Every August, two thousand people visit northern Australia’s Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land to attend the Garma Festival, an international celebration of the Aboriginal culture that is still strong around Yirkalla.
The Spring at Panther Meadows runs dry. Produced as a preview of the Sacred Land Film Project’s latest film series, Standing on Sacred Ground, http://StandingOnSacredGround.org. It is a four-part series that chronicles indigenous people in eight communities around the world standing up for their traditional sacred lands in defense of cultural survival, human rights and the environment.
How did Oren first learn about his relationship to the Earth? Listen to his story…
Winona LaDuke (Anishinaabe activist) speaks on the process of apology, redemption and healing; through the story of the Pawnee tribe and the return home to their native land in Nebraska.
Caleen Sisk, shared beautiful insights into the spirit beings of Mt. Shasta and the McCloud River, the forces that guide the Winnemem—and make places “sacred.”
In one of the key moments of In the Light of Reverence, Vine Deloria comments on the conflict between rock climbers and Native Americans at Devils Tower: “It’s not that Indians should have exclusive rights there. It’s that that location is sacred enough it should have time of it’s own.”
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
Vine Deloria Jr. discusses the difference between the materialism of Western religion and the spiritual insights of indigenous religions that are connected to place.
Speaking before the explosion of smartphones, Deloria predicts an age where humans can no longer separate themselves from their machines. “I don’t think people are built for that psychologically,” he says. “I think it’s gonna blow.”
Oren Lyons retells the classic story “The Wizard of Oz”, from an enlightening (and very different) Native America perspective.