Voices from the Road: A Community Listening Project

Four years ago I was honored to be one of 400 folks from around the country to attend Krista Tippett’s “On Being Gathering.

People from many walks of life, ethnicities and ages came together to explore how to create civil dialogue in our society which has become so polarized.  Several months ago, I began my own effort to do this with what I call “Voices from the Road.”  The “road” is called Cerillos in Santa Fe, New Mexico and it is like many other hugely busy streets in America, filled with fast food establishments, a church, big box stores, people experiencing homelessness, upper income folks seeking healthy foods…it is in effect a cross section of Santa Fe.

I decided that instead of traveling thousands of miles to walk Spain’s Camino de Santiago I would walk Cerillos Road in search the stories that make up our community.  I suspected they would be stories of loss and despair, hope and transformation, laughter and tears.  I am going by bus and foot, meeting people on the streets, in workplaces and all along the way.  I’ll be posting some of these stories here along with photos, but if you’d like to be on a regular mailing list, please let me know by using the contact form in this post.

 

Listening to learn…  In addition to the On Being Gathering, I was inspired by Andrew Forsthoefel and his travels by foot across the country, shared in his book, Walking to Listen. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/30038862-walking-to-listen

30038862

 

Story of the Real Thanksgiving

It’s long overdue but the real story of the first Thanksgiving is finally being heard by a much wider audience.  Take a look at this article from the Smithsonian Magazine:  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/thanksgiving-myth-and-what-we-should-be-teaching-kids-180973655/

This is not to diminish the fact that despite it all, there is much to be thankful for at this time of year.  May you be healthy and happy.

Ousamequin and Carver

Tewa Women United Healing Oasis Garden

 

Amaranth!  Earth Walks volunteers helped at the Tewa Women United Healing Oasis Garden this growing season.  It was a growing experience for everyone, learning not only about traditional foods and how many are also used as medicine but how indigenous people of the region are facing serious environmental contamination from the nearby Los Alamos National Laboratory where the atomic bomb was first developed.  Despite a long history of environmental justice issues, the people of the region are courageous and resilient.  But they depend on support from allies on all levels.

We hope you’ll join us for future volunteer work throughout the U.S. Southwest.  Earth Walks is located on Tewa Pueblo land that is now known as Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Doug Conwell  Earth Walks

 

Diane Reyna of Taos Pueblo: Reflections on Covid & Other Matters

REFLECTIONS ON COVID AND OTHER MATTERS
Interactive Online Earth Walks
Monday, June 28 2021 6 p.m.
Free or by Donation

Limited Enrollment

From anxiety and stress to inspiring courage and spiritual strength, Diane Reyna, Taos/Ohkay Owinge Pueblo artist, shares a series of drawings that reflect her thoughts on the events and situations that occurred during the COVID-19 lockdown last year.  With pen and paper, hope, faith, and love, Diane created the drawings between March 16, 2020 and March 16, 2021. The ink drawings embody her experience in all its dimensions, including the cultural traditions that helped her navigate the year. She will guide participants through a hands on activity that will offer an avenue for individual insight and possibilities for the future.

Due to the nature of this event, there will be a limited number of participants. Register as soon as possible by contacting:  info@earthwalks.org  There is no charge, but a donation is appreciated. Everyone is welcome!

Diane was raised at her father’s village of Taos Pueblo in Northern New Mexico; her mother was from the Pueblo of Ohkay Owingeh. She is an experienced facilitator, college instructor, and trainer. She retired from the Institute of American Indian Arts in 2015, where she provided comprehensive support and services to first year students. Prior to working at the Institute, she spent 20 years as a videographer, producer, and director in the field of video news and documentary production. She directed the PBS documentary, “Surviving Columbus”, which was awarded the George Foster Peabody in 1993. She has spent most of her adult life in engaged in the arts, education, and facilitation.

Watch Surviving Columbus online
Late one afternoon in May 1539, the world of the Indigenous Pueblo people changed forever when Estebanico – a Black slave from Morocco – and his 300 retinue of Mexican Indians marched into the Zuni city of Hawikuh. Through wild tales and exaggerations, Hawikuh would be transformed into one of the fabled Seven Golden Cities of Cibola, and a year later, Coronado and his soldiers would wreak destruction and violence on this peaceful world in search of non existent gold. Surviving Columbus is a search for the Pueblo people’s view of these first encounters with European civilization, told exclusively through the voices and visions of the Pueblo people themselves..
Due to the nature of this event, there will be a limited number of participants. Register as soon as possible by contacting:  info@earthwalks.org  There is no charge, but a donation is appreciated. Everyone is welcome!

Cultivating a Garden of Peace and Justice

Beata Tsosie-Pena.jpg

Free online event Thursday, May 20, 2021  5 p.m.

How do a people who have endured generations of oppression survive?  It’s a question Beata Tsosie-Pena of Santa Clara Pueblo and El Rito is often asked.

Historical trauma and inequities and living in the shadow of a nuclear production facility motivated Beata to work in environmental health and justice with the non-profit Tewa Women United program for over a decade.

“These the are things our people have faced. But that doesn’t negate our strength and power,” Beata said.  “We are resilient.”  Her activist concerns led her to become a full-spectrum doula and breastfeeding support counselor as well as infant massage specialist. Even her poetry reflects a deep commitment to the land and its people and is evidenced in the Healing Foods Oasis Garden which she coordinates.  The Garden is a project of TWU and the City of Espanola.

Resiliency—that’s at the heart of the many stories that are lived and shared at the Garden.  On Thursday, May 20 at 5 p.m., Beata will conduct a free public online storytelling and dialogue which will highlight the collaboration between art, science and indigenous wisdom.  It’s a collaboration that offers a model of sustainability critical in this Anthropocene era of climate change, she believes.

(To register, contact:  earthwalks1@yahoo.com)                     New Mexico's Community Garden Revolution

The Garden is both a symbol of the traditional Tewa Pueblo values of place and the teachings of water and a grassroots act of prayer, ceremony, song—as well as resistance and survival.  “It’s about building the beloved community,” she says.  For her, that community is both local and global.

Heirloom seeds hand-harvested at the Garden are donated to the Espanola Public Library next door and available to the public. Seeds are kept in a refurbished card catalog cabinet. After picking which types to grow, patrons fill out a “seed caregiver sign-up” form and become part of a growing cadre of those planting and caring for heirloom plants.

Children participating are taught how to use the library and learn about local farming practices.  It’s ecological literacy, what Beata calls “voices of the plant elders and relatives.”

The online presentation will be followed by a series of volunteer days at the garden for those who wish to help.

The event is being sponsored by Earth Walks, a cross cultural education program based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, original homeland of the Tewa Pueblo indigenous people.    https://earthwalks.org/   To register, contact earthwalks1@yahoo.com

                                     Environmental Health and Justice Program | Tewa Women United

 

Earth Walks Event Online Saturday December 12, 2020

Nothing Is Falling Apart
An online Earth Walks event with Wolf Martinez 
December 12, 2020  Saturday 2-4 p.m.

“JOY is a gateway through which Spirit comes rushing,” says  Wolf Martinez, a Two-Spirited ceremonialist and practitioner of healing arts who will lead the Earth Walks online event December 12, 2020.  “When we open our hearts and are with each other in a meaningful place, we are in the language of relationship to all life.”

That sums up Wolf’s focus and intention for the event.  It will include sacred song, prayer, experiential exercises for deep centering–all to help participants welcome life consciously, “to drink it in” as he says.  Each person will be invited to offer a positive intention of their own, if they wish, and there will be time for dialogue with Wolf and other participants.

Wolf has studied with indigenous, shamanic and Asian traditional leaders over 25 years.  He teaches internationally, focusing on “courageous listening,” right relationship with self and others and all aspects of nature, seen and unseen.

The event will be via Zoom, which should be downloaded onto your device.  Free will affordable donation. For more information and to register, please email:  info@earthwalks.org

Nothing Is Falling Apart——Online EarthWalks Event December 12, 2020 with Wolf Martinez

Nothing Is Falling Apart
An online Earth Walks event with Wolf Martinez 
December 12, 2020  Saturday 2-4 p.m.

“JOY is a gateway through which Spirit comes rushing,” says  Wolf Martinez, a Two-Spirited ceremonialist and practitioner of healing arts who will lead the Earth Walks online event December 12, 2020.  “When we open our hearts and are with each other in a meaningful place, we are in the language of relationship to all life.”

That sums up Wolf’s focus and intention for the event.  It will include sacred song, prayer, experiential exercises for deep centering–all to help participants welcome life consciously, “to drink it in” as he says.  Each person will be invited to offer a positive intention of their own, if they wish, and there will be time for dialogue with Wolf and other participants.

Wolf has studied with indigenous, shamanic and Asian traditional leaders over 25 years.  He teaches internationally, focusing on “courageous listening,” right relationship with self and others and all aspects of nature, seen and unseen.
                      
The event will be via Zoom, which should be downloaded onto your device.  Free will affordable donation. For more information and to register, please email:  info@earthwalks.org

Finding Balance: Concha Garcia Allen in Santa Fe New Mexico

FINDING BALANCE IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

Saturday, November 14, 2020 
2-4 p.m.
Online EarthWalks Event with Concha Garcia Allen

How to move through the minutes, the hours and the days, especially when there can be fear, anger, anxiety and depressing loneliness? Where is safety to be found? The most helpful question is how do we rediscover our own anchors, resources and strengths within?  Finding that, we can better develop good relationships with our fellow two-leggeds even as we search for our own being and purpose.

Concha Garcia Allen  Concha, a  curandera (healer) and Zapotec native originally from Oaxaca, Mexico will offer a powerful way to rediscover our personal resilience and strength, beginning with this introductory two hour online session. 
Concha was trained by Guadalupe de La Cruz Rios, a “Mara’akame” (Medicine Woman) of the Huichol tradition and her four “great aunts” in traditional practices. With over 30 years of experience, she is also a licensed mental health counselor, licensed massage therapist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner.

“We are beautifully created Measured beings and our Movement blends, flows, moves with the All,” said Concha.  “In this beginning workshop and those to come, I will combine dance, ritual, prayer, Somatic Experiencing and body sense-fullness to help you experience your own unique relationship to the stars, planets, the sacred elements, the guardians of the four directions and most importantly the relationship to your own sacred measurement. This is an invitation to mark your unique place and time on earth and to remember your positive contribution to the balance and harmony within the universe and fellow beings.”

JOIN THE DANCE!

Contact Earth Walks info@earthwalks.org for details on how to sign up, the affordable sliding scale donation and with any questions you may have.  You will need to have Zoom on your computer or phone to participate.

About Earth Walks
Earth Walks is a cross-cultural, environmental education program offering its services for the past 20 years. It is located on indigenous Pueblo land now known as Santa Fe, New Mexico. The program offers  experiences that offer a bridge between ancestral traditions and contemporary life. Participants are welcomed as family and friends into villages, homes and communities to enjoy a variety of activities. Website and blog: https://earthwalks.org/  Coordinator of Earth Walks is Douglas Conwell info@earthwalks.org

SUMMER SOLSTICE GATHERING JUNE 21-22, 2019

BALANCE:  A SUMMER SOLSTICE GATHERING 
June 21-22, 2019

What a difference a day and a night can make!

Summer solstice sunrise.

Come join Earth Walks for a restorative and energizing overnight journey with the earth, sky, water and spirit at Bodhi Manda Zen Center, Jemez Spring New Mexico. You are invited to help co-create an alchemical experience with whatever you wish to bring—music, movement, outstanding jokes or simply your presence.

While not a meditation retreat, participants will be welcome to join Abbess Hosen and Bodhi community members in early morning meditations.Here’s a sample of what some of those attending are offering as possible elements to this magical Solstice brew—all optional:

  • Simple stress relieving practices for our overworked adrenals
  • A 3-minute reading by a published author’s from her book with a short dialogue on the uses of denial
  • Evening musical jam session with guitars, dulcimer, drums, voices and movement
  • A step into a 22-inch crystal bowl with sacred sound vibration to clear the body, mind and spirit for more presence and vital life force.
  • Visiting the site of the 700 year old village of Giusewa, built by ancestors of the present-day Jemez Pueblo. Site staff share this history through the words of the Jemez people.
  • Volunteer time in the flourishing garden with Bodhi “Woofers” (staff who are part of the Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms)
  • Following the retreat, an afternoon hike in the Jemez Mountains

Most importantly, there will be time for quiet reflection. Hot springs along the Jemez River at Bodhi beckon to participants night and day.  If you need time alone at the gathering, you are warmly encouraged to do so whenever the spirit moves.  Balance is the theme for this Solstice retreat.

Plans:  Departure from Santa Fe at 9 a.m., Friday June 21, 2019. Travel by carpool. Return, following the noon meal, Saturday, June 22.  Participants are welcome to linger longer and stay another night if they wish. Cost: Only $110 per night (includes lodging and four delicious meals).

Registration:  Due by June 14.  Contact Earth Walks earthwalks1@yahoo.com  (A limited number of private rooms may be available at slightly higher cost.)