September 15 - 18 2022
Join us for an in-person and virtual gathering of intercultural, interfaith sharing of experience and knowledge for the profound social, cultural, economic, legal and environmental issues reflecting the impacts to the health and well-being of our collective Nations and our Planet.
The urgent questions and growing social, cultural, and environmental inequities facing these times create the need for collective strategies. No single individual, organization, or Nation can or should bear the emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual costs or responsibility for finding solutions to the overwhelming challenges facing us today. We must all learn how to work together for our collective survival, that of the earth, and for all our relatives.
We invite you to join us individually or create your own in-person gathering and join us virtually as we gather at Paha Sapa (“Black Hills”)
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Download the Poster: Sept 2022 poster (PDF)
'In the old ways and in the old days it has been said that we came together by invitation. Some sent a message stick, others a ‘runner’, some by season, meeting place or ceremony, while others knew by cultural duty and responsibility. It was said then that we are spiritual beings first. That is remembering who we are.'
- INITC Elders meeting May 2010
Dear Relatives, Allies, and Friends,
You are invited to join us for Stories and Songs of the People. This year, September 15-18, 2022, we will come together once again for a four-day InterNātional Council for the Earth (through a virtual platform).
There are many ways to participate and contribute to this unique opportunity for how we should consider and discuss the profound social, cultural, economic, legal, and environmental issues reflecting the impacts to the health and well-being of our planet, the implications for our collective Nations, and the generations to come. We gather to create spaces of possibility where the knowledge and experience from Original Peoples’ voices are heard. It is a process to help us reach a more collective understanding of our relationships with each other and with our environment, our Grandmother Earth..
What does it mean to be a human being, and how does that reflect in our relationships with each other and with the Earth? Our Council gathering looks to share considerations of this complex guiding question. This initiative is intended to create a space where consciousness can shift, where we can move into a more collective awareness of what is possible for transformative collaboration and knowledge-sharing. This goes beyond just the sharing of agendas; it requires us to have the courage to re-evaluate our own ideas and how we define the spaces where we meet. Perhaps more simply put - not merely what we think, but how; not merely what we do, but how we set about doing it.
What does that even look like? There are a myriad of perspectives stemming from cultural, spiritual, social, economic and political forms of law that influence our understanding of the relationships we have with each other and our planet. Each of us bring our own ideas based on our own understandings; this is where our work begins. Through active listening and sharing we create a space of possibilities, we expand our own awareness and perspective, and contribute to a place of transformative collaboration.
The urgent questions and growing social, cultural, and environmental inequities facing these times create the need for collective strategies. No single individual, organization, or Nation can or should bear the emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual costs or responsibility for finding solutions to the overwhelming challenges facing us today. We must all learn how to work together for our collective survival, that of the earth, and for all our relatives. During the gathering, the collective experience of sharing cultural knowledge, ways of education, interfaith exchange, presentation, film and our stories and songs will guide our interactive experientials and discussions.
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The INITC Council |
“I believe that to meet the challenge of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. Each of us must learn to work not for his or herself, family or nation, but for the benefit of all mankind. Universal responsibility is the real key to human survival. It is the best foundation for world peace, the equitable use of natural resources and through concern or the future generations, the proper care of the environment.”
Excerpt from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, ‘Address at the Parliamentary Earth Summit' (Global Forum) of the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) (1992)
