As I watched the elders tie eagle feathers in the hair of
each youth, I fought back tears of joy. What a beautiful
sight! One child from each color of humanity in ceremony
and prayer together for world peace with so many indigenous
elders! I thought to myself that, if this was the last
thing I witnessed on Earth, I would die happy.
With nations around the world on the brink of war, despair
and hopelessness, coupled with greed, ruling over most of
humanity and the nuclear threat coming back to haunt our dreams,
we are indeed in trouble here on Mother Earth. In February
of 2003, Hanne Strong, of Manitou Foundation, visited China
and Korea. She moderated a Peace Summit in Korea and
spoke with dignitaries and leaders from around the world who
stressed a grave concern for the future of humanity.
Upon returning home Hanne then discussed this concern with
Crestone residents in a presentation given at the Shri Aurobindo
Learning Center. I was witness to her presentation
and it made my heart break to hear of the conditions present
in North Korea alone. 
I realized how tenuous our survival on this planet is at this
time. Marvin Clifford, a Native American of the Oglala Band
of the Lakota Nation, was also present and at Hanne's urging
he began to speak to the local spiritual centers about coming
together for a peace prayer ceremony. Shumei International
Institute and Manitou Foundation agreed to co-sponsor the
event and thus the Youth Peace Journey was born!
Thanks to special permission from our beloved President, Ms.
Hiroko Koyama, nine youth and two adults were able to attend
from Japan. Youth also attended from the SSA, Pasadena
Center and many other parts of the U.S.A.
For too long humanity has allowed the voices of youth and
women to be silenced, resulting in an imbalance in the world.
The voices of our elders, although revered in
most indigenous cultures, have also been silenced, locked
away and forgotten in the West and in other parts of the world.
It was decided that women, youth and elders would always
be an integral part of the prayer ceremony. For centuries
the San Luis Valley has been a place of Peace. Many
Native American nations have come here to pray and give thanks
for the life they have been given. 
It was decided that these nations should be invited to come
together with these women and children to pray because of
their relationship with the mountains and natural elements
in the San Luis Valley. This ceremony by those with
an existing relationship laid the foundation for future prayer
at these mountains for inter-faith ceremonies. Never
in known history have these Native American Nations of the
Southwest, who have a special relationship with Mt. Blanca
particularly, which they consider a sacred woman, come together
in this valley to pray. This ceremony was truly historic!
Also, because Shumei International chose these mountains
as the home for their new Sanctuary, it was decided that Elder
Taizo Ihara, Executive Director of Shumei International Institute,
would pray with the other indigenous elders in ceremony to
further cement the relationship already begun between Shumei
and these mountains.
This event began with an Elder Conference, held at Shumei
International Institute on the morning of July 31 st .
It is important to note that the term ‘elder' is used
to reference an individual of importance and stature in the
community due to his or her spiritual wisdom and is not a
reference to age. This was also historic to have so
many indigenous elders sharing their native wisdom regarding
their sacred mountain and valley, the state of our world,
prophecy and our future. The conference began with
a welcome from Elder Taizo Ihara. Indigenous elders
present included; Louse Begay, of the Dine' Navajo Nation,
Paul Tohlakai, also of the Dine' Navajo Nation, Sara Aspenland
of Taos Pueblo, Bertha Grove of the Ute Nation, Lorraine Fox-Davis
of the Blackfeet and Cree Nations, Andrew Garcia of the San
Juan Pueblo, Jose Lucero of the Santa Clara Pueblo, John Eagle
Day of the Shoshone Nation, Arnold & Charlote Vigil of
the Jicarilla/Apache Nation, and Xolotl Martinez of the Aztec
Nation of Mexico.  Mrs.
Hanne Strong, of Manitou Foundation, Mr. Peter Gold, Author
of ‘Navajo and Tibetan Sacred Wisdom, The Circle of
the Spirit' and Mr. Tom Henley, Founder of Rediscovery International,
a youth wilderness program, also shared their wisdom. We are
very grateful to all for their contribution to this conference
and for their prayers in ceremony.
I was a member of the organizing committee for this journey
and it amazed and delighted me how some indigenous people
just seemed to materialize for this event without having been
called. Word of this event must have spread like a
wildfire! After the Elder Conference the community, elders
and youth gathered for a celebration of song and dance in
Baca Park where we were blessed to witness song and dance
from the youth and to hear some of the elders speak once more.
The Native American dances are actually a prayer in motion.
Andrew Garcia brought his three grandchildren, who did two
amazing dances honoring the Eagle and the Buffalo, both of
which are also indigenous to this valley. Their costumes
were beautiful and they expressed to me that they love to
travel and dance their prayer for all people. We were
blessed with the presence of an awesome dance group from Aguilar,
CO, called the Aztlan Dance Group, with youth from various
Native American nations. Itsa Shash, in full
Apache regalia did a phenomenal Eagle dance. He then
asked volunteers from the crowd to make a circle where he
danced in and out between them. During the dance he
would sneak up on some of the youth and touch them, sometimes
making them jump in surprise. He explained that this
was actually depicting a warrior's dance where they would
sneak up and touch their enemies instead of fighting them,
a way to begin to make peace by saying, “I could have
killed you but I did not.” One young girl from
Japan was so surprised it appeared to me that she must have
jumped two feet in the air, while she laughed at the antics
of the dancer! Grandmother Ida Morningstar, of the
African American Nation, brought a group from her spiritual
family all the way from Texas for the journey and they too
shared song, dance and a prayer with us.
 The
Aztec dancers from Mexico kept everyone mesmerized with the
longest prayer dance of all. Their costumes are magnificent,
and they too expressed their joy in traveling, sharing their
prayer dance and meeting other cultures. Community
members were then treated to a lovely song and dance by Japanese
youth in full traditional dress from Shinji Shumeikai.
I've heard many comments from community members on how beautiful
they were and how exquisitely they dance. Shumei members
are well loved in the Crestone community! We were also
treated to a lovely song by the Haidakhandi Universal Ashram
youth, most of them elementary students. How sweet
the girls were in their traditional saris and the boys in
their lungis! It was difficult for the chaperones to
keep the little ones out of the nearby creek long enough to
perform! Kids will have fun! The Crestone Community
Choir serenaded us with their beautiful voices through three
songs to our delight and finally, some of our very own Japanese
Taiko drummers filled the Earth beneath our feet with the
healing and moving sounds of their Taiko drums. Their
performance is always welcome and most appreciated here.
Native Americans believe that the beat of the drum is the
heartbeat of Mother Earth. I believe that too and I
try to see and feel every Taiko performance I can!
 On
the morning of August 1 st , we all met at a central location
to caravan south to Zappata Falls at Mt. Blanca. Mt.
Blanca, held sacred by all the native nations in the Southwest
and Zappata Falls have long been a site for prayer and ceremony.
Zappata Falls draws thousands of visitors from all
over the world every year because of its natural power and
beauty.
The trail to the ceremony site and the falls is parched, steep,
and very rocky. We transported the Elders up the trail
on the Shumei 4-wheel Gator. Once near the waterfall
the terrain changes dramatically from a parched desert scene
to a lovely, green forest with a rushing waterfall coming
from the side of the mountain. One has an immediate
sense of the sacred here! No cameras of any kind were
allowed during this ancient ceremony. The ceremony
began with Marvin Clifford honoring the four directions in
song to the beat of a native drum and continued from there.
Each elder present offered a prayer in their native
language and in their own tradition while engaging all elements
of fire, water, air and earth.
Elder Taizo Ihara offered this quote from Meishusama's teachings
” Imagine that a great artist is creating this mighty
picture which we call the world. He is using all his
divine skill in line and color to produce a faultless and
extremely beautiful work. Naturally to produce a world
picture takes thousands and tens of thousands of years of
preparations, as you can well imagine. Initially the
most important features are the lines, in other words the
lines which divide country from country and have taken so
long to establish. When they are ready, the next stage
is the application of color. Many colors of paints
are necessary – red, blue, yellow, white and purple,
and so on. For the moment let us imagine these as the
peoples and countries of the world. Each country, then,
is playing a distinct role as one of the colors. The
world is being created with these finely drawn lines and this
multitude of colors. Is this not the truly magnificent
art of an omnipotent God?”
The portion of the ceremony that really opened my heart wide
was the ‘Wiping of the Hands' ceremony in which the
youth representing all the colors of humanity were blessed
and cleansed of the sins of their forefathers by the elders,
and each of them received an eagle feather. To receive
an eagle feather from the Lakota Nation is a very great honor.
Aki Imai, from SSA Pasadena, CA, represented the yellow
race, Joshua Meisman, of Crestone, CO., represented the white
race, Mato Marstrand, of Crestone, CO, represented the black
race, and Julian Begay, of the Dine' Navajo Nation represented
the red race. The look on their faces when they finally
realized the depth of their participation in this ceremony
was priceless. I believe this ceremony, along with
the rich cultural exchanges that all of the youth experienced,
will shape them into future peacemakers and leaders for our
planet.
After the ceremony we all departed Zappata Falls and met once
again in Baca Park, where we enjoyed buffalo stew, graciously
prepared by our Hoshi volunteers from Japan. Where
else can you get Japanese buffalo stew but in Crestone, CO!
Our loving thanks to those volunteers who labored to
gift us with this shared meal. Ms. Sheila Shaw, Poet
Laureate, from SSA, Hollywood, recited an excellent poem.
Thank you Sheila for gracing us with your prose!
We then proceeded to honor our elders for making the long
trip to Crestone, sharing their wisdom and for their strong
prayers in ceremony. Each elder was gifted with a hand-made
traditional native blanket with the sincere gratitude of all
of us. Some chose to speak once again, expressing their
wish that this prayer continue into perpetuity until we finally
have peace on Earth. The Youth Peace Journey of 2003 concluded
with a Native American prayer in the form of song to the beat
of a Japanese Taiko drum.
We wish to continue the Youth Peace Journey next year, and
each year thereafter until it becomes a prayer of gratitude
for existing Peace. The power of so many faiths, cultures,
races and nations coming together in a collective prayer and
in so many events worldwide, can and will bring peace to our
planet. The next date for the Youth Peace Journey has
not yet been chosen and is contingent upon survey results
of indigenous elders to determine their availability and their
presence will depend upon how successful our fundraising efforts
are. We also hope to earn grant monies to bring socially
challenged or indigent youth from the city for the journey
who would not otherwise have the opportunity to participate
in an such a cross-cultural, interfaith prayer event such
as this in a beautiful mountain setting. We wish to
have more interaction between elders that work with youth
and attending youth groups. We are accepting donations
for the Youth Peace Journey year-round, which can be sent
to: Youth Peace Journey, % of Shumei International
Institute, P. O. Box 998, Crestone, CO 81131. If
you have questions you may contact Manitou
Institute or Shumei
International Institute
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