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Traveling through Shasta in California

31 May 2010 by Teri

0405101928-00I thought I might like to share a view of one of Earth’s most beautiful places of Power, Mount Shasta in California. My daughter and I traveled from Oregon and through Shasta, during April, 2010, on our way to visit my grand baby who resides in California. We actually encountered a snowstorm on our way through Shasta, and even though we did not have chains, we made it to the other side. We had a rental car, with totally rockin’ tunes, and enjoyed ourselves immensely! We could feel the peaceful energy surrounding us, and we felt really happy. Nature always provides us with so much good energy.

We couldn’t see much on our way through and into California, yet this shot was taken by my daughter on the way back into Oregon. We were graced with clear skies, and a lovely visit to view the lake was a delightful treat. So much beauty surrounding us!!

I would like to share a bit of trivia surrounding this beautiful and sacred mountain…

A Lovely Place of Power

Located in the Cascade range of northern California, Mt. Shasta is a double peaked extinct volcano rising to 14,162 feet (4317 meters). The largest volcanic peak in the continental United States, Mt. Shasta has five glaciers and numerous steam vents that feed three separate rivers. Long venerated as a sacred place by numerous Indian tribes, including the Wintu, Karuk, Okwanuchu and Modoc, the mountain takes its name from the local Sastise (Shastan) Indians. These tribes have used specific sites on Shasta for the training of medicine men and women, for spiritual vision quests, and for healing and guidance. On the mountain’s lower, forested slopes, plants and other natural materials are still gathered for food, medicinal and ceremonial use. Shasta’s wildlife includes eagles, black bears and wolves but the bighorn sheep, grizzlies and antelopes commonly sighted in the 19th century are now extinct. The mountain was first seen by Europeans in 1827 and the first recorded ascent was in 1854. Trails to the summit now allow the climb to be made up and down in one day.

Numerous mysterious legends and psychic messages speak of the significance of Mt. Shasta as a place of powerful earth energies. Some of the oldest legends tell of a tribe of dwarf-like people who are believed to live within the center of the mountain and be descendants of the pre-Antlantean culture of Lemuria. Hunters and campers exploring the high altitude forests of Mt. Shasta occasionally report seeing these small beings running through the woods. Contemporary psychics speak of the mountain as the center of a powerful energy vortex that radiates a vitalizing and healing energy throughout the northwestern US. More than any other mountain in North America, Mt. Shasta is a focal point for contemporary spirituality, attracting individual seekers as well as a variety of religious groups. Mt. Shasta is also said to be energetically linked with Mt. Katahdin, a sacred mountain in the state of Maine. The great forests and wonderful peacefulness of Mt. Shasta are constantly being threatened by logging interests and resort developers. Prayers and focused attention of contemporary pilgrims will assist in the protection of this magnificent sacred place.

Native American Significance

The north side of Mt. Shasta has been inhabited since at least 600 BC, possibly 2500 BC. Artifacts in the greater area suggest 9,000 years of Native American habitation. Mt. Shasta was a corner territorial boundary for four Native American peoples – the Shasta, Modoc, Ajumawi/Atsuwegi, and Wintu – and within the view of the Karuk Tribe on the mid-Klamath River and the Klamath Tribe of the upper Klamath River.

For all these native peoples, Mt. Shasta was the center of creation. The Shasta people believed that the Great Spirit first created the mountain, by pushing down ice and snow through a hole from heaven, then using the mountain to step onto the earth. He created trees and called upon the sun to melt snow to provide rivers and streams. He breathed on the leaves of the trees and created birds to nest in their branches. He broke up small twigs and cast them into streams, where they became fish; branches cast into the forest became animals.

The nearby Modoc people shared this creation account and taught that the Great Spirit lived on Mt. Shasta after creation. His daughter fell from the mountain and was raised by grizzly bears. She married one of their clan, and their children were the first humans. In punishment, the Great Spirit condemned the bear to walk on four legs and scattered their children all over the world.

Today, descendents of these Native American tribes still live in the area and carry out ancient rituals in honor of the mountain. Each year, the Wintu invoke the mountain’s spirit with ritual dances that ensure the continued flow of the sacred springs.

New Age Use

At the same time, Mt. Shasta has taken on a new religious meaning. Over 100 New Age sects and groups now regard the impressive mountain as a sacred source of harmony and peace. Mt. Shasta has been identified by various groups as a cosmic power point, a UFO landing spot, the entry point into the fifth dimension (which is characterized by “playful tenderness”), a source of magic crystals, and one of the Seven Sacred Mountains of the World.

In 1932, the Rosicrucians popularized the belief that Shasta is the dwelling place of the Lemurians, super-humans who are so spiritually advanced that they can change themselves from material to spiritual at will. They were described as tall, graceful and agile, with larger heads and much larger foreheads than average humans.

The Lemurians’ power is enhanced by crystals they brought to Mt. Shasta when they fled their original home of Lemuria, a lost continent off the Pacific coast destroyed by a volcanic eruption. (The name “Lemuria” was first coined in a scientific context in 1864, by zoologist Philip L. Sclaterby, as a hypothetical sunken continent which could account for the migration of lemurs between existing continents.)

In 1930, Guy Ballard, founder of the “I AM” movement, reported that he met the Ascended Master St. Germaine on the slopes of Mt. Shasta. Ascended Masters are spiritually advanced beings who manifest “the luminous essence of divine love” and assist human evolution. These teachings have been especially popularized by Elizabeth Clare Prophet, a prominent New Age teacher.

In 1971, a Buddhist monastery was founded on Mt. Shasta by Houn Jiyu-Kennett. Mt. Shasta was one of the sites of the 1987 Harmonic Convergence, a gathering at a number of power points in the hope that united spiritual energy might avert world catastrophe and usher in an age of harmony and peace.

The popularity of Mt. Shasta among New Age enthusiasts has caused some conflict, as their rituals (such as “charging” crystals in a stream) sometimes interfere with the ways Native Americans wish to treat the mountain and its specific sacred places.

Category: Adventure, Education, Legends, Mother Earth, Native Culture, Native Legends, Nature, Personal, Places of Power, Positive Energy, Sacred Energy, Sacred Sites  Tags: , ,
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{Maka Oyate} A Call for Prayers!!

30 May 2009 by Teri

Mitaku ye oyasin (All my relations)… I would like to pass along a very important message, from a sister who walks the Lakota path as I do, concerning our Sacred Earth. Prayers are needed, as well as action from those who know what to do, to help save the land from unnecessary desecration. Please look into your hearts and find the time to send out a message to preserve our lands… Pilama ye for your time in this urgent matter.

“Good Morning,

We are all walking towards the tree and I am grateful to belong to
this community.

In my pitiful way, I am asking for prayers for the beautiful land
surrounding where I live, here in Arizona.

More than five years ago, it was made known that Resolution Copper,
subsidiary of Rio Tinto, (British) and BHP (Australian) mining
companies were reopening the mine here in Superior. They have been
trying to trade land, Oak Flats Campground, part of Tonto National
Forest, for other land. The method of mining is to be block caving
down 4,000 feet. In owning the land they will not have to meet NEPA
standards.

The campground was sacred to me and I have gone there to do Chanupa
ceremony for all of these years. The surrounding corridor is of
magnificent standing Stone Nation that stand like sentinels and stand
so proudly, guarding. The oak trees at the campground are very old
and the acorns are used in Apache ceremony.

Recently, I have gotten to meet and listen to Chairman Nosie, San
Carlos Apaches tell the story of this place. He stated that for
hundreds of years the medicine people would call the people together
to do ceremony and give them hope in sacred places for the tribe.
One of the sacred places is Oak Flats Campground. He also, stated
that he was willing to lay down his life to save this place. He has
worked very hard in the political arena, trying to save this land.

The bill to exchange this land (Southeast Arizona Land Exchange &
Conservation Act 2009 – #S409) is going before the US Senate for the
fifth time on June 17, 2009.

These things are finally, left in the hands of Creator, I understand.
However, I would appreciate your consideration in praying for this
place that will be left as an empty crater – destroying wild life,
the petroglyphs, the oak trees, Stone Nation, the water, as well as
selling our Federal land to a foreign country.

Thank you,
Mitakuye Oyasin

Carolyn Gray”

EarthWorks takes Action

Rio Tinto and BHP – Billiton have created a subsidiary that is proposing to mine a rich copper vein more than 7,000 feet below sea level east of Superior, Arizona. As a first step, Rio Tinto is currently shopping around a land exchange bill that would end an executive order banning mining from Oak Flat Campground and privitize more that 3,000 acres of public land.

Concerned citizens are worried about the loss of Oak Flat Campground, a very popular recreation area. Birders, climbers, campers, canyoneers, bikers, and hikers enjoy the area throughout the year, all of whom would be greatly harmed if these lands were forever taken from public access. Western Apache people have traditionally used the area for cultural, spiritual, and subsistance. The land exchange would include Apache Leap, a cliff where more than 80 Apache warriors chose to leap to their deaths rather than surrender to the US calvary.

Both the San Carlos Apache Tribe and the White Mountain Apache Tribe has passed unanimous reslutions opposing the mine and land exchange. In addition, the Concerned Citizens and Retired Miners Association in Superior, AZ has been meeting regularly opposing the land exchange and is circulating a petition.

Category: Conservation, Earth News, Ecology, Ecosystems, Endangered Wildlife, Habitats, Mother Earth, Natural Habitats, Nature, Pollution, Preservation, Sacred Sites, Wilderness  Tags: ,
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The Tibetan Landscape and it’s People

15 Nov 2008 by Teri

Mother Earth has so much raw beauty, and Tibet is no exception. This image evokes a feeling of mystery and magic; secrets the earth holds from a time beyond imagining. Such a stunningly beautiful land, with a rich spiritual background. Although the peoples of this region have had more than their fair share of trials and warfare, even to this day, the beauty of the landscape is breathtaking to behold. Sweeping views and mountainous ranges make this one of the worlds greatest natural wonders. A Shangri La to behold, my wild nature cannot resist the lure and temptation to explore.

With a population of slightly less than three million, spread over 1.2 million sq-km (0.5 million sq-mile), much of the Tibet Autonomous Region is wide open space. China has established 38 reserves to protect the region’s natural environment, which includes mountains, lakes and forests. But global warming is changing the landscape. Temperatures in Tibet are rising at more than twice the worldwide average, melting glaciers that feed some of Asia’s major rivers.

Tibetan Life and Tourism

Outside towns and cities, people mostly rely on farming to survive. Tibetans grow crops or herd animals, such as cows and yaks. Common crops include barley, potatoes and turnips. A few years ago, watermelons were introduced to the region and now seem to be the summer fruit of choice. Farmers sell them directly from roadside stalls.

China hopes to attract three million tourists to Tibet by 2020. But there are concerns that these tourists, who will need hotels, restaurants and shops, will destroy Tibet’s unique character. More visitors could lead to ugly developments around major tourist sites and damage to the region’s natural environment. Local officials maintain this will not happen, but bold statements and action are often two different things.

Buddhist tradition

Tiger’s Nest Monastery, perched precariously on the edge of a 3,000-feet-high cliff in Paro Valley, is one of the holiest places in Bhutan. Legend has it that Guru Rinpoche, the second Buddha, flew onto the cliff on the back of a tigress, and then meditated in a cave which now exists within the monastery walls. The monastery, formally called Taktshang Goemba, was built in 1692 and reconstructed in 1998 after a fire. Now, the monastery is restricted to practicing Buddhists on religious retreats and is off-limits to ordinary tourists.

Religion remains important for ordinary Tibetans, many of whom make pilgrimages to the region’s monasteries and temples. Pilgrims are as prominent as tourists on Lhasa’s streets, as they walk around sacred sites chanting and clutching prayer beads. Many sites have been restored after being destroyed in China’s Cultural Revolution, when the country was plunged into virtual civil war. China says there are now more than 1,700 places of worship in Tibet, and about 46,000 monks and nuns.

Category: Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Environment, Mother Earth, Nature, Sacred Sites, Spirituality  Tags: , ,
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Voices from the Longest Walk 2008

25 Feb 2008 by Teri

Longest Walk 1978 - 2008It is absolutely incredible to see and hear such an outpouring of Love and dedication to help bring about awareness in helping our beautiful Earth. The Longest Walk 2008 is about hope and a message to the world about how important it is to save our Sacred Sites, and the people of Mother Earth. So many are suffering along with the Land, and Spirit moves us to do more to manifest the healing necessary for all Life to thrive on this planet we inhabit whilst in human form. I would like to take this time to share with you the stories and voices from the Longest Walk, and ask that you look into your hearts and give your thoughts and prayers for this important cause.

Visit The Longest Walk 1978 – 2008 and listen to the voices of the People. I will share a small sample of words spoken from the heart.

In the words of Shunsho Yamada = Japanese Coordinator and Translator…

“Many Japanese are interested in Indian culture and Indian ceremonies and philosophies. Japanese people are also interested in this Walk because Japan is facing tragedy. The Japanese suicide rate is 35,000 people per year – many due to economic hardship faced by suddenly losing their jobs. Also, Japanese summer temperatures are very high due to global warming and the typhoons are attacking very hard these days.

Japanese people have lost our religion and our spirituality in the last 60 years so we cannot find the way to undo the tragedy from our hearts. So many Japanese came here for the Walk that is happening. But also in speaking to the Japanese people, I would like to say that this Walk is one of the ways we can make a statement for healing and we need to do something from our hearts. Here there is much happiness for the future and we can see the hope for the future.

Many people have made huge sacrifices to be here – many have given up their jobs to be here. They are thinking very seriously about the future and they come here to seek the hope of the future. We will also be thinking about having a Walk or movement in Japan.

We live to be happy. Money is not a way to happiness. You can use money for a good way. Money spent in this way is Spirit. No money has value if you keep it. But if you give it, it then has value and that is the meaning of the good way.

It is a great honor to be here.”

I wrote another post recently on the The Longest Walk 2008, in case you are interested in reading about it here on my Blog. Or you may just visit their site to see what this is all about and get involved!

Category: Balance, Healing, Life, Mother Earth, Native American, Nature, Peace, People, Sacred Sites
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The Longest Walk 2008.. for our Sacred Earth

05 Feb 2008 by Teri

I have been issued a special invitation, in which I wish to share with all my friends and fellow Earth lovers. At times we are called upon to do something more than wish or pray for this beautiful Earth to be restored to health, and asking for respect to be given to all living things, all Life being Sacred. If it is within our power, we may step forth and give just a bit more. So, I hereby offer an invitation, as follows…

You are invited to join the Sovereign First Peoples of this nation evolving on Mother Earth, Come and be a part of history led by the Native’s of this land that we share and call home, as the forces of darkness threaten to enslave us all, this most Sacred People are walking and praying, talking and listening to the needs of the people that they encounter along the way during their Journey. The forces of Nature will test them and heal them as they reconnect on a very deep level to the Soul of Mother Earth, come walk with us and transform yourselves on this Sacred Journey, of the longest Peace Walk in the history of the United States. We are One People.

What is the Longest Walk?
On Feb. 11th, Longest Walk participants will embark on a 5 month journey from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. arriving on July 11th. The Longest Walk south route is being led by AIM co-founder Dennis J. Banks. It is an extraordinary grassroots effort on a national level to bring attention to the environmental disharmony of Mother Earth, sacred site issues, and to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the original longest walk.

Why are we walking?
We walk to promote harmony with the Earth. We walk for the Seventh Generation, for our Youth, for Peace, for Justice, for healing of Mother Earth, for the healing of our people suffering from diabetes, heart conditions, alcoholism, drug addictions and other diseases. We walk with the message: All Life is Sacred, Save Mother Earth. Save the Sacred Sites, for it is important for future generations.

Through the elements of the seasons, we shall walk through the rain, snow, over mountains, high winds, through the heat and cold, nothing shall deter us from completing our mission: All Life is Sacred, Protect Sacred Sites.

Let those who doubt, hear our pledge. Let those who believe, join our ranks. As we walk the final miles, by our side will be elders, families, children, people of all races, from many walks of life, the old and the new America. All Life is Sacred, Clean Up Mother Earth.

What is our Goal?
The Clean Up America Campaign is an effort to clean up our country’s highways and roads by collecting debris found along the Longest Walk route. This monumental task will engage Walkers in a global effort at a grassroots level to promote harmony with our delicate environment.

Longest Walk participants will carry specially marked trash bags to separate the collected refuse into trash bins and recycling bins. A rotating team of walkers will pick up trash along the way with trash pokers leaving a health trail of earth in their path.

How can I get involved in my Community?
Volunteer with your local state Longest Walk coordinator. Find out at www.longestwalk.org. Support the Longest Walk when they are in your Community. If you are unable to walk, perhaps you would like to sponsor a walker. All good thoughts and prayers are most welcome!

**We will present our proposal for saving the Sacred Site, for saving Mother Earth, etc. in D.C. Times, Dates and rest stops will be posted online as time draws near. Visit www.longestwalk.org today to keep updated.

Category: Balance, Earth News, Environment, Harmony, Life, Mother Earth, Nature, Prayers, Sacred Sites
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The Lakota Creation Myth… Wind Cave

27 Nov 2007 by Teri

Native Myths

Today is a day for Myths and Legends. As I am homeschooling my daughter, we can choose any subject to explore, besides the usual academics. As Mythology just so happens to fall amongst our favorite subjects, and we follow the Path of the Lakota, we would like to share the Myth of Creation as told amongst the Lakota People…

~ The Myth of Wind Cave ~

In the beginning, prior to the creation of the earth, the gods resided in an undifferentiated celestial domain and humans lived in an indescribably subterranean world devoid of culture. Chief among the gods were Takushkanshkan (”something that moves”), the Sun, who is married to the Moon, with whom he has one daughter, Wohpe (”falling star”); Old Man and Old Woman, whose daughter Ite (”face”) is married to Wind, with whom she has four sons, the Four Winds. Among numerous other spirits, the most important is Inktomi (”spider”), the devious trickster. Inktomi conspires with Old Man and Old Woman to increase their daughter’s status by arranging an affair between the Sun and Ite. The discovery of the affair by the Sun’s wife leads to a number of punishments by Takushkanshkan, who gives the Moon her own domain, and by separating her from the Sun initiates the creation of time.

Old Man, Old Woman, and Ite are sent to earth, but Ite is separated from the Wind, her husband, who, along with the Four Winds and a fifth wind presumed to be the child of the adulterous affair, establishes space. The daughter of the Sun and the Moon, Wohpe, also falls to earth and later resides with the South Wind, the paragon of Lakota maleness, and the two adopt the fifth wind, called Wamniomni (”whirlwind”).

The Emergence..

Alone on the newly formed earth, some of the gods become bored, and Ite prevails upon Inktomi to find her people, the Buffalo Nation. In the form of a wolf, Inktomi travels beneath the earth and discovers a village of humans. Inktomi tells them about the wonders of the earth and convinces one man, Tokahe (”the first”), to accompany him to the surface. Tokahe does so and upon reaching the surface through a cave (Wind Cave in the Black Hills), marvels at the green grass and blue sky. Inktomi and Ite introduce Tokahe to buffalo meat and soup and shows him tipis, clothing, and hunting utensils. Tokahe returns to the subterranean village and appeals to six other men and their families to travel with him to the earth’s surface. When they arrive, they discover that Inktomi has deceived them: buffalo are scarce, the weather has turned bad, and they find themselves starving. Unable to return to their home, but armed with a new knowledge about the world, they survive to become the founders of the Seven Fireplaces.

The Seven Sacred Rites..

Wohpe (”Falling Star”) appears to the Lakota as a real woman during a period of starvation. She is discovered by two hunters, one of whom lusts for her. He is immediately covered by a mist and reduced to bones. The other hunter is instructed to return to his camp and tell the chief and people that she, “White Buffalo Calf Woman,” will appear to them the next day. He obeys, and a great council tipi is constructed. White Buffalo Calf Woman presents to the people a bundle containing the sacred pipe, and she tells them that in time of need they should smoke from the pipe and pray to Wakantanka for help. The smoke from the pipe will carry their prayers upward. She then instructs them in the seven sacred rites, most of which continue to form the basis of the Sacred Lakota way of Life today.

(To be Continued…)

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“From electronics stores , items like cell phones as well as cd players are easily available. However for digital cameras you will have to try different genre of stores.”

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Category: Ancient Teachings, Creation, Lakota People, Legends, Myths, Native American, Sacred Sites  Tags: , , ,
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Can we save the planet and heal Mother Earth?

10 Sep 2007 by Teri

Mother Earth 

This is a question asked by many. With all the natural, and unnatural disasters occuring around the Earth, there has been a rising concern for the health of our planet and it’s inhabitants. This is nothing new, yet is reaching a critical stage, and we DO have the power within each of us to bring about this healing. In caring for and healing ourselves we can bring about healing of the Earth. Getting involved, and actively participating in nurturing the land around us is of vital importance. We cannot keep taking more than we are willing to give in return. As caretakers of our Earth Mother, we have the power to create a positive flow of energy just as we do when caring for our own gardens. Why do we call this planet Mother Earth? Because she truly is our Mother, in that she provides everything we need to live, grow and thrive. Nurturing our Spirits through her beauty as well as our bodies with all her gifts in Nature, creating a healthy balance. Loving her is all too easy in our acceptance of her abundance in caring for all our needs. It is well past time to wake up and realize how special this relationship between Mother Earth and the humans who inhabit this planet really is. And how truly vital it is to understand the importance of this connection.

I would like to direct you to a site with some interesting views on this subject… Healing Mother Earth  

Another great site about connecting with Nature… New Life Journal

Exploring Ancient Earth… Sacred Sites

Category: Balance, Mother Earth, Nature, Sacred Sites, Spiritual Teachings  Tags:
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Sacred Bear Butte

29 Apr 2007 by Teri

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

Category: Indigenous People, Lakota People, Mother Earth, Native American, Prayers, Preservation, Sacred Sites, Spirituality  Tags: ,
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~*~ Taking Root.. a Family in Nature reunited ~*~

17 Apr 2007 by Teri

Taking root
By VALERIE MONSON, Staff Writer

ULUPALAKUA – Hawaiian family members long separated from their roots returned home Saturday in an emotional reunion that many thought might never happen.

Eight alani seedlings went back to the Auwahi forest, taking their place in the shadow of their only known ancestor living in the wild.

“This is where they’re supposed to be,” said a proud Martha Vockrodt Moran, caretaker of the tree that produced the seeds, as she watched another plant go from pot to posterity. “It’s so great that they’re going home.”

The story of the alani – a native Hawaiian tree that once flourished on the back flank of Haleakala – has become yet another piece of the ongoing miracle at Auwahi, the dryland forest that was all but dead five years ago. With its dwindling collection of rare trees reaching old age and unable to reproduce in a landscape made hostile by cattle, kikuyu grass and fire, the native forest was fading away.

Since it was man who unwittingly led to the downfall of the forest, it seemed only right that it was men – and a whole lot of women, too – whose exhaustive efforts have brought a strand of it back, restoring hope for the land and the Native Hawaiian people whose culture centers on the sights, the sounds, the smells and the very spirit of the forest.

“In a Western sort of thinking, man has dominions over nature,” said Kalei Tsuha, the kumu whose family led the chants and prayers that welcomed back the alani. “In the Hawaiian perspective, we are one and the same. As Hawaiians, we need to have contact with the forest and the forest needs to have contact with us.”

Until a year ago, there was the very real possibility that contact with the alani would become a thing of the past. Biologists were aware of only two left – one in the wild at Auwahi on Ulupalakua Ranch and the other in the arboretum started by Moran’s grandfather, the renowned agronomist D.T. Fleming. Even worse, both were ailing and appeared to have lost their capability for producing viable seeds.

But Moran was determined to carry on the legacy of her grandfather who had collected the alani from Auwahi 50 years ago and planted it in his arboretum at nearby Puu Mahoe along with other plants that he feared were nearing extinction.

Alani were once prolific at Auwahi, where they grew to 30 or 40 feet tall and developed trunks a foot in diameter. Formerly known as “Pelea” for Pele, the goddess of Hawaiian volcanoes, the leaves release a fragrance similar to oranges and were used to scent kapa. The bark was used for medicine.

Calling herself “only a gardener,” Moran knew she needed help to save her tree, so she assembled a crack team that made Saturday’s homecoming possible: Makawao arborist Ernie Rezents, who diagnosed the tree’s disease and prescribed the cure; Nellie Sugii, a researcher at Lyons Arboretum on Oahu, whose experiments led to germination; and expert growers Anna Palomino, Richard Nakagawa, and Dan and Noah Judson, all of Maui, who produced the eight seedlings.

Meanwhile, Auwahi, with the permission of ranch executives Pardee and Sumner Erdman, was being readied for its return by tireless biologist Art Medeiros and his crack team of volunteers who have spent the last eight years fencing, weeding, digging, propagating, planting and willing the land back to life. After successfully restoring one 10-acre enclosure, they have fenced off another 20 acres that includes an old lava channel where the last alani was struggling to survive.

“When it gets cloudy here, it’s like you’re in a cathedral,” said Bob Mikell, one of the volunteers who has given up weekend after weekend to see Auwahi revived. “Everyone here is really possessive of this place. It’s part of their body and part of their spirit.”

The feeling of family was in the forest air as the plants were unloaded from four-wheel drive vehicles that traveled as far as they could, and then the plants were carried by hand the rest of the treacherous way across loose rocks and tangles of weeds. As the alani were going home, Moran couldn’t help but think of her grandfather on the afternoon that he went to Auwahi and gathered the alani that would become the mother to this new generation. Also thinking back was Mahealani Kaiaokamalie, seventh generation of his ohana to live in the area. Kaiaokamalie’s grandfather, William Ainoa Kaiaokamalie, saw the forest collapse in his lifetime. When famed botanist John Rock, who once described Auwahi as one of the top two dryland forests in Hawaii, returned in the 1960s to see it again, he asked the elder Kaiaokamalie to lead the way. As the men came upon the forest near death, Rock broke down and wept.

Mahealani Kaiaokamalie, who has spent much of his adult life restoring native ecosystems, wondered what his grandfather – and other ancestors – would be thinking at the scene below.

“I can only imagine they’re looking down and saying ’mahalo,’ ” said Kaiaokamalie. “My family has always been private, but I think they would be proud that somebody from their genealogy is here today. That’s all I live for – to make them proud.”

It was a day when pride seemed to ooze from the ground. Once the holes were dug, they were checked and rechecked to make sure they were deep enough (but not too deep) and wide enough (but not too wide).

Finally, with the holes deemed ready for occupancy, Kalei Tsuha and her family – husband, Mark, and daughters, Kawai and Joanna – called for silence as the crowd gathered around the single ancestor alani left in the wild. Holding the keiki up to the kupuna tree, Kalei Tsuha summoned the forest gods in a chant of celebration and introduced the young alani to the old one while reuniting a larger ohana.

“The forest is the greater kuahu (altar),” Tsuha said earlier. “The kuahu is where the gods dwell. For Hawaiians, those are our ancestors. Since we’re losing them, we’re losing ourselves.”

But on this afternoon, the ancestors – and their living descendants – got a boost and made contact. Moran was even startled to see how different the alani seedlings looked once they were sprung from their pots and had settled into their beds of rich volcanic soil.

“They seem to have gotten bigger by just getting into the ground,” she said with joy.

After years on the brink of extinction, the alani were back where they belong. They were home with the ancestors.

Valerie Monson can be reached at vmonson@mauinews.com.

Category: Biology, Earth News, Environment, Extinction, Mother Earth, Natural Habitats, Nature, Sacred Sites, Trees  Tags: , , ,
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