Greenland
Greenland Event July 19 -21, 2009
In February 2006, the Elders of Greenland sent Angaangaq as a Runner from their land to the Everglades, to a gathering of traditional Indian Elders and youth hosted by the Independent Traditional Seminole Nation. Angaangaq brought a message and a request: “We the people of the Far North are in great need of the support of the traditional leaders from the Four Directions to help us regain our spiritual strength in the face of rapidly changing times.
The Elders of the North ask that you send a delegation of your Elders to our country to unite with us as a fulfillment of the ancient prophesies that one day the sacred fire will come home.”
In response to that request, in July 2009 the Fire and Ice Ceremony for the Earth will be held near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, uniting for the first time the traditional Native spiritual leaders of North America with their counterparts from the Far North, and with people from around the world. The gathering will consist of ceremony in connection with the Big Ice and the return of the sacred fire to the North, cross-cultural deliberations concerning global climate change, and our need to develop common perspectives raised by the melting icecap, the most dramatic evidence of accelerating global climate change.
The Fire and Ice Ceremony will bring heightened attention to the impact of global climate change, as well as new recognition and respect for indigenous people and their perspectives, adding the traditional indigenous voice to the dialogue on global climate change and care of the earth in general, providing a dimension that has been missing and desperately needed. The indigenous voice could have a major effect in bringing the world’s focused attention to its most pressing problem, and ultimately to the paradigm change that is imperative.
It will serve:
To raise awareness of global warming, the impact of which is most dramatically visible at the melting icecap.
To have the deepest, most forward-thinking minds from mainstream society and the most respected indigenous leaders discussing the current and potential impact of global warming in the shadow of its most dramatic instance, the Icecap,
To have the deepest, most forward-thinking minds from mainstream society and the most respected indigenous leaders discussing the current and potential impact of global warming in the shadow of its most dramatic instance, the Icecap, could have a major effect in bringing the world’s focused attention to its most pressing problem, and ultimately to the paradigm change that is called for.
This event, as an indigenous catalyst for the growing movement of global awareness of our relationship to the earth, will contribute to changing the course of human history at this critical moment in time.
Aasivik – Fire & Ice Ceremony held by the Icecap at Kangerlussuaq West Coast, Greenland.
Hosted by The Elders Federation of Greenland
The Fire and Ice Ceremony for the Earth will be a powerful three-day cross-cultural gathering of deliberation, ceremony, and celebration, the objective of which touches the welfare of the world. A principal objective is the return of the sacred fire in fulfillment of prophetic tradition.
For the first time in memory the sacred fire will be home. The ceremony will revolve around the physical fire but the most important element will be the spiritual fire, the spirit of which the physical fire is a symbol. It is a symbol of countless generations of indigenous people who have met around it to consider how to live well on the land given to them and how to relate well to the Creator and to one another. The lessons of the ice will also be prominent, both in helping us all recognize our common humanity, and in developing common perspectives raised by the melting ice and global climate change.
Union of Indigenous People.
The Fire and Ice Ceremony will be an historic occasion, uniting for the first time the spiritual leaders of North America with their counterparts from the Far North – thus completing the spiritual circle of Native people. The Ceremony will help northern indigenous people to meet challenges of survival that are closing in on them, challenges that were met by their southern counterparts generations ago but that continue to threaten all indigenous people and the wisdom that they bring to the world. The Ceremony will bring indigenous people from the four directions together to reinforce each other and to develop a solid front in the struggle to save the heritage and pass it along to coming generations. That heritage includes values which have sustained indigenous people over eons of time, and which are increasingly threatened in the modern world. The sustaining values – faith, thankfulness, love, and respect for all Creation – are what the sacred fire brings home to the heart. Cross-Cultural Union Forward thinking and influential members of world societies are invited to participate in the Fire and Ice Ceremony for the Earth.
It will serve as an important function in bringing attention to the impact of global climate change, as well as new recognition and respect for indigenous people and their perspectives. The Ceremony will add the traditional indigenous voice to the dialogue on global climate change and care of the earth in general, providing a dimension that has been missing and desperately needed.
To have leading mainstream citizens together with indigenous leaders discussing both the current and potential impact of global climate change, and coming together in a spiritual way to consider required paradigm changes, all in the shadow of the Icecap, will have a major effect in bringing the world’s attention to its most pressing problem. Evaluations of the consequences of climate change range from momentous to catastrophic. But in spite of considerable media coverage in recent months the public has not yet grasped its reality, in part because political voices have downplayed it. Because of its unique elements, The Fire and Ice Ceremony in Greenland will have an important effect on world opinion.
Agenda The Fire and Ice Ceremony for the Earth will be held in a tipi and tent encampment on a large lake near the Icecap and 40 kilometers from the town of Kangerlussuaq on the west coast of Greenland. The daily agenda for the gathering follows traditional ceremonial protocol with the focal point of activities being under an arbor with a fire pit in the center. The primary endeavors will include the reunion of the Elders, the ceremonial return of the sacred fire, deliberations and prayers revolving around the Ice, the earth and global climate change, as well as feasting and celebration.
The tentative agenda is as follows:
Arrival: July 15 – 17, 2009
Fire Ceremony: July 18: At the crack of dawn, which is midnight, grandmothers will start walking in silence from the campsite to cut wood. They will carry the wood back to the fire pit in the old traditional way bound to their head. Late on this day everyone will be invited into the circle, the Eskimo Elders entering last, fueling the fire with a seal lamp. The ancient prophecy of the coming home of the fire will be told; ceremonies will be held, followed by celebrations and a feast.
Fire & Ice Ceremony: July 19: Silent procession to the Ice Cap to wittness the Fire & Ice Ceremony to take place at midnight. Grandmothers will be carrying the wood. The men will prepare the fire pit. The walk back to camp will be joyful and lively.
Ancient Voices: July 20: First the women of the Greenland Elders will enter the sweat lodge to hold council on what needs to be said to the world. Then the men of the Greenland Elders will enter the sweat lodge and hold council on how to bring the message to the world. The Eskimo Elders will speak to the world about the spiritual implications of global climate change.
Departure: July 21, 2009