“As it was in the beginning of our people one prayer, one drum and one circle; again we must defend all of humanity with one prayer, one drum and one circle.”
— Wendsler Nosie Sr., Apache Stronghold
We are calling on all people who pray to join the Apache Stronghold on Thursday, October 21, to pray for the healing of our world. In whatever way you pray — whether with a drum, with song, with words, or just with your breath — please join us as we come together around the world in communion with one another, all creation and the Creator as we remember who we are — One Drum, One Circle, and One Prayer, so we can begin healing our world.
You can begin by praying for the right outcome in this Friday’s 9th district court hearing in San Francisco where the Apache religion will be on trial for protecting sacred Oak Flat and their way of life rooted in ceremony and connection to spirit of God present there. But this is just a beginning for our prayers. More importantly we must come together to pray for the struggle we are all facing between good and evil. It is not just the Apache religion and the Oak Flat sacred site that are in peril, but all of our lives, and those yet to be born and all of creation are facing the threat of destruction, domination and death because of the evil of the colonial capitalist system spread around the world.
Pray together that we remember who we are — one drum, one prayer, one circle.
We know that the Apache are not the only people in struggle against the evils of greed and the lies of Christian Nationalism. We’ve heard from and we see the indigenous, oppressed and poor peoples from not only across the United States but around the world who are suffering because of this evil colonial system of empire. We must come together to pray to change our ways. Indigenous people, especially by taking us back to the first chapter of this nation’s history as Wendsler Nosie Sr. reminds us can help us not only see the evil we face but also point us toward a way of life that takes responsibility for caring for one another by reminding us who we are.
Pray together that we remember who we are — one drum, one prayer, one circle.
The capitalist system imposes a “value” system upon us that is toxic and evil. It seeks to assimilate everyone and everything into its way of death. Capitalism disconnects us from who we are created to be. It separates us from all creation and tells the lie that there is nothing sacred about it so it can conquer, mine and destroy the water and land. It separates us from other human beings and tells the lie that the “other” are savages or less than human so that it can oppress, imprison and even kill our brothers and sisters. For the sake of profit and greed it disconnects us from all creation in order to desecrate the earth and dehumanize our relationships. But further it separates us from ourselves so that we no longer even know our own true self. We don’t know even who we are as human beings anymore. We’ve believed these lies that America tells for far too long. But no more!
Pray together that we remember who we are — one drum, one prayer, one circle.
The Apache Stronghold spiritual convoy to the 9th district court in San Francisco is for so much more than winning a court decision. We know that a court decision within the box of the colonial system will not fix the struggles we all face. We know the way to healing our pain is spiritual and the path toward that healing is prayer. This is a spiritual battle between good and evil, between the creators way of life and the colonizer’s capitalist way of death. We cannot dismantle the colonizers “box” (capitalist/colonial system) with the colonizers tools! The path to decolonize is spiritual work.
Pray together that we remember who we are — one drum, one prayer, one circle.
The Apache Stronghold has joined in the spiritual work of the new Poor People’s Campaign. We are joining with poor people across the U.S. reviving the original campaign led by Dr. Martin Luther King who had decided to move beyond the mere struggle for rights to the larger struggle for a revolution of values and with that a call for responsibility to one another and the earth. King became a threat to this evil system of capitalism because he was going outside of the box on a spiritual path calling all people together to change this system of racism, militarism and economic exploitation. We see our spiritual movement is growing. All people who pray are part of it.
Pray together that we remember who we are — one drum, one prayer, one circle.
We know connection and communion with the sacred is possible through prayer. Our spiritual convoy is a journey to remind all people that we are already one. But we have forgotten and we no longer know that we are. What we must do is recover our original unity. What we must do is be who we already are — One drum, One prayer, One circle.
To find out more about the fight to protect Oak Flat, and the Apache convoy to San Francisco visit: www.apache-stronghold.com To join the Apache Stronghold Listening Session in-person and online on Friday October 22, 9am-1pm PT Find Out More Here.
