91st Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Social Science Meeting

1. “Sacred Activism” in the Face of Colonialism: The International Council of the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers 91st Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Social Science Meeting The Transformative Power of the Social Sciences March 17, 2011 Las Vegas, Nevada Frances Reanae McNeal Mentor Dr. AnaLouiseKeating

2. Overview • The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers’ Background • Embracing a Worldview of Interrelatedness • Healing the Global Community through Sacred Activism • Imagining the Practical Applications of Sacred Activism

3. The Grandmothers The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, composed of healers from Alaska, North, South, and Central America; Africa, and Asia---practices what they describe as “sacred activism” to counteract the negative impact of colonialism on indigenous people globally, the inhabitants of our global community, and the earth. They define their sacred activism as “We pray and take action.”

4. Dualistic and Oppositional Binary Thinking in Western Dominant Culture • Dualistic (human/divine; matter/spirit; humans/ nature) • Relational paradigms of us/them, superior/inferior, good/ bad, and white/black • Relational dualistic paradigms that “others” people or groups that are not a part of the dominant group • Domination of Nature • Emphasis on Individuals/Individualism • Linear view of history

5. For Example “In less than one hundred years, driven by our desire for wealth, comfort, and material goods, we have exploited and depleted vast resources, upsetting the delicate natural balance of our planet. Respect for our Interdependence is cruelly lacking, and we have lost all humility before Creation. Because of the arrogance, greed and indifference of so many of the Earth’s children, we have reached the end of living and the beginning of survival, the Grandmothers say. Self-indulgence and delusional materialism have brought us to the brink of self-destruction.”

6. A Worldview of Interrelatedness • Holistic, nonbinary, and relational • Interrelatedness (kinship among all levels: animals, humans, land, spirits, etc. ) • Holistic, harmony, and balance • Nondualistic view of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ ‘Evil’: illness, being out of harmony, rather than radically opposed to good • Emphasis on communities, not individuals • Nonhierarchical

7. Community Grandmother Tsering is also deeply troubled by the killing and destruction on the planet today. She feels the main reasons for not seeking peace within are the tremendous competition we feel with each other and that individuals hold themselves to be most important. Grandmother Tsering of Tibet

8. We Are All RelatedWhat I see is that unity is what the world must strive for now. In this unity form, everything comes together again. All our relations come together again in circles of people, who are at peace again with themselves and also patient with the ones who have not arrived at such peace yet. These circles need to be formed everywhere, so that we can become one again on the whole planet, in this visible world and the invisible world.Grandmother Julieta of Mexico

9. Interdependence Everything is sacred, the Grandmothers remind us. And at the seed of everything is relations. That anyone is really separate from anyone else or anything that is happening in the world is an illusion, they say. This is true for all the Kingdoms of nature, as well as for humanity. Every time a tree is felled in the Amazon, a tree in Africa responds. The Grandmothers

10. Research Questions • How can adopting a relational worldview reconcile global conflict? • What are the ways that sacred activism creates space for communities to heal (especially communities that have been marginalized)? • How does dualistic and oppositional binary thinking facilitated through colonialism impede our ability as a global community to get past structures of inequality and oppression? • How can the Grandmothers’ transnational grassroots movement create peace in our global relations? • How can a worldview of interrelatedness influence how we relate with the earth and non-humans in more humane and productive ways?

11. Imagining Practical Applications of Sacred Activism to Global issues • The Environment • The Animals • Resolving International Conflicts • Healing Historical Wounds • Creating Relationships Where All People Have a Place of Honor

12. The Grandmothers Mission Statement WE, THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF THIRTEEN INDIGENOUS GRANDMOTHERS, represent a global alliance of prayer, education and healing for our Mother Earth, all Her inhabitants, all the children, and for the next seven generations to come. We are deeply concerned with the unprecedented destruction of our Mother Earth and the destruction of indigenous ways of life. We believe the teachings of our ancestors will light our way through an uncertain future. We look to further our vision through the realization of projects that protect our diverse cultures: lands, medicines, language and ceremonial ways of prayer and through projects that educate and nurture our children.

13. Special Thanks Special thanks to my mentor Dr. AnaLouise Keating for her assistance with my research. Special thanks to Giovanni Dortch for assisting me in getting this presentation together for the conference. Special thanks to the wise women circle (Camilla Davis, Susana Ramirez, Berenice Dimas, and Shamethia Web) who have assisted me with presentations and continue to support me in my research on The Grandmothers!