~ Mother Earthbeats ~

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Saturday morning, October 13th, Jake Swamp will preside over a Tree of Peace Planting Ceremony. Over a thousand years ago, the Peacemaker and Aiionwatha (Hiawatha) brought the Great Law of Peace (Kaianerekowa) to the warring Indian nations of what is now New York State. The message of Peace, Power, and the Good Mind resulted in the forming of the Haudenosaunee Iroquois Confederacy. These nations were instructed to bury their weapons of war under the Great Tree of Peace. The Tree Planting Ceremony that Chief Swamp shares is an effort to bring awareness to environmental and social concerns.

Jake Swamp has been a Mohawk Sub-Chief and representative on the Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and is an internationally renowned speaker on Indigenous, environmental and social issues. He was directly involved in the creation of the
Akwesasne Freedom School - a Mohawk language immersion school of critical acclaim that has been an inspiration to many First Nation peoples in the United States and Canada. He is the author of the children’s book Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message, which has been translated into five languages and was featured on the PBS television show Reading Rainbow. Other projects include The Peacemaker’s Journey audiocassette produced by Parabola Magazine (1996), The U.S. Constitution & The Great Law of Peace: A Comparison (2004) and the film Dreamkeeper by Hallmark Entertainment (2003), for which he was a consultant…

What are the indigenous roots of our democracy? Are there other traditions that point the way to a satisfying and sustainable future of peace and consensus?

Lecture: Jake Swamp, Tekaronianeken, will appear at the Natural Way-Indigenous Voices on Friday evening, October 12, 2007, to discuss the traditions of peace and democracy originating amongst his people, the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Confederacy. As the role models for the Founding Fathers in the writing of the US Constitution, the Haudenosaunee have much experience to share with younger, struggling democracies. 

The Natural Way Indigenous Voices begins its ninth season in October, 2007. The mission of this program is to honor all traditions that value the earth. We provide a forum for those who strive to preserve and enhance earth-based, sustainable living to share their traditions, knowledge and beliefs about the earth.