Turtle Woman Rising: Drum the Heart, Heal the Earth

Turtle Woman Rising "Drum the Heart, Heal the Earth" will be held in Washington DC. on October 10-13 2008 in front of the White House.

Under the auspices of THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF THIRTEEN INDIGENOUS GRANDMOTHERS, Turtle Women Rising is being organized by SFC Eli PaintedCrow, a 22 yr. retired Army Veteran who served in Iraq in 2004. A Native American from the Yaqui Nation, grandmother of 8, and a mother of 2 sons who both served in the military, she has been called upon by her consciousness and her spirit to play and pray for peace.

This is a call out to all women who are invested in our future. Our mother is in need of healing; our hearts are in need of connection. Our children are in need of protection. Our lives are in need of saving. Join my sisters and me and we will unite our energies to raise the vibration of the Universe. Let us speak to the Earth Mother (Turtle Island), and let her know that we are taking action towards her healing. Let us realize our strength and power as women and together we will shine in our light of Love and Peace.

Most important let us speak to each other’s hearts and hold the energy of Peace. Peace cannot be given; it must be created in the hearts of the living. We cannot demand Peace, we can only become it. We cannot fight for Peace we can only live it. When the hearts of the people understand the power in the sharing of resources and in the re-creation of inter-dependence the world will know abundance, safety and joy for all living things. We will know Peace.

Every culture holds the energy of the heartbeat that lives in the drum, giving all people this ability to share in the language of the universe, the sound of life. The drum beat is a form expression that allows our spirits to speak to each other’s heart. It is a way to connect to all life without creating disagreements. Every living thing has a vibration, a heartbeat. This vibration has the power to heal, transform and raise consciousness to our minds, heal our hearts and activate our bodies and feed our spirit.

You are a Turtle Woman Rising and we need your Light:

Come to DC and take part in healing our planet by creating strong vibrations of Peace in front of the White House.

If you cannot be in DC then help create a strong vibration to reach the White House by participating in daily drumming individually or as a group where you reside. Drumming can be at home or at a local Political office that needs positive energy.

Sponsor someone to participate in the healing that will take place in Washington D.C.

Pass the word around to your friends and neighbors.

Be a spokesperson for Peace when the opportunity presents itself.

Support Organizations that promote peace that you identify with.

There is also a call out to our warriors for security and firekeepers. Please contact Eli at info@elipaintedcrow.org. Turtle Women Rising is honored to be a fiscal project of the Center for Sacred Studies (CSS), a California 501c3 nonprofit organization, through THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF THIRTEEN INDIGENOUS GRANDMOTHERS.

Gli-Gli Press Release

PRESS RELEASE: April 16, 2007

Provided to the Caribbean Amerindian Centrelink by Aragorn Dick-Read

THE GLI GLI CARIB CANOE PROJECT’S LEEWARD ISLANDS EXPEDITION

THE CARIBS ARE COMING!

For the first time in over 300 years a Carib Indian canoe, with a crew of Kalinago Caribs from Dominica, will sail up the Leeward Islands from Antigua to the Virgin Islands. Their mission is to draw attention to the survival and resurgence of their culture and to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Gli Gli’s creation.

Gli Gli is a traditional 35’ dug out sailing canoe. She will be crewed by 12 men and 2 women from the Kalinago Carib Territory in Dominica. On the 6th of May she will sail from Antigua to the islands of Nevis, St Kitts, St Barths, St Martin, St Maateen and Anguilla, before crossing the Anegada passage to the British Virgin Islands.

The various heritage societies of these islands will be hosting the Gli Gli’s visit. At each stop along the way the crew will be giving talks about Carib culture, performing traditional Carib music, demonstrating their unique craft-making techniques, and showing the BBC documentary, “The Quest of the Carib Canoe”, a film about Gli Gli’s historic sail from Dominica to Guyana 10 years ago, which symbolically reunited the Caribs of Dominica with their ancestral relatives in the southern Caribbean and Guyana.

Though there are no distinct Carib communities in the Leeward Islands today, the up coming journey aims to raise awareness that these islands were once the domain of a thriving indigenous culture. The Carib people and their predecessors had a closely integrated tribal society, using canoes such as the Gli Gli as their primary means of transport. The expedition will be exploring the importance of the Carib legacy and mythology in contemporary Caribbean culture.

On their arrival, the Europeans were taken aback by the resistance and fighting skills of the Caribs. Columbus famously scarred their reputation through the ages by coining the term ‘cannibal’ from the word Carib. It is this kind of negative mythology, which is still being taught in schools, that the Gli Gli project aims to dispel.

As late as the 1750’s the European planters of Antigua and St Kitts were living in fear of Caribs from Dominica raiding their coastal estates in fleets of canoes. The Leeward Islands Expedition will be the first time a Carib canoe has sailed in these waters since the subjugation of the seafaring tribe by the colonial navies. Gli Gli is named after the sparrow hawk, a totem of bravery for Carib warriors, a name chosen as a mark of respect for the ancestors.

John Francis, a Carib drummer and activist, and Aragorn Dick-Read an artist and activist from the British Virgin Islands are co-directing the project. Paulinus Frederick is the expedition spokesman as well as lead musician. The master canoe builder Mr Etiene Charles, aka “Chalo”, who built the canoe in 1996, will be sailing on board. Other members of the team include, master basket weavers, calabash carvers, drummers and a dancer. The crew is something of a family affair….with 3 father son pairs and one father daughter pair. The perpetuation of the Carib culture is the driving goal of the project.

The Gli Gli will be accompanied by a beautiful 90’ top sail schooner, “Fiddlers Green”, rigged and owned by Captain Douglas Watson of Australia. The Mother ship will be housing the expedition personnel as well as the camera crew led by Timothy Wheeler of "Documenting Life", from Los Angeles, USA, and Johnny Tattersall of the BVI.

A flotilla of support boats is anticipated, including “Genisis” of Antigua, owned by Alexis Andrews and “Rush” owned by Phil and Julie Louwrens.

The project is being partially funded by a grant from the Robinson Bequest Fund and by private donations. However the expedition will be fundraising en route with musical performances and by selling Carib craft items, T-shirts and DVDs of the BBC film.

The expedition is grateful to the following sponsors for their contributions and efforts:

LIAT Airlines, Golden Hind Chandlery, Arawak Arts, Lignum Vitae Arts, Bougainvillea clinic, Paint factory, Mr and Mrs Channey.

For further information about the Gli Gli Leeward Islands expedition see the website www.gliglicaribcanoe.com or contact Aragorn Dick-Read dreadeye@surfbvi.com
tel: 1 284 49 51849

Gli-Gli Sailing and Visit Schedule, 2007

For information on the itinerary of the Gli-Gli Carib Canoe, please see the following page at:
http://www.centrelink.org/gliglischedule.html

Untold Origins -- Caribbean Indigenous Museum Exhibition

"Untold Origins," an exhibition dedicated to indigenous Caribbean heritage and identity, took place under the auspices of the Cuming Museum in Southwark, London, from October 19, 2004 to February 26, 2005.

The Cuming Museum sought to challenge several myths of Caribbean history, such as those of the cannibalistic Caribs eating their way through docile Arawak communities, or those pertaining to the often repeated notion that indigenous peoples in the Caribbean are extinct. In this vein, the organizers of the exhibition explain, "the Cuming Museum wanted to explore their survival in more depth and to discover whether there are any echoes of indigenous culture surviving in Southwark's Caribbean culture today." The Untold Origins exhibition was originally presented for Black History Month in 2004. It sought to explore "the untold history of the indigenous people of the Caribbean and their contribution to the Caribbean culture of today." An attempt was made to join reflection of Caribbean indigenous survival with contemporary ways of making sense of one's identity, and how movement and cross-cultural contact could affect the process of making one's identity.

The Cuming Museum has since decided to provide online the various photographs and information boards that were used for the exhibition, for the sake of those who could not have been present.

These materials include the following:

• The tradition of cassava production (1mb)
• Untold Origins introduction (742kb)
• The Schomburgk collection (624kb)
• History of migration from South America (165kb)
• The shared culture (152kb)
• Women’s' role in indigenous culture (1mb)
• The impact of European contact and conquest (280kb)
• Resistance and survival (280kb)
• The indigenous craft tradition (96kb)
• Indigenous contributions to Caribbean culture today (96kb)
• The continuity of Caribbean indigenous people (196kb)
• The gli-gli carib canoe project (136kb)
• Useful websites and references (1mb)

Please click here to go to the original site for the exhibition.

Una travesía por nuestra cultura

[Ed: article submitted by Jorge Estevez]

1 de agosto, 2007: Una travesía por nuestra cultura

El 1 de agosto, 2007 se producirá un evento histórico en Boriken. Taino Almestica, junto con David Mayoleth y Wendy Killoran, navegarán alrededor de la isla de Boriken, haciendo escalas en las islas de Vieques y Culebra.

El señor Almestica llegará a Boriken el próximo 29 de julio y permanecerá allí hasta el 1 de septiembre, 2007. Su esperanza es inspirar a otros en Puerto Rico a aprender sobre las maravillas de la navegación en canoas y en kayaks. Su visión es ver más personas involucradas en estos deportes.

Nuestros ancestros eran maestros mareantes que viajaban a las islas del Caribe en sus canoas todos los días. Taino Almestica viajará alrededor de la isla de Puerto Rico con este espíritu. Taino ha expresado muchas veces que cuando se navega en canoa o kayak en alta mar, donde cada ola es diferente, aunque igualmente persistente, se alcanza un despertar espiritual. Esto nos recuerda a nuestra cultura, a pesar de haber pasado 500 años después del primer contacto, del colonialismo y la aculturación: nosotros como pueblo, con una cultura singular, persistimos.

Taino es hijo de Boriken y miembro de la sociedad Guabancex Viento y Agua, con bases en Kiskeya y en los Estados Unidos. Esta organización está dedicada a investigar y diseminar los aspectos de las expresiones culturales tainas pervivientes, incluyendo la cultura material, la tradición oral y el rescate de tradiciones culturales que han desaparecido con la rápida expansión de la cultura occidental en las islas caribeñas.

Para Taino el ideal sería contar con el apoyo de todas las personas, grupos y organizaciones tainas. Sería un reto para todos enfocarnos sólo por 24 horas como colectivo y vitorear a Taino y sus acompañantes en este arduo viaje.

Por favor apunten esta fecha en su agenda y oremos porque Taino tenga un buen viaje y un mejor regreso a casa. Para más información, por favor visite estos enlaces:

www.tainokanoa.com y www.kayakquixotica.com

Bo Matum
Jorge Baracutei Estevez (Taino)
National Museum of the American Indian
One Bowling Green
New York, NY 10004
(212) 514-3716
Estevezj@si.edu

A Voyage for the People

[Ed: this article was submitted by Jorge Estevez]

On August 1, 2007 there will be an historic event taking place in Boriken. Taino Almestica (Taino) along with David Mayoleth and Wendy Killoran will circumnavigate the island of Boriken, making stops in Vieques and Culebra.

Mr. Almestica will arrive in Boriken on July 29, 2007 and will be there until September 1, 2007. His hope is to inspire others in Puerto Rico to learn about the wonders of Canoeing and Kayaking. His vision is to see more people involved in this sport.

Our ancestors were master seamen who traveled the Caribbean islands in their canoas on a daily basis and it is in this spirit that Taino Almestica will travel around the island of Puerto Rico. Many times Taino has expressed that there is a certain spiritual awareness that a person comes to when Kayaking/Canoeing in the open sea, each wave different than the next yet equally persistent. This is reminiscent of our culture, despite 500 years after first contact, colonialism and acculturation, we as a people, with a unique culture, persist.

Taino is a son of Boriken and a member of Guabancex: Wind and Rain Society which is based in Kiskeya (Dominican Republic) and the USA. This organization is dedicated to researching/investigating and disseminating all aspects of surviving Taino cultural expressions including material culture, oral tradition and the rescue of cultural traditions that have disappeared with today's rapid western expansion on the Caribbean islands.

For Taino the ideal would be to have full support of all Taino people, groups or organizations. It would be a challenge for all to focus just for one day as a collective to celebrate and cheer Taino on this very arduous voyage.

Please keep this date in mind and let us pray for Taino"s safe trip and safe return home. For more information please visit:

www.tainokanoa.com and www.kayakquixotica.com

Bo Matum
Jorge Baracutei Estevez

Jorge Estevez (Taino)
National Museum of the American Indian
One Bowling Green
New York, NY 10004
(212) 514-3716
Estevezj@si.edu