Remembering our Ancestors
Woableza
A Lakota/Dakota elder, whose spiritual name “Woableza” identifies him as “One who seeks the Knowledge of Life” or “One looking for Understanding.” He has traveled throughout the Americas for the past 37 years, acquiring and sharing indigenous stories and wisdom regarding care for the land and people. He has produced films, TV programs, educational programs, and has worked with a number of Native American organization concerned with health, media, spirituality and the environment.
Woableza is a great grandson of the famed Dakotah Sioux “Chief Ti Wakan” (Sacred Lodge) who was instrumental in restoring peace between the Dakota and the United States Army during the great Indian wars. He is a follower of the teachings of the famous Lakota Holyman, Chief Tatanka Iyotake (Sitting Bull). Woableza is a Peace Teacher. He teaches about peace found within and peace among people and nations. He teaches about finding peace with Mother Earth and all creation.
Woableza is also an Elder with the Spirit Walkers of Turtle Island. He was a member of the National Congress of American Indians, National Museum of American Indian and the Native American Producers Association. Woableza proudly comes from Buffalo Nation.
Margarita Núñez García
Margarita Núñez García, is known as Grandmother Margarita. She brings a message of love and feminine spirituality from Mother Earth, to the hearts of women and men.
Margarita comes from far away to help us remember the teachings of our ancestors. She reminds us of the importance of Mother Earth and Father Sun, which are the basis of humanity: our origin and source of subsistence.
“My work is to plant seeds of knowledge so that they can grow and give fruits. I come to remind you of what is already inside you. The Woman has to take her place as the teacher of humanity and it is through her that change will come.”
Abuela Margarita belongs to the Native Council of Elders of America and has participated in numerous aboriginal gatherings in Mexico, Brazil, Peru, the United States, Canada, and Europe. She takes part in the Sundance, Earthdance, Moondance, and other ceremonies, including sweatlodges and vision quests on a regular basis. (*Abuela = Spanish for Grandmother).
Juan Gabriel Apaza Lonasco
Juan Gabriel Apaza Lonasco is a respected wisdom-keeper of the Q’ero Nation of Peru. Known as the last living descendants of the Inka bloodline, and the keepers of the coca wisdom, the Q’ero still follow the ancient traditions of their ancestors by paying hommage to the Mother Earth (Pachamama) and the Apus (mountain guardians) through traditional “saminchay” fire ceremonies.
Juan Gabriel dedicates his life to sharing ancestral wisdom and traditional ceremony to heal at all levels. This passion has guided him to travel internationally for more than 20 years, engaging with indigenous leaders around the world. His dream is to build the Tawantinsuyo Eco-Temple in Peru to encourage indigenous coalitions at a global level.
Chief Golden Light Eagle
Chief Golden Light Eagle is a hereditary and Sundance Chief from the Ihunktowan Naktoa Nation from South Dakota.
He is known as a national speaker on the subjects of Universal and Spiritual Law.
He will speak and present the (The Symbols) also known as the Maka Wichapi Wicohan – Universal and Spiritual Laws of Creation, Iktomi Wicahpi Wicohan – Universal and Spiritual Laws of Universal Mother, Anpao Wicahpi Wicohan, the ways of MorningStar, and the Can Wakan Wicohan, the Universal and Spiritual Laws of Creator.
Chief Golden Light Eagle will also speak on “Understanding Petroglyph Starology”.
Mamo Luis, Kogi Elder
In a bloodstained continent, the Indians of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta were never truly vanquished by the Spaniards.
Descendants of an ancient South American civilization called the Tayrona and numbering perhaps 45,000 today, the Kogi, Arhuaco, and Wiwa peoples fled death and pestilence four centuries ago, seeking refuge in a mountain paradise, whose peaks soar more than 18,000 feet above the Caribbean coast of Colombia.
In the wake of the conquest they developed an utterly new dream of the Earth, a revelation that balanced the baroque potential of the human mind and spirit with all the forces of nature.
Hunbatz Men
Hunbatz Men (1941-2016) was a Mayan daykeeper--an authority on the history, chronology, and calendars of Mayan civilization. He was also a ceremonial leader, founder of the Lol Be, a Maya Educational and Ceremonial Center near Mérida, Mexico, and the author of Secrets of Mayan Science/Religion and The 8 Calendars of the Maya.
Larry Running Turtle
Larry Running Turtle is a full-blooded American Indian of Tsalagi and Apache descent and recognized as a wisdom keeper by his people. He was born in San Antonio Texas, and moved to Corpus Christi Texas where he has lived since the age of 7.
His support of Native American issues includes countless ceremonies, lectures, television appearances, movies, documentaries, radio hosting and advocating for Native American burial grounds in Texas. Because of Larry’s efforts he has helped change laws in Texas pertaining to American Indian burial grounds.
Larry studied Japanese and Korean martial arts for over 40 years with 4 black belts from 4 different styles. For years he studied and toured with Steven Segal.
This led him to a 10 year commitment to study and practice Buddhist teachings and eventually he met His Holiness The Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist Monk. Larry is a role model to many and is an Ambassador for the Goodwill Treaty for World Peace for the Indigenous People’s Grand Council of Peace.
He co-authored a book, The Pipe and The Pen, Remembering Our Original Instructions with Pamela Two Spirits Reader Ph.D. The book is about Native American, Buddhist and Catholic teachings.
Shayna Tovah
Blessing of Beauty and Good
Shayna Tovah is the Grand Mother of International Center of Spiritual and Ancestral Wisdom and has been a member since it’s conception. Her role is to give support in whatever area is needed at the time, and she stands strong as the center of the Sacred Feminine core energy for ONAC of ICSAW.
Shayna Tovah was born in Baltimore Maryland in 1952. As a young girl her place of solace was under the big Oak Tree in her backyard and exploring the creek 1/8 mile from her modest home. She looked to Nature to not only feed her soul, but to teach her the ways of being in balance with Mother Earth. In 1971 her first son, Adam Yellowbird DeArmon, was born and she continued to share her love of Nature with him by the lakes, ocean, and in the woods.
Ten years later she birthed her second son, Max DeArmon, and homeschooled both using Rudolph Steiner’s Waldorf Educational Curriculum.
As a young adult, Shayna Tovah learned alternative ways for healing and living while having one foot in both the conventional and non-conventional work worlds. In 1978 Shayna Tovah decided to follow the guidance of Great Spirit to live and raise her children in a non-conventional atmosphere. She began teaching those who crossed her path about how important a visceral connection to Mother Earth is for survival and shared knowledge of how to live sustainably. On her journey, Shayna Tovah came upon teachers of many religions, spiritualities, and natural medicines. She is a deepened Transcendental Meditation Siddha, as well as, trained in Indigenous traditions and ceremonies of North America and Mexico.
Shayna Tovah is well known for her activism in social and environmental justice beginning in the late 60s. Her journey provided a platform for her to earn a Masters Degree in Ecopsychology from Prescott College in Arizona and in addition –– a year of studies in a Women’s Spirituality Ph.D. program at CIIS in San Francisco, California.
Over the past 40 years Shayna Tovah has shared her knowledge through her work as an Author and Painter, Adjunct Instructor at Yavapai Community College, Clinical Liaison Counselor for a community Behavioral Out Patient Clinic, Activities Director at a lock down Mental Health facility, facilitator of Acclimatization to Nature and Lunar Attunement playshops for children and adults, After School and camp programs, as well as a trained Curendera (Medicine Woman) and Ceremonial Leader of Indigenous based ceremonies.