This 14-day tour includes hotel accommodations based on double occupancy (single supplement $265.), most meals, guided tours, a $200 tax-deductible contribution to Sacred Sites International, round-trip air from US West Coast: $3491. per person or ground only $1941. for travelers who want to arrange their own air. There is an optional 4-day extension to the Cultural Center of Java: Yokyakarta to visit the World Heritage site of Borobudhur and Prambanan Temples. Cost with per person with shared room is $645 per person with a single supplement of $105.

To reserve: contact Sacred Sites International: sacredsite1@gmail.com or 510-525-1304 or Danu Tours: danu@earthlink.net or 831-476-0543

Judy Slattum and Made Surya, Tour Guides

The tour will be based in Ubud and Munduk with an optional excursion to Yokyakarta to Borobudur. You will experience the sites, sounds and tastes of Bali on the small group tour of 7-14 people. Enjoy photos and brief text about this very special small group journey.

Sacred Sites Tour Group

While in Bali you will witness the devotion of the Balinese people when you see the daily offerings that are left outside homes, beside businesses and at temples.

Temple Offerings

Balinese Make Daily Offerings

The Sacred Sites Tour to Bali will visit numerous sacred places, temples, springs, and lakes, observe sacred dances and experience Bali first-hand with native guide Surya. You will also visit indigenous villages, observe the island’s famous carvers make statues and masks, see the rare art of double ikat weaving, and learn about healing traditions.

One of the first things you will do is get outfitted in your temple sarongs and scarves which are required attire when visiting sacred places. Local markets will provide ample choices for sarongs and scarves.

Tour member Bill Kamin in Temple Attire

One of the first places you will visit is the sacred spring, Tampaksiring, where you will have the opportunity to partake in a sacred ceremony for purification and good health.

Sacred Sites group at Sacred Ceremony by Mum Masaki

Balinese at Tampaksiring Holy Spring

You will also visit the picturesque 11th century temple site popularly known as the Elephant Cave. The site includes the elaborately carved temple-cave, as well as pools of water with Water Goddesses and the remains of a Buddhist temple. The site is located at the powerful confluence of two rivers which is universally considered a sacred place. The shrine is dedicated to the God Shiva and his elephant-headed son, Ganesh.

The Elephant Cave - Goa Gajah by Mum Masaki

Nearby, the temple Pura Penataran Sasih, is venerated for its ancient bronze drum which is known as the Moon of Pejeng, which many Balinese consider to be the personification of the sacred moon.

Penatan Sasih Entrance Gate by Mum Masaki

Moon of Pejeng Shrine by Mum Masaki

This sacred journey also includes dance performances for which Bali is famous. Surya will demonstrate the elements of Balinese dance before our group attends a dance performance. Our group will also visit a dance school to watch and learn about how the sacred dance tradition is being preserved by teaching children to dance at an early age.

The Barong Dance at the Ubud Palace by Bill Kamin

The Kecak Dance by Bill Kamin

On the tour you will also have the opportunity to visit colorful markets filled with fruits and vegetables, food stands and handicrafts. Visits will also be made to the workshops of mask carvers who create the masks used in sacred dance.

Badung Market in Denpasar

Mask Carver at Work in His Studio

Brenda Schuman Post Playing Oboe for Tree Harvesters

Harvesting the Music Tree: Sustainable African Blackwood is a Lecture-Performance and Raffle being given on Saturday, November 12 at 8 PM in North Berkeley. The event with benefit the Preservation Fund of Sacred Sites International. Brenda Schuman Post, a renown oboist, will show video, slides and perform on her oboe, while sharing her remarkable journey to follow the creation of an oboe from the African Blackwood tree. Ms Post received a Ford Foundation grant to travel to Africa in search of the wood that is used to make oboes. In the process she played her oboe for tree harvesters who had never seen or heard the instrument played. In the process she created an original piece of music with African musicians.

Brenda Schuman Post with African Musicians

The November 12th presentation will explore topics of ethno-botany, forest preservation and sustainability and world music. The event will be held in a private North Berkeley home amidst an expansive collection of African art and artifacts. Following the lecture-performance there will be a raffle of books and DVD’s about sacred places, and original etchings and photographs of sacred sites.

The benefit is $25 per person in advance and $30 at the door. Seating is limited and advance reservations are recommended. Reservations can be made by sending a tax-deductible check made out to Sacred Sites International, 1442A Walnut St. #330, Berkeley, CA 94709. Enclose an email address or phone number for directions to the event. For questions or additional information you may call: 510-525-1304 or email Sacred Sites International: sacredsite1@gmail.com.

Pablo Neruda, The Heights of Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu: Sacred Valley by Rubyk

On July 24^th, 1911, American historian Hiram Bingham (who, interestingly, is an inspiration for the Indiana Jones character in the eponymous film series) entered the Incan lost city of Machu Picchu. In the Cuzco region of Peru, Machu Picchu lies on a ridge descending from the sacred mountain Salcantay. The people of the Cuzco region revere Salcantay and its “brother” mountain deity Ausangate. Johan Reinhard states in his study of the site, Machu Picchu: The Sacred Center, “these mountains were often the first to be named in rituals […] and their permission is frequently sought before making offerings to the other mountains.” Salcantay lies due south of Machu Picchu. The peak Huayna Picchu and two other mountains, Pumasillo and Veronica, lie in the other cardinal directions. These peaks create a sacred boundary around the Incan city that indicates its ceremonial significance. In addition, the sacred Urumbamba River flows in a circle around the site, flowing in the same direction as the passage of the sun. Machu Picchu’s significance lies not only in its ancient ceremonial origins, but also its place as symbol of national heritage for citizens of Peru and as a way to keep public interest alive in preserving native peoples, their homes, and historic architecture in that region. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) marked Machu Picchu as a World Heritage site in 1983, and the organization continues to watch over the Peruvian government and others to ensure the preservation of the sacred region.

However, despites efforts to protect the site, the growth of tourism in the region has led to degradation of the land and delicate architecture of Machu Picchu. Earlier in July, Peru hosted a 100^th anniversary celebration of the site’s discovery, complete with fireworks and a laser light show. UNESCO objected to a celebration within the city itself, but the event drew so many visitors that conservationists feared overcrowding would lead to more ruin for the area surrounding the site, and therefore for the site itself. Erosion of pathways, destroyed vegetation, salt deposits from curious tourist hands on the stones, litter, and fumes from transportation in and out of the ruins leave the fragile ruins polluted and slowly falling apart.

The ideological battle between the damaging and the positive effects of tourism continues to this day. Unless some sort of sustainable system for tourism can be maintained, the increased accessibility of Machu Picchu to people could lead to some irreversible effects on one of the most significant archeological discoveries of mankind.

Preservation Efforts

Machu Picchu has become a hotspot for tourists in Peru, bringing in approximately 800,000 people as measured in 2010, up from 400,000 in 2003, and generating up to 70% of the country’s tourism revenue and $40 million a year for the nation’s economy. An average of 3-400 tourists visit the site each day, with a high of 1,500-2,000 in a higher tourist season. The UNESCO Management Plan, however, has stated that more than 917 visitors a day (and no more than 385 at any time) would lead to significant environmental decline. Peru’s National Institute of Culture gave the maximum carrying capacity of 2,000 visitors a day along with an increased entry fee in the early 2000s; the Peruvian government has capped the number of visitors to 2,500 a day.

A town at the base of the mountain, Aguas Calientes, supports the influx of tourists with a visitor center, hotels, shops, and restaurants. Three-hour train rides from Cuzco on Perurail, which have been operating since 1999, bring eager tourists into the site, and many people take the two to four-day-long hike on the Inca Trail into the city.  In addition, at the ruins themselves is one hotel, a museum, and overnight campsites.

Growth of tourism and related businesses in the past had resulted in overcrowding issues and unregulated tour operators. Conservation of the site is difficult due to the number of tourists and insufficient regulation.

In 2006, the mayor of the Convención province authorized the construction of a bridge from the village of Santa Teresa to Machu Picchu to help the town export goods as well as increase tourism in the area.  Although the government and other organizations warned her against it, as the danger to Machu Picchu due to increased automobile and tourist traffic would be increased, the mayor, Felia Castro, pushed the initiative through. The World Bank since then looked to find ways to mitigate the bridge’s detrimental affects by restricting automobile traffic. The controversy around the bridge’s construction depicts the fear of overcrowding and destruction to the ruins and the surrounding environment due to increased tourism.

Issues around Machu Picchu

The Inca people receive much attention due to the lost city they left behind. However, the uncontacted indigenous tribes of Peru do not get quite as much consideration.

According to a news story from Survival International, the Peruvian government is planning to grant access to the lands of native tribes in the Kugapakori-Nahua-Nanti reserve, 100 kilometers away from Machu Picchu, to oil and gas companies. Although it is true that such resources are exploited in order to generate energy for citizens throughout the country, such access allows these companies, with no permission from the tribes themselves, to exploit the lives of the natives who live in these lands.

Many have expressed their regret about the ironic fact that while the government celebrates the legacy of the Inca with a large celebration on the anniversary of the discovery of Machu Picchu, it allows the traditional lifestyle local indigenous peoples to fall apart.

Conclusion

In July 2007, Machu Picchu was elected one of the new Seven Wonders of the World by a popularity poll set up by the New7Wonders Foundation, which is controlled by the Swiss government. Machu Picchu survives not simply as one of the remarkable legacies of the Incan Empire, but also as a great illustration of a man-made city perfectly integrated into its sacred environment. Along with the current limitations on the number of tourists, other measures should be taken in order to protect this sacred site: perhaps implementing a public education program about the importance of the site and how to conserve it best, including signs along pathways and within the ruins that explain how to prevent damage by not touching the stones, more receptacles to take care of litter, and more people watching over the crowds. The Peruvian government, the tourism industry, and visitors themselves must work together to protect Machu Picchu while continuing to learn and benefit from its awe-inspiring setting. It is possible, but it will take diligence and compromise from all sides in order to make tourism at Machu Picchu truly sustainable.

In addition, care should be taken so that indigenous descendants of the Inca living around Machu Picchu also receive protection and have equal access to Machu Picchu.

I come as an orphan to you, moist with love.

I come without refuge to you, giver of sacred rest.

I come a fallen man to you, uplifter of all.

I come undone by disease to you, the perfect physician.

I come, my heart dry with thirst, to you, ocean of sweet wine.

Do with me whatever you will.

Panditraj Jagannatha

Ganges River at Varanasi, India --- Photo Credit: Måns Sjödahl

In this hymn from the collection of verses entitled Ganga Lahiri (trans: The Waves of Ganga) from the 17^th century, Brahmin poet Jagannatha expresses the divine inspiration and love he feels while he sits at the banks of the Ganges River in India. His lyrics display how the people of India see this holy site: as a mother, a place of rest and refuge, a healer, and a source of inspiration and, importantly, of purity. Several Hindu myths revolve around the Hindu goddess Ganga, most of which focus on her travel from Heaven to Earth and taking her place as the river; in this way, the river can be viewed as a direct connection to the Hindu divinities. Reverently addressed as Ma Ganga or Ganga Mata, the river is thought of as an all-welcoming mother, symbolizing life and fertility, especially since the banks of the river are one of the most agriculturally fertile in the world. Hindu devotees believe that water from the Ganges can purify their sins and help the deceased find their way to Heaven. Families will keep some of its water in their homes, feed the holy liquid to the dying or the sick in traditional medicines, and take pilgrimages to the Ganges River to swim or drink in it, as well as to release the ashes of their cremated deceased into its sacred waters. Over half a billion Hindus participate in Kumbh Mela, an important religious festival on the banks of the Ganges River, as well as many other such gatherings that revolve around its waters.

Kumbh Mela, Haridwar, India --- Photo Credit: Edson Walker

Pure Image, Impure Reality

Although so highly venerated, Ma Ganga has quickly become the opposite of its untainted and all-cleansing image. With India’s growing population, industrial, agricultural, and religious practices have steadily increased, adding a deadly taint to the river. The river’s water is used for the daily household needs of the roughly 300 million people that reside on the riverbanks, such as washing clothes, bathing, and cooking. Over 1.3 billion liters a day of sewage, as well as a large number of trash, food, and human and animal remains, from nearby populations pollute the river. 260 million liters of toxic waste from the hundreds of factories along the river, including hydrochloric acid, heavy metals, bleaches and dyes, pesticides, and other such hazardous chemicals, as well as agricultural runoff, including chemical fertilizers and pesticides such as DDT, easily find their way into the river. In addition, corpses from incomplete cremations and bodies whose families could not afford cremation can be found floating in the river. Cow carcasses, a sacred animal of Hindus, are found along the river as well. Furthermore, damming of the river and practices surrounding irrigation can add to the pollution.

Fecal-coliform counts in the water at Varanasi, a significant religious site on the banks of the river, were found to be 60,000 per 100 ml, and in other areas the counts go up to 1.5 million per 100 ml – a count of 50 per 100 means that the water quality is unsafe for safe bathing or drinking. Such pollution leads to water-borne diseases, such as cholera, hepatitis, typhoid, gastroenteritis, and dysentery. These pollutants, in addition, are carcinogenic, and also cause kidney and liver problems. Those humans and animals that frequent the river, whether out of need, devotion, or religious tradition, are left unprotected from these illnesses, and water-borne diseases are responsible for an estimated 80% of health problems in India.

Varanasi, India --- Photo Credit: Elsie Love

The Battle Thus Far

In 1985, the Indian government launched the Ganga Action Plan (GAP).  Utilizing a combination of sewage treatment plant installations, bans on particular pollutants, and fines for polluting industries, the plan hoped to treat 882 million liters a day of sewage and improve the water quality to the safe bathing standard. However, more than 20 years later in 2006, it was found that the GAP was behind schedule by over 13 years, having met only 39% of this target. Despite the sheer amount of money – $226 million – that has funded these projects, these past efforts on the government’s behalf were only able to create a few wastewater treatment centers, many of which have fallen prey to power failures.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2008 gave the Ganges River a national heritage status. That same year, his government created the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) and implemented Mission Clean Ganga, a project that hopes to stop pollution of the river by 2020, which will cost $1.5 billion.

The Sankat Mochan Foundation, founded by Veer Bhadra Mishra in Varanasi in 1982, is a grassroots-based organization, pushing for the cause of fully cleaning up the Ganges River. Mishra, both a Hindu priest and retired professor of hydraulics engineering, has tried to implement scientific-based systems to treat the water as well as work with locals to educate communities about the pollution.  Several other citizen-based or non-profit organizations have appeared in the past decade or so, and yet it will take a larger, countrywide effort to truly reach the desired goals.

The Latest Step

On June 14^th, the World Bank agreed to loan $1 billion to the Indian government to help finance Mission Clean Ganga, as well as aid the project with technical assistance. Although the NGRBA has a variety of strong members in fields ranging from finance, environment, power, and water resources, and the amount of funding is better than it had been for previous projects, many have expressed negative and skeptical opinions toward this new Ganges River Clean-Up attempt and the World Bank loan.

Shripad Dharmadhikary, coordinator of a center that analyzes water and energy issues, believes that because the plan primarily works on a top-down approach, it cannot truly work. In addition, Dharmadhikary states that the true problem surrounding the lack of reliable and usable water treatment and pollution prevention systems is not that there is not the infrastructure – it is that the Indian administration is not truly committed to working towards these goals; he believes this issue must be dealt with before real change can occur.

Varanasi, India --- Photo Credit: Elsie Love

Furthermore, others have voiced apprehension with the recent World Bank participation, as earlier funding from the Bank resulted in dams and other projects that have hurt the environment.

Mishra of the Sankat Mochan Foundation has worked in conjunction with the Berkeley, CA-based GO2 Water, Inc., founded by William Oswald and Bailey Green. The water and environmental technology company designs “Advanced Integrated Wastewater Pond Systems” (AIWPS), which are natural wastewater treatment plants that use a series of ponds with algae and specific bacterial environments to cleanse the water. AIWPS has an advantage over the currently established mechanical treatment plants in India in that it can overstep the electrical power deficiencies that hinder the older plants and it actually removes the fecal coliform from the water unlike the mechanical plants, which simply break down solids. In a conversation with Sacred Sites International, Bailey Green conveyed his concern that his project might not be accepted for funding, and, more importantly, that the money from the World Bank would not be used for the correct purpose. The Indian government system has been viewed as fairly bureaucratic, making projects such as cleaning up the Ganges River extremely difficult to make progress in, let alone complete. Those who wish to help have tried before and come against several obstacles, and this new project and new addition of money might not come as a boon – from past experience, others like Bailey Green prepare themselves for the rejection of their support and ideas.

Officials claim that the current project has a wider environmental scope and a focus on educating citizens, which could be viewed as a necessary change from the GAP. Yet the task continues to be ambitious. The separate projects under the envelope of Mission Clean Ganga – as well as the division of money between them – must be extremely well managed in order to make a lasting change to the Ganges River’s water quality.

Conclusion

Although there are primarily spiritual and traditional explanations for Ma Ganga’s purity, science has proved that her waters might actually be more special than other rivers’. It has been reported that the river’s water has anti-bacterial properties that give it oxygen levels 25 times greater than the levels in other rivers. However, with the vast amount of pollution being dumped into it, the Ganges River is losing this extraordinary quality. Along with health concerns and cultural preservation, this approaching loss adds to the need for India to find a long-term system to clean up the river.

However the Indian government decides to handle its clean-up and preservation of the sacred site that is the Ganges River, it must act quickly and efficiently if it hopes to save the most lives and have the river usable for domestic life or agriculture once more. Hopefully, with a combination of this loan, a well-organized government team, the right wastewater treatment systems, and the support of Indian citizens and Hindu devotees for strong community education and participation, Ma Ganga can finally be restored to her nurturing and purifying ways.

Rishikesh, India --- Photo Credit: Elsie Love

Sources

Kumar, Nitin. “Ganga The River Goddess – Tales in Art and Mythology.” Exotic India. Aug. 2003. Web.

Kung, Hoi Na. “The Ganges: India’s Holy River Fouled by Pollution.” Sacred Sites. Spring/Summer 2010, XX11 ed.: 5-7. Print.

Najar, Nida. “India Aims $1 Billion at Sacred but Filthy Ganges.” The New York Times. New York Times, 14 June 2011. Web.

Ramachandran, Sudha. “Murky Realities in Clean Ganges Initiative.” Asia Times Online. 2 July 2007. Web.

“River Ganga.” Gits4u. Ganapati Information Technology Services. Web.

Glen Cove Tule Reeds Photo by Sara Volkman

The Sacred Ground at Sogorea Te Saved!

The City of Vallejo and the GVRD signed Cultural and Settlement Agreements on July 22, 2011 with the Cortina Band of Wintun from Williams, in Colusa County and the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation located in the Capay Valley awarding them legal rights to oversee the Glen Cove – Sogorea Te site. The California Native American Heritage Commission identified the Yocha Dehe and Cortina tribes as the most likely descendants from the Glen Cove area, rather than the Ohlones or Miwoks who have been encamped in a vigil for 98 days at Sogorea Te – Glen Cove.

The Cultural Easement guarantees that the Cortina and Yocha Dehe will have legal oversight of all enterprises at the sacred burial site of Sogorea Te – Glen Cove. This represents the first Cultural Easement enacted under California Senate Bill 18, establishing a powerful legal precedent. The bill, which went into effect in March 2005, requires cities and counties to notify and consult with California Native American Tribes about proposed local land use developments that would adversely impact Traditional Tribal Cultural Places. The tribes, as part of the Cultural Easement Agreement, agreed to pay the City of Vallejo $100,000.

The agreement specifies the elimination of planned restroom facilities and the relocation of the proposed parking lot, in a downscaled form, to another area that will be rigorously tested to confirm that it is free of human remains and cultural artifacts. The current agreement does not preclude any lawsuits that could ensue over future disputes.

There is some concern over the vagueness of language in the agreement that would prevent grading on the western part of the site, however, Indians at the encampment expressed trust in the two tribes that had signed the agreement.

The signed agreements stipulate that the encampment of supporters must vacate the land at Glen Cove within 10 days. A closing ceremony will be held on July 30, 2011 with details to be announced, thus successfully concluding a 12-year battle to protect the sacred shellmound and burial grounds at Sogorea Te.

Yanomami boys inside a maloca - the village house- Brazil copyright Fiona Watson/Survival

We learn with the great spirits’

Photos and Copy Courtesy of Survival International

For the Yanomami of the Brazilian Amazon, the spirit world is a fundamental part of life. Every creature, rock, tree and mountain has a spirit.
Omama, our creator, made us think and talk with the soul of the forest, the soul of the mountain and with the soul of the moon, sun and stars, says shaman Davi Kopenawa, who describes here how Yanomami shamans look after the world.

The word, ‘shaman’, is thought to have originated with the Evenk people of Siberia, but shamans have a pivotal role in many tribal societies. Typically, they are men and women who specialize in communicating with the natural world and its spirits; people who have a heightened awareness of the divine and the intangible.

Shamans have many roles. They are variously healers and priests, custodians of their peoples’ sacred rituals, weather diviners, cosmologists, dream tellers and keepers of botanical knowledge.

Guided by spirits (xapiripë) and the wisdom of their ancestors, Yanomami shamans (xapiripë thëpë) command thunder storms and caution the winds. They prevent the sky from falling down and use their powers to ensure hunting successes, cure human diseases and put flight to hostile spirits.

The shamans give orders to the sun, and instruct the spirits to speak to the moon.
Our wisdom is different. Our knowledge is a different knowledge.

It is the wisdom of our shamanic spirits, of the Earth, which is very important for the survival of humanity.
Through dreams and trances, Yanomami shamans transcend the physical confines of their bodies and the limits of the human consciousness to commune with the xapiripë.

We Yanomami learn with the great spirits, the xapiripë. We learn to know the xapiripë, how to see them and listen to them. Only shamans – those who know the xapiripë – can see them, because they look like humans but are tiny as specks of sparkling dust and bright like light.
Their songs are powerful, and their thinking is straight.

Yanomami shamans inhale the yakoana powder, extracted from the bark of the virola tree, in order to enter a dream state. The powder is administered through a long horoma tube, traditionally made from the hollowed stem of a palm tree. This is how we make the spirits dance, says Davi.

There are many, many xapiripë, not just a few, but thousands, like stars. Some live in the sky, some live under the ground and others live in the high mountains which are full of forests and flowers. We call these sacred places ‘hutu pata’.
When the sun is high in the sky, the xapiripë sleep. At dusk, they begin to appear.
When we are sleeping, they are dancing.

Davi first saw xapiripë as a child, and continued to see them in his sleep as he grew up. Only when he became an adult did he ask to be initiated as a shaman.

When for the first time you sniff the powder produced from the yakoana tree, xapiripë spirits begin to gather around you.
First, you hear from afar their chants of happiness, faint as the hum of mosquitoes. Then you begin to see scintillating lights trembling up high, coming from every direction in the sky.

Gradually the spirits reveal themselves, advancing and retreating with very slow steps.
The xapiripë descend to us on threads as fine as a spider’s web.
They are beautiful, painted with bright colors and urucum (annatto).

Their armlets are decorated with macaw and parrot feathers. They dance very beautifully and sing differently. There are different songs: the song of the macaw, of the parrot, of the tapir, of the tortoise and of the eagle.

The xapiripë have danced for shamans since the very beginning of time, and they continue to dance today.
Their heads are covered with white hawk down, and they wear black bands made of monkey tails and turquoise cotinga feathers in their ears.
They dance in a circle, unhurriedly.

To the Yanomami, each person has an image-essence’, a double called a utupë, to which they are joined until death.
A utupë can present itself in the image of many different living creatures, including a bird, mammal or insect. There are also spirits of trees, waterfalls and wild honey.

One by one the spirits arrived. The toucan spirits arrived with their big ear sticks and bright red loin cloths, describes Davi. The hummingbird people arrived and flew around. The moka frog spirits were there with quivers of arrows on their backs. Then came the peccary spirits, the bat people and the spirits of the waterfall.
My soul began to shine.
All came and slung their hammocks in my chest.

The Yanomami believe the xapiripë came into existence when the rainforest was young.
Today, as the Amazon is deforested, Davi is fearful that the forest spirits will flee, which will have a devastating effect on the rainforest and ultimately on the planet.

Do not think that the forest is dead, just left there without reason, he says. If it were dead, we would no longer be alive.
It is living; it gives us life. And it has a very long breath of life; much longer than ours. With the breath of the spirit of the earth, the forest becomes beautiful, rain falls on it, and there is always wind.
It breathes, though you don’t notice it.

Yanomami shamans also enlist the help of xapiripë to cure human illnesses, using different medicinal plants to treat fevers, stomach-aches, muscular pains and other ailments. Diagnosing and detecting diseases takes years of shamanistic experience.

In general, every ailment has its cure, except for diseases that have been brought in by outsiders, to which the Yanomami have little immunity.
If the xapiripë didn’t exist, we would no longer be alive. The evil spirits would have devoured us long ago. They know about the illnesses that afflict us. They throw the disease far away, into the underworld.
And so they cure us.

By communing with and controlling the xapiripë, the Yanomami shamans are not only protecting their own community, but looking after the rest of the world as well. Davi believes that many powerful shamans are needed to control the planet.

We, the shamans, also work for you, the whites, he says. Our shamans know that our planet is changing. We know the health of the Amazon. We know that it is dangerous to abuse nature, and that when you destroy the rainforest, you cut the arteries of the future and the world’s force just ebbs away.

The sky is full of smoke because our rainforest is being logged and burnt. The rains come late, the sun behaves in a strange way. The lungs of the sky are polluted. The world is ill. The forest will die if it is destroyed by the whites.
Where will we go when we have destroyed our world?
When the planet is silent, how will we learn?
The wisdom of the Yanomami xapiripë is ancient.
We have kept the words of our ancestors inside us for a long time, and we continue to pass them to our children, says Davi.
So the words of the spirits will never disappear.

And their story has no end.

Maria Yanomami, Catrimani, Brazil copyright Fiona Watson/Survival

The Yanomami are one of the most numerous, and best-known, forest-dwelling tribes in South America. Their home is in the Amazon rainforest, among the hills that line the border between Brazil and Venezuela. After the creation of the 10 million hectare Yanomami park in 1992, independent medical staff were recruited to work alongside traditional Yanomami healers. This health initiative, Urihi – which was supported by Survival International– reduced the number of deaths by half.
In 2004, the Brazilian government took it over by decree. Spending was doubled, but disease rocketed. Some communities saw fatal cerebral malaria increase four-fold.

How you can help
Please write to the Brazilian government expressing your concern about the deterioration of the Yanomami’s health since the government’s National Health Foundation took over responsibility for delivering health care to the Yanomami.

HE President Dilma Rousseff
Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil
Gabinete do Presidente
Palácio do Planalto
Praça dos Três Poderes
70150-900
Brasilia DF
Brazil

Your Excellency,

I am extremely concerned about the Yanomami people. Over 1,000 goldminers are working illegally on their land, polluting the environment and introducing fatal diseases to the Indians. The government funded Yanomami health care programme is in chaos and doctors and vital medicines are not reaching the communities. Yanomami are starting to die of diseases.

Many Yanomami oppose Congress’s plans to open up large-scale mining on their land and have not been adequately informed or consulted about the proposals.

I urge you to uphold the Constitution and remove the miners from the Yanomami territory, and resolve the health crisis as a matter of urgency. I also urge you and your government to prohibit any form of mining on their land as the impacts will be disastrous for such an isolated people.

Yours sincerely,

Building at Msoura

We were recently contacted by an artist, Youssef el Yedidi,  working in Morocco with a group of artists who gather annually at the stone circle known as Msoura, to celebrate the solstices and equinoxes. Youssef was concerned about a wall being constructed around the circle which he believed would obstruct the solar alignments and about a structure being built next to the standing stone circle.

Aerial View of Msoura Stone Circle & Tumulus

The ring of stones, dating to the Neolithic period, includes approximately 168 out of 175 which were  believed to have originally existed. For more information on the alignments visit the Lost Cities & Remote Places blog. There are major astronomical alignments corresponding to the winter and summer solstices and the fall and spring equinoxes. The stone circle is one of the greatest in the world and to date, it has been unprotected without direct management, so Youssef’s concern over building close to the circle was well founded.

Youssef met with the Minister of Culture, Larbi Mesbahi, in Larache, Morocco and learned that the building going up next to the circle will be a management center with interpretive displays and a gallery. The wall being constructed around the circle will be only 50 cm of stone, designed to stabilize the circle and prevent further damage. The height of the new wall will not interfere with the alignments!

Yakutat Bumpersticker: "I don't care what the Mining Law of 1872 says, the Yakutat Forelands are not For Sale"

The U. S. Forest Department and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have taken over management of ancestral Alaskan Native Yakutat Tlingit sacred grounds known as the Yakutat Forelands, a complex landscape comprised on wetlands, old-growth rain forests, ancient sand dunes and glacier moraines covering 50 miles south of Yakutat to Dry Bay and Glacier Bay National Park.

The Yakutat Forelands contain ancestral village sites, burials grounds and traditional hunting and fishing sites. The Yakutat can no longer bring their deceased to traditional burial grounds on U.S. Forest Department – BLM land and they are deprived of hunting and fishing in traditional places.

The U.S. Forest Department and the BLM manage the land with a mixed use policy meaning permits can be granted for mineral extraction. Furthermore, the Mining Law of 1872 gives the U.S. government bureaus top priority to mine the Forelands without the consent of the Yakutat Tlinglit Tribe.

In 2008 and 2009, a mining company examined 92 square miles of the Forelands for mineral exploration and core-sampling. Mining would have an extremely detrimental effect of cultural and sacred sites and on the salmon habitat which provides a primary food source for the Yakutat.

The mine was widely protested and, in 2010, the mineral claims were forfeited by the BLM due to lack of payment of mining fees owed by the mining company. This has created an opportunity for the Yakutat to pursue ways to protect their ancestral grounds.

What can you do::
Stay informed about the Yakutat Forelands cultural sites by contacting Judy Ramos with the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe at: jramos@ytttribe.org or by phone: (907) 784-3238.

Visit the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council website or contact Guy Archibald with the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council at: guy@seacc.org or by phone: (907) 586-6942.

Glen Cove Shellmound Occupation

Sacred Sites International nominated the Glen Cove Shellmound and Sacred Burial Site, or Sogorea Te as the site is known in Ohlone, to the American Institute of Architects East Bay’s 2011 Endangered Historic Places List. Sacred Sites International attended to awards ceremony on Wednesday, May 25 at the AIA East Bay, Oakland office. SSIF invited Karkin Ohlone descendant Corrina Gould to talk about the site and its importance as a cultural landscape and sacred sites. There is a photo display of of Sogorea Te and other Endangered Historic Places at the AIA East Bay Office in Oakland.

Corrina Gould

Chanting Tibetan Monks

The 2011 Himalayan Fair was held in Berkeley’s Live Oak Park on May 14 & 15th. Sacred Sites International had a table with information about our projects, sample newsletters, and brochures. We met some great folks and some of our members stopped by to say hello.

This year, the Fair opened with purification sutras being chanted by Tibetan Monks, sanctifying the event. It was a windy blustery weekend but that didn’t keep the crowds away who came for the great entertainment, food and arts and crafts from the Himalayan region.

Fair goers enjoying the sun & the entertaiment

Masks for Sale

People always enjoy the food at the Himalayan Fair. There was barbecued chicken, curries and other Indian food, plus the crowd favorite Tibetan momos.

Momos Cooking

Crafts for Sale at Fair Booth