Tag: Francis Day

After parking and walking and lugging, I approach Agape, hear the drum, then smell the sweet grass.  I am smudged by a greeter.  I spot the tepee, placed strategically at

A weapon of words is consumed by the flame;/a document to dust, denouncing its claim./Out of ashes now grows a tree;/ a pine for peace, a transformation we long to

I am a member of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians of southwest MI.   Water is important to the life of all humankind, one of the first elements we

“I was touched by the local, tribal stories and the women’s prayer ritual when the men were called, as in an archetype, to be the protectors of women in the

On the Friday before St. Francis Day, I rolled down the familiar final stretch of Greenwich Road with my friend Ryan Elwood, excited to arrive at Agape after a long ride from

To sum up what I took from St. Francis Day at Agape would be the word powerful, a strong and fitting word to describe how we as Native people were

Wounded Knee Massacre I stopped a few miles south of Porcupine, where Chief Big Foot, suffering from pneumonia and starving, along with his 100 or so lightly armed Hunkpapa and

When I heard of an opportunity to sing and drum at a gathering being held for Standing Rock in Hardwick, MA, I jumped at the opportunity. When I arrived, I

We have experienced conflict and oppression for over 300 years.  Our children were encouraged to drop out of school, so that generation upon generation became weary of survival, and afraid