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Greenland is becoming a central place of the
world because of what we have done to Mother Earth. The Icecap defines
the North and is a living body born in another time long, long ago. To
the people on the Top of the World, the Big Ice - the Grandfather -
carries the ancient wisdom of the earth. It is symbolic. Symbolic of
the endurance and power of the natural world. Symbolic of humankind’s
ability to alter the delicate balance of that Earth. Deliberately or
inadvertently, we are the blunt instrument of our ignorance, our
arrogance, and our disregard for the consequences of our actions.
Actions that have altered earth’s balance, symbolized most dramatically
by the melting of the ice.
The traditional Native leaders from North America look with alarm at
world conditions - environmental degradation and abuse, and human
relationships clouded by barriers of inequality, race, gender and
ethnicity. The human species has become the most voracious and abusive
consumer of earth’s resources. We are tipping the balance of life
against our children, and endangering our future as a species. There
must be reconciliation between peoples and the natural world. Leaders
must step forward and take responsibility for a paradigm change in the
direction of current lifestyles and materialistic societies.
Responsible and courageous actions must be taken to realign ourselves
with the great laws of nature. We must meet this crisis now.
Toward that end, traditional Native leadership from Indian country will
unite with members of the Elders’ Federation of Greenland, other
traditional Elders from across the Far North – Alaska, Northern Canada,
and Greenland, and people from around the world - in a camp near the
Icecap on July 18-20, 2008. The Fire and Ice Ceremony for the Earth
will be held in recognition of our common humanity and need to develop
common perspectives raised by the melting of the Big Ice and global
climate change.
This unprecedented gathering will be a cross-cultural event for Elders
and traditional people from across the Far North to come together with
the brightest minds and most influential and forward looking people of
the world. The gathering will consist of ceremony in connection with
the Big Ice and the return of the sacred fire to the North,
deliberations concerning global climate change, and celebration of our
common humanity.
To have the deepest, most forward thinking minds from mainstream
society together with the most respected indigenous leaders discussing
the current and potential impact of global climate change 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.
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