Journey for Health and Peace Response 1 of 1 dyarrow share 11:32 PM May 28, 1996 (at igc.apc.org) From: "David Yarrow" Tuuwaqatsi by Thomas F. Tarbet 1988 (all rights reserved) When I first encountered traditional Hopi and listened to their history and prophecies, I felt as if I were witnessing the Crucifixion. I beheld destruction of something divine and essential to our lives, with the knowledge I was helping finance this unspeakable crime with my taxes. From then on I could not bear to hold a "regular" job, and gradually drifted into the service of the "black sheep" of Hotevilla -- outcasts even among other traditional Hopi. Many of them had been imprisoned without trial by the United States government, essentially for practicing their religion. I learned a Hopi priest was burned alive by a Catholic priest for the same reason three centuries earlier. I met a man who ran from Oraibi to Winslow and back in a single day -- a total of 130 miles -- to telegraph the Government that its agents were stripping everyone naked and throwing them into insecticide to rid them of lice. He sobbed like a baby when he told his story. Yet these are the ones who say we must "keep a song in our hearts" through such trials on behalf of Creator's Path, or we will be defeated and the world destroyed. Through my entire life, I never had such fun as when working with these "enemies of progress," traveling with them on speaking engagements and helping them communicate with the world, primarily by the prophesied means of "magic marks on cornhusk" -- free literature. The effect has been amazing, Without my asking, the written prophecies have been translated into German, Spanish and Japanese, still distributed free of charge. With great pleasure, I watched steadily increasing interest in their message. But from the time of my first encounter (1965) I have not seen a single sign of a genuine healing of damage done to the Hopi -- until recently. In June 1988 I was visited by Roy Steevenz and Pat Davis. Roy asked me to facilitate a meeting with traditional elders of Hotevilla concerning a spiritual mission to which he felt compelled. He also had in mind possibly of finding Hopis who might take interest in the way of healing based on ancient Oriental knowledge of the Unifying Principle, since their teachings are so similar. Roy and I made a trip to Hopiland late that summer. During our visit, Roy found the keenest interest to be on the part of Titus Oomayumptewa, whose recent tragic experience made him especially receptive. In his mid-eighties Titus had produced almost single-handedly one of the largest and healthiest fields of corn, until he was run over by a truck in 1987. For months he was artificially kept alive in a hospital. Carolyn Tawangyama -- a traditional grandmother who acts as a spiritual co-worker with Titus -- encouraged him to eat blue cornmeal, telling him "Don't leave us yet! We still need you!" She meant he was needed to help keep the escape route open for all humanity through the Day of Purification. Carolyn describes herself as "only a messenger" in a fight to the finish between the Path of Everlasting Life and the world's largest superpower, and -- by extension -- the military-industrial rampage against ancient indigenous cultures globally, oblivious of their vital function as bloodlines of earth. Her confidence unshakable, she simply says, "Truth can't be conquered." As "father" of the katsinas -- the influential spirit beings personified each year in the ceremonial cycle of the village -- Titus plays a major role. This year he leads the Niman ceremony, in which those katsinas return to their fall and winter home in the highest mountains in "Arizona" seventy miles to the southwest, temporarily called "San Francisco Peaks." Titus recovered, but could hardly walk, hear or speak. Most days were spent sitting alone in an empty house, dreaming of his great fields of happier years, while his family was away at paid jobs or school. Seeing his condition, and wishing to communicate with him, Roy had little choice but to demonstrate the healing he came to talk about. Soon Titus began to welcome Roy's visits, taking great interest in what he had to say about healing, and the role of food in the cycle of life. After changes in his "white man's food" diet and a week of daily massages, Titus began a remarkable recovery. Roy replaced the heavy cane Titus depended on, making him a lighter one, sort of a spirit staff, meant to be abandoned soon, and soon it was. Within a few months Titus was able to walk freely. Now he is actually able to work in his fields again. He kicks and punches the air and says "Look! I can fight!" His white hair is starting to grow in black. He even thinks of composing a song about his experience. And now when he sits alone he ponders the fact his people never got sick before eating "white man's food." Why it has taken a century for any Hopi to notice the connection is one of life's mysteries. Prior to recent forced acculturation, the Hopi had a completely macrobiotic culture. Corn is still their sacrament, given them by Creator to sustain them on their migrations when they first entered this world. Until very recently it was their primary food, along with squash, beans, and a variety of wild and cultivated vegetables, occasional meat hunted with bow or stick, and salt dug from the earth or brought from the Pacific coast in a ceremonial run no longer made today. Titus himself has long declared "corn has everlasting life." He also says Hopi were taught if they lived from what grows nearby they would stay healthy. In the past their only illnesses came from losing the connection with the spirit. "Miraculous" healings occurred as the lost connection was restored in thought and attitude. But today persistent illness is common. Despite their own teachings, only around 10 percent of Hopi still farm. Even Titus simply ate what came his way from his wage-earning offspring. Past attempts to rescue the Hopi from the effects of "white man's food" have ironically been rejected as outside interference. But Titus now tells others about his experience, and his enthusiasm has spread to a small number of villagers who might not otherwise have listened to a stranger. This response is completely unprecedented. For Hopi, the Path of Everlasting Life springs from their fields and gardens. Its restoration is a simple human act. If, as they say, "the teachings are in the corn," the true Hopi Way can be recovered by restoring corn. Carolyn says there is enough left of the vanishing ceremonial order for it to be revived, but this will not happen if their indigenous foods are neglected. It took tremendous misguided effort from outside Hopi culture to induce this neglect. One percent of that effort -- guided wisely -- could swing the balance once again toward the Path of Everlasting Life. But it will take persistence, as with the effort required to produce a tiny ember with a fire drill. Like that ember, if carefully nurtured, its effect could be very great. Otherwise it will die out. In order to nurture this new fire, Roy and Pat have established a project they call Tuuwaqatsi. Roy and I learned this Hopi word during our visit. In the course of his conversation with the Hotevilla elders, I listened carefully as something about "peace" was being translated into Hopi, for they actually have no word for peace. We think the word was tuuwaqatsi ("q" is a deep "k"). The first thing Titus thinks of when he hears that word is "praying all the time." As we were leaving Hopiland, we met a noted expert on the Hopi language, who explained the roots of the word are "sand" and "life." Since Hopi soil is mainly sand, tuuwa refers to all land, bringing forth qatsi, the life upon it, which the lives and prayers of all true Hopi, and all true humans, endlessly promote. To request a copy of The Essence of Hopi Prophecy and be on a mailing list for The Hopi Story: from the Beginning of Life to the Day of Purification,write to: Planting Stick Project Route 9 Box 78, Santa Fe, NM 87505 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ for a green and peaceful planet for the Seventh Generation David Yarrow at Turtle EyeLand c/o Broeckx, P.O. Box 6034, Albany, NY 12206 dyarrow@igc.apc.org 518-426-0563 *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Birth of the White Buffalo Calf lets us know we are at a crossroads -- either return to balance or face global disaster. It's our duty to return to sacred places and pray for world peace -- if we do not do this, our children will suffer. -- Chief Arvol Looking Horse, Lakota-Dakota-Nakota Nation 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ** WORLD PEACE AND PRAYER DAY ** JUNE 21, 1996 ** JOIN US IN PEACE ** *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*