Connect with Nature at Shangri La Botanical Gardens
Posted by msterilinn on Apr 23, 2008
In honor of my love for nature and all things natural, I am always curious to find places which represent the natural world in ways meant to benefit all, while providing quality education to help nurture a love of the wonders of nature in children. It is so very important to allow these young minds a chance to explore their natural environments, while encouraging them to learn how they too can become responsible and good stewards.
I would like to take this moment to direct those who feel as I do to a wonderful place which opened to the public on March 11th, 2008. Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center really impressed me with their history, as well as their current mission. Originally developed more than 60 years ago, through the vision of H.J Lutcher Stark, a prominent philanthropist who resided in Orange, Texas. Inspired by the mystical retreat represented in the book Lost Horizon, Stark sought to create his own haven of indescribable beauty where time would stand still. His vision became a reality in 1937 when he began creating Shangri-La Botanical Gardens within significant acreage owned by him along Adams Bayou in his hometown of Orange, Texas. Shangri La Gardens and Nature Center represents a place of enlightenment, peace and beauty.
Nestled within 252 acres in the heart of Orange, Texas, Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center is the first project in Texas and the 50th project in the world to earn the U.S. Green Building Council’s Platinum certification for LEED®-NC, which verifies the design and construction of Shangri La reached the highest green building and performance measures.
As one of the most earth-friendly projects in the world, Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center offers a glimpse of how people can live in harmony with nature. The combination of gardens and nature at Shangri La presents a serene oasis for retreat and renewal, as well as the opportunity to explore, discover and learn. I strongly encourage you to visit the Shangri La website to learn more about the wondrous history, the tragic events which caused this beautiful place to close down for 50 years, and the current mission of this magical place of nature. You will discover an ancient Pond Cyprus tree which is at least 1,200 years old, situated within Shangri La. Don’t miss this! I will be taking my daughter on a visit real soon, you can be most certain.
Please help block dirty fuels in Western Wildlands
Posted by msterilinn on Mar 14, 2008
Please take a few moments to read this very important message…
The Bush administration wants to sacrifice some of the wildest regions of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming to produce fuel from two of the most polluting sources: oil shale and tar sands.
This proposed development — spanning an area of more than two million acres of wildlife habitat and outstanding recreation areas across three states — could pollute air and water, jeopardize human health and dramatically worsen global warming.
Please go to http://www.savebiogems.org/yellowstone/takeaction and tell the Bush administration to protect these sensitive wildlands for future generations and promote cleaner sources of energy instead.
Oil shale is rock that produces oil when heated to extreme temperatures. Tar sands contain extremely heavy oil mixed with sand and clay. Tar sands development in Canada has displaced wildlife, created toxic waste sites that go on for miles and generated three times the amount of global warming pollution per barrel produced as conventional fuel.
We must act now to shield our own western wildlands from thisnightmare scenario. Oil shale and tar sands development could release dangerous toxic elements such as arsenic, selenium, and boron into the Colorado River watershed — a vital source of drinking water for local communities.
This area is also home to mule deer, elk, mountain lions, black bears, bald eagles and great horned owls and offers exceptional outdoor recreation opportunities.
Go to http://www.savebiogems.org/yellowstone/takeaction and tell the Bush administration to put the brakes on dirty oil shale and tar sands development in America’s West.
Thank you for helping to save our last western wildlife habitats from destructive development.
Polar Bears running out of time… Please Help!
Posted by msterilinn on Jan 29, 2008
In our fight to save Earth’s wild creatures, we are faced with many battles. I will never tire of this worthwhile cause… yet I sometimes wonder if time is our greatest enemy. Time is running out for the beautiful and wild Polar Bears in the Chukchi Sea. Yet truly time is not THE enemy of those who wish to live as Nature intended. Year after year, President Bush has called for harmful drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one of the most important onshore denning habitats for U.S. polar bears. Earlier this month, his Secretary of the Interior approved the sale of drilling rights in the Chukchi Sea, potentially threatening even more bears with pollution, spills and disruptive activities.
What does George Bush have against polar bears?
The Bush/Cheney Administration’s own scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey say that global warming and habitat loss could lead polar bears to extinction in the U.S. by 2050. Yet, the president said little in last night’s State of the Union about what — if anything — his administration would be doing to prevent their extinction.
It is so very important to place this matter on high priority. Please visit Defenders of Wildlife and take the time to send a personalized message urging President Bush and his administration to do the following…
~ Direct the Fish and Wildlife Service to immediately list polar bears as “Threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. The decision on listing has already been delayed once. It’s time for President to act.
~ Abandon plans to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and
~ Protect polar bears by scrapping the planned February 6th sale of leasing rights to drill for oil and gas drilling rights in the Chukchi Sea.
Our fellow Polar Bears are quickly running out of time. I am sending my own personalized message right this moment, and I strongly urge you to follow my example and Take Action Today!
Thank you so much for your support and thoughts for this important cause in helping to protect our four legged friends. We are nearly halfway there… let it be known how precious and sacred ALL Life is, and let your voice be heard!
Save the Polar Bear with us at Defenders of Wildlife
Ancient foilage upon Mother Earth
Posted by msterilinn on Jan 22, 2008
These are some examples of nature persevering despite the war we have waged against her. These plants/trees are this planets oldest living companions. They witnessed Earth in her most pure form, long before the ravages of man blistered and scarred her once beautiful face. And now they bear witness to humanity as we cut down the very air we breath to build our temples and monuments. I can only hope that when the last of mankind has realized his mortality…there is mercy.
~Hiyon Zunshyne
Kings Holly:
1997; King’s Holly (Lomatia tasmanica)
Found in the rainforests of Tasmania. Scientists estimated the age of the plant using a nearby fossil of an identical plant. It was found to be over 43,000 years old! The plants appear to be sterile - incapable of producing flowers and viable seeds. Lomatia is triploid, that is, it has three sets of chromosomes instead of two. Because of this it is unable to sexually reproduce. The clonal thickets reproduce vegetatively by root suckering. Fossil leaves found in a late Pleistocene deposit may be genetically identical to present-day plants. The plant is a rare freak of nature whose origins and age are as yet unknown.
Box Huckleberry :
August, 1999; Box Huckleberry (Gaylussacia brachycera)
Researchers in Pennsylvania have discovered a living plant that is a remnant of the last Ice Age. Using the known rate of growth if this self-sterile plant, they estimated that this 1/4-acre colony is over 13,000 years old. Researchers are still trying to verify the growth rate to determine is that age is an accurate measure.
Mongarlowe Mallee:
March, 2004; (Eucalyptus recurva)
Also known as “Mongarlowe Mallee” or “Ice Age Gum” it is the rarest Eucalypt in Australia or the world, and is known from only 5 individual specimens. Scientists in Australia are undertaking analyses to determine the exact age of one specimen that is estimated to be 13,000 years old. This aging method also relies on determining the plant’s growth rate. Scientists are stilly verifying the growth and performing genetic analyses of neighboring specimens to determine if they are from the same organism.
Creosote Bush:
April, 1980; Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata)
Scientists discovered a giant, and very ancient clone of the creosote bush in the Mojave Desert in California they estimated to be between 11,000 and 12,000 years old.
Prometheus:
1964; Bristlecone Pine (A.K.A.~Prometheus)
Prometheus, an ancient Bristlecone Pine was discovered to be among one of the oldest living trees on earth by Donald R. Curry during the summers of 1963 and 1964. In a ridiculous self-serving attempt to “prove” this, during the summer the United States Congress debated and passed the Wilderness Act of 1964, he managed to reduce the once mighty Prometheus to nothing more than a dead stump. He did this with the assistance of Donald Cox, the Forest Service District Ranger! Prometheus was later determined to be 5,100 years old. The oldest known living thing on Earth at the time. One small step for science, one giant leap for human ignorance!
Methuselah:
Methuselah (estimated germination 2832 BC)
Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva) in the White Mountains of California, which was 4,789 years old when sampled in 1957 by Schulman and Harlan. It is the oldest non-clonal living organism still alive, at the age of about 4,839 years old. Located in the “Forest of Ancients” in the Methuselah Grove at between 2,900–3,000 m above sea level, its exact location is currently undisclosed to the public as a protection against vandalism.
Lets hope she never falls prey to the fate of Prometheus.
~ The Wealth of the Rainforests… ~
Posted by msterilinn on Jul 30, 2007
The subject of the Rainforest is dear to my heart. It is well known that these precious forests play an important role in the health of Mother Earth and her inhabitants. These rainforests are the lungs of this planet. Without them, we cannot live and breathe. Not to mention the tragic loss of so many herbs and medicines in this wanton destruction of the plant nation. So, knowing this precious resource is being wasted for no other reason but greed, why do we continue to let this occur? We have the knowledge to create other sources in building materials. We can put a stop to this devestation before it is too late. People need to truly be aware of how serious this has become… it is not a theory, it is a fact. And talking about it won’t solve the problem. People need to be proactive in solving this very serious travesty visited upon this Earth, this gift of a planet the Creator has placed us upon.
Sacred Bear Butte
Posted by msterilinn on Apr 29, 2007
On the Northeastern edge of the Black Hills, just a few miles from the small town of Sturgis, off Highway 34, lies one of the most sacred mountains to the Plains Indians from the United States and Canada.
Up to 60 different tribes traveled to Bear Butte to fast and pray. Separated by about 8 miles of prairie from the greater Black Hills, which are also considered sacred by these same nations of people, Bear Butte looks like a sleeping bear lying on its side with its head pointed toward the northeast.
Today, people from all over the world come to Bear Butte to pray, to meditate, to try to experience some of the spiritual connection that has been there from the beginning of time.
It is at Bear Butte that Native American tribes received spiritual messages and gifts. In the holy books of the Christians, Moslems, and Jews, it is stated that one of their spiritual leaders, Moses, did the same thing on Mount Sinai when he received the ten commandments.
More than 4,000 years ago, a Cheyenne man named Sweet Medicine received guidance and gifts for the Cheyenne people at Bear Butte. Today, the Cheyenne people continue to come to Bear Butte to fast and pray. Some of the Southern Cheyenne must travel hundreds of miles from Oklahoma where they were displaced by the United States cavalry in the late 1800s when the Cheyenne nation was under threat of extinction.
Geologists, on the other hand, call Bear Butte a lacolith, or a bubble of magma that did not become a complete volcano. They say this happened millions of years ago. Yet the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) people call this place, Groaning Bear. How did the Oglalas know that this mountain groaned?
Non Indian archeologists estimate that Native people have been present in the Black Hills for 11,000 years. The origin stories of the Lakota people tell of the time of the arrival of the Sioux people on the face of Mother Earth through another sacred place, now called Wind Cave. Lakota people also have stories of when dinosaurs, called giant lizards, roamed the earth, of when tiny horses were here, and cats with huge teeth stalked buffalo. These stories date back much farther than 11,000 years.
All the tribes of the Sioux people: Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota, came to Bear Butte to pray…and still do. The months of May, June, and July will see families camped at the base while a relative is standing on the side of the mountain fasting in deep meditation. Small colored pieces of cloth containing pinches of tobacco are wrapped around trees and bushes as prayer gifts to the Creator. Larger flags of red, white, black, or yellow, the sacred colors, also are tied to trees to carry the prayers to all the directions.
Bear Butte, the mountain proper, is currently a National Historic Landmark managed by the South Dakota Game Fish and Parks Department. Although a few parcels of adjacent land has been purchased by some Native American nations, the rest of the surrounding area is ranchland, or is being sold to developers. Two drag racing strips, a biker bar, a convenience store, campgrounds, and housing developments are all located within a few miles of this sacred place.
By Charmaine Whiteface
Let’s help stop the Alaska Wolf Massacre…
Posted by msterilinn on Jan 19, 2007
Young ones are orphaned and left to starve to death without the protection and teachings given to them by their fallen pack members.
For more information… ” Please Visit this Site Today”
Together we can help stop this Massacre of Alaskan Wolves
before it is too late!! Every moment we hesitate can mean
another precious Life lost.. “Visit Defenders of Wildlife
to take action Today!”
Let Congress know we will NOT tolerate this cruel and
unjust killing of our Wolf brothers and sisters. Not only
is this wrong, it is another example of messing up our
ecosystems and the balance of Nature.
I would like to share Native American Legends and Stories.
If you have stories or legends passed down from your Ancestors,
I would be most happy to have you share them here or post your
comments. We can learn much from the creatures who share this
Earth with us. There is a reason the Creator placed all that
lives upon this planet, and we must remember to respect this.
Mercury contamination helps save Dolphins
Posted by msterilinn on Jan 8, 2007
Talk about disgusting.. eating
Dolphins?! Now, that is really
gross. I am most definately a
Dolphin lover, so I find the
idea of eating these graceful,
intelligent beings quite repulsive.
Yet, there may be very good news in this appalling scenario.
On December 26, 2006, the director of food products for the Okuwa
Supermarket Corporation, Mr. Yasunari Kanki, banned the sale of
all dolphin meat in all of their stores. The ban on dolphin meat
is official, and the supermarket chain will decide if the ban is
to be permanent after they test their own samples.
Now, if they hold true to their word, others may follow this
example. Find out more here… “Ban Sale of Dolpin meat!”
Well.. they are not stopping consumption of these precious dolphins
for the dolphins sake, which is sad but true. Yet there are those
who would save these beautiful creatures, and you can learn more
about this by visiting “Save Taiji Dolphins Campaign”
You too can Take Action today!
~*~ Message from Chief Arvol Looking Horse ~*~
Posted by msterilinn on Oct 27, 2006
I, Chief Arvol Looking Horse, of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Nation,
ask you to understand an Indigenous perspective on what has happened
in America, what we call “Turtle Island.” My words seek to unite the
global Community through a message from our sacred ceremonies to
unite spiritually, each in our own ways of beliefs in the Creator.
We have been warned from Ancient Prophecies of these times we live
in today, but have also been given a very important message about a
solution to turn these terrible times around.
To understand the depth of this message you must recognize the
importance of Sacred Sites and realize the interconnectedness of what
is happening today, in reflection of the continued massacres that are
occurring on other lands and our own Americas.
I have been learning about these important issues since the age of 12,
upon receiving the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle and its
teachings. Our people have striven to protect Sacred Sites from the
beginning of time. These places have been violated for centuries and
have brought us to the predicament that we are in at the global level.
Look around you. Our Mother Earth is very ill from these violations,
and we are on the brink of destroying the possibility of a healthy and
nurturing survival for generations to come, our children’s children.
Our ancestors have been trying to protect our Sacred Site called the
Sacred Black Hills in South Dakota, “Heart of Everything That Is,”
from continued violations. Our ancestors never saw a satellite view of
this site, but now that those pictures are available, we see that it is in
the shape of a heart and, when fast-forwarded, it looks like a heart
pumping.
The Dine have been protecting Big Mountain, calling it the liver, and
we are suffering and going to suffer more from the extraction of the
coal from there and the poison processes used in doing so.
The Aborigines have warned of the contaminating effects of global
warming on the Coral Reefs, which they see as Mother Earth’s blood
purifier.
The Indigenous people of the rainforest relay that the rainforest are
the lungs of the planet and need protection.
The Gwich’in Nation has had to face oil drilling in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge coastal plain, also known to the Gwich’in as “Where
life begins!”
The coastal plain is the birthplace of many life forms of the Animal
Nations. The death of these Animal Nations will destroy Indigenous
Nations in this territory.
As these destructive developments continue all over the world, we
will witness many more extinct Animal, Plant, and Human Nations,
because of mankind’s misuse of power and their lack of understanding
of the “balance of life.”
The Indigenous people warn that these destructive developments will
cause havoc globally. There are many, many more Indigenous
awarenesses and knowledge about Mother Earth’s Sacred Sites, her
Chakras, connections to our spirit that will surely affect our future
generations.
There needs to be a fast move toward other forms of energy that are
safe for all Nations upon Mother Earth. We need to understand the
types of minds that are continuing to destroy the spirit of our whole
global community. Unless we do this, the powers of destruction will
overwhelm us. Our Ancestors foretold that water would someday be
for sale. Back then, this was hard to believe, since the water was so
plentiful, so pure, and so full of energy, nutrition, and spirit.
Today we have to buy pure water, and even then the nutritional
minerals have been taken out; it’s just empty liquid. Someday water
will be like gold, too expensive to afford.
Not everyone will have the right to drink safe water. We fail to
appreciate and honor our Sacred Sites, ripping out the minerals and
gifts that layunderneath them as if Mother Earth were simply a
resource, instead of the Source of Life itself.
Attacking Nations and having to utilize more resources to carry out
destruction in the name of peace is not the answer! We need to
understand how allthese decisions affect the Global Nation; we will
not be immune to its repercussions. Allowing continual contamination
of our food and land is affecting the way we think.
A “disease of the mind” has set in world leaders and many members
of our global community, with their belief that a solution of retaliation
and destruction of peoples will bring Peace.
In our Prophecies it is told that we are now at the crossroads: Either
unite spiritually as a Global Nation, or be faced with chaos, disasters,
diseases, and tears from our relatives’ eyes.
We are the only species that is destroying the Source of Life, meaning
Mother Earth, in the name of power, mineral resources, and ownership
of land, using chemicals and methods of warfare that are doing
irreversible damage, asMother Earth is becoming tired and cannot
sustain any more impacts of war.
I ask you to join me on this endeavor. Our vision is for the Peoples of
all continents, regardless of their beliefs in the Creator, to come together
as one at their Sacred Sites to pray and meditate and commune with
one another, thus promoting an energy shift to heal our Mother Earth
and achieve a universal consciousness toward attaining Peace.
As each day passes, I ask all Nations to begin a global effort, and
remember to give thanks for the Sacred Food that has been gifted to us
by our Mother Earth, so the nutritional energy of medicine can be
guided to heal our minds and spirits.
This new millennium will usher in an age of harmony or it will bring the
end of life as we know it. Starvation, war, and toxic waste have been the
hallmark of the Great Myth of Progress and Development that ruled the
last millennium.
To us, as caretakers of the heart of Mother Earth, falls the responsibility
of turning back the powers of destruction. You yourself are the one who
must decide.
You alone - and only you - can make this crucial choice, to walk in honor
or to dishonor your relatives. On your decision depends the fate of the
entire World.
Each of us is put here in this time and this place to personally decide the
future of humankind.
Did you think the Creator would create unnecessary people in a time of
such terrible danger?
Know that you yourself are essential to this World. Believe that!
Understand both the blessing and the burden of that. You yourself are
desperatelyneeded to save the soul of this World. Did you think you
were put here for something less? In a Sacred Hoop of Life, there is no
beginning and no ending!
Chief Arvol Looking Horse
