Greetings R.E.D. Community,
Yes, you read the title correctly! There WILL be a World Peace and Prayer Day this year. We're happy to let you all know that R.E.D. will host a sacred Fire on June 21, to honor the 25th World Peace and Prayer Day. Click under photo below for more details!
As many of you know who have been part of our community, over the past 15 years, we've hosted numerous gatherings to honor WPPD--from the earlier days of our Elder/Youth Conferences, through all of Grandma Aggie's Salmon Gatherings, and into 2015, when we hosted the 20th Annual International World Peace and Prayer Day gathering with Arvol Looking Horse and the WPPD community here locally. As a small, grassroots organization with a handful of active volunteers, the request from Paula and Arvol to have our little neck of the woods be the host site of WPPD was a huge undertaking for us, and with the AMAZING help from you all, we pulled it off and created a beautiful event, honoring not only Arvol's vision for WPPD, but an active vision for our own community that has brought us many blessings.
For those of you newer to R.E.D., you may want to know more about the history and vision of WPPD. We'll be linking our own little video about the history of the 2015 WPPD gathering we hosted, along with several other past organizers posting their videos to the WPPD website:
http://www.worldpeaceandprayer.com/ [1]
This is designed to be, in part, a virtual celebration and a 'walk down memory lane,' highlighting many of the past 24 WPPD's from around the world. We're thrilled to be part of this experience, and hope you'll benefit from the prayers and the group energy as well.
As a safe way to honor the prayer THIS year, on June 21, Paula and Arvol have come up with an inclusive and creative way to connect people all over the world--by linking the histories of our collective gatherings via videos on the website, and/or, by live-streaming some of the gatherings happening this year from different locations. R.E.D. will be uploading a video in few weeks, and we're looking forward to sharing our memories, words and prayers through virtual means.
AND, we will light a Fire on June 21 at Noon, burning until 6 p.m., on the sacred land where Grandma Aggie held her Salmon Gathering for many years (directions below). And yes, you are all welcomed to come and offer tobacco to the Fire. Please see the WPPD website and read the protocols if you plan to travel to the Fire to make your offering. The protocols are on the Home page of this website, written in red. Please click on "2020 STATEMENT & PROTOCOLS" (what I've snipped below is not an actual link--you will need to go to the site http://www.worldpeaceandprayer.com/wppd-2020.html [2] to click the link):
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We will be following Arvol's instructions strictly. We've designed this to be like an 'open house' for the afternoon of the 21st, to come and offer tobacco in a quiet way, wearing a mask and staying socially distant. Sadly, we'll be discouraging mingling and visiting, we won't be offering a feast in our usual fashion as the focus here is a quiet and safe prayer. As explained in the Protocols, there will be NO EXCEPTIONS to this. We are VERY grateful to be able to host this Fire, and yet, our highest priority is to protect our vulnerable folks. As many of you know, Covid is attacking people of color and elders more so than other populations, and we want this Fire to be open and safe for our inter-tribal community. We understand people are feeling alone, suffering through hard times right now with the chaos happening from border to border, city to city, on top of the virus and economic uncertainty, and that it would be very sweet to hang out and congregate, visit, catch up. But this Fire is not a place where we can offer that right now. So please, if you plan to come and offer tobacco, plan on self-sufficiency and a relatively quick experience--we will not have bathroom facilities, food, drinks, etc., and this is absolutely NOT a camping experience.
It pulls on my heart to have to write about these restrictions. Who would have EVER thought we'd be writing/reading such information! Not I, that's for sure. I dearly miss friends and extended family right now, but there will be more of that for us all, once we get through this.
Here are the details:
Sacred Fire to honor WPPD: June 21, 2020, Noon to 6 p.m.
On Steve Kiesling's land on the Rogue River: 1275 Upper River Road, Gold Hill.
Directions: take exit 40 off I-5, go east to stop sign, make a left and then an immediate right onto Upper River Road, go a few miles and look for the yellow dome house on the left--that's the spot. We will also have some signs to help direct you where to park.
Please keep in mind this is Steve's private land that he has graciously allowed us to use for so many years. Please be respectful of this and know there will be no amenities like bathrooms or trash cans--we need to be completely self-sufficient for this Ceremony.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to email back and we're happy to answer.
In solidarity,
Jaimie
Red Earth Descendants
