Guardians of the sacred

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.

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.

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.

News Director, Russ Miller, takes you on an exclusive "inside look" at Rainbow Gathering 2015; located near Deerfield Lake, Black Hills, SD.

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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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

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/

This documentary was the world's primary introduction to the Kogi and their crucial message about the serious negative consequences of modern Man's way of existing on this Earth. It was originally released in 1992, and is not currently available online (except on Youtube).

If you watch this video and feel inspired by the Kogi and their message, please know that they have NO interest in people coming to visit them and their sacred lands. This includes visiting La Ciudad Perdida (The Lost City), which for the Kogi was never "lost". Rather, it was purposefully hidden, because it is an incredibly sacred site that even many Kogi are not sanctioned to visit... and certainly not tourists. The Kogi have gone to GREAT lengths, for the past 500+ years to keep their sacred lands free from the energy and unconscious spiritual issues of outsiders. This is something the average "Westerner" might have a hard time understanding. But all we need to understand is that the Kogi DON'T want people visiting their lands, and whether we understand the spiritual reasons for this, or not, is unimportant. Being in their territories uninvited is like walking into a complete stranger's house, uninvited, and walking through the rooms of that house as if it were your own. It is rude and inappropriate. Please take this to HEART and KNOW what it means to violate their wish to NOT have outsiders in their sacred lands.

If you feel—and KNOW within your heart—that you have a genuine calling (not just idle curiosity) to support the Kogi in some way, my only recommendation is that you take a serious and sincere interest in recovering your attention from the great many distractions—most especially "spiritual" distractions—and doing what it takes to come into greater consciousness of who you are as Spirit, where you are from as Spirit, and precisely why you are here, as Spirit. This is hard and, at times, painstaking work.

Most importantly, know that the message of the Kogi is a practical one. That we day-by-day apply ourselves to the deep work of resolving our issues, misconceptions, projections, negative tendencies, etc. And that we do EVERYTHING within our power to stop living a lie (the Modern world) which is quite obviously destructive and out of alignment with LIFE. In simple terms, they are making it clear that the Western world must drastically change its ways, less we go through drastic changes. If you’re reading this, that likely includes you. The Kogi are not simply something interesting for our entertainment or idle curiosity. They do NOT wish to be idolised, for that only marginalises the deep importance of their message, which is, in reality, the Mother's message.

To see the most recent documentary on and by the Kogi, please look online for Aluna The Movie. It can be streamed for a nominal price, and is worth watching. It was released in late 2014.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvckocaVPNA

The media material presented in this production is protected by the FAIR USE ACT of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, which allows for the rebroadcast of copyrighted materials for the purposes of commentary, criticism, and education. No copyright infringement intended.

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Aluna means "conscience ". Enter the last theocratic chiefdom in America, hidden for centuries on a mountain in Colombia. The Kogi have made this amazing documentary to help us understand how to avoid the destruction of the world that they are trying to protect, and of ourselves.

Satish Kumar brings a Hindu, Buddhist and Jain perspective to the definition of "sacred place." We found his explanation so compelling that we edited a three-minute piece incorporating some of our best b-roll images, asked Jon Herbst to compose a musical score, and we present it here as a teaser of things to come, to give our friends and supporters a taste of the film series we are shaping. Enjoy!

Sacred Land Film Project (SLFP)'s mission is to create and distribute media and educational materials to deepen public understanding of sacred sites, indigenous cultures and environmental justice. A sponsored project of Earth Island Institute in Berkeley, California since 1984, SLFP is a 501(c)3 non-profit funded entirely through grants and individual donations. If you enjoy this clip, please consider making a donation to SLFP. Your contribution will make it possible for us to complete our newest documentary series, Standing on Sacred Ground, which will bring the stories of these indigenous communities to a national television audience.

This clip contains three scenes from Standing on Sacred Ground—in Australia, Papua New Guinea and Ethiopia. We've frequently been asked the question, "What is the tangible value of sacred places?" Our scientific, materialistic culture demands proof. These three film scenes answer the question. According to the World Bank, indigenous people make up 4% of the world's population, control 22% of the Earth's land surface, and on that land is 80% of the remaining biodiversity on the planet. Indigenous people are obviously doing a remarkable job respecting and conserving the diversity of life around them. Within their territories are sacred places that provide the anchor, the center, the cultural values and customary laws that connect native communities to wise ancestors and future generations. These are the reasons that sacred places and indigenous land rights are so important and need to be better respected and protected.
- Christopher (Toby) McLeod

Colin Jones, lecturer in Aboriginal History, talks about his culture, his history and his art.

Float amongst the endless expanse of The Pleiades, behold the majestic scar trees, marvel at the Western Kimberly and the Wandjina as Rhoda Roberts AO, Head of Indigenous Programming at Sydney Opera House and this year’s Director of Lighting the Sails, guides you through ‘Songlines’.

This is a SBS Australia and Sydney Opera House virtual reality collaboration, and is available to view below, via the SBS VR On Demand App: http://sbs.com.au/vr and on the Sydney Opera House YouTube channel: http://bit.ly/1XDMxMw

‘Songlines’ features artwork by Indigenous artists Karla Dickens, Djon Mundine OAM, Gabriella Possum Nungurrayi, Reko Rennie, Donny Woolagoodja, and the late Gulumbu Yunupingu. Music composed and designed by Rhoda Roberts AO and Damian Robinson (Wicked Beat Sound System) featuring songmen Djakapurra Munyarryun and Cecil McLeod

For more information please visit: http://bit.ly/1XDMtw9

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