Day
65 - Sunday, April 16, 2006
Maxton, North Carolina
Here
are the results of yesterday's 24-Hour Run
and 12-Hour Walk.
First, the 24-Hour Runners: K.A. Garlick and
Marcus Atkinson completed 72 miles each, Octavia
Subia and Jerry Cunningham completed 60 miles
each, and Kid Valance completed 54 miles. Absolutely
stunning!
Three
of our Sacred Walkers completed a 12-hour Walk. Paul
Owns the Sabre, Stephanie Manning and Minoh
Banks completed the 12 hours. Owns the Sabre
amazed us all, given his 66 years and his history
of stroke and diabetes. Minoh completed the
feat at only 13 years of age. And Stephanie
Manning walked a marathon, plus, at 29 miles
in 12 hours, 20 minutes!
At our Closing Circle yesterday, Dennis addressed
the 24-Hour Runners and 12-Hour Walkers saying, "This
run makes me very proud of you. You'll always
remember this day. You may not remember it
was on a Saturday, or you might not be able
to recall what year it was in, but you'll never
forget that you ran 72 miles, or that you walked
for 12 hours. If you are asked to take medicine
to a neighboring village 18-20 hours away,
you'll know you can do it." Paul Owns
the Sabre sang the Sun Dance song and commented
that these runners endured in the same way
as Sundancers, beyond their body's endurance
and into the realm that only mental strength
and spiritual endurance can sustain. All
of us offered our applause and thanks with
handshakes, hugs, and words of appreciation.
Both groups were given excellent support,
and those who drove the support vehicles and
who watched carefully over the runners and
walkers deserve equally high praise for their
own endurance through a sleepless 
night.
Support team members included Jim Toren and
Rogelio Quintero, Les and Tater Burris, Eri
Yanagiko (who also walked 6 miles), and Melinda
Clyne. Without them, it would not have been
possible!
We have enjoyed our stay at Jimmy Big Eagle
McMillian's place here in Maxton. "Big
Mac" and his family opened their home
and provided space for our tents. Tonight they
are preparing to grill steaks and ribs for
a big send-off meal. Thank you Big Mac, Connie,
and all your family!
I was curious about Maxton, and Robeson County,
North Carolina. Here's what I found on the Robeson
County page of Wikipedia.org:
 Maxton is
a town of about 2,500 people in south
central North Carolina's Robeson County....
As of the census of 2000, there were
123,339 people in Robeson County....
The racial makeup of the county was
32.80% White, 25.11% Black or African
American, 38.02% Native American....
Robeson County, formed in 1787 from
Bladen County, is named in honor of
Colonel Thomas Robeson. Colonel Thomas
Robeson served as one of the leaders
in the Revolutionary War at the Battle
of Elizabethtown. During this battle
the Tories in the southeastern part
of North Carolina were crushed by the
patriots....
The official language of Robeson County
was Gaelic. Anglos
who settled from the Scottish Highlands
in the early 1730s found the local
American Indians, descendants of the Tuscarora, Cherokee, Cheraw and
remnants of other tribes speaking English.
They also found a group of both freed
and runaway African Americans living
in the area. Today, Robeson County
is home to the Tuscarora and Lumbee Tribes.
According to the 2000 Census, Robeson
County has the ninth largest population
of American Indians in the United States.
Until late in the 20th Century, Robeson
County was a center of KKK activity
and support in North Carolina. On January
18, 1958, armed Lumbee Native Americans
chased off an estimated 50 Klansmen
and supporters led by grand wizard
Catfish Cole at the town of Maxton. |
Top
Day
66 - Monday, April 17, 2006
Maxton, North Carolina to Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Well,
we didn't really go to Chapel Hill. Turns out
we received a very welcome - and kind - offer
of a place to stay at the Human Kindness Foundation,
out in the country about halfway between Chapel
Hill and Burlington, near Mebane, North Carolina.
We
got drenched coming here! Severe thunderstorms
with driving sheets of wind and rain! The luggage
mostly stayed dry under tarps in the trailers.
And there is room enough, I think, indoors
for everyone tonight. Thank our lucky stars,
human kindness, and the Human Kindness Foundation!
 The Human
Kindness Foundation, founded by Bo
and Sita Lozoff, is a non-profit organization
which stresses a way of life based upon
three common principles taught by the
great sages of all religions: Simple
living, a dedication to service, and
a commitment to personal spiritual practice. |
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Day
67 - Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Chapel Hill, North Carolina to Lynchburg, Virginia
BUMPER STICKERS, by Joel Garber
A
friend of mine once gifted me with a bumper
sticker he thought would appeal to me. It read, ‘WALK
GENTLY ON MOTHER EARTH.’ I thanked him
for his gift but never put it on my vehicle
(the first I’d owned in several years).
Perhaps it should have read ‘DRIVE GENTLY
ON MOTHER EARTH,’ but even at that, we
don’t often in these modern busy lives
take the time to consider what all is involved
in driving on Mother Earth. Over the past one
hundred years we have built these machines
which allow us to zip and zoom wherever we
lay down a road, hardly pausing for a moment
to consider that we are driving these large
hunks of steel through the lives, and homes
of our fellow creatures, often times ending
their existence as they are smashed beneath
our wheels when they simply wander from their
nest, burrow or den in search of a meal or
roots or tender leaves.
It
is not simply that we have bulldozed, flattened
and paved the homes of raccoons, squirrels
and deer, but we have done so to ourselves.
Our lives have become devoid of beauty and
meaning. instead of sitting by a quiet stream
and allowing the gentleness of God’s
creation to seep into our hearts and minds,
and heal our spirits, we subject ourselves
to the rapid fire impulses of electronic light
emitted from our televisions. Our minds are
bombarded with unnatural light that pulses
at sixty cycles per second. A peaceful walk
through the woods is replaced by a jump in
the car and a zoom across pavement.
Most of the time, our feet never touch the
earth from which our bodies spring, and to
which they return. We are now awakened to an
electric buzzing and our feet hit carpet-covered
concrete. We dress for the day, step out of
our houses and under 
the
sky to travel our concrete sidewalks to our
cars, only to lift our feet even further from
the earth. A zoom across town in a glass enclosed,
temperature controlled vehicle and our feet
hit yet more pavement at the parking lot, laid
flat over what once was home to God’s
creatures and natural humankind. We then enter
a building and spend the hours of natural sunlight
isolated away from all which flowed forth from
the mind of the Creator.
The native people lived and dwelled within
the mind of the Creator, while modern humans
live ever more within our own minds and creations.
It is not a world of life, but of death. Death
to all which the Creator dreamed. Death to
the senses. Death to the body. Death to the
heart. Death to the Spirit of life dwelling
within.
Even
on this Sacred Run, we are guilty of our own
destruction. We have support vehicles made
of glass, steel and plastics, making us guilty
of destruction of natural elements which are
used in the creation of these vehicles, and
the creation of the factories which build them,
the machines which dig the ore, and the machines
which haul the materials. We buy fuel for these
vehicles, thus financially supporting the oil
industry and all the wars that go along with
obtaining the oil. We are guilty of accepting
monetary donations which through their exchange
adds a middleman third party to all giving,
receiving and sharing of all our labors. With
every dollar donated and spent on fuel, food,
or shoes we have allowed a faceless entity
representing banks and governments to cut us
off from direct contact with each other as
breathing living sparks within the mind of
God.
Wherever
I travel, I try to consider how I would survive
on each particular landscape. As we traveled
across the country, I could see the necessity
for the varied ways of life of each tribe.
Even the early white settlers found it necessary
to build and eat in accordance with the local
landscape and climate. The variances created
different cultures and different mindsets and
ceremonies. But interstate highways and television
are creating a homogenous society, built on
the dependence of a single depleting fuel source.
It is a bland society – the seasoning
of life gone.
The outlook is bleak for the natural diversity
which creates stability in the times of crisis,
which is not many years hence.
The sacred run is but a drop in the bucket,
no, a drop in the ocean of poisoned water.
As we run across this land at five miles an
hour, we are passed by cars traveling ten time
faster, and jets passing overhead one hundred
times faster. But just as faster is not always
better, neither is the consensus of a majority
always correct. Every soul that stood out in
history was a lone soul standing in opposition
to the beliefs of their time. So as we run
at only ten percent of a modern vehicle’s
speed and one percent of a jet airplane’s
speed, it is fittingly so. Native people were
once one hundred percent of this land’s
population and are now only one percent. Often
the majority of cattle follow the herd into
the corral and finally the slaughter house,
while the handful which broke from the herd
are grazing greener pastures. So while we travel
this land at the speed of a natural human being,
we see the trash that disappears in a blur
at fifty miles an hour. We see the individual
blades of grass as we pass, and the rabbit
trails, ant hills and hawks overhead. These
things are not gone but only gone from the
lives of contemporary society. They are in
danger – yes – as is clean air,
drinkable streams, peace of mind, and purposeful
lives, but they are not yet completely erased.
There remains enough seed material to re-grow.
There still remains enough spark in the world-weary
human heart to begin the process of re-growth
and reawakening. It is a long way back home
to the natural paradise which was created for
us. As all long journeys begin with one step – please
turn off your computer, take off your shoes,
step outside onto the earth – see the
sky and feel the presence of the Creator. I
am reminded of yet another bumper sticker – this
one properly pasted on the backpack of a hiker
in the national forest which simply read ‘WALK
HUMBLY WITH GOD.’
Grass becomes Buffalo
Buffalo becomes Human
Human becomes Soil
Soil becomes Grass again
The Spirit of Life remains through all changes
Life itself is fluid
Life is the Essence – Not the Form
ALL LIFE IS SACRED |
|
- Joel Garber, Sacred Runner
from Hawaii
Top
Day
68 - Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Lynchburg, Virginia to Charlottesville, Virginia
SWEET CIRCLE, by Sacred Run Websteward Roger Straw
Closing
Circle in Lynchburg was so sweet last night.
Dennis was preparing us for the end, the end
of Sacred Run 2006. Telling us how we will
need to be at the Lincoln Memorial, right under
Abe’s right elbow, at 11am. Telling us
how we will end promptly at 1pm, and how we
will all be hugging and crying, and how some
of us will want to wander around to take pictures,
and how easy it will be to leave someone behind....
And I’m sure I’m not the only
one who was moved, thinking about saying good-bye.
Suddenly, these brothers and sisters with whom
I’ve shared the last 9 ½ weeks
took on a new and deeper preciousness. And
I found myself in the anticipatory grief of
leave-taking.
Brothers and sisters get in each other’s
way. They bicker and lash out. And they also
really do love one another. This is the way
of every family, and if my wisdom serves me,
this is the human condition. And it has everything
to do with our quest for peace in our communities,
our nations, our one beautiful big blue planet
of a world.
How
have we done as a family? The report card on
Sacred Run 2006 is kept by Creator, not by
me, not by Dennis Banks or any one of us. Historical
accounts are written by humans, but the real
record is in the reverberations of Spirit.
We are pretty clear about the reverberations
left behind by Christopher Columbus and General
George Custer and Kit Carson and Adolph Hitler.
But your life? And mine? And the community
that for a brief 10 weeks was Sacred Run 2006?
Creator knows that the ripples go out, and
they never ever end. They are as real as stone,
and they leave in their wake:
- kindness, kisses, hugs, cooperation, sharing,
trust...
- regrets, fear, hatred, lies, abuse, selfishness...
Creator knows.
My own hunch is that this Run, like every
Sacred Run, is indeed blessed, and has offered
not only tobacco and drumming and song, but
gifts of true Spirit for the future that far
outweigh any of our failures.
I
remember those who gathered around one of us
when he was frightened and alone. I remember
many who spoke truth when it was needed. I
remember every runner, every walker, everyone
giving all and going beyond expectation to
deliver the message All Life is Sacred.
I remember gracious hosts laying out banquets
of food and sharing their living space. I remember
unselfish prayers and small kindnesses. Our
days have been filled with good acts and pure
intentions as wide as the blue sky and as fierce
and strong as the storms of Tennessee.
I will take these memories and these blessings,
and I will count them. I will add them up,
and set them against any regrets – and
rejoice, and renew my hope for all of humankind.
The Spiritual gifts of Sacred Run 2006 will
belong to the world when we take our leave
of one another. And the world will be a better
place for our time together.
And if Creator has a face, it will surely
be smiling.
Top
Day
69 - Thursday, April 20, 2006
Louisa, Virginia (near Charlottesville) to Fredericksburg,
VA
Once
again, our journey has taken us into a remarkable
home, where we have been blessed to meet remarkable
people. We thought we were headed to Charlottesville,
but we ended up some 21 miles east of there,
on the Little Flower Catholic Worker Farm near
Louisa, VA, home of Bill and Sue Frankel-Streit,
Isaac, Anna and Gaby.
We were fed a wonderful curry, thanks to many
cooks but most especially our own Holly Sroufe.
Many
of us camped out on the grounds, sharing space
with the chickens, cats, dogs, goats, horses,
and at least one persistent and nocturnal mockingbird.
Others chose to stay in Little Flower's new
3-story straw-bale house. Constructed almost
entirely of donated and recycled materials,
it is already a beautiful structure outside
and in, even though it has a ways to go before
it is finished. The children played hide and
seek in the dark outdoors after roasting marshmallows,
and many of the adults enjoyed sitting by the
fire as the cold and dark night gave birth
to crystal-pure stars in the rural sky.
ABOUT LITTLE
FLOWER CATHOLIC WORKER FARM, LOUISA,
VA
 "Seventy
years after the first Catholic Worker
community opened in New York, two followers
of Dorothy Day, Bill and Sue Frankel-Streit,
opened one of the latest Worker homes
in rural Louisa County, Virginia, just
in time for last Christmas. They called
it the Little Flower Catholic Worker
Farm, named after Saint Thérèse
of Lisieux ("The Little Flower"),
whose autobiography was a Day favorite.
Located in a dilapidated antebellum
farmhouse with primitive heating, the
Worker farm feeds and succors the country
poor just as Day did among the tall
stalks of Manhattan decades ago." (from The
Nation)
 "Little
Flower is a small Catholic Worker homestead/farm.
We are committed to helping create
a nonviolent, just world in harmony
with the land. We share our lives and
resources with each other and with
those in need. We live as simply as
we can; we organize and engage in nonviolent
direct action against systemic violence;
we try to enflesh the Gospel mandates
to love God, one another, and our enemies.
 "Our
daily life includes unschooling with
three children, caring for our animals
and the gardens, and building and repairing
our farm structures. We meet weekly
as a community, share most meals, and
have a liturgy together on Sundays.
We also participate in Charlottesville
Food Not Bombs when we can on Sundays.
We organize vigils, protests, and direct
actions together with Catholic Worker
houses in Washington, DC, and Norfolk
and with other groups in the Charlottesville/Richmond
area. Some of our focus includes nuclear
weapons, nuclear power, the School
of the Americas, and war." (from Fellowship
for Intentional Community)
|
Day
69 - Thursday, April 20, 2006
YOUR SACRED RUN WILL NEVER END
by Idell Wadley, Former Sacred Runner from Australia
(Idell Wadley sent the following message
from Australia by way of our Sacred Run Online
Guestbook on April 18, 2006. Reprinted here
with permission and deep appreciation. -
RS)
In
the early hours of February 5th I gave birth
to a tiny girl Ruby Rose and experienced my
darkest hour. She took 3 tiny breaths then
left this world again.
In
the hours that followed I was sedated, given
a nerve block in my spine and operated on.
I was still conscious. During that time I left
the operating room - where did I go? On the
run. The entire time I talked to medical staff
about the magical events I experienced during
my 7 yrs working with Sacred Run. It was at
that moment I realised the true value of the
gifts I've received through Sacred Run. Gifts
that will never fade while ever I can remember.
Even through the cloud of drugs my memories
of the Run wrapped around me like a warm safe
blanket. During the most traumatic time in
my life I had the haven of Sacred Run to take
refuge in, to distract me from the pain and
sorrow of the present and I will be enternally
grateful.
To those of you on this journey. I hope you
never forget your experiences nor take them
for granted. And while you may all go your
different ways in a week or so, while ever
you appreciate, while ever you remember, Your
Sacred Run will never end.
Safe Journey to you all.
- Idell Wadley, Former Sacred
Runner from Australia
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Day
70 - Friday, April 21, 2006
Fredericksburg, VA to Arlington, VA
We
stayed on the banks of the beautiful Rappahannock
River in Fredericksburg, as guests of Claire
and Mike Huie, who opened their 
home
and their spacious back yard for our sleeping
bags and tents. Some of us went canoeing on
the river, others went for a swim in the pool,
and all of us enjoyed the soft green grass
and the chase games of the puppies. Supper
was a huge beef stew and green salad - yum!
Many thanks to our hosts, and a very special
thanks to Claire's sister, Johanna Humphrey,
who made the arrangement for us, and contributed
her labors throughout our stay.
Our
Morning Circle was our next to last! Everyone
seems to be feeling the soft, sweet emotion
of parting already. Tonight we sleep in Arlington,
only five miles from the heart of Washington,
D.C. We wake up tomorrow and walk in sacred
beauty, as always, bringing a message of Land,
Life and Peace, only this time, we bring
it to the central powers of the nation state
that dominates world affairs. To the President
of the United States, to the Congress, to the
Pentagon and all the people: know that our
memories are long, that our Ancestors still
speak, and that our voices are united and strong: All
Life is Sacred. Mitake Oyesin, and
Peace Be to all the world.
Day
70 - Friday, April 21, 2006
FOUND LOVE ON SACRED RUN
by Sacred Runner Leslie Waking Bear
I found Love in Disaster
on Sacred Run
I found truth of what the great white fathers
have done
I found love in disaster on Sacred Run
I found love on Sacred Run |
We
ran through their thiefs
We ran through their lies
We ran through their abusers
tall, small, and wide
We ran through our country
We ran through our towns
We ran through destruction
of our many tribes
|
I found Love in Disaster
on Sacred Run
I found truth of what the great white fathers
have done
I found love in disaster on Sacred Run
I found love on Sacred Run |
We heard their voices
Many nations loud and clear
They told of the great white father
on the hill
How he came not to help
But to take their land again
|
I found Love in Disaster
on Sacred Run
I found truth of what the great white fathers
have done
I found love in disaster on Sacred Run
I found love on Sacred Run |
They ran from Alcatraz to
Washington, D.C.
Sending our prayers in smoke
for the peoples needs
Every step a prayer
Every mile ceremony
Running with messages
From the Nations we have seen
|
I found Love in Disaster
on Sacred Run
I found truth of what the great white fathers
have done
I found love in disaster on Sacred Run
I found love on Sacred Run |
In the Spirit of the Bison
We are still strong
We are facing the storms
as they come along
The Spirit of our Ancestors
Whispers in songs
We are still here
Don’t forget us please.
|
I found Love in Disaster
on Sacred Run
I found truth of what the great white fathers
have done
I found love in disaster on Sacred Run
I found love on Sacred Run
|
 ~
Sacred Runner Leslie Waking Bear, April,
2006 |
Top
Day
71 - Saturday, April 22, 2006
Earth Day Ceremonies and Good-bye, Washington D.C.
Well,
what can I say here at the end? I'm writing
you around 8:30pm on Saturday, and Sacred Run
2006 is history. I'm feeling sad to have left
all my friends behind; but eager to be home
again. Overall, it feels like a triumphant
day -- we made it! We traveled 4,329
miles, officially. Unofficially, when you add
up every mile of every runner and walker, we
covered over 8,000 miles on foot! We
lost track of the number of mountain ranges
we crossed.
But counting goes way beyond numbers. We count our blessings, and give thanks for these and many other precious and sacred things:
- We are thankful for the message we carried: Land, Life and Peace - All Life is Sacred. This is an important message of concern and protective action for Mother Earth. From coast to coast, we have raised a voice for the trees, for clean air and water, for all the creatures, and for our Mother Earth and its many sacred places.
We are thankful for the changes inside of us: with every step, each one of us deepened our will for good, and our conviction for peace and justice and well-being for the Earth. And each of us was stretched to new limits, discovering and rediscovering more strength than we thought possible, more endurance, more will, more hope.- We are thankful for the relationships:
the new friends we made. The power and
beauty of these friendships is held dear
in the Spirit and in our hearts. We count
one another, Sacred Runners and Walkers,
as family. We will never forget the little
favors and kindnesses, the fun we had, the
hard times we overcame together, and our
fondness for one another's unique ways. We
intend to stay in touch.
- We are thankful for those who touched our lives as we made our way across the continent: so many gracious hosts and open doors and welcoming homes! The people who looked out for us in each town and every Native nation gave us a renewed sense of the goodness of the human spirit. When the world scares us and our times are dangerous and bad, we will remember the good faces and the generous hearts of America from Alcatraz to Washington, D.C.
- We are thankful for those among us who serve by leading: Dennis Banks, Jim Toren, Larry Bringing Good, Marcus Atkinson, K.A. Garlick, Jun-san Yasuda, and many more.
Well, you will want to know how it went today. We awoke in the rooms and hallways of Our Lady Queen of Peace church in Arlington, Virginia. As always, and for one last time, the Buddhists woke us up with their sweet meditative drumming and chanting. We packed with a greater sense of urgency and focus than usual, as each of us needed to shepherd all of our belongings into the correct vehicle for the trip to our various destinations. There was excitement in the air - to Washington, D.C.!
The
rain started before we left, and came down
lightly except for a downpour as we crossed
the Arlington Memorial Bridge and a long drenching
while we gathered in Circle below the Lincoln
Memorial. Basically, it rained all day. In
our Earth Day ceremonies, several of us remarked
that Mother Earth was blessing us with her
tears, watering the "seed" that
is Sacred Run, so that the Run -- and all of
us individually -- might grow and continue
to witness for peace, for gentleness on the
land, and for healing and conserving treatment
of the air and water.
At the top of the Reflecting Pool below the statue of Lincoln, we formed a great Circle. Dennis spoke at length,
“We must raise our voices and
we must raise them loudly!! Let this country
know of our concerns. Let this country
know that Mother Earth’s health is
not ok – that Mother Earth is trembling
with fever. Its temperature is very high – its
heartbeat is weakening. 
It
is gasping for air, clean air – it
needs fresh water, clean water....
"Our response doesn't end here. It goes home with you. Your grandchildren will ask you, 'What did you do about the land, the air and water?' And you can answer, 'I walked across this country.' And you won't have to tell your grandchildren that all you did was sit back and watch tv. Remember: this is just a beginning.... Let us be part of the beginning of waking up this country.
"We have to take back our future. The Environmental Protection Agency is destroying our future. We've got to take it back!"
Dennis concluded by drumming and leading us in the AIM Anthem. Then he invited each member of the Circle to speak their final words of wisdom. Some gave teary-eyed farewells, most offered great wisdom, "Gari" Kiyoshi Inoue came to the center and offered a powerful Shinto prayer, Paul Owns the Sabre also came to the center and sang, and we all just took our time speaking and listening as the heavens opened up and poured down the blessing rain.
One last time, Dennis called upon Jun-san to begin the closing ritual of passing around the entire circle left to right with a bow, a handshake and/or a hug and a good word, each person following in the snaking line, in such a way that everyone greets every other member of the Circle.
And that was it. We scattered to the Four Directions. So the story of Sacred Run 2006 comes to an end. But the Sacred Circle and the Run itself, and our stories and yours, and the Great Story of the Creator and our Mother Earth -- all these continue. What will the next chapter bring? Stay tuned, be ready, and be strong....
