03/31/21 - Stephany Seay and an international gathering of Indigenous knowledge & healing featuring voices of elders Wicasa Wakan Richard Moves Camp (Oglala Lakota) and Angel Tipan Santillan (Quiche)

In this episode of “First Voices Radio,” Tiokasin welcomes back Stephany Seay. Stephany was born in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and raised in Virginia. She became aware of this culture’s capacity for mindless destruction as the beaches and forests she grew up in were destroyed by so-called development. Stephany has been an earth activist since the late 1980s, has apprenticed as a wildlife rehabilitator, and is a student of horses. She started following the work of the Buffalo Field Campaign in 1997. In January 2004, she moved to Montana and has been on the front lines with the Buffalo Field Campaign ever since. Stephany has been a member of Deep Green Resistance since 2015 and stands in solidarity with those—human and non-human—who want to bring an end to industrial civilization and the culture that is killing our planet. 

In the second half: On May 7, 2020 an international online gathering and sharing of Indigenous knowledge and healing was held with Original Nations of the Western Hemisphere in light of the ancient prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor, which is of great impact and sometimes harsh reality with Mother Earth. This gathering was called the International Day of Blessing for Mother Earth, a call to action and international invitation to connect through and with Indigenous Elders and knowledge keepers with an intention to learn, grow, heal and return to Wotawacin Oṫokohe (completion of our blue energy). Claude Tokala Hocokan Waokiya Ob Mani Two Elk feels the urgency of our moment and has decided to do something about it. Animated by the knowledge of his ancestors and spiritual mentors and working closely with psychologist Dr. Jami Bartgis (Cherokee Nation), Tokala is on a global mission to heal us all and our planet of our collective traumas. Tokala and Jami, with partners from North, Central and South America, have started a network of international collaborators and volunteers dedicated to integrally improving health, well-being, and equity for Indigenous peoples of the Americas. By supporting Indigenous interventions across borders, through prayer, activism, art, education, and outreach, they are working toward the unity of the people and for everyone’s return to a healthful self and a healthy environment. This pandemic and its message to the planet has underscored the urgency of their work and they are gathering to offer blessings for the healing of our Mother (Earth) and her people.

We hear first from the Wicasa Wakan Richard Moves Camp of the Oglala Lakota in Pine Ridge, South Dakota and then we will move to the southern continent to Ecuador and the Quiche Elder Angel Tipan Santillan.

“First Voices Radio” would like to thank Claude Two Elk and JJ Lind for making the audio of Elders available, and to the interpreters, editors and Supporting Partners: Immediate Medium Indigenous Ways, Emily Johnson/Catalyst, International Indian Treaty Conference, InnerCHANGE WORKS, Collapsable Hole (USA), One Fire Associates, LLC (USA), and Oklahoma Health Sciences Center."

Production Credits:
Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Lakota), Host and Executive Producer
Liz Hill (Red Lake Ojibwe), Producer
Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Studio Engineer and Audio Editor, WIOX 91.3 FM, Roxbury, NY

Music Selections:
1. Song Title: Tahi Roots Mix (First Voices Radio Theme Song)
Artist: Moana and the Moa Hunters
CD: Tahi (1993)
Label: Southside Records (Australia and New Zealand)
(00:00:44)

2. Poem Title: Buffalo Mountain
Artist: ElizaBeth Hill
CD: Hearts of the Nations (1999)
Label: N/A
(00:28:00)

3. Song Title: Justice
Artist: Bruce Cockburn
CD: Inner City Front (1981)
Label: True North Records
(00:50:32)

4. Song Title: Just Another Holy Man
Artist: Floyd Red Crow Westerman
This is a cover of “They Killed Him” by Kris Kristofferson from his 1986 album, “Repossessed” (Mercury).
(00:55:15)