[www-features] proposal: Peace and Dignity Journey

Mon Nov 24 12:45:59 PST 2008

Hi all,

I would like to propose that this piece from san diego IMC bee made into
a feature on the global site. It has already been featured on imc-us.
however, if there is other coverage we would love to revise and
incorporate it -- the event involved people from argentina, bolivia,
ecuador, mexico, canada and other places in the u.s. as well.

the english is here:
http://sandiego.indymedia.org/centercolumnfeatures.html#111708-1

There is a spanish version of this too located at:
http://sandiego.indymedia.org/pdjunicada.html

i am not sure if the html that i pulled for the body (below) is too
complex. san diego has been making do on sub-par software for a while
now but continuing to produce great coverage.

This note is cc-d to brad from san diego imc who proposed it to imc-us.

~ Amy

TITLE: The Eagle and The Condor Reunited by Peace and Dignity Journey
Runners in the Kuna Nation

SUBHEAD: <a
href="http://sandiego.indymedia.org/centercolumnfeatures.html#111708-1">SAN
DIEGO:</a> CROSS-BORDER JOURNEY

IMAGE:
http://indymedia.us/icon/2008/11/34701.jpg

ABSTRACT:

Runners from the Northern and Southern routes of the Peace and Dignity
Journey, a sacred journey starting in Tierra del Fuego and Alaska and
traveling on foot thousands of kilometers through hundreds of indigenous
communities, met Friday on a bridge crossing the Panama Canal in the
Kuna Nation. The goals of the journey, which has taken place every
four years (starting in 1992), include strengthening and sharing
indigenous culture, bringing peace to all Nations, and uniting
indigenous peoples -- thereby fulfilling the Prophecy of the Eagle and
the Condor. This year's run honored indigenous Sacred Sites, many of
which are threatened by resource extraction or development.San
Diego contributed five runners, Gaby and Oscar (Southern route) and
Ymoat, Arturo and Abel (Northern route), who used blog posts, video,
audio and photos to document the traditions and struggles of the
communities through which they passed, as well as their own experiences
on the journey, from an indigenous perspective. Peace and
Dignity Journeys Links: <a
href="http://sandiego.indymedia.org/peaceanddignityblog"
target="_blank">Media and Runners' Blog</a> || <a
href="http://nativejourney.wordpress.com" target="_blank">Abel's
Blog</a> || <a href="http://peaceanddignityjourneys.com"
target="_blank">Main Website</a> || <a
href="http://www.myspace.com/peaceanddignityjourneys"
target="_blank">Myspace</a>

BODY:

<font size="-1">Runners from the Northern and Southern routes of the
Peace and Dignity Journey, a sacred journey starting in Tierra del Fuego
and Alaska and traveling on foot thousands of kilometers through
hundreds of indigenous communities, met Friday on a bridge crossing the
Panama Canal in the Kuna Nation.</font>
		<p><a href="ymoatrunning.jpg" target="_blank"><img
src="ymoatrunningsm.jpg" alt="" align="right" border="0" height="180"
width="83"></a><font size="-1">The goals of the journey were outlined by
the Northern route coordinator, Jose Malvido, "We're doing a prayer run,
a peace run, a unity run, we're running and praying for unity of all
peoples, all nations, all indigenous nations and nonindigenous nations.
Drawing from the traditions and wisdom of our ancestors and elders, we
carry sacred staffs, so when we run, we're carrying the hopes, dreams,
prayers and also some of the sorrows of some of the communities and
families along the road."</font></p>
		<p><font size="-1">San Diego contributed five core runners, those who
participated through most to all of one of the routes: Gaby and Oscar in
the South and Ymoat, Abel and Arturo in the North. The San Diego runners
documented, from an indigenous perspective, the traditions and struggles
of the communities through which they passed, as well as their own
experiences (click <a
href="http://sandiego.indymedia.org/peaceanddignityblog"
target="_blank">here</a> for blog posts, photos, audio and video),
including...</font></p>
		<p><font size="-1">In the South: running through volcanic ash from the
erupting mountain Chaiten in Mapuche territory; participating in the
Inti Raymi (Andean New Year) celebration in the community Tilcara;
visiting the Uros communities that live on floating islands in Lake
Titicaca (Peru); the toll that tourism takes on Sacred Sites and the
maintenance of traditions; elders who measure the passage of time
through the growth of the heart; and musical customs of AfroEcuadoran
communities in El <a href="arturorunning.jpg" target="_blank"><img
src="arturorunningsm.jpg" alt="" align="left" border="0" height="180"
width="62"></a>Valle del Chota. In the North: struggles of Athebascan
communities in Alaska against government appropriation and pollution of
Native lands and Sacred Sites; the impact of resource extraction on
communities, including the looming struggle of the Wet'suwet'en and
surrounding Nations (British Columbia) against Shell; stories of
historical repression of Sun Dance and other traditions of the Plains
Tribes; visits to Bear Butte and Wounded Knee, ecological restoration at
Round Lake and White Earth (Minnesota); the Berkeley Oak Grove Tree Sit;
and a meeting in El Salvador with indigenous president of Bolivia, Evo
Morales, who endorsed the journey.</font></p>

		<p><font size="-1">The San Diego runners plan to organize and widely
distribute their documented materials so as to promote communication and
the goals of the journey.</font></p>
		<p><a href="oscarrunning.jpg" target="_blank"><img
src="oscarrunningsm.jpg" alt="" align="right" border="0" height="180"
width="117"></a><font size="-1">In the North, the journey split in
Canada into Plains and (west) Coastal routes, with additional splits and
numerous feeder routes, including New York and Trail of Tears routes
joining the Plains runners, and Baja and San Ysidro routes joining the
Coastal runners. The Coastal route passed through the San Diego area in
July, with stops including the Cahuilla, Santa Ysabel, Pala and
Manzanita reservations, and the Sacred Site Chicano Park on Kumeyaay
Land.</font></p>
		<p><font size="-1">At least one person carrying a sacred staff travels
every step of the journey. As the runners approach the land of an
indigenous Nation, they are met  typically by elders and community
members, who walk the staffs into the community, where a welcoming
ceremony, discussions with community members and other activities and
ceremonies are held. Community members might assist the runners in
traversing the route through their territory. For example, the Coastal
route runners were met at the Cahuilla reservation boundary by an elder,
who passed the sacred staffs to a group of reservation and community
youth who had trained for the run with exercise, healthy food and
learning about their traditions. The youth ran the staffs to the tribal
community center, where elders, accompanied by Kumeyaay Bird Singers,
walked the staffs to a welcoming ceremony and celebration. The youth ran
the route to the next stop the following day.</font></p>
		<p><a href="abelrunning.jpg" target="_blank"><img
src="abelrunningsm.jpg" alt="" align="left" border="0" height="180"
width="110"></a><font size="-1">The first Peace and Dignity Journey took
place in 1992, the 500th anniversary of the arrival of the european
colonizers, and it repeats every four years. This year's run honored
indigenous Sacred Sites, many of which, including Black Mesa (strip
mining), Quechan (gold mining), San Francisco Peaks (commercial
skiing/wastewater snow) and Ward Valley (nuclear dump), are threatened
by resource extraction or development. Previous journeys honored 500
years of resistance (1992), youth (1996), the family (2000) and women
(2004).</font></p>
		<p><font size="-1">Peace and Dignity Journeys is said to be a
fulfillment of the Prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor, described by
runner Oscar: "The eagle is representative of the nations of the North,
and the condor is representative of the South. And there's an ancient,
ancient prophecy, shared through all nations and can be seen way back to
Mayan prophecy, with the eagle and the condor intertwined by the neck.
That represents our people, all Native people, together as one people,
without borders. There will come a time when the red people, the brown
people, will be divided by society, by borders, by material possessions,
by a new way of life, and we will be begin to lose ourselves as a
people. But there is hope. After this period, there will come a
generation that will make the eagle and the condor fly wing by wing once
again."</font></p>
		<p><font size="-1">[Runners Gaby, Ymoat, Oscar, Abel and Arturo
pictured, clockwise from upper left.]</font></p>

		<p><font size="-1">Peace and Dignity Journeys Links: <a
href="http://sandiego.indymedia.org/peaceanddignityblog"
target="_blank">Media and Runners' Blog</a> || <a
href="http://nativejourney.wordpress.com" target="_blank">Abel's
Blog</a> || <a href="http://peaceanddignityjourneys.com"
target="_blank">Main Website</a> || <a
href="http://www.myspace.com/peaceanddignityjourneys"
target="_blank">Myspace</a></font></p>
		<p><font size="-1"><b><a
href="http://sandiego.indymedia.org/pdjunicada.html">en español</a></b>
(TRANSLATED BY STEPHANIE OSUNA Y MIRNA CRUZ)</font>