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Past Spirit Keepers Series

Fall 2010 - Winter 2011

Sobonfu Somé
“Keeper of the Rituals” and world renowned teacher of African Spirituality

September 18, 7-8:30 PM
The Chakaruna’s Offering:
Intimacy: A gift from Spirit
“Intimacy is the song of spirit inviting two people to come and share their spirit together. It is a song that no one can resist. We hear it awake or sleeping, in community or alone.” Sobonfu Somé from The Spirit of Intimacy.

Relationships are at the heart of being human; yet creating healthy ones can be a challenge. How do you create and sustain healthy connections? Do you how to allow spirit to be your guide? We will explore these questions while focusing on the three levels of intimacy: intimacy with spirit; intimacy with the self and intimacy with loved ones.

September 19, 1-6 PM
The Spirit Keepers Circle:
From Grief to Joy: An experiential Ritual
Grieving is a natural gift of human nature. We are born with a wonderful ability to express our feelings. When we have reached adulthood, most of us have had great cause to grieve for lost loved ones, broken dreams, failed careers, and relationship crises. We know that unexpressed grief will burrow its way deep into the subconscious/psyche, numbing our feelings and disconnecting us from life itself. And yet we, as a culture, fail to support the expression of grief. There are so few places where it is acceptable to express our deepest feelings.

This transformational and soul-invigorating workshop is designed to break through our cultural barriers to grief. There is a need to periodically feel and express grief in order to purge the soul of hurts and pains. To begin to regain a serious and lasting sense of connection with ourselves and with spirit, we need to find a place to release our grief — grief about the loss of loved ones, the loss of our dreams, and the loss of our connection with our ancestors.

Sobonfu Somé, a daughter of the Dagara tribe of West Africa is a respected author, lecturer, activist. She is one of the foremost voices in African spirituality. She travels the world on a healing mission, sharing the rich spiritual life and culture of her native land Burkina Faso, West Africa. She is the founder of Wisdom Spring, Inc. an organization committed to provide clean sustainable drinking water, tuition for education, health and women projects to villages in Africa.

Sobonfu is the author of three books and a set of CDs on African wisdom. Sobonfu’s message about the importance of spirit, community, and ritual in our lives rings with an intuitive power and truth that author Alice Walker has said “can help us put together so many things that our modern Western world has broken.”

To learn more about Sobonfués projects & teachings please go to: www.Sobonfu.com or www.walkingforwater.org or www.wisdomspringinc.org.

Harold Joseph and Charlene Joseph
Hopi Wisdom Keepers

November 6, 7-8:30 PM
The Chakaruna’s Offering:
The Hopi People: Who We Are
Screening of the short documentary “One World Wisdom” written by Carla Woody and co-produced with Bradley Burak will create a framework for Harold and Charlene to respond, from the Hopi worldview, to this question posed in the film: “Is it time for some traditions to die...?”

Join us for this rare opportunity to learn from these traditional Spirit Keepers as they share who the Hopi are as First People, the original commitment they made to the Creator — and some of the ways they carry out these deeply sacred responsibilities.

November 7, 1-6 PM
The Spirit Keepers Circle:
The Hopi Way
During our circle we will explore the traditional Hopi way — that holds the world together. What does daily life consist of in traditional villages? What are the roles and responsibilities? The complexities of the clan system ensure that all is balanced. How are the clans interwoven? How does “community” create the support system? What are some of the traditional uses of plants? With 2012 and the end of the Maya calendar fast approaching, what does the Hopi calendar predict? How are the creation stories related?

To build on this beautiful sharing, an opportunity will be offered so that all in the circle may have a hands-on experience of typical daily undertakings.

Dawahafvoya (Harold Joesph) and Baqua Mana (Charlene Joseph) are married in the Hopi way, meaning that the marriage was conducted in the Hopi traditional way where both the bride and groom's hair were Hopitized (washed in sacred water). Married for over forty years, Charlene and Harold, are blessed with two sons and one daughter, Garrett, Darold, and Carrie Nuva, followed by four precious grandchildren Deja, Duwala, Dillon, and Kara. Harold and Charlene serve on the Kenosis Spirit Keepers Advisory Board regarding Hopi traditions.

Charlene Joseph hails from the Hopi village of Moencopi near Tuba (Tuuvi) City, Arizona where she was born and raised in a large family. Unlike many Hopi youth, Charlene was fortunate that she did not have to attend a boarding school and was educated locally. As a result, she was raised with an abundance of cultural and traditional knowledge and insight, which is now a stronghold for her Hopi values and beliefs. Charlene belongs to the Coyote Clan (Iswuungwa). Iswuungwa takes on the responsibility of Protector/Guard and stands for strength/agility, as symbolized in various Hopi ceremonies.

Charlene examining petroglyphs in a Pachamama cave during the 2009 Spirit Keepers Program in Peru.
Photo credit: Darlene Dunning

Charlene graduated college from Northern Arizona University and has worked many years as an educator with a specialty in Special Education. In 1995, she was named Arizona Indian Educator of the Year by the Arizona Indian Education Association. That same year, Charlene was honored by the Ambassador Program based out of Washington, D.C. to represent Arizona as an Ambassador in Special Education and attended a special education conference in Beijing, China along with other ambassadors representing each state in the United States.

An educated woman in the Western culture, Charlene carries on her traditions and supports Hopi religious functions and ceremonies. Her purpose is to retain her Hopi culture and traditions and to gain it the utmost respect it deserves by sharing general knowledge and wisdom with the outside world.

“I also want to instill in my children and grandchildren how important it is for their Hopi identity to remain and to be carried on into the future for all Hopis because we will never be anything else. We are Hopi.” Charlene emphasizes.

Harold greeting Don Américo Yábar during the 2008 Spirit Keepers Program in Peru.
Photo credit: Barbara Mahan

Harold Joseph is known by his people as Dawahafvoya. This name was given to him by his Wu-Chim (Hopi church) father when he was Hopitized (Baptized) when he was thirteen years old and when he was in the seventh grade. He had to be Hopitized early in his childhood life by his parents because the federal government sent most Hopi Indian children away to government boarding schools when they complete their junior high school education. Dawahafvoya continues to practice his Hopi Religion.

Dawahafvoya is a member of the Snow Clan of the Hopi Village of Shungopavi. The Snow Clan is responsible for many important functions of the traditional ceremonies which keeps the whole system in harmony. The clan is responsible for the practice of respect, loyalty, and team approach among all people, leaders, and natural things so that the cultural activities are done in harmony with the natural world. In this way, the good way of life that respects all natural things are achieved for all humankind.

In carrying out his clan member responsibilities, Dawahafvoya must participate in or lead ceremonies, prayers, songs and dances, all carried out in the village of Shungopavi. Along with his Hopi responsibilities, Dawahafvoya must also carry out his Western economic and academic responsibilities in order to keep pace with current changes in world outside of the Hopi Nation. In doing so he has completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and a Master’s in Business Administration degree (MBA).

Mona Polacca
Member of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers

February 26, 2011, 7-8:30 PM
The Chakaruna’s Offering:
Leading From the Maze: For the Next Seven Generations
Leadership is the highest spiritual calling, and as leaders the starting point begins with you — managing your whole self — by utilizing the spirit that lies within your identity and the strength of your culture.

Grandmother Mona Polacca will facilitate an opportunity to identify specific significant attributes of the individual and Indigenous cultural value systems and how they can be inter-connected to well being. Life can feel like a maze. For some, that maze summons them to a quest: solving problems and achieving the impossible are exhilarating challenges. To others, life's labyrinth is a trap of frustrating complexity. Which interpretation we embrace is a matter of our own choice.

February 27, 2011 1-6 PM
The Spirit Keepers Circle:
The Balance of Life
In "The Balance of Life" Grandmother Mona Polacca will give you an opportunity to practice ways of creating balance in your life by the sharing of sacred teachings. This Spirit Keeper's Circle will focus on the balance of the masculine and feminine energies in our lives, and how to foster and maintain a healthy relationship between the two; for as we move into this time of great transition on earth, it is more important than ever to create opportunities for people to find the balance of the masculine and feminine within themselves, their lives, and their communities.

Mona Polacca, a Hopi/Havasupai/Tewa elder, has a Master of Social Work degree. She is an honorary member of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers.  She serves on several United Nations committees on indigenous people’s issues and is a featured author, speaker, and educator on indigenous people’s human rights, aging, mental health, addiction and violence. She is also the President/CEO and faculty of the Turtle Island Project, a non-profit program that promotes a vision of wellness by providing trans-cultural training to individuals, families, and healthcare professionals.

Mona says, “Indigenous people have come through a time of great struggle, a time of darkness. The way I look at it is like the nature of a butterfly. In the cocoon, a place of darkness, the creature breaks down into a fluid and then a change, a transformation, takes place. When it is ready and in its own time, it begins to move and develop a form that stretches and breaks away from this cocoon and emerges into this world, into life, as a beautiful creature.

We grandmothers, we have emerged from that darkness, see this beauty, see each other and reach out to the world with open arms, with love, hope, compassion, faith and charity.”

To learn more about the mission of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers go to: www.grandmotherscouncil.com.

Fall 2009

September 5 and 6
Alonso Mendez
Respected archeo-astronomer of Tzeltal Maya heritage

The Chakaruna's Offering:
Maya Hieroglyphs and Philosophy
Alonso will discuss new understanding regarding Maya hieroglyphs and philosophy — the emerging awareness of the ancient Maya people as great influencers in the evolution that is now upon us.

The Spirit Keeper's Circle:
Maya Concepts of Sacred Geometry
Come explore how sacred geometry relates to site, geography and the alignment of the Greater Order. In the Maya world, the house is a living entity that generates benevolence and health. We will learn how to organize our space, make offerings and practice methods of observation in our own geography for right relationship with the Cosmos.

Alonso Mendez is a respected archeo-astronomer of Tzeltal Maya heritage. His investigations at Palenque and other important Maya sites resulted in discoveries of new solar and lunar alignments in the major temples and increased understanding of the hieroglyphic texts. His expertise has brought involvement in a number of documentaries and programs about the living and ancient Maya, most recently in 2012: Science or Superstition and as co-scriptwriter for Maya Skies for the Chabot Planetarium in San Francisco, as well as programs for the Discovery and History channels. Academically, he has published findings and presented in numerous symposiums, conferences, and educational programs with a focus on Indigenous science and knowledge. Alonso is a featured teacher and guide in our Entering the Maya Mysteries program.

Born in San Cristóbal de las Casas on February 6 1964, Alonso spent much of his youth surrounded by the vibrant highland Maya culture of the Tzeltal and Tzotzil, as well as the emergent movement in anthropology and ethnography that occurred during the 1960s and 1970s. His father, Alonso Mendez Ton, a Tzeltal Maya of Tenejapa, Chiapas, participated prominently in these studies as a cultural informant, translator, and liaison, while his mother, Francisca T. Mendez, played a key role in the Maya communities as a historian, facilitator, friend and participant in the social and ritual life of the Highland Maya. In this atmosphere of dynamic contact between cultures Alonso grew and witnessed critical changes that altered the physical and cultural landscape of Chiapas. It was in these early years of the 1970s that great discoveries were being made in the decipherment of hieroglyphics, new sites just beginning to be uncovered, and the historical record of the Classic Maya revealed.

Alonso began his "higher" education at South Kent School and then attended Middlebury College, graduating in 1987 with a degree in Fine Arts. His skill as an artist would prove critically useful, when in 1987, he joined the archaeological projects in Palenque, first as project artist with the Palenque Mapping Project and subsequently with the Proyecto Grupo de las Cruces and the Proyecto Arqueologico Palenque. During this time, he produced drawings that documented the new discoveries as well as developed 3D reconstructive drawings of the site. Alonso is an engaging storyteller and teacher of the Maya way of life. He lives in Palenque, Mexico.

October 10 and 11
Anank Nunink Nunkai
Shuar Uwishin (traditional healer) of the Equadorian Amazon

The Chakaruna's Offering:
Mythology: The Legend of Nunkui
Anank will discuss how the Goddess Nunkui (Mother Earth) came to the Shuar thousands of years ago and taught them how to survive in the jungle and coexist with nature in a sustainable way. These lessons are as relevant now as they have always been.

The Spirit Keeper's Circle:
Peace, Love, Understanding and Respect — Tools for a Happy Life
Living in the Amazon Rainforest your life may be in danger at any given moment and yet the Shuar are always happy and completely relaxed. How do they do it? Anank will share the wisdom of his ancestors and how he continues to learn from them every day. You will learn how to apply this knowledge towards increased happiness and reduced stress. We will conclude this event with a guided meditation. One-of-a-kind handmade Shuar jewelry will also be available for purchase.

Anank Nunick Nunkai was born in 1947 to the Shuar of the Sacred Waterfalls, deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon. He is an Uwishin (traditional healer) guided by the Great Spirit Arutam and the wisdom of his ancestors. Anank's mission in life is to help people, preserve the Shuar culture, and the beautiful rainforest they call home. Many years ago he traveled to the United States with a group of musicians called "Grupo Chaarip" who performed at a variety of international events. Their hope was to generate interest in Shuar culture, philosophy and mythology while raising awareness about over-consumption and the consequential contamination of the rainforest.

Currently living in the Pacific Northwest, Anank can often be found speaking to students of all ages and participating in conferences in the United States and abroad. He speaks on a wide range of topics from the diversity of!animals in the jungle to Indigenous Permaculture or the healing properties of plants. You may also find him singing, performing traditional Shuar!dances or teaching people to meditate.When discussing Shuar cosmovision and the wonders of the rainforest, Anank hopes to inspire interest in protecting such a magical place. He continues to be an active member of the Shuar community and works closely with his sons toward the goal of creating a Shuar-owned ethno-biological preserve in the Kutukú and Shaimi Forest Reserve. His son, Raúl, is the President of the "Asociación Amigos! de la Amazonía" in Madrid and he works in conjunction with his brother, Eduardo, in Ecuador.

Anank desires a world of equality and without greed; where plants purify the air and crystalline springs satiate the thirst of the universe. Sharing the natural world in a place of unlimited happiness where dreams become reality. Flying above obstacles and discovering a limitless horizon.

November 14 and 15
Walking Thunder
Diné Medicine Woman from New Mexico

The Chakaruna's Offering:
What Does It Mean To Be a Medicine Person in Today's World?
Walking Thunder addresses this question in her amazing stories and life lessons. A unique and intimate opportunity for practitioners in the local healing community to listen to the insights and stories of an incredible healer who has spent decades working to serve her Diné people as a traditional Medicine Woman. Walking will share what is means to be a healer and how to use one's gifts. Bring your questions.

The Spirit Keeper's Circle:
Teaching/Training for Healers
Walking Thunder has an enormous amount to offer that will leave all in attendance with much to consider and grow with. Native plants, sacred sand paintings, their purpose and meaning will be demonstrated. This circle is not only about learning techniques but rather a chance to spend time with a living library of wisdom.

Walking Thunder is a traditional Diné Medicine Woman featured in the book Shamans of the World and the Profiles of Healing Series published by Ringing Rocks Foundation. As a practitioner of the peyote ceremony, she shares her indigenous understanding of the world of spirits evoked by this botanical sacrament. The following is an excerpt on being a Medicine Woman.

"When I'm in deep contact with my patient, my heart and body movement slow down, and my head feels like there's a hole in it. If it's a little hole, it's easier to focus. Once it gets bigger, I have to concentrate more to keep my focus. When a spirit appears, it can look like a regular person. Unlike a person, however, it can pass through walls and even through a human being. Sometimes they will hold your hand in a ceremony. They can also sprinkle water on people. Those are the Water Messengers. They won't hurt you, but they make you tingle and feel cold or warm when they pass through you. Sometimes I suck out illnesses. When you take it out, it's ugly. Sometimes you have to turn away when you take it out. The first thing you do is throw it in the fire and burn it. You don't keep it. It looks like a worm from prehistoric times. It's either yellow or white in color...

... I'm like a bear seeking direction. The bear looks at the stars to find his way. I always look at the stars and try to get my answers. I just look at the stars with a positive mind and think about what I want to do.

My grandpa taught me about the circle of life. It's a different understanding from the talk about heaven and hell and the end of the world. One night I dreamed about the future. The world will not end. Rather, the world is going to change. Part of the United States is going to be missing. There won't be a Maine or a California. One of my elders says there will only be four cities at that time. The world won't change with fire and it won't change with thunder. Some people will survive and some will not survive. The people who made preparations will survive. That's how I vision the future. One should get ready by paying attention to only one day at a time. Do you know how to build a fire? Do you know how to stay warm? Do you know how to camp? You need to know these things in order to survive. It's a wise idea to live in the wild right now."

Photos ©2006-2011 used with permission. All rights reserved.