Native American Bearing Witness Retreat 2022

Praying for Sacred Harmony and Worldwide Peace | Day 2

"To Bear Witness is to have a strong glimpse into the truth that the life of the other is actually our own life itself, that we are, indeed, one body. Our Bearing Witness retreats take place in places where deep human trauma occurred and where healing is endlessly needed. With our retreats we intend to contribute to this healing."

Gathered in a circle of strangers from 9 am until shortly before 5 pm, I learned to listen with new parts of my ears and maybe even all of my senses on board today.

A simple question like “Where are you from?” which each of us took turns answering revealed so much about our connection to the land, our ancestors, and ultimately each other.

In school, we’re trained to simply reference a city or neighborhood. In my hometown of Philadelphia, that question and the answer alone can reveal quite a bit about a person's class, background, social connections, and history.

But, in the introductions from our Lakota elders, I heard more than just a place on a map. Their responses reflected a deeper connection to time, space, place, values, and connection to our "beingness" whether in human or animal form. To me, it was a reminder that we are interconnected and interdependent in ways we have forgotten and resist in our mad dash to move through life at full speed.

One of the elders recounted how she had been brought up and been taught to respect and connect to and with the Earth before going to an Indian School as a young child. She said a few things that really hit a cord in me.

She said her elders would gather them around as they had gathered us and make them just sit and listen.

She said looking back on it being a squirrelly little kid that it didn’t matter if you didn’t remember what you heard or didn't fully understand or couldn't sit still. The important thing was to let your ears hear the words and stories of the elders because that wisdom would carry you forward in years to come.

She also said,

“Everything is alive. The rocks are alive. The trees are alive. The leaves and branches are alive. The water in the stream next to us is alive. The sky is alive.”

With her words, the cells in my whispered, “I am ready to listen to and for what's ALIVE.” So, listen for a new level of aliveness in every level of creation is exactly what I did. I listened to and for aliveness in and of:

• Songbirds chirping away.
• Little chipmunks munching on the crumbs that they found scattered along the ground.
• The eyes of the little chimpmunks darting away from us and their silent little feet weaving in and around our bags and belongings. They're stealthily silent in their capers but yet I could still hear them.
• A particularly mischievousness little chipmunk who got so close to me as I sat on the ground I could feel it’s little furry self brush up against my leg. What it as smitten with me as I with it? Somethings I'll never know but I am now listening.
• The curiosity of the yellow breasted bird that kept swooping in and out of the shady meadow where we sat together in a circle. It’s little head crooning letting and right to get a closer look at us as it sat on the far branch of the trees that kept us cool on this warm summer day.
• The beauty of the land as various elements from clouds to plants to these beautiful hills waved and winked at me, calling out to have their picture taken as if they just knew they’d get a social media centerfold.

As I listened, I realized all of creation aka LIFE is always talking. In the most obvious places and in the least obvious places.

It’s talking very loudly especially in the parts my own formal education have taught me to dismiss or written off as fantasy, magical, or "unquantifiable". And, now I sit with a few very powerful questions:

What have i been really listening to these past almost 40 something years? What have I missed that’s been staring me right in the face?

My listening senses increased throughout the day especially as the elders told stories and shared their experiences around:

• Being the last generation to be fluent in their native language
• What it feels like for them to watch their elders pass from COVID and now having one last shot to “turn it around”
• Broken treaties and endless ongoing legal disputes
• What it’s like to gather in the spirit of balance and harmony
• Their hopes and fears for the generations to come
• What it’s like to balance two worlds
• Losing parts of their culture and watching it fade away and disappear
• Listening to their own elders when they were younger
• How prayer and their connection to the divine sustain then during good times and bad
• The deep sense of responsibility they feel to pass along their traditions and culture to their kids because as one of them pointed out, “you can’t get a degree in the ways of your people.”
• The fear and uncertainty that comes when the water threaten to run dry and there are no more back up water sources

One thing that I also heard in the backdrop of today’s “soundtrack” was the humming buzz that comes when we are listening to and for the impact of oppression.

As a BIPOC woman, I hold a different positionality than many of the folks on this retreat. The cutting sword of oppression manifests different for me and has played out differently for my ancestors over the years. Yet, many times while listening I nodded in that old school Black auntie “mmmm hmmm” way or clicked my tongue in sympathy and agreement because some part of me could relate and silently whispered, “Yup, something similar happened to my ancestors too.”

Today, on the Fourth of July, I walked back to the lodge changed by listening to the stories of a community and group of peoples forever changed by the "birth of a nation". I found it really hard to celebrate something that has had such a cataclysmic impact on human life, and as we now see through issues like climate change, LIFE itself.

I wondered if other folks really, truly, deeply heard what impact they have on this particular community as well as communities like mine. Current events, the political climate, and actions and attitudes would lead me to believe that they don’t, won’t, can’t, or are resisting or refusing making that connection. Often, the mind goes to spiritual or intellectual bypassing or downright denial, anger, or gaslighting.

Today's listening took me a deeper level awareness of the systemic nature of the issues we face in America right now and how desperately we need to listen to and for our impact if we are to be in right relationship with each other and the land

For nearly 8 hours we listened to stories of both joy and pain - so much of it was truly heartbreaking.

At the end of the night, I tucked myself wondering:

How do we begin to listen in new ways? What can become possible for us if we dedicate ourselves to listening to each other and the Earth so deeply that our cells come back online again and we are transformed by our very own aliveness?

Next up, Day 3...

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P.S. If you've made it this far, please consider making a donation to support my retreat costs. South Dakota and Wyoming are surprisingly expensive and the retreat organizers encouraged us to fundraise our trip. Venmo is best and you can donate to @Erika-Powell-3. Grateful in advance to and for YOU.

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