Youth Organization Encourages Supporters to Provide Funding or Supplies and Join Runners During Their Stay on the Cheyenne River Reservation
EAGLE BUTTE, SD (July 23, 2012) – On Saturday, July 28, the Cheyenne River Youth Project® will welcome the 2012 Peace & Dignity Journeys runners as they make their way through South Dakota en route to their final destination in Guatemala. The nearly 25-year-old, not-for-profit youth organization also will host the runners during their stay in Eagle butte.
Peace and Dignity Journeys began its spiritual runs in 1992. The run takes place every four years and starts with indigenous runners on opposite ends of North and South America. These runners continue onward for six months, running through hundreds of indigenous communities in North, South and Central America, and ultimately meet at the ancient Maya city of Tikal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Guatemala. Their meeting at the center of the hemisphere symbolizes the joining together of all indigenous peoples.
According to Julie Garreau, CRYP’s executive director, the arrival of the six Peace and Dignity Journeys runners is an historic event, and the Cheyenne River community is welcome to participate.
“We’re encouraging interested supporters to join the runners as they cross onto the Cheyenne River reservation, and then run with them into Eagle Butte,” said Julie Garreau, CRYP’s executive director. “We’re also inviting our community members to come to our Cokata Wiconi Teen Center that evening to share a meal with the runners. Whether you’re running or providing support in other ways, this is a very special opportunity to celebrate our hemisphere’s indigenous cultures and our collective responsibilities to the world in which we live.”
The Peace and Dignity Journeys run embodies the prophecy of the Eagle and Condor, which mandates that at this time all indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere shall be reunited in a spiritual way to heal their nations and work toward a better future for future generations. Participant runners and supporters work to accomplish this goal by helping each other reconnect to their respective spiritual practices and traditions; relearn their roles in the world as indigenous peoples; and embrace responsibilities to Mother Earth, Father Sky, indigenous communities and the people themselves.
During their six-month run through hundreds of indigenous communities, participants engage in spiritual practices and traditions; spark dialogue on the issue of peace and dignity for indigenous peoples; model their responsibilities to Mother Earth, Father Sky, communities and themselves; and receive each community’s prayers. These prayers and conversations are then carried to the next community, and the next, and on down the line until the runners reach the center of the hemisphere. When the runners meet at Tikal, Guatemala, it symbolizes all indigenous peoples joining together in a spiritual way to manifest the prophecy of the Eagle and Condor.
The 2012 run began on April 30 in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, and on May 1 in Chickaloon, Alaska. Each run is dedicated to a theme; when CRYP hosted the runners in 2008, the theme was sacred sites. This year’s event is dedicated to water.
“Water is currently under worldwide threat from contamination by toxic substances, and (it is) rapidly disappearing from natural geographic locations,” organizer Jose Malvido writes. “Water is critical and necessary to the daily life of all human beings… we must organize our communities toward a movement that will restore equal access to clean water for all, while at the same time ensuring that water does not become private property for the personal profit of the few.”
The mission of this year’s Peace & Dignity Journeys run is, he writes, to “remind all those who have forgotten the importance of water that this naturally occurring element is the shared resource of all human beings.”
CRYP staff and volunteers will welcome this year’s runners to Eagle Butte on Saturday, July 28 and will treat them to an evening of prayer, food, song and dancing. They also will provide much-needed showers, beds and laundry facilities.
“We’re delighted to host the Peace & Dignity Journeys runners again, as we did in 2008,” Garreau said. “The themes of the runs, going back to 1992, are common themes for all indigenous people — elders, children, family, women, sacred sites and now water. We want to do everything we can to support these dedicated runners and to help spread awareness within and beyond Indian Country.
“In that spirit, we want to reach out to our many CRYP friends around the world and let them know that they can be part of this year’s Peace and Dignity Journeys, even if they’re not physically present on Cheyenne River this month,” she continued. “Peace and Dignity Journeys organizers will be deeply grateful for any funding or additional support they might receive; I would encourage those who would like to help to contact Jose Malvido at 602-254-5230 or 415-377-2502.”
Peace & Dignity Journeys is a volunteer-run, grassroots organization composed of an Elders Council and volunteers of all ages from many nations. Because it is a grassroots organization, it relies on a large community of supporters for funding, supplies and organizational assistance. Those who wish to volunteer may participate as a runner for the full distance or a portion of the run (see sidebar); support runners when they are in a nearby community; organize a tributary run, attend an event or fundraiser or arrange a welcoming or planning session; or make a financial or in-kind contribution.
To become part of this historic journey, call 602-254-5230, send e-mail to info@peaceanddignityjourneys.com or visit www.peaceanddignityjourneys.com. Jose Malvido also may be reached directly at 415-377-2502 .
To learn more about the Cheyenne River Youth Project® and its programs, and for information about making donations and volunteering, call (605) 964-8200 or visitwww.lakotayouth.org. And, to stay up to date on the latest CRYP news and events, visit the youth project’s Facebook “Cause” page. All Cause members will receive regular updates through Facebook.
The Cheyenne River Youth Project®, founded in 1988, is a grassroots, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing the youth of the Cheyenne River reservation with access to a vibrant and secure future through a wide variety of culturally sensitive and enduring programs, projects and facilities that ensure strong, self-sufficient families and communities.
Join this Historic Journey as It Makes Its Way Through the Great Plains & Southwest!
Interested in joining the 2012 Peace & Dignity Journeys runners as they make their way through the Great Plains and Southwest? CRYP Executive Director Julie Garreau said potential participants are welcome to join this historic journey as it passes through the Cheyenne River reservation in north-central South Dakota on July 28.
“If you’re arriving earlier than the 28th, that’s no problem,” she advised. “We’re pleased to be hosting runners at our Cokata Wiconi Teen Center in Eagle Butte, where runners can take advantage of showers, laundry facilities, meals and a comfortable place to rest.”
Those interested in joining the run at Cheyenne River should contact Julie Garreau at (605) 964-8200 or send e-mail to julie.cryp@gmail.com.
If runners are also welcome to join the run at any point down the line:
Eagle Butte, SD
Rosebud Reservation, SD
Wounded Knee, SD
Ethete, WY
Denver, CO
Capote Lake, CO
Dulce, NM
Taos, NM
Albuquerque, NM
Pueblo of Laguna, NM
Pueblo of Zuni, NM
White Mountain, AZ
San Carlos, AZ
Bowie, AZ
Deming, NM
Tortugas, NM
El Paso, TX
Then the run will pass into Mexico on its way to its final destination in Central America. According to Esther Acosta of the South Dakota-Colorado Run Committee, Peace & Dignity Journeys organizers are seeking runners to join the seven-plus core runners making their way through North America. The group also needs supporters to provide rest stops, lodging, meals, massages, prayers, donations and other much-needed supplies. To learn more, and to confirm final dates for all planned stops, contact Acosta at 303-477-3727 or send e-mail to esther.acosta3@gmail.com. You also may keep track of the run’s progress on Facebook.