By Danny Beaton (Turtle Clan Mohawk)

In Memory of Alicja Rozanska 

“Earth, Air, Fire, and Water are the same forces that human beings are made of,” our Elders teach us while we are still young. Mother Earth gives us human beings everything we need to survive, but we must always take care of our sacred Mother Earth. The love, respect, and peace that our Elders brought to our sacred ceremonies was the most significant thing we could do to protect and honor Mother Earth and our children’s children’s future. At the same time, we gathered every year to give Thanks to Creation and Natural Life back in the day. We, humans, are all witnessing the great beauty and turmoil we are all living through, a sacred journey and experience.

My own life began to really change once I attended the Traditional Circle of Indian Elders and Youth Gathering at Janet-Yet-Si-Blue McClouds’ Sappa Dawn Centre in Yelm, Washington, Tulalip Reservation, around 1990. Many of our Elders were still alive back then and our circle was strong and clear. Our Elders were speaking loud about everything that was affecting our people and communities across the Great Turtle Island. The most important thing we talked about was the protection of sacred Mother Earth and the devastation that was happening everywhere. I was still a young man, around 40 years old, and was finding my way as a native environmental activist with  Indigenous People across North, South, and Central America, focusing on Mother Earth’s protection and her defense as best we could, and we were all gathering because we all knew we were on a spiritual journey with our ancestors guiding us in unity for healing and to give Thanks. But realistically, I was learning to be a real human being with real Elders and teachers. Every day, we would wake to begin the Sunrise Ceremony. Chief Leon Shenandoah told me that year: “Danny, our greatest strength is to be gentle,” and he was one of the gentlest men I had ever met. This gathering was full of Elders like him: how could we not find great peace, all of us together in unity, being there to give Thanks throughout our time together? Janet was married to Don McCloud of Nisqually Washington both were heroes in the American Indian Movement’s struggles, especially for Indigenous fishing rights along the Nisqually River a source of food for the Tribe and surrounding villages. In all my years of following our sacred gatherings and ceremonies, the spiritual leaders and Elders, I learned from had the highest respect for the McCloud family and Janet was considered a great leader to our sacred circle and people across North America. Janet was the founder of many Indigenous organizations including the Indigenous Women’s Network, and she co-founded Women of All Red Nations.

Mac McCloud and Danny Beaton at Montana Ceremonies.

Janet was a teacher to me. She gave me advice and instructions on where to find medicines and when it was respectful to speak out in our sacred councils. Soon, I was hanging out with her son Mac and could feel the power of Mac’s great wisdom, which was passed onto him from his father, a war veteran and survivor of many battlefields for the United States Army. Janet’s wisdom was in Mac, too, as well as her vision of being a real human being and being connected to Indigenous cultures with Mother Earth as the giver of all life with the universal forces. Everything I have learned from our Traditional Circle of Elders and Youth includes the McCloud family and people of the great Nisqually Tribe and Tulalip Peoples. Janet was a descendant of the Great Chief Seattle of the Duwamish and Suquamish Peoples. She was involved directly with her husband, Don, in advocating for Indigenous fishing rights, Native spirituality, and human rights. The years I was lucky enough to spend with Janet and Mac were fundamental in my creativity and strength to become a better human being.

Chief Oren Lyons and Elder Bob Staffanson, Founders of the Traditional Circle of Indian Elders and Youth Circle. Photo by Danny Beaton.

The Traditional Circle of Elders and Youth was like a grassroots coalition of spiritual leaders from across Canada and the USA, like a United Nations of Indians and one of the most unique Indigenous Organizations in the world. Bob Staffanson and Chief Oren Lyons were really the two who brought this sacred circle to fruition. Native Elders supported by non-Natives with a goal to restore and build Indigenous Tribes and nations back to their traditional culture of values and traditional ceremonies. In those early years of my journey with our circle and spiritual Elders, I was learning from many different leaders what was affecting their communities and environment. Mother Earth was always the most important thing to us in our ceremonies because we knew we could not survive without the gifts that sacred Mother Earth provided.

When I think back to our Elders in our Sacred Circles, it could not get any better for us in those days. But my greatest hope is that our unity and love will grow like the sacred fires we build whenever we get a chance to see that healing in the sacred fire and each other with the offerings we can make and continue what our ancestors had worked for. Every day, we wake up to the natural world because everything in the sky is as natural as it can be. We can connect by talking to Brother Sun and Grandmother Moon, giving Thanks as we see and admire the immense beauty in the Sky World, saying: “Thank you, Brother. Thank you, Grandmother, for giving us life here on Mother Earth. It’s these little things that we do with our minds that make us human beings. When the wind is blowing in our faces, and the air is clean, we use our Good Mind to say, “Thank you, air. Thank you, winds of the four directions, for giving us human beings life on this Sacred Mother Earth.” It’s all these thanks and respect that make us real human beings as we grow older on our sacred journey throughout our lifetime.

All people on this Sacred Mother Earth need to come together now to use their minds in a good way. Using the Good Mind, as Tom Porter says, is the way to peace, unity, equality, and power, and we all need to work together. Tom says: “We need to get to know who Mother Earth is all through our lifetime, and she will get to know us too because she is a Sacred Lady.” Everything that our Elders passed onto us in those ceremonies is still in our spirits, minds, and even bodies, but we need to look for the medicine and find it, even if it means lighting a Sacred Fire to seek help.

Being a human being, in the words of John Trudell, Lakota political activist and poet, is: “Knowing that we come from Mother Earth means our DNA, it means we are all indigenous to the land, we cannot deny our connection to Mother Earth. The real problem is that we now live in a time when it’s harder to know who we are, and when it’s harder to know who we are, it’s harder to understand our purpose, and when it’s harder to understand our purpose, it’s harder to deal with anything.” John Trudell, in my mind, is the most underrated Indigenous teacher and educator who has shared and come to understand the complexities of reality in living in North America and being a human being and Indigenous.

“Our Gatherings at Janet McCloud’s were of the most importance,” said Chief Oren Lyons. “We remind Indigenous Peoples of the world that it is fundamental to our survival to maintain our traditional ceremonies and keep our spiritual side of life going. As a leader, I ask you all to pray for world peace and harmony because the world is out of balance. I bring greetings from the Onondaga Nation. I want to thank The Haudenosaunee Nationals Lacrosse Team for coming in third in the world, and I have never been prouder of our men and women teams! We send our gratitude to the indigenous leaders who put their energy, sweat, and tears into protecting our Sacred Mother Earth. We Haudenosaunee still live under The Great Law of Peace, and we follow the Good Mind, peace, equality, justice, and the Power of the Good Mind. We understand the importance of Thanksgiving to the natural forces of the natural world. Our women and Clan Mothers continue to protect our sacred waters, Mother Earth’s blood, but you can see the water is not being respected in the world, so this, too, is a very big concern of our people. Thank you all for listening. On behalf of the Indigenous people of Turtle Island, Dayhnato.”

Again, thank you all for listening.

Top photo: Janet McCloud top row second from right next to Audrey Shenandoah. Photo by Danny Beaton.

–Danny Beaton (Mohawk Turtle Clan) is the son of Lois Clause, whose grandparents were Edna Beaver and Freeman Clause of the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario Canada. In 1990, Chief Oren Lyons, Faith Keeper of the Onondaga Nation, Wolf Clan, brought Beaton into the Traditional Circle of Elders & Youth, a coalition of grassroots Native American Elders & Youth who gather to maintain traditional ceremonies and council. Beaton has worked intensely with Crees, Innu, Apache, Seminoles, Ojibways, and Indigenous people from the Amazon Rainforest to protect their cultures and traditional territories. Beaton has received grants from the Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council to study Native American flute music at The Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has produced and directed four films that feature Native American Spiritual Elders voicing their concern for the need for society to return to spiritual values and the protection of our Sacred Mother Earth. Three of these films have been broadcast nationally in Canada. Beaton has written numerous articles in newspapers and magazines across Canada and the United States to educate society about environmental protection and traditional Native values. He has a permanent collection of his photography at the Smithsonian Museum, Woodland Cultural Centre, and The Mohawk Travelling College. Beaton has lectured extensively in many schools, colleges, and universities including the University of Toronto, Queens, Trent, and Ryerson Universities. He has also lectured and performed in Japan and the United Kingdom. Danny lectures and plays traditional Native flute on request. For more information, please visit: www.dannybeaton.ca.