For the many Native Americans engaged with Religions for Peace USA through the National Congress of American Indians and other affiliations, sacred spaces and certain key geographic landmarks are essential components to their spiritual practices. They serve as places of prayer and as signs of their peoples’ identity and longevity in this country.
International Interfaith Festival in Guadalajara, May 3-9, 2015
As excitement builds for the Parliament of the World’s Religions next year in Salt Lake City (October 15-19), a second major international interfaith gathering has been announced, this one in Guadalajara, Mexico, set for May 3-9, 2015.
Climate and the People: September 19-23, New York City
Sunday, September 21, 2014, the UN International Day of Peace. The sky was clear, the sun shining, and the air was vibrating with excitement. You could sense an unmistakable whiff of history-in-the-making. Soon mid-town Manhattan would become a rolling wave of humanity, a moving festival of people of every age, race, ethnicity, nationality, and belief. Most wore casual attire, some religious garb, and others chose colorful costumes and body paint. An impressive assortment of headgear showed up as well: hijabs, turbans, kippas, garlands, feathers, panama hats, and baseball caps.
A Different Approach to Deity
Crafting Costa Rica’s Commitment to Peace with Mother Earth
Stunned silence followed when nine year-old Grace’s innocent question was repeated by her mother during a working session of a Peace Summit held in San Jose, Costa Rica, last December.
Pachamama – Renewing Our Love Affair with Mother Earth
Around 1995 an intact and healthy aboriginal community’s pristine Amazonian environment was threatened by development companies looking for oil, minerals, and other resources. The Achuar people of Ecuador are a “dream culture”; their leaders began to perceive in their visions that they needed to connect with like-minded spirits among people of the very same developed world which was threatening them.
Protecting the Sacred in a Shattered World
The following is a keynote address delivered by Hereditary Chief Phil Lane Jr. of the Ihanktowan, Dakota, Chickasaw Nation. He was speaking to the 3rd Annual International Indigenous Leaders Gathering focused on the theme “Protecting the Sacred.” It was held in Lillooet, British Columbia, May 30-June 5, 2011.
Indigenous Peoples Making an Interfaith Difference
Indigenous peoples were welcomed to the 1993, 1999, and 2004 Parliament of the World’s Religions and they enriched those gatherings. But the 2009 Parliament held in Melbourne will be remembered for holding up the significant contributions that Indigenous people are making to the interfaith movement.