The International Council of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers is an environmental activist group with artists among its members. "On October 11, 2004, 13 Indigenous Grandmothers from all over the world--the Arctic Circle, North, South and Central America, Africa and Asia, arrived at Tibet House's Menla Mountain Retreat amidst 340 acres of forests, fields and streams 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." (Their Web site.)

The Grandmothers hold an annual council gathering every year and participate in other environmental events, such as:

the upcoming 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 will be 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 will appear at daily council sessions, panel presentations and at the Friday night screening of the film that was made during the "spacebridge" event at the Bioneers conference last year. At the 2006 conference, Bioneers participated in a historic satellite "spacebridge" dialogue with the Grandmothers as they gathered in Dharamsala, India. The Grandmothers’ sessions are organized around the themes: “Healing Our Relations, Healing Ourselves and Healing Our Planet." Each council session is an opportunity for participants to offer their dreams, visions and prayers, and express their concerns and questions.

The artists among the Grandmothers include:

Margaret Behan Red Spider Woman, Arapaho/Cheyenne, Montana, fifth generation of the Sand Creek Massacre. She is a traditional war dancer and dance leader, sculptor, dollmaker, published author, poet and playwright, and licensed Substance Abuse Counselor. Currently researching generational trauma, her interest is in cross-cultural Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome-trauma of loss and grief, danger and fear, hatred and chaos.

Rita Pitka Blumenstein, Yup’ik - Arctic Circle. She has taught basket weaving, song, dance and cultural issue classes worldwide, earning money for Native American Colleges. She is currently employed as a tribal doctor using plant and energy medicine.

Flordemayo, Mayan, Highlands of Central America/ New Mexico. She is a sundancer who considers her Mayan heritage a keystone of her work. She studies under Don Alejandro Oxlaj, a head of the Mayan Council of Elders, who convened the first Gathering of Indigenous Priests and Elders of America in 1994.

Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance, Oglala Lakota, Black Hills, South Dakota. She is a sundancer and healthworker for people with diabetes.

International Council of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers

   

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