Documentary Film
The Power of Ceremony:
Earth Teachings for Future Generations
Earth and humanity are in crisis. Indigenous teachings offer all of us a way forward through ceremony and earth-focused living.
SYNOPSIS
In this passionate, hopeful film, Indigenous Elders and spiritual leaders apply their wisdom and knowledge to the healing of Mother Earth and Her inhabitants.
Stunning images and eight wisdom keepers from diverse traditions guide viewers into the world of ceremony and spiritual renewal. They urge us to remember who we really are – that if we go back in time far enough, we all come from a culture of ceremony that, if applied today, can restore us to balance.
FEATURED WISDOM KEEPERS
Erick Gonzalez was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Within the traditional Indigenous circles and the native people of the Maya, Tat Erick is an Aj Q’ij and Kamal Bey (Spiritual Leader, Teacher and Earth Wisdom Keeper). As a youth, he participated in Native movements to protect sacred lands, helping Indigenous communities re-establish and support their traditional ways. Over the years, Tat Erick has participated in Indigenous Councils throughout the Americas. He is passionate about the inclusion of all lineages for healing and unification. As the Co-Founder & Spiritual Leader of Earth Peoples United, a non-profit dedicated to connecting people to the natural & spiritual worlds, he nurtures an international alliance of Earth Wisdom Keepers supporting the transformation and unification of humanity through sharing the “Original Instructions” left by the Creator for us to live in balance and harmony with all creation. Tat Erick has built two spiritual sanctuaries: one on the shore of Lake Atitlan in his home country of Guatemala, and another north of Mt. Shasta in Northern California. He holds a vision of supporting and unifying sanctuaries such as these throughout Mother Earth. Currently Tat Erick lives in Northern California with Heddi Neale, his wife and partner, and spends part of the year in Guatemala. He has five children and five grandchildren. Erick spoke at the Natural Way Speakers Series in 2011.
Ilarion Merculieff was born on the Pribolof Islands in the Bering Sea in 1949. His generation was one of the last to have a traditional upbringing. For decades, he served his people, the Unangan (Aleuts), in various capacities. He was City Manager of Saint Paul Island, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Commerce and Economic Development, and Chairman of the Board of the Aleut Corporation. He served as President and CEO of TDX, and Co-chair of the Rural Sanitation Taskforce. For the last thirty years, Merculieff has chaired global climate change summits, led Indigenous gatherings for the healing of Mother Earth, participated in sacred ceremonies around the world, given keynote addresses at government conferences and lectured about “traditional ways of knowing” at universities. His many articles and books include Wisdom Keeper: One Man’s Journey to Honor the Untold History of the Unangan People, and Stop Talking, co-written with Libby Roderick. Ilarion spoke at the Natural Way Speaker Series in Portland in 2015 and 2019.
Sobonfu Somé
Dagara (West African) Medicine Teacher
1956–2017
Agnes Pilgrim
Siletz Elder and Council of 13
Indigenous Grandmothers
1924–2019
Agnes Baker Pilgrim was a life-long member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians who referred to her as a "Living Legend and Living Treasure.” Born in Oregon, Grandma Aggie, as she was affectionately known, was a mother of six children, grandmother to thirty, and great-grandmother to eighty. In 1970, in a dream, she felt the word of God calling her to protect the environment. At that time, she took on the name of her great-grandmother, "Taowhywee" (Morningstar), and began traveling throughout the world promoting the care of Mother Earth, and the animals and waters who had no voice. She became a Voice for the Voiceless. In 2004 in Phoenicia, New York, she co-founded the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. In 2019 she was awarded Southern Oregon University’s “Presidential Medal” for her work “to preserve and protect native cultures, the earth, particularly the water, throughout the world.” Grandma Aggie was a great friend of Earth & Spirit Council and spoke at Earth & Spirit Council’s Natural Way Speaker Series twice; in 1999 and 2014.
Calvin
Hecocta
Numah (Klamath, Oregon) Wisdom Keeper, Member of AIM, Forest Activist
1942–2016
Calvin Hecocta was a member of the Numa band of the Owens Valley Northern Paiute Nation, now part of the federation of Klamath Tribes. The spiritual blessings and ceremonial practices of his people were passed down to Calvin by his grandfathers, uncles, and others who were true to their traditions. Calvin helped write the founding documents for the American Indian Movement (AIM) and was a fierce advocate for the restoration and protection of native forests and tribal lands. He joined the board of the Native Forest Council and traveled the land as a voice for species not represented at government hearings. He was a founding member of Friends of Opal Creek and taught Native American religion, philosophy, and environmental ethics at Willamette University and Portland Community College. Calvin spoke at the Natural Way Speaker Series in 2009.
Linda Neale
Author, Co-Founder of Earth & Spirit Council
1950–
Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox is an American priest, theologian and author of more than forty books. Born in Wisconsin, he was formerly a member of the Dominican Order within the Catholic Church. He became an Episcopal priest following his expulsion from the order in 1993. Fox holds a doctorate in the history and theology of spirituality from the Institut Catholique de Paris and conducts dozens of workshops each year around the world. He is a visiting scholar at the Academy for the Love of Learning and developed the Cosmic Mass. (Reinventing Worship for the 21st Century) Matthew Fox has been a supporter and advocate for Native Americans throughout his career, participating in various native ceremonies with Buck Ghosthorse, Rod McAfee, and Sister Jose Hobday. He is a recipient of the “Abbey Courage of Conscience Peace Award” (other recipients being the Dali Lama, Mother Teresa, Ernesto Cardenal and Rosa Parks), the “Gandhi King Ikeda Award,” the “Tikkun National Ethics Award” and others. Every year since 2013 he’s been ranked in the top 25 among Watkins' Mind-Body-Spirit Magazine's Top 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People. Matthew Fox was an inspiration for the founding of Earth & Spirit Council and has given many lectures and workshops in Portland.
Maria Alice Campos-Freire
Amazonian Plant Medicine Healer
Maria Alice Campos-Freire, born in Brazil, is a member of the Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, a group of women dedicated to promoting peace and understanding through Indigenous wisdom. She is a madrinha (spiritual leader) of the Santo Daime Community Céu do Mapia and the founder of Centro Medicina do Floresta (Forest Medicine Center). The Center was created in 1989 to “preserve and expand the forest people’s traditional knowledge of local plant medicines by safeguarding and cultivating the native flora of the rainforest.” Maria has developed research and healing methods with plants of the Amazon. Her many educational programs for children focus on the preservation of nature and sustainable development. She has two daughters, four grandchildren and one great grandchild. Maria Alice spoke at the Natural Way Speaker Series in November 2010.
Rod McAfee
Akimel O’odham Elder, Co-Founder of Earth & Spirit Council
1931–2021
Sobonfu Somé was born to the Dagara Tribe of West Africa’s Burkina Faso. Sobonfu’s name means “keeper of the rituals.” She was guided from an early age to prepare for her life’s work, as divined by the elders of her village before her birth. Destined to teach the ancient wisdom, ritual and practices of her ancestors to those in the West, she was one of the foremost voices of African spirituality in the United States. Sobonfu traveled extensively throughout North America and Europe conducting workshops on spirituality, ritual, the sacred, and intimacy. Her work moved African spiritual practices from the realm of anthropology, to a place alongside the world's great spiritual traditions, She was a founder of Wisdom Spring, Inc. and authored three books including, The Spirit of Intimacy. Sobonfu spoke at the Earth & Spirit Council Natural Way Speakers Series in 2009.
Linda Neale is the co-founder of Earth & Spirit Council. Born in Portland, Oregon, her family homesteaded in SE Oregon at the dawn of the 20th century where she continues to maintain the house and property of her forebears. Linda earned a BA from Stanford University in 1972, and her MA from Portland State University in 1978. From 1972-75 she worked on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Ft. Defiance, Arizona. For most of her career, she worked as a school psychologist and marriage and family therapist. In 1990 she met Rod McAfee while assisting in the coordination of an Earth Day celebration in Portland. They later married and worked together to create The Natural Way Speaker Series. Linda’s book, The Power of Ceremony, describes seven basic principles for incorporating ceremony into individual, family and community life.
Rod McAfee was an Akimel O’odham (Pima) elder, teacher, sun dancer and spiritual leader. He was a tribal member of the Gila River Indian Community in Southern Arizona. He attended boarding school in Tucson for two years before running away after the fifth grade. Rod was a saddle bronc rider, a logger, an itinerant farmer, a drug and alcohol counselor and a spiritual advisor. Employed by the Native American Rehabilitation Association in Portland, Oregon for over twenty years, Rod led sweat lodge ceremonies in prisons and communities throughout the Northwest. He was co-founder of Earth & Spirit Council’s Natural Way Speaker Series and lead singer on two pow-wow drums. He was known for his wisdom and spiritual leadership which affected thousands of people during his lifetime. In 2001 Rod was awarded the first “Michael Sprauer Award for Excellence in Volunteer Service” by the Oregon Department of Corrections. Rod and his wife Linda have travelled throughout the U.S., Europe, and South America teaching and facilitating ceremonies.
Narrator
Lyla June
Indigenous musician, scholar, and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages.
Producer
Director, Editor & Music
Earth & Spirit Council
With special thanks to Linda Neale & David Cooley
and many more Lisa Gorlin, etc
Additional Music
