Twentieth Annual Gathering for Mother Earth Set for October 15th and 16th in Pojoaque

The twentieth annual Gathering for Mother Earth, sponsored by Tewa Women United and the newly organized Mother Earth Ecological Wellness Collaborative, is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, October 15^th and 16^th, in Pojoaque. The weekend event, which is open to people of all cultures and ages, seeks to honor Mother Earth for her Lifegivingness.  The Gathering is a time for community unity to protect the most vulnerable people, including pregnant women, infants and farmers, especially those living around production sites for nuclear weapons.  http://www.tewawomenunited.org

The Mother Earth Ecological Wellness Collaborative is comprised of Tewa Women United, Traditional Native American Farmers Association, New Mexico Acequia Association, Red Willow Center, Four Bridges Traveling Permaculture Institute, Local Collaborative 18, and Honor Our Pueblo Existence.

Both days will begin with a sunrise service at 6:30 am around the sacred fire circle.  Saturday’s program will begin around 9 am and include mini-gathering circles and workshops with an emphasis on farming, seeds, medicines and nutrition.  Local Native dance groups and others will perform, including the Black Eagle Drummers, Indigie Femme and others proclaiming “Viva La Aqua!”  At 10 am, Tewa Women United’s Indigenous Women’s Health Program will bless mothers and babies.

A delicious communal lunch will be served with collaboration, love and highlighted by the youthful pride of the Agro Kids.  Talking circles, raffle prizes, solar cooking, arts and crafts, food and more will fill out the weekend’s events.  Afternoon mini-gathering circles and workshops will allow participants to spend more intimate time with wisdom keepers and inspirational singers and drummers.

The Sunday, October 16^th, sunrise service will include a blessing of the runners participating in the Relay Run for Healing Mother Earth.  At 7:30 am, the runners will begin at Tsankawi, the ancestral Pueblo homelands near Los Alamos, and end at the Gathering site.  To participate in the run, pre-registration is required at http://www.tewawomenunited.org

The Gathering will close around 1 pm on Sunday afternoon. 

Kathy Sanchez, of Tewa Women United and an organizer of the Gathering, said, “Let us all celebrate cultural ways of sharing love and gratitude for our Earth Mother.  Each person who plants and eats food grown locally is stopping the violence model of domination and destruction on many levels and choosing to promote self-care, health and well being.  When youth connect with nature, they learn valuable life-skills that relate to the core values of loving, caring and nurturing in a healthy way for safety, securing good thoughts within mind, heart and spirit.”

The Gathering will be held at Pojoaque Ben’s Gathering Grounds on Highway 502, 1.8 miles west of the interchange with Highways 285 and 84, near the Pojoaque High School.  Watch for the signs.  Please also bring your own dishes and water bottle.  To volunteer, please call (505) 747-3259 or visit http://www.tewawomenunited.org

To view the event flyer click here….gathering_for_mother-earth_october2016

Tags: Gathering for Mother Earth, honoring pueblo existence, mother earth ecological wellness collaborative, Tewa women