Looking out for one another

I worked with a national park ranger for a time in Oregon. I watched her play this game with children called the web of life. The children would form a circle around the park ranger; she represented the sun and would be holding the end piece of string to the ball of yarn. She would pass the ball to a kid and each child would hold on to a piece of the string and pass the ball on to another and so forth until a web was formed in the circle. Each child represented an organism in our ecosystem, a plant or animal or person. In the final part of the game, the strings get cut one by one to show that when something in our ecosystem is damaged it affects the health and vitality of other organisms.

Think about the different cultures of people connected in that web of string. What happens when these connections are severed? We only have to look at the history of the human race to answer this question, look at our wars and catastrophes, hunger and poverty issues, and genocide. Ultimately, we are all connected: we all hold a piece of that string. There is someone else on the other side of the string you hold, it’s necessary to treat your piece with love and compassion. Let’s create a strong, lasting, and healthy web of the human race. Let’s look out for one another; people are helping others all the time without regard to being young or old, rich or poor. I was reading a blog from Autumn Twobulls whose blog is called “Bringing Awareness for Pine Ridge Reservation“. In one of her postings (http://lakotawinyan.blogspot.com/), Autumn talks about the importance of giving back as she passes this belief and lifestyle down to her children through example. Her and her kids cut wood by hand for heating homes of others and they deliver care packages to families who live out in the country. Two things that resonated in this story is that Autumn and her family do not have much money themselves but still find ways to contribute. The other is something Autumn’s son said about the work he is doing “it makes me feel like a real warrior to help those in need.”

I encourage people to become warriors, get inspired and find ways to help others; hold up your part of the web. Giving is a lifestyle, do it often as it will not go unnoticed. These are the thoughts that are on my mind as I begin to work with Conscious Alliance for the next several months.

There is a Lakota Sioux prayer called Mitakuye Oyasin which translates to “all my relations“. The last couple lines say: You are all my relations, my relatives, without whom I would not live. We are in the circle of life together, co-existing, co-dependent, co-creating our destiny. One, not more important than the other. One nation evolving from the other and yet each dependent upon the one above and the one below. All of us a part of the Great Mystery.

For the most part I think all races of people believe we are co-dependent, sometimes we forget this from time to time (including myself) and we just need a little guidance to set us on our way again.

By Tracy Kosinski

Outbreak Spiritual Run Celebrates History of Northern Cheyenne

Conscious Alliance would like to honor and highlight some of the work groups outside of our organization are doing on the various reservations with which we work. This week we are looking at Yellow Bird, Inc., a native run non-profit that provides programming designed to preserve traditional lifestyles and languages, support social change that empowers native communities, protect mother earth, promote healthy lifestyles, and create cultural understanding and integrity. Each year, Yellow Bird, Inc. sponsors the Fort Robinson Outbreak Spiritual Run, an activity that allows Northern Cheyenne to reconnect with their history. Read about the Outbreak Spiritual Run here: http://bit.ly/4AkDZ6 .

Yellow Bird, Inc. works to provide a variety of programming that empowers youth through native cultural programming. They promote healthy lifestyles that focus on healing the mind, body, and spirit. The cultural programming provided by Yellow Bird, Inc includes 3 step empowerment programs, traditional culture camps and sacred sites visits, native horsemanship classes, and memorial runs that celebrate the Northern Cheyenne’s history. To learn more about Yellow Bird, Inc. visit them at www.yellowbirdinc.com

Conscious Alliance Helps in Haiti

The terrible tragedy in Haiti has left the people living there homeless and hungry. Conscious Alliance is partnering with Christian Rapid Response (CRR) and American Rainbow Rapid Response (ARRR) to provide relief to the people in Haiti. Our partners have experience with effective disaster relief and will be able to deploy over 90% of your donation directly on the ground in the disaster areas. CDR is planning on delivering goods by boat, bypassing Port-Au-Prince and delivering services to outlying areas where refugee populations are gathering and relief services can be more effectively provided.

We are collecting soap, tooth brushes and tooth paste, disinfectant of any kind, basic food items such as rice, beans, coffee, salt, sugar, and supplemental items such as batteries, flashlights, tents and warm weather clothing.

If you have anything you can donate please contact Justin Levy at levy@consciousalliance.org. Cash donations are also desperately needed. To make a donation please visit http://www.consciousalliance.org/. Your donations are invaluable to the people we serve.

State of Emergency on Pine Ridge

With much of the United States’ focus on Haiti, we forget that there are people in our own country who are also in need of assistance. Over the past two months, two states of emergency have been declared on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home to the Oglala Sioux Tribe. In December, a state of emergency was declared by the tribe after three teen suicides in the last three weeks of November were added to 96 attempted or completed suicides between October 1, 2008 and August 1, 2009.

In January, another state of emergency was declared after a winter blizzard left a large portion of the reservation completely inaccessible. Exacerbated by extreme weather conditions, many of those living on Pine Ridge do not have the income or means to fill their propane tanks or purchase groceries. There are two sources of heat on Pine Ridge: wood stoves and propane. Propane tanks are now depleted, and there is only one provider of propane on the Reservation. The minimum order requirement per delivery is $125.00 per tank. Delivery can only be made to remote villages when enough homes can meet this minimum. When minimums are not met, deliveries are not made and people are left to freeze inside their homes.

Conscious Alliance has set a goal of $30,000 to be split between their efforts in Haiti and the ongoing struggle experienced by those living on Pine Ridge. Please go to https://www.consciousalliance.org/donate.php to find out how you can assist us in our efforts.