We arrived in Marion KY at the Mantle Rock Native Education and Cultural Center www.mantlerock.org around 10pm and everyone was still up and introducing themselves. We joined in right away and introduced ourselves. It was good to see the expression on Mom Feathers face when she recognized me. We haven’t seen each other in probably 5 years. There is good reason why everyone calls her mom. She will take anyone in that needs help and treat them just like they were her own kids. Then people that would be speaking the next day got up and introduced themselves and gave a brief description of what we were going to be talking about. The way the day is organized is several speakers speak at one time and the people that have come pick who they want to listen to. The nice part about it being organized this way is the speakers actually get to listen to some of the other speakers. After a short visit we all headed of to bed. I would also like to thank the North Eastern Illinois University who is a sponsor of this event.
In the morning we had a quick breakfast and Jon and I decided to go in for Mom Feathers session at 8:00 am. Of the things she shared with us is a poem she wrote. The poem is as follows:
Did you listen today? What did you hear? The ancient ones call and we feel them around us, but we do not listen. We no longer hear the voices in the wind as the leaves and branches tell us stories.
The moon brings us messages and we do not see them. We are too busy with the world created by man.
Take your children back to the times when the voices were heard and the signs were given. Go back before the importance of Creation leaves us forever.
The voices of the ancestors may have been silenced by the death call but they are only a whisper away. Their music may have faded from our ears but must we let the delicate sounds of our past go with them?
Our children need the teachings that are leaving us forever. Sing the words in a lullaby, whisper to them so they hear, lead them and they will follow. Never let our traditions die.
Respected and revered the old ones still walk with us. They hold our hand to help us see. They still lead us and we must follow. We need not let the dreams they had for the future depart this life. This is why they honored us with their wisdom.
When they leave us one by one, they take the book with them, leaving a patchwork of dreams on the web of life. What we do with the patches will help us to grow in wisdom.
The Earth Mother is bountiful enough for all her children. Working together we can bring back the unique and powerful voice of our past. Grasp the insights and perceptions in the wind. The future of our children depends on our actions today.
Do not let the voices of the ancestors or the echoes of their songs fade away.
After a short break we went into session two and Jon and I decided to go and listen to Dan Raven. He is a representative of the Labyrinth Society who builds, designs and researches Labyrinths. It was pretty cool. I enjoy history anyway and he talks about the history of the labyrinths. He also taught us how to draw a simple labyrinth and he had built a stone labyrinth on the property so we went out and walked it. He drew in caulk a large scale one in the parking lot that people could walk as well. Dan also travels to schools, churches and youth groups talking, and displaying labyrinths so if anyone is interested you can contact him at danraven@rcn.com.
After the lunch break it was my time to talk about FootPrints for Peace. I spoke a little bit about the history, being involved with Sacred Run, organizing the Run for Freedom, completing the Ohio River Canoe Journey and starting to do other events. We needed an organization to do other events so we created FootPrints for Peace.
Then I spoke a little about our past events and the new campaign. The international Nuclear Free Future Walks and future Nuclear Free Future walks for 2009 and 2010. Then we showed the FootPrints documentary Nuclear Connections and did a little Q&A and that was about all the time we had. It was nice to have a smaller group because you could do more Q&A than if it was a large group.
We said our goodbyes, passed out quite a few cards with our web site and email address and headed back home. Over all it was a very good weekend spent with friends, old and new.
Peacehq
FootPrints For 
