Kenosis Spirit Keepers - Who We Are page

Kenosis Spirit Keepers has the support of many people:

Message from the Founding President
History
Board of Directors
Advisory Board
Affiliates
Contact Information

Message from the Founding President

Dear Friends,

It has long been a dream of mine to sponsor our native North Americans to come together with their indigenous cousins living outside the USA, in ceremony and celebration. I can't help but believe that we are all positively affected by such interchanges, in ways we may not even realize in the moment! Through Kenosis Spirit Keepers we have the opportunity to make the dream a reality — in an ongoing way.

My intent around this dream was strengthened in the Fall 2006 when Gayle Yábar, son of mystic Don Américo Yábar, briefly visited the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to share traditions from his home in the Andes. Afterwards a Lakota man said that, through that experience, he felt a sense of connection, less isolation, to know that there are other Native peoples who are keeping with tradition. What I heard between the lines is that hope was instilled, perhaps restored.

Kenosis Spirit Keepers also seeks to support indigenous arts and other folkloric traditions to build communities and educate the wider world of their value.

It's no secret that most native peoples are living in difficult situations. Many factors, including extreme poverty and the most detrimental aspects of Western ways are extracting ancient traditions that have served to provide a foundational sense of connection and place. I believe that if that continues to happen, we all lose, including those who come after we are long gone.

As young people of Western culture also experience such learning opportunities, that ancient wisdom becomes a part of them. They, too, become Spirit Keepers, carriers of the sacred knowledge, and it informs the decisions they make upon returning home. The more the upcoming generations are exposed to these truths, the more influence those important values will have. And we all may remember who we are at the core — and live it.

If you believe in the power of this vision of renewal, I ask you to entrain to our intent and support these programs.

Many blessings,

Carla Woody
Founding President

History

Since 1994, Carla Woody has been involved with the teachings of the Andes through recognized teacher Don Américo Yábar. Her first trip to Peru was in 1996. In 2000 she began to sponsor 2-3 groups a year to Peru through her organization, Kenosis LLC, for those who seek spiritual connection and an opportunity for personal clarity and direction in their lives. Typical age range of participants has been 45-70. Many of these people are repeat travelers because of the positive effects. After consistently witnessing the changes people underwent during these trips and took home, Carla wanted to give the opportunity to young adults who were at a juncture, but couldn’t afford the program.

In 2005, she created the Young Adult Scholarship Program. Through private donations and proceeds from Kenosis programs, since 2005 seven young adults have been granted partial scholarships that have allowed them to experience indigenous wisdom.

Also seeing the need in the Native American population on the reservations, she spoke of the potential to Don Américo Yábar and his son Gayle during a group trip to Peru in 2006. Both strongly agreed. In February 2007, Carla approached Jacob Devaney of White Buffalo Children Foundation about the idea and he readily jumped on board. Through this process the Kenosis Spirit Keepers Fund became a reality. The pilot program launched by bringing a Hopi father and son from Second Mesa, Arizona to Peru on the May 26-June 8, 2007 trip to share traditions. For more information and photos from this journey, see Past Projects.

The creation of a nonprofit organization now supports larger fundraising efforts and expansion of programs beyond the capability of Kenosis LLC to support these activities. Kenosis Spirit Keepers was incorporated on October 1, 2007. The Board of Directors is comprised of people who have been deeply immersed in the purpose of our mission themselves and believe in the value.

Board of Directors

Carla Woody
Founding President
Prescott, Arizona

Oakley Gordon
Vice President
Salt Lake City, Utah

Robert Moore
Secretary-Treasurer
Prescott, Arizona

Arcania Blystone
Director
Sedona, Arizona

Ruth Harrison
Director
Prescott, Arizona

Cindy Heath
Director
Prescott Valley, Arizona

Linda Rettinger
Director
Phoenix, Arizona

Advisory Board

Charlene Joseph
Indigenous Cultural Educator
Moencopi, Arizona, USA

Harold Joseph
Indigenous Cultural Educator
Shungopovi, Second Mesa, Arizona

Carol Karasik
Writer and Researcher on Maya Culture
Palenque, Mexico and Washington DC, USA

Gerald Lomaventema
Indigenous Cultural Educator
Shungopovi, Second Mesa, Arizona

Alonso Mendez
Tzeltal Maya Cultural Astronomer
Palenque, Mexico

Walter F. Morris, Jr. (Chip)
Writer and Researcher on Maya Culture
San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico

Affiliates

Sacred Fire Logo Sacred Fire magazine is published by Sacred Fire Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable and educational organization that supports initiatives that honor and sustain indigenous spiritual approaches, traditional knowledge, and the ancestral ways that foster global balance and sustainability. Through articles and stories, poetry, humor and art, Sacred Fire calls us to re-awaken and listen to the deep inner heart voice within each of us, so we can find healing, create loving relationships and build communities that honor and celebrate the Divine energies alive and at play in the world. Sacred Fire magazine brings traditional wisdom to a modern world in need of sustainable spiritual solutions. You can visit the Sacred Fire magazine website at www.sacredfiremagazine.com.

Heart Walk Foundation supports the preservation of native cultures and traditional community living. By assisting in creating sustainability in Native communities that can serve as living models, we can learn wholeness, balance, and harmony.

Mailing Address:
Kenosis Spirit Keepers
PO Box 10441
Prescott, AZ 86304

Tel: 928.778.1058

Email: info@kenosisspiritkeepers.org