Peace and Dignity Journeys 2008 Blogs

we find ourselves in El Salvador, a place with such a rich culture of indigenous people..(they say there´s no indigenous people here) but everywhere you turn there´s indigenous people..80% of the population is indigenous but the government had deny them their own identity of calling themselves indigenous by calling them (campesinos)....

there has been and underground battle to maintain indigenous ceremonies, rituals, alters in sacred sites. The people had enough, their hunger for knowledge of their history of their ancestors. There´s so much energy so much momentum running through the communities, they were all excited in receiving us and learning something that is theirs too.

Greetings to all my relations,

A few weeks have passed since my last blog entry, and we are feeling closer and closer to Panama. I hope the run is doing well in the north and in hope someone can post something so we can know where thye run is in Mexico. We are very good, and have recently left Ecuador and have now entered Colombia. It was hard to leave Ecuador because of everything we experienced and the way the communities received the spirit of the journeys.

Greetings to all my relations, Blessings and love to my family in San Diego and my fellow runners who are in Mexico right now.

The southern route is still running hard through Ecuador, and in a few days we will cross into Columbia. I think most of us are still in awe from everything we have had the honor to experience here in this country. I would like to thank all the communities and people who have helped us to this point. Mama Julia, Mama Rosa, Taita Manuel, the Canaries, the Purwas, and all the Kichwa people. Who everyday have prayed for us and trusted us to enter their communities. Everyday we are visiting volcanoes, or beautiful lakes, and mountains.

What has amazed me the most of this country is how incredibly organized the indigenous communities are and how much they have been able to accomplish, and the organizations they have established like the Ecuarunari, and Conai. Most impressive is the way that each community works the land and fights hard to preserve and teach their traditional medicine, using what mother earth has to cure their ailments and keep their communities healthy.

Saludos desde Mexico:)

I apologize for not updating sooner...so much has happened up until this point and i am looking forward to what is to come...

I was home for a couple weeks and returned to the run in Mazatlan, Sinaloa. The landscape is much different than the Sonoran Desert that i am used to..Everything was a deep green and it was so lush that you had to strain to look for an exposed piece of earth. Beautiful. We have been blessed with many days of rain and I am looking forward to the sun shining.

Greeting to all my relations,

I hope my family is doing well and all the runners are staying strong in the North through there journey in Mexico. The Southern route has recently left Peru aND ARE NOW IN eCUADOR. pERU WAS GOOD, AND WE LEFT WITH MANY TEACHINGS FROM all the medicine that that land has.

We were blessed enough to meet some amazing people and visitsome really sacred sites. Cermonial places such as Chan Chan, La Huaca del sol y luna, Sipan, and Tucume. All these places that most visit and see ruins, but that we see as places that our ancestors built for a reason and we will continue going to these sites and putting down prayers and connecting with creator. I just wish that one day soon these places will return to the people. And no one will have to pay admission to visit what our grandfathers left us. That these sites stop being used as turist attractions and continue to be utilized by our communities the way they were intended to be.

Greeting to all my relations,

sorry for not posting a blog in a while, but i hope that all my family is well back home. I know that the run passed through San Diego, and it was such a blessing for me to hear that our community came out strong to support our brothers and sisters that came through on that route. Thank you to my family who ran and participated, and all the peace and dignity family back home, Joe Lara, Brad, Estela, C.A.F.E. en la C.A.L.L.E, Makeda & the WorldBeat Center, Tim Red Bird and The Red Warrior Drummers, all the Calpullis who came out and to my community. I hope you all know that we are prayering for all you everyday, and every step we take we take for you.

We have been doing very well here in Peru, since my last blog we were able to visit with the Uros community. They are a native community who live on flaoting islands in the middle of sacred lake Titicaca. It was a surreal experience being in the middle of the lake and taking the spirit of the Condor to pray with them.

Sisters Brothers from the Heart of the dirt from the Heart of the corn, we arrived at lovely Mejico where the resistence is within surviving for our future children...humility is the most sacred medicine that is in a human, to be humble with the dirt that is stepped on, the air that breathes, the water that is taken to drink to keep on surviving with all the respect that it is. I would like to say hello to my lovely family, that have supported me a lot and to my spiritual family that have been supporting me with a lot of prayers.

Greetings to all family in San Diego, the young people from Cafe en la CALLE, the Earth Center, Chicana Perk Dona Mari congratulations, all the brothers and sisters in the south... long live Peru!... Our journey has been blessed through Colorado in meeting so many family, grandmas and granpas of tradition and dance,... many blesseings from the sun dances happening in Colorado... Azlan and Eagle Mt. Today we make our journey to New Mexico with more prayers and love to spread... love Ymoat!

translation by alicia

Tlazocamati Abuelitas, Abuelitos
and to all mi Familia who made their ofrenda to make these Journeys possible,
Tlazocamati for all their prayers and sacrifice i know que Ahorita most of mi Izkalotekatl familia is Praying in the Sundance Grounds and there is a Peace and Dignity Flecha in that route, so i just wanted to take this time to let them know that we are in solidarity with your prayer and every drink of water i take i value it more and more each day of Jornadas.