International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers (aka the 13 Pay to Pray Old Ladies)

[weheli]

 I was emailed this and have not heard of them.

http://tribes.tribe.net/13grandmothers/thread/419bd2ee-8769-46b4-8433-403233b2fec1
AND
 
http://tribes.tribe.net/turtleislandrenewed . As I will be gone for a while am unable to research, anybody know anything??
                                                                            Weheli

[sapa]

Just read the link concerning the sundance. Found it very dusturbing.
Our family has been hosting a sundance in south dakota for a long time (20 plus yrs)
My husband and I leave for our ceremonies on Tuesday. Our ceremony is small and primitive. It is very hard. We are a poor people without very many luxurys in life and still we welcome and feed any who come looking.....all for about $800.00 total...we have no porta potties just outhouses, our drum comes from the family free, the tribe gives us water, the men cut wood, make repairs, etc of their own free will, the woman work very hard in the heat preparing meals, usually soup and fry bread and coffee, we have been blessed with a propane stove although some special foods are still prepared over a fire. We have no electricity or running water.
We personally scrimp and save and some times get modest donations($300.00 this year) from our friends to help with the cost of travel. There are times when we have sold personel belongings to cover cost. I currently am trying to sell a turquoise necklace that was gifted to me a few years ago because we find we are $300.00 short on travel expenses. We have no buffer to return home to for bills that pile up while we are at ceremony.
Why do we do this?  it is who we are...we dance so the people, all peoples can have a little longer and easier life. We dance for the health and prosperity of all. So yes I get upset when I see things being distorted unfortunately there are many who through desperation resort to these things. We do not judge them to harshly as their walk is their own be it good or bad. The best advice I can give to those who wish to experience these old ways is to pray from the heart, make sure your reasons are for the good of man not yourself and when the time is right tunkashila will guide you. Follow your instincts if it doesnt seem right to you then it probably isnt. I would ask something from this group and that is for your prayers for a safe journey and return trip to our home...pilamiye sapa

[educatedindian]

This is a difficult one to make out. On the one hand they seem to be followers of Joseph Rael (Beautiful Painted Arrow) and his sound chamber peace teachings etc.

The second link is calling for donations for a Sundance led by the American Horse family. As far as I know they've run a Sundance for some time and are probably best known for leading the opposition to the Looking Horse Proclamation. But the link claims the dance is in support of Arvol. Yet it also asks for donations, claiming the Oneida Nation was going to film it but pulled out their financial support when that fell through.

I have a hard time the Oneidas would a) want to film it b) sponsor it so they could film it c)pull their money when they couldn't film it. It seems more likely that it's one or two Oneidas who held the purse strings who were doing this. But without knowing more it's hard to say for certain.

And then there's this 13 tribes sponsoring it. Lots of questions.

"To Register:
Rebecca Rodriguez rebeccarodriguez333@yahoo.com
2158 Triple Peak Drive Canyon Lake, Texas USA 78133
(830) 964-5078
Please send in the enclosed registration form by April 15th
Space is limited-- please register early to get the accommodations of your choice
Airline Arrangements:  For your airline arrangements, we will be using the same trave l agent as before. She has really been helpful in arranging flights that are economical. You will be flying into Rapid City, South Dakota.
Alison Hawthorne Over The Rainbow Travel www.overtherainbowtravel.net
CST#1012185-40 (415) 552-8321 (415) 431-3167 - fax
Shuttle or Rental Car Arrangements:
You can arrange for a transport by shuttle from Rapid City Airport to your hotel
in Hot Springs by contacting Kevin at 605-381-7201. It will cost you $25 each way with a 3-person minimum on your van. You can also arrange for rental cars at the airport Please indicate on your registration form which way you’ll be traveling to Hot Springs
and the day you will arrive.
Costs: Public Council Days (June 13,14,15) Lunch and dinner:
Your meals will be served at the Civic Center where the Council will be meeting. A $20 a day fee will be collected through registration to cover these costs. $60 total per person
Tuition: $250 per person
Total cost to register for the event through our registrar Rebecca is $310.
Make checks payable to the Center for Sacred Studies
Room with breakfast & snacks (arriving June12, 13, 14, 15)
Best Western Sundowner Inn 737 S. 6th Street Hot Springs, SD 57747 (605) 745 7378
For Reservations Call 1-877-664-7378
non-smoking double @ $44.50 per person (2 queen size beds)
non-smoking double @ $44.50 per person (1 king size bed)
non-smoking triple @ $31.34 per person (2 queen size beds)
smoking double @ $44.50 per person (2 queen size beds)
We have arranged group rates at the hotel. You will need to contact them directly to make your individual arrangements. Please let them know you are with the Center for Sacred Studies, The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. Since
there are several events in Hot Springs in June, we could only arrange for a certain number of rooms. Please register as soon as possible to assure your room.
Sundance Time: The Sundance is traditionally offered through a donation basis only. Everyone comes to help serve the Sundancers and support them through their prayers, cleaning facilities, cooking, washing dishes, and whatever else may be needed by those sponsoring the event. Please indicate on your registration form how you would like to support. If you would like to make a donation towards the Sundance you can arrange that through Rebecca when you register.
Meals during this time are prepared in a central outdoor kitchen site on the Sundance grounds. The eating area is located near the camping space. You will be able to eat there on June 16,17,18,19,20, and 21. There are also some good restaurants in this
beautiful little town of Hot Springs. The native peoples of this land consider this holy land. There are natural hot springs in the area. We are gathering information on the local spas and will provide that for you at a later date.
Please let us know if you would like to stay at the ceremonial grounds in the camping area during Sundance time. Indicate this on your registration form. If you are camping, you will need to bring your own tent and camping gear. If you prefer to stay in
the hotel, you will need to change your accommodations to another hotel that is a bit closer to the ceremonial grounds. Rooms with breakfast during Sundance are at the Holiday Inn Express. Rooms can only be acquired here June 16th-22nd. There are a
limited number available. Rooms are approximately $50 for a double occupancy.
Please contact: Holiday Inn Express Email: gm.hsosd@wm.hiexpress Phone: 605 745 4411
Address: 1401 Highway 18, Hot Springs, So. Dakota
Adopt-a-Grandmother: A grandmother fundraising challenge inspired in Mexico, is our Adopt-AGrandmother
program. A number of people have chosen specific grandmothers and pledged to donate the price of their airline tickets to South Dakota. In the past, some have donated for the grandmothers’ travel companions as well. If you would like to participate
in this way, you can contact our office at 209 532-9048 or email us at info@grandmotherscouncil.com We invite you to consider this way of contributing to their cause. As a demonstration of unity and collaboration for world peace, we are calling
on everyone to come forward and hold this sacred basket together. Adopt-a-Grandmother Funds need to be received by April 30th in order to make timely arrangements. If you have other ideas or know individuals who would want to help, please contact us.
We are looking forward to this next step in the Grandmothers March for World Peace!! We will be coming to stand with the Sacred Pipe and pray for a world of unity!!
Join us! Thank you for all of your prayers, inspiration and support. See you in the Black Hills!
For the next seven generations and beyond,
Jyoti & Ann Center for Sacred Studies PO Box 745 Sonora, CA 95370 209 532-9048"

And this. Aloysius seems to be the one running the website as well:

"Dear Relatives,
My name is Noelle ********. I am very happy to announce that Aloysius Weasel Bear is offering to teach a class which will be an introduction to Sundance, at my home in Pacifica on Thursday, June 7th, 6-10 p.m. The class will include descriptions of the preparation leading up to Sundance, the Sundance itself and stories about Sundance. Aloysius is a Lakota Spiritualist, the GGGrandson of Sitting Bull and Big Foot, and the son of our Oglala Grandmother Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance.
The class is being given to raise money to bring the drummers and singers to the American Horse / Afraid Of Bear Tiospaye Sun Dance in the Black Hills of South Dakota on June 18th-21st. The suggested donation for the class is $50. Those interested in attending may email me at ******@*****.com or call me at (***) ***-****."

[sapa]

I may not be the one to comment on these things because our sundance is run much differently. Ours is a private sundance, invitation only. If you are there as a supporter ie worker than you cannot leave the grounds once ceremony has begone therefore no hotel until after.We offer primitive camping at its best, lol. We do not offer classes on sundance etiquette. It is expected that you learn these things from the person that invited you, or your parents, or grandparents,  and this takes time. Our meals are served from a "communal" pot ie central "kitchen". We do not ask for money for food or anything else. If you can contribute towards something than you will and if not we are just glad you are there to offer the dancers some strength.No ones travel expenses are paid for, you get there the best way you can, this to is part of the commitment. We have had dancers ride a greyhound across many states and back again. For us this is not a site seeing event nor the place for a powwow atmosphere. We have no moon lodge. In the old way if a woman is on her moon she must leave the area therefore there is the possiblity of the additional expense for our woman helpers should they choose a hotel over family housing. I say these things because I do not understand this thing that is being advertised. I believe I read in there something about the calf pipe being smoked at this event a few years back but Arvol wasnt even there. I find this hard to believe. To the best of my knowledge the calf pipe is to fragile to be used and hasnt even been seen unwrapped for many years.I understand this is a specialized event with the grandmothers so maybe steps are in place to maintain the sacredness of the ceremony. Perhaps the throngs are kept away from the dancers. I do not know but I personally would not be interested in attending. There are reasons the masses are kept away and the frauds that are exposed on this site is a good one. People attend something once or twice and become authoritys on the subject. Look out for a new wave of "huh's"....sapa 

[coffee_drinker]

I am in agreement with Sapa. I have attended my wife's family sun dance are they are very private and primative also. Without going into detail, I was told by one of her relatives who is a sun dance chief, you don't go around advertising period. It is private for a reason.
I have only been to private ceremonies, that unless you knew the marker, you would never even know a dance was being held at that place.
I myself was a little taken back by the fact that it stated the Oneida's pulled out due to not being able to film it. Hard to believe that the Oneidas would even have a request like that.
As far the the grandmothers group, I haven't read enough to comment on it.

[debbieredbear]

The whole hotel/classes etc struck me as tourism. There are some sundances here that allow non-natives to come, but they don't have hotels anywhere close by. There is are communal kitchen, camping, portapotties because the national forest requires them and you bring your own water. That's it. I have not been, but friends have told me. As for myself, I have never been to a sundance because I would need a reason to go other than spiritual tourism. The reasons would have to be a friend or family member was dancing, it was a family dance (neither of the tribes I am descended from have sundance although one used to and my husband's family, the side that HAS sundance, doesn't have a family one) or I was asked to help in some way. The whole message just made me ill. Hotels, food, classes. For sundance? Ick.

[sapa]

Things with the Thirteen Grandmothers get curiouser and curiouser.
I am trying to take care of all our loose ends before leaving on our trip so just a quick note. The Center for Sacred Studies seems to be the sponsor for the Council Meeting at the Black Hills. If you go to their website and do some surfing you will see that for $4000.00 and a 2 year commitment plus various incidently charges you to can become a spiritual minister online. The Grandmothers are women gathered from around the world united to promote peace. There are references to native crafts and beliefs but nothing substantial. Anyway thats all I have time for. Someone else pick up the ball if you have time........toksa, Sapa

[sapa]

As a follow up there is a thread at nativepeoples.tribe.net that is discussing the events at the Black Hills this summer. At the bottom of that page is a link to a response from Arvol Looking Horse concerning the petition by Martina Looking Horse and others. Thought you might be interested. Am not computer smart so dont know how to do the link thing....sorry
sapa

[debbieredbear]

Thanks for pointing this out, Sapa. For anyone interested, here is the link:

http://nativepeoples.tribe.net/thread/dd83c547-25d9-4be3-81f5-68dc8e1ce2d1

[frederica]

Don't know if this is the same ones or not or the other is a copy of this.   Gina Boltz, Director NativeVillage Publications, Director, Youth Forum for the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers.  http://www.nativevillage.org      Sectretary LinkCenter Foundation   www.linkcenterfoundation.org    frederica

[sarahdeer]

http://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=24637

Women's group seeks peace

Published: October 10, 2007



Click this picture to view a larger image.

The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers is comprised of (from left) Clara lura, Maria Freire, Margaret Behan, Rita Blumenstein, Beatrice Long, Rita Long, Bernadette Rebienot, Mona Polacca, Agnes Baker-Pilgrim, Julieta Casimiro, Flordemayo, Aama Bombo, Tsering.
Courtesy Photo
 
 


By REBECCA HOWES

The Union Democrat


Praying for peace, 13 indigenous grandmothers from around the world have united after receiving an invitation by Sonora resident and internationally renowned spiritual advisor, Jyoti.

Jyoti, aka Jeneane Prevatt, began the Center for Sacred Studies in Sonora in 2002. She holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, has trained at the Jung Institute in Switzerland, and has chosen to devote her life to bringing unity to the planet.

"The Center for Sacred Studies' mission is to preserve and keep safe indigenous ways of prayer, practice and their ways of life," Jyoti said.

The spiritual advisor had a vision of a woman, simply known to her as "Our Lady," who spoke to her, telling her: "The seed of it all, is the seed of relations. If you start with your relations, everything will unfold naturally."

Jyoti had to go back in prayer to figure out which of the grandmothers to call on for the council. She listened to what the vision said and used the relations she had forged through Kayumari, the spiritual community she founded in 1995.

Her prayers led her and Ann Rosencranz, the center's spiritual director and a Columbia-area resident, to travel to Africa and then on to the Amazon, where they met the first two grandmothers who would make up the 13-member council.

There, they spoke with two grandmothers who also had the same vision. Separated by two continents the grandmothers amazingly had both recently signed letters claiming their rights as indigenous people to be guardians of the planet.

With her vision validated Jyoti, who is part Cherokee Indian, decided to approach other indigenous elders. The response to the invitation was overwhelming.

"Of the 16 invitations sent out, 13 grandmothers answered the call to become a part of the council," Jyoti said. "That is incredible."

Well-respected elders in their communities, the grandmothers, who range in age from 53 to 84, represent the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Yup'ik, Tamang, Mazatec, Mayan, Oglala Lakota, Takelma Siletz, Hopi, Havasupai, Tewa, and Omyene, in addition to the indigenous people of the Amazon and Tibet.

"These are very formidable women," Jyoti said.

Apparently, she isn't the only one who thinks so as the grandmothers have been in the company of the Dalai Lama, activist Gloria Steinem and author Alice Walker, to name a few.

The elders make up the The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers who gather to fulfill the ancient prophecy: "When the grandmothers from four directions speak, a new time is coming."

Often called the 11th hour, it is the final moments before a deadline — a deadline the grandmothers believe is upon us.

"The environment is a collective concern," Rosencranz said. "We are all in relation and need to approach it as one entity."

Rosencranz understands the importance of local issues like deforestation in the Amazon rain forest or global warming in the Arctic but stresses the need for a global vision of the problems all over the world.

The council convenes every six months to pray for peace for seven days, asking for blessings and healings. The gatherings, which have been planned out through 2012, are held at each grandmother's homeland or adopted homeland, as is the case with the exiled Tsering Dolma Gyaltong, originally from Tibet.

"There are seven languages being translated simultaneously at every meeting," Jyoti said of the diverse languages spoken by the grandmothers.

The council has met in New York, New Mexico, Mexico, India, South Dakota and will next travel to Gabon, Africa.

For Rosencranz, being a part of the work the grandmothers are doing has been a truly enlightening experience.

"For me, it's been a prayer that has been within me for 20 years," she said. "The heart of the grandmother is that she prays for everyone without discrimination."

Jyoti and Rosencranz are counting on the wisdom of the grandmothers to help bring the world back into balance so issues like clean air, clean water, hunger and war can be dealt with so all the children, and for the next seven generations to come, can live on a planet which is more in tune with itself, with nature and with the indigenous ways of life which were successful in the beginning.

"We are charged with the mission because we caught the vision that called all of this into being," Jyoti said. "All we need to do is open our hearts. We are all people with hearts that beat the same way."


Contact Rebecca Howes at 588-4531 or rhowes@uniondemocrat.com.

[Barnaby_McEwan]

"For me, it's been a prayer that has been within me for 20 years," she said. "The heart of the grandmother is that she prays for everyone without discrimination."

She never met my grandmother!

"All we need to do is open our hearts. We are all people with hearts that beat the same way."

This is just the kind of meaningless hippie fluff I'd expect from a Jungian psychologist. How do we respond to the wave of Klan-like noose displays? "Open our hearts". How do we respond to the HIV epidemic in Africa? "Open our hearts". How do we get the Chinese state to respect Tibetan Buddhists? "Open our hearts". How do we make sure all children have clean water to drink? "Open our hearts". Et cetera ad nauseam.

I'd like to know more about how much real say the non-white participants have in that group, especially in handling their PR. Does Prevatt make sure they all know what's being written about them in English? I find it very hard to believe that anyone who's worked for their tribe would stand by and allow themselves to be associated with this pabulum.

[TrishaRoseJacobs]

My grandma prayed alot but she also got off her butt and did stuff too.

I agree Barnaby, sounds like a bit of fluff when you get down to it.

[educatedindian]

My guess is that, like with the ones Diane Fisher worked with that are actually legit, they were told that people were being gathered together to pray and to speak about issues, and not much more.

This site mentions them by name, but is often vague about where they're from. "Amazon rainforest"?
http://www.nativevillage.org/1International%20Council%20of%20the%20Thirteen%20Indigenous%20Grandmothers/News%20Articles/13_grandmas.htm
The 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, their tribes, bands and homelands:

*Aama Bombo, Tamang, Nepal

*Margaret Behan, Arapaho-Cheyenne, Montana

*Rita Pitka Blumenstein, Yup'ik, Alaska

*Julieta Casimiro, Mazatec, Huautla de Jimenez, Mexico

*Maria Alice Campos Freire, Amazon rain forest, Brazil

*Flordemayo, Mayan, highlands of Central America and Mexico

*Tsering Dolma Gyaltong, Tibetan Buddhist, Tibet/Canada

*Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance, Oglala Lakota, S.D.

*Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance, Oglala Lakota, S.D.

*Agnes Baker Pilgrim, Takelma Siletz, Oregon

*Mona Polacca, Hopi-Havasupai-Tewa, Arizona

*Bernadette Rebienot, Omyene, Gabon

*Clara Shinobu Iura, Amazon rain forest, Brazil

Jyoti/Jeneane Prevatt sells Kundalini seminars, with a bit of the typical pseudo Native knockoffs.

http://www.mothersgrace.com/projects/stargate.html
"Stargate is a study group on Non-Ordinary States of Conciousness (NOSC's) created by Jyoti, PH.D. and Russell D. Park, PH.D.

Stargate is a 10-month empowerment program. The focus is to help people become conscious individuals in their creation. Many different tools are used from various indigenous traditions to dive deep into our selves to discover the wisdom and power that lives within each individual. This course is composed of a sequence of five unique weekends designed to provide an integrative, psycho-spiritual experience.
Each weekend has a theme that is similar to may other paths of initiation. The first step is "Preparation" where we start the process of acknowledging our wounded selves and learn tools to move into our empowered selves. Step two, "Purification", takes the participant deeper into aspects of what does not serve us any more. For instance, we work with cleansing the body by fasting and participating in Native American sweatlodge. The third step is "Initiation" when we study service as one of the tools of initiation. On our fourth meeting, we study "Integration" while participating in a vision quest. Our final step is "Actualization" when we get to dance our power alive...
This study group is designed for both professionals and non-professionals who work with, or want to work with NON ORDINARY STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS. The course draws upon rituals, breathwork, transpersonal imagery, sound and meditation techniques to access NOSC’s. Each session will focus on a theme to access deep evolutionary energies...
This is not a therapy group, but rather a study group for waking up in our lives so we can make conscious choices that affect all aspects of our lives. People will learn service through surrender and stillness - thus enabling them to embrace the Mystery.
After this first year of study, there is an option to learn more and become certified in Maitri Breathwork™"

I really think it's hilarious she trademarks what she sells.
 
http://www.mothersgrace.com/profile/index.html
"Jyoti has explored multi-cultural approaches, including those of indigenous peoples (such as Native Americans), of healing and spiritual practices, combining these studies with that of more traditional psychology. As a result, Jyoti has become involved in a variety of projects, including the co-founding of Kayumari, a healing retreat center located on a mountaintop in Columbia, California (three hours east of San Francisco). Here she and her husband, Russell D. Park, Ph.D. (a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in transpersonal psychology and neurotherapy), offer specially created individual and group healing and life transformational workshops and seminars that includes her own individualized form of breathwork.

Born in South Dakota and raised in Texas...
In 1988 Jyoti went to Peru on a spiritual pilgrimage to more deeply understand herself and the extraordinary Kundalini experiences she was having. In 1991, she traveled to India with her teacher, Anandi Ma, to study with Dhyanyogi Mahasudandas, a 115-year old Sat guru and from whom she received the name Jyoti (meaning "light" in Sanskrit). It was there that she married Russell Park.
...writing a book, An Angel Called My Name (DharmaGaia, 1998), about her personal Kundalini phenomenon.

Jyoti has a BA in education from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, LA, a MA in Human Relations and Community Affairs from the American International College in Springfield, MA and a Ph.D. in transpersonal psychology with a special emphasis on cross cultural aspects of the spiritual development in children and adults from Summit University in New Orleans, and took post graduate studies at the C.J. Jung Institute in Switzerland."

I'm going to ask over at Freedom of MInd about her credentials.

Kind of conspicuous that at her own site she never mentions tribe. This site claims she's Cherokee.
http://www.wisdomoftheworld.com/products/graceful_speakers.html
"Jyoti (Jeneane Prevatt, Ph.D.)
Author of An Angel Called My Name, is a devotee of the Mother. Holding sacred her Cherokee lineage, she teaches indigenous spiritual practices that evoke a state of prayer and healing. She is spiritual director and co-founder of Kayumari, a spiritual healing community in Northern California, and has served as director of the Spiritual Emergence Network."  

[TrishaRoseJacobs]

So really, she's just selling a typical new age self help feel good about yourself while not actually doing a damn thing scam. And the 13 grandmothers thing, that's probably just window dressing then. Actually, sounded like that Jamie Sams for a second.