On October 18, Natural Justice attended a screening of the film “For the Next 7 Generations”. The film illustrates the story, journey, and values of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, who joined together in 2004 to call for world peace and a reanimated consciousness of our relationship with Mother Earth. The Grandmothers’ mission statement is: “We, the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, represent a global alliance of prayer, education and healing for our Mother Earth, all her inhabitants, all the children, and for the next seven generations to come. We are deeply concerned with the unprecedented destruction of our Mother Earth and the destruction of indigenous ways of life. We believe the teachings of our ancestors will light the way through an uncertain future. We look to further our vision through the realization of projects that protect our diverse cultures: lands, medicines, language and ceremonial ways of prayer and through projects that educate and nurture our children.”
Three of the Grandmothers joined the audience after the screening to take a few questions. Noting that the combined age of the 13 Grandmothers is nearly 900 years, they spoke about the spiritual relationship that Indigenous women in particular have with Earth-based medicines. They described the four elements (Mother Earth, air, fire, and water) are the foundation of all life, underscoring the fact that humans are such a small part of the world and are defined by our relations with others. As Lakota Chief Sitting Bull said, “Let’s put our minds together and see what life we will make for our children.”
