmothers Council will come together to sing to the Earth Mother, in order to create peace.  For as women we know that "We cannot demand Peace; we can only become it. We cannot fight for Peace; we can only live it." For more information see www.turtlewomenrising.org. 

“Women, be courageous. Never doubt this task, but take it in your hands.”
   — Maria Alice Campos Freire, A Madrinha of the Santo Daime Church, Mapia 

Thank you for keeping this prayer alive!
Much love to you and all you hold precious —

Jyoti and Ann

info@grandmotherscouncil.com

FUTURE EVENTS :

Here's a preview of events that the Grandmothers and/or the Center for Sacred Studies are planning.  Stay tuned for updates on this site.

August, 2009- The 7th International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers at the home place of Grandmother Agnes Baker Pilgrim in Oregon.

August or September, 2009- Omega Institute Retreat. The Grandmothers Council has been invited to a five-day retreat at Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York.

International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Council Gathering Schedule

2008
6th Council July 3-13 (Gabon, Africa) - CANCELED due to unforeseen circumstances.

2009
7th Council August
Oregon, United States- Grandmother Agnes Baker Pilgrim

8th Council December
Arizona, United States- Grandmother Mona Polacca

2010
9th Council May
Brasilia, Brazil- Grandmothers Mary Alice Campos Freire, Clara Shinobu Iura

10th Council November
Japan- Grandmother Clara Shinobu Iura

2011
11th Council May-June
Alaska- Grandmother Rita Blumenstein

12th Council November
Nepal- Grandmother Aama Bombo

2012
13th Council
Montana- Grandmother Margaret Behan

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PREVIOUS EVENTS:

October 19-21, 2007 13 Grandmothers at the Bioneers Conference – San Rafael, CA

The Grandmothers were in the spotlight at the Bioneers Conference (see www.bioneers.org ) which is a forum for connecting the environment, health, social justice, and spirit within a broad progressive framework.  The Grandmothers were featured daily as representatives of the spiritual aspect of this environmental and social justice network, because of the vision they hold in common of uniting the Earth's First Peoples in a global alliance dedicated to peace, the healing of the Earth and the preservation of indigenous ways.

The Grandmothers had their own "tent" at the conference site, and they appeared at daily council sessions and panel presentations. On the night of October 20, Bioneers presented a screening of the film Turning Prayer Into Action: Indigenous Grandmothers Meet the Bioneers, a co-production of Cynthia Jurs and Link-TV. The film was made during the "spacebridge" event at the Bioneers conference in 2006, where Bioneers participated in three historic satellite "spacebridge" dialogues with the Grandmothers as they gathered in Dharamsala, India.

The Grandmothers’ sessions were organized around the themes: “Healing Our Relations, Healing Ourselves and Healing Our Planet”. Each council session was an opportunity for participants to offer their dreams, visions and prayers, and express their concerns and questions. See the brochure schedule www.bioneers.org/program for more details.

 2007 Spring — Fifth Council Gathering, Black Hills , South Dakota

From June 12-22, 2007, the Grandmothers gathered as a council for the fifth time, at the Black Hills, South Dakota home of the Oglala Lakota grandmothers.There were public and private meetings, ceremonies, and opportunities for cultural field trips. The gathering celebrated the 80th Birthday of Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance.

2006 Fall-Fourth Council Gathering, Dharamsala , India

In October the Grandmother Council gathered in the exiled home of the Tibetans, hosted by the Tibetan grandmother Tsering Dolma Gyaltong. There was a private audience with H.H. the Dalai Lama and meetings with other luminaries in the Tibetan religious government in exile. The Grandmothers continued their prayer for global peace and affirmed their solidarity with the Tibetan people to reclaim their homeland.

2006 Spring —Third Council Gathering, Oaxaca, Mexico

The next step for the council was to continue their mission for global peace in Mexico . Julieta Casimiro, the Mazatec Grandmother, invited the Council for the fourth council gathering at her homeplace in the Sierra Madres.

2005 Summer — Cultural and Ritual Exchange

Kayumari, California - Immediately following the retreat in New Mexico several of the council grandmothers from the Brazilian Amazon and the Central African rainforest came together for an exchange of their ways. This was held at the community that houses the Center for Sacred Studies.

Brazilian Amazon. The African (Omyene), Cheyenne and Takelma grandmothers traveled to visit the grandmothers from the Brazilian rainforest to celebrate the 80th birthday of an Amazonian grandmother.

2005 Spring — Second Council Gathering, Pojoaque Pueblo, New Mexico

The Grandmother's Council convened in May for their second council, hosted by the Mayan Grandmother, Flordemayo. They solidified their alliance, created a mission statement, voiced prayers at sacred Pueblo sites and approved projects to further their vision:

• Development of a web site to disseminate their teachings to adults and children
• Development of a pilot project with Cheyenne grandmother, Margaret Behan for:
      (1) Local Councils
      (2) Healing Centers
      (3) Economic Self-Sufficiency Initiatives.
• Development of a pilot project to apply permaculture methods to protect their local waters
• Reviewed trailer for the film about them entitled “For the Next Seven Generations,”
• Reviewed copies of their biographical material written for the Shambala book about them.

At the end of their week together, the grandmother council decided to gather regularly, to travel the world to each other’s homeplaces cultivating their unified prayer for peace.

2004 Fall — First Council Gathering, Menla Mountain Retreat, New York

On October 11, 2004, 13 Indigenous Grandmothers from all over the world--Alaska, North , South and Central America, Africa, and Asia, arrived in the Tibet House mountain retreat in upstate New York. Within a few days of convening, the grandmothers agreed to form a global alliance; to work together to serve both their common goals and their specific local concerns.

The first council gathering was a time of hope and inspiration. The grandmothers are both women of prayer and women of action. Their traditional ways link them with the forces of the earth. Their solidarity with one another creates a web to rebalance the injustices wrought from an imbalanced world; a world disconnected from the fundamental laws of nature and the original teachings based on a respect for all of life.