SPEAKERS
We honor the memory of Chris Leith, Dakota medicine bundle keeper and spiritual leader from the Prairie Island Dakota who will be with us in spirit. He served as Sun Dance chief for more than thirty years. In 2003 he was a source of important information for the successful nomination of Oheyawahi, (“The Gathering Place”) to the National Register of Historic Places where events will take place during WPPD 2011. He was active in the campaign to save the Hill from private development and led the sweat ceremony on the hill in October 2004. He was very involved in bringing awareness to other sites sacred to his culture as serves as a Wisdom Keeper with the World Council of Indigenous Elders.
Chief Arvol Looking Horse - is the 19th generation keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle and holds the responsibility of spiritual leader among the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota People. He holds an honorary Doctorate from the University of South Dakota, and travels and speaks extensively on peace, environmental and native rights issues. He has been the recipient of several awards, including the Wolf Award of Canada and the Juliet Hollister Award for his dedicated work for peace. A skilled horseman, he shares his knowledge with the youth on the long distance rides that take place in South Dakota throughout the year.
Isaac James Bishra -Maori Nation, New Zealand. Isaac organized the WPPD 2008 in New Zealand for his People. He will be bringing his people to speak about the Earth Changes and Climate changes that his own People have undergone with Christ Church Earth Quake, in which his group is still active in assisting with the catastrophe.
Misa Adele Honde - Japan . Organizer of WPPD 2004 in Japan.After studying at Sinte Gleska College on the Rosebud Reservation in 1989, Misa has been working to introduce messages from Native American elders and spiritual leaders to the Japanese audience, through her interpretation and translation work. In 2004, she and her collegues organized World Peace and Prayer Day 2004 JAPAN at the foothills of Mt. Fuji. She participates in grassroots network in Japan working for the reduction of nuclear power plants and transition into natural energy. "Wisdomkeepers", "Messengers of the Wind", "White Buffalo Teachings" are some of the books she has translated into Japan.
Brave Heart Society & Elk Soldier Society- Yankton Sioux Tribe. The Brave Heart Society was revived at Ihanktonwan in1994 to work through ceremony and guidance to assist young women as they becoming a woman. The Elk Soldier Society, which has come into being the last 10 years, focuses on helping the young men. They work in support and partnership with each other as women and men's societies, like they did in old days
Reverend Deacon Conrad Plante - Archdiocese of Winnipeg
Swami Nityamuktananga Saraswati- (Dr. Christa-Maria Herrmann) is German by birth. In 1997 she was recognized by the United Nations for contributions to World Peace (LGWPF/ NGO of UN). She worked with several great spiritual Masters among them Zen-Masters, great Siddhas, the Tibetan Lama and Tulku T.Y.S. Gangchen, the great Yogi Swami Maheshananda and H.H. Swami Anubhavananda (Acharya of Vedanta) and finally M.M. (Mahamadeleschwara) Swami Veda Bharati, disciple of Swami Rama of the Himalaya .
Shri Natha Devi Premananda, affectionately known as Mataji, - Los Angeles As Founder of Eagle Wings of Enlightenment Center in South Central Los Angeles in the African-American Community since 1985, Mataji is a spiritual Mother dedicated to the upliftment of World Peace and the spiritual teachings of Oneness, Compassion, Universal Wisdom and the Holy Scriptures. Over the years she has given refuge to single mothers with children in gangs, teen pregnancy, alcoholism, drugs and low self esteem individuals and is recognized as an Ambassador for Peace internationally for her selfless service. Through this World Peace ministry, she has traveled to India, Nepal, Tibet, Uganda, Tanzania, Egypt, Kenya, Peru, Bosnia, Italy, France, Bolivia, Australia, and throughout North America. She has hosted, prayed and conducted services with distinguished teachers and leaders of diverse spiritual traditions as an interfaith ministry.
Josephine Mandamin-Manitoulin Island This First Nations grandmother who walked around Great Lakes will talk about importance of water. Every spring since 2003she picks up her copper pail and starts walking, circling the Great Lakes. At every tributary, Mandamin stops and talks directly to the water, offering prayers, tobacco and thanks. Mandamin and a small band of followers will follow the lakes to where their water pours into the Atlantic Ocean. (As proof to her message of the need to protect the water, 25% of male beluga whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence have cancer). "The water is sick...and people need to really fight for that water, to love that water."
Rabbi Bob Carroll - Israel. Carroll is an Orthodox Rabbi and student of the Kabbalistic/Mystical tradition of Judaism. He serves on the board of directors for Interfaith Encounter, based in Jerusalem, which uses religion to build a grassroots movement for peace in the Mideast by seeking common values, re-humanizing "the other", and building a true community of believers who refuse to be each others' enemies. He is also a lifelong environmental activist who seeks to use earth-consciousness in his work to help bring people together, spending a significant amount of time each year in wilderness areas of the United States
Bob Randall - Australia -is a “Tjilpi,” special teaching Uncle and Elder of the Yankuntjatjara Nation and Anangu People. He and his family have been the traditional carers of Uluru, the great monolith in the Central Desert of Australia for many 1000’s of years. He is an international educator, author, documentary film maker and subject, story-song composer and singer, and recipient of numerous humanitarian and peace awards, including Indigenous Person of the Year. As a member of The Stolen Generation, his song, "My Brown Skin Baby (they take 'im away)" brought international attention to the plight of many thousands of half-caste children forcibly removed from their families and places of belonging by Australian government order. “Uncle Bob,” as he is affectionately known, speaks and teaches internationally to all ages on the interconnectedness and oneness of all living and the Anangu "Kanyini" philosophy of living with unconditional love for each other and all life, with responsibility for self.
Alta Reynolds - South African -is a labour dispute conciliator and arbitrator for the South African Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (the CCMA) as well as several Bargaining Councils. She was nominated by the Shri Miriammen Temple Society in Durban for the Woman of the Year Award 2003 in the category Promotion of Peace.
Shakeel Ori is a 3rd Generation South African of Indian Origin.Presently, he is the Director of Co-operative Education at the Durban University of Technology in Durban, South Africa. Previous positions include Senior Lecturer and Dean (Faculty of Science).Although qualified in the Medical Sciences, he is active in the transformation of tertiary education in post-apartheid South Africa. Serves on several national organizations and is currently the President of the Southern African Society for Co-operative Education and a Director of the World Association for Co-operative Education (WACE).
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