Guardians of the sacred
De Amerikaanse Natives hebben veel overlast gehad van grote groepen New Agers die stoned, high en dronken op zoek gingen naar eeuwenoude heilige plekken om ‘aan sjamanisme te doen’. Ze kwamen samen met honderden, soms duizenden tegelijk. Tijdens die ‘Rainbow Gatherings’ vertrapten ze de natuur en de heilige plekken van de Natives.
Het gevolg van spirituele toerisme
Talloze kristallen en andere ‘offerings’ moeten opgeruimd worden. Sommige mensen cremeren hun doden en gooien de resten in de heilige bron van de Natives, die ook een drinkwaterbron is voor de bewoners van het gebied. Waarschijnlijk krijgen ze daar een spiritueel gevoel van. De Natives werken zich vervolgens rot om alles weer te herstellen.
Activisme en juridische strijd
Activistische groepen hebben het beschermen van het landschap op zich genomen. Zij zijn ongetwijfeld op de hoogte van de goede bedoelingen die veel mensen hebben die zichzelf rainbow warrior of regenboogkrijger noemen. Maar die goede bedoelingen wegen niet op tegen de chaos die de spirituele hype op hun heilige plekken heeft veroorzaakt.
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Winnemem vs. New Agers on Mt. Shasta
Every year, California hosts PantheaCon, a gathering of pagans. This year we were invited to show film scenes and organize a dialogue about New Age appropriation of indigenous spirituality and to discuss protocols for visiting sacred places. This film clip from In the Light of Reverence (2001) depicts the conflict at Mt. Shasta, where Winnemem Wintu leaders Florence Jones (1907-2003) and Caleen Sisk have for years struggled to stop New Age ceremonial activity in Panther Meadows, which the Winnemem consider to be disrespectful, inappropriate and spiritually dangerous.
To read a blog on this issue by Project Director Christopher (Toby) McLeod, please visit: http://blog.sacredland.org/crystal-clear-new-age-dilemma -
Protecting Panther Meadows
Panther Meadows, on Mt. Shasta is the sacred genesis place of the Winnemem Wintu people. The US Forest Service has ignored numerous requests by our tribe and the Pit River tribe to close the meadow, due to its fragile ecology. We have led the efforts at restoration to bring the meadow back from years of overuse and ignorant treatment, but it has been an uphill battle. This weekend, with the possibility of many Rainbow people, who have been partying nearby, converging on the mountain, we decided to protect our sacred site. Here is one of many of the clueless, disrespectful people we have encountered. -
Cremations in a Sacred Spring
Once each year, the Winnemem Wintu make a summer pilgrimage to their sacred spring on Mt Shasta, the source of the McCloud River, to conduct a healing ceremony. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, New Age offerings — mostly in the form of crystals — disrupted the start of the ceremony as designated men had to clean the spring by removing all foreign objects. Recently, cremation remains have been scattered above the spring, below the spring, and — unbelievably — in the spring. In the last couple years this has delayed the ceremony for more than an hour, as the men sift the churning sands for bone fragments, tooth fillings, and other pieces of the deceased. The Forest Service has erected signs stating that this is illegal but the desecration continues. This clip extends the scene we edited for Standing on Sacred Ground: Pilgrims and Tourists, and allows Winnemem Chief Caleen Sisk to explain the situation in greater detail. -
Crystal Power in Chaco Canyon
Beginning with the Harmonic Convergence in 1987, another sacred place – Chaco Canyon, home to ancient Puebloan villages and Great Kivas – has been overwhelmed with offerings left by New Age practitioners. While filming In the Light of Reverence in 1997, we met archaeologist Wendy Bustard, the National Park Service curator at Chaco Canyon. Park Service staff have to clear away the offerings and catalog and store everything in the Chaco collection. Bustard spent a day with us, displaying an array of New Age offerings and reflecting on why they are considered offensive by native people. Here is a scene we weren’t able to include in the film.
To read a blog on this issue by Project Director Christopher (Toby) McLeod, please visit: http://blog.sacredland.org/crystal-clear-new-age-dilemma
Thanks to Lisa Law and the National Park Service for historic photographs. Music by Shane Watson. -
Rainbow Gathering 2015
News Director, Russ Miller, takes you on an exclusive "inside look" at Rainbow Gathering 2015; located near Deerfield Lake, Black Hills, SD. -
Stonehenge Stoners & Worshipping Wizards: 12 Hours at the World’s Biggest Pagan Party
We traveled to Stonehenge on the summer solstice—one of the most sacred days for pagans—to find out if the event's spiritual significance has survived the recent influx of drunken revelers.
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New Age Shamanism in Altai
Every year, California hosts PantheaCon, a gathering of pagans. This year we were invited to show film scenes and organize a dialogue about New Age appropriation of indigenous spirituality and to discuss protocols for visiting sacred places.
This film clip from Standing on Sacred Ground: Pilgrims and Tourists (2014) depicts the conflict in the Altai Republic of Russia, where Altaian shamans have for years objected to outside shamans conducting rituals at sacred places, which they consider to be disrespectful, inappropriate and spiritually dangerous.
To read a blog on this issue by Project Director Christopher (Toby) McLeod, please visit: http://blog.sacredland.org/crystal-clear-new-age-dilemma -
Vine Deloria Jr. on Spiritual Yearning in the West
With our 2001 film, In the Light of Reverence, still enjoying widespread use in classrooms around the world we are heartened that the film has withstood the test of time. In June 1997, we were fortunate to film a rare interview with the renowned, beloved Native American intellectual Vine Deloria Jr. (1933-2005). Vine is well known for his books, Custer Died for Your Sins and God is Red. We’ve gone back to the vault and created four extended film clips from our rare, four-hour interview.
Part 2 of 4: Vine Deloria Jr. — Spiritual Yearning in the West
Deloria talks about Native American struggles to safeguard spiritual practices from outsiders. He’s noticed “a desperate need to appropriate from somebody—not necessarily from Indians—an emotional feeling of authenticity,” especially among whites, and, he says: “I really feel sorry for them.”
Don't miss our new four-part film series, Standing on Sacred Ground — full details at http://standingonsacredground.org/
GUARDIANS OF THE SACRED
Oude culturen die intensief samenleefden met de natuur waren anders vormgegeven en men leefde primitiever als wij nu doen, maar de mensen waren absoluut niet dom. Ze hebben hun intelligentie anders ontwikkeld als moderne westerse wetenschappers. Hun kennis over ecosystemen is verweven met en verwerkt in hun kunst, hun tradities en hun spiritualiteit.
Als een heilige plaats vernietigd wordt gaat er waardevolle kennis verloren. Steeds meer wetenschappers zijn bezig met de vertaalslag tussen moderne wetenschap en traditionele kennis. Het is niet alleen voor de oorspronkelijke bewoners, maar voor de hele mensheid belangrijk dat deze heilige plekken intact blijven en zorgvuldig bestudeerd worden.
Since 1984, Earth Island Institute’s Sacred Land Film Project has produced a variety of media and educational materials — films, videos, DVDs, articles, photographs, reports, school curricula materials and Web content — to deepen public understanding of sacred places, indigenous cultures and environmental justice.
Our mission is to use film, journalism and education to rekindle reverence for land, increase respect for cultural diversity, stimulate dialogue about connections between nature and culture, and help protect sacred lands and diverse spiritual practices.
