Protecting Mother Earth Conference: the Right to Prayer

​During August of 2024 Kerri Pulley and I attended the 18th Protecting Mother Earth conference. It was held on the Qualla Boundary Land Trust of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. The conference was founded by the Indigenous Environmental Network. There were over 900 participants from all over Turtle Island. Speakers and teachers represented indigenous peoples from around the world.
 
I was happy to see Great Grandmother Mary Lyons speaking at plenaries and meeting with leaders. Mary Lyons is one of the original international Great Grandmothers or Keepers of Wisdom. I first met her at the 2015 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Salt Lake City. We again met up at the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago. She is a member of the  Anishinaabe or Ojibwe people. I was excited when she agreed to be interviewed. I assumed she would talk about her work as a water protector, or as a prominent member of the Parliament of the World’s Religions, or perhaps her work with the United Nations. However, as is usually the case, Mary had other plans. She introduced me to two of her colleagues and provided a panel interview.
 
Her colleagues included Dr. Crystal Cavalier-Keck. Crystal is an adjunct professor of Social Sciences at Salem College. She has extensive experience advocating for indigenous approaches to protecting the environment. She is the executive director of 7 Directions of Service. Dr. Cavalier-Keck is a member of the Occaneechi-Saponi people. She is partnered in her endeavors with her husband, Jason Crazy Bear Keck. He is also a strong advocate for protecting Mother Earth using traditional indigenous approaches to caring for the land. Jason is a member of the Choctaw people and the multiethnic Creole people.
 
Their topic was not about a specific ecology, extractive practice, or pollution. It was about an incident that interfered with indigenous prayer to 3000-year-old ancestors. It was about conflict with neighbors, police, and the initial presumption of guilt by the media. This may not initially look like a topic one would expect to hear about at the Protecting Mother Earth conference. However, the conference speakers often compared colonial extractive economies to indigenous practices of living in harmony and balance with Mother Earth. This is being in relationship with Mother Earth and all the inhabitants of our home. That relationship requires communication, it requires prayer. So, for these three people, as they told their story of one event in North Carolina, they also spoke of how powerful prayer is and how it must not be limited or interfered with.
 
So, as you watch the video, I suspect it will become clear to you why these three indigenous people are environmental and social justice leaders.

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