Elders and Medicine Peoples Council Formal Statement January 21, 2025

This statement reflects the wisdom of the Spiritual People of the Earth, of the four directions, working in unity to promote peace, harmony and balance for the future of all living beings. This statement is written in black and white with a foreign language that is not our own and does not convey the full depth of our concerns.

The Creator planted us on our homelands and gave us a way of life with responsibilities to care for and live in harmony with the natural world. We maintain our deep hereditary connection to our ancestors, our homelands and our sacred places. This sacred way of being, living according to the immutable Laws of the Creator, has been handed down generation-to-generation, mouth-to-ear, since the beginning. The elements for peace are clean air, clean water, clean land and a clean life. Our mind, body and spirit has to be clean for us to function and survive in a good way and to maintain good relations with all life.

Today, we speak on behalf of all Creation. The sanctity of the Creator’s Law has been broken. The balance of Life has been disrupted. The sacred elements of fire, water, earth and air which create the living environment here on Mother Earth are being polluted and commodified.

We come into Life as sacred beings. When we abuse the sacredness of Life we affect all Creation.

In the earlier days, our people followed the Creator’s Natural Law, with discipline, faith and belief. Today, people follow man-made laws, man-made economy and various forms of man-made governances. These man-made systems are abusing Mother Earth and all her children. Man-made laws are unable to hold governments, corporations and individuals accountable as they continue to destroy the natural world. The gap of inequality between those with great wealth and those without is growing even larger. We see the return of king and queens not from bloodlines but based on economic wealth. We must remember we are all part of the Creation, not one above another, we all have a responsibility to bring back sacredness into our lives so we can work toward the restoration of Peace.

All Creation has a right to live and raise their families the same as we do. Not just the humans, but the Trees, Plants, Animals, Birds, Fish, Reptiles, Insects, Clouds, Stars and all the others.

We cannot challenge, attempt to control or violate the Creator’s Law. To do so is to destroy ourselves. Currently, our young people are confused about what successful living means. Today, it appears “being successful” requires lying, stealing, deceiving, cheating, killing and destroying the Natural World. From the home fire, it is our responsibility to instruct our children to understand what is right and what is wrong, and to uphold these values in their lives. We must teach our generations that being successful in life is about respecting life, treating each other kindly and protecting the future of unborn life.

Mother Earth is the source of life, not a resource.

Let us not be confused by political wars and division and lose our focus on Peace and our responsibilities to each other and the natural world. As spiritual people we are not political people but we have a responsibility to stand up to the politics, when necessary. Today, we lack leadership. We have misplaced our trust in governmental leaders and the leaders of industries. They failed us by working together to maintain their profits, economies and their power over the people. Their lack of action to adequately work to address the damage and destruction of natural systems which has led to the acceleration of global climate change, has brought us to the state of survival, threatening the collective future of All Life. These so-called leaders may carry lots of knowledge but lack wisdom attained by living within the Sacredness of the Natural Law. They seek to only enrich themselves and their associates. As Aboriginal Indigenous Peoples we have seen that some Indigenous governmental leaders have also abandoned the Natural Law and are now pursuing money and power at the expense of our Way of Life.

No one can survive without clean Air, clean Water, and a clean Earth. We cannot breathe money, we cannot eat or drink money.

As, elders and medicine people, we must give good direction and say something to stop the disease that is prohibiting peace and is affecting the people and the natural world. If we fail to properly address this, the disease will affect the future of all Life. It seems people understand the danger nuclear weapons have to our continued existence. However, they fail to recognize that the destruction of the Natural World will ultimately create that same fate.

We strongly urge all leaders and people of all faiths to work and consult with us, to once again unite under the Natural Law. We are spiritual people of the Earth working to solve the world’s problems, without war. We must stop waging war against each other and Mother Earth. The belief in ruling over, subduing and dominating every living thing must be abandoned.

We are standing on our original ways of life seeking Peace so the people and Mother Earth can be healthy. We are extending an open invitation, so that we can work together to shift from the path of self-destruction to the path of peace, harmony and balance with All Creation.

Representatives of the Council

Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, Spiritual Leader The Great Sioux Nation

Sarah James, Neetsaii Gwich’in

Bucky Preston, Hopi

Vincent Jimmie, Seminole

Leroy Osceola, Miccosukee/Seminole

Avery Denny, Dine’

Faith Spotted Eagle, Tunkan Inajin Win Brave Heart Society Grandmother/Headswoman & Ihanktonwan Treaty Council Ihanktonwan Dakota from the Oceti Sakowin 7 Council Fires

*Cover photo by Ken Marchionno