Minnesota / Wisconsin Gathering 2019

Following Standing Rock, the saying Water is Life or Mni Wiconi in Lakota has become a familiar saying.  Most of us know what that means in relationship to the struggle to protect water sources from pipelines, but how many of us really understand what that means in relationship to the gathering? When people scout for a gathering location, they always look for sources of water that can keep our camp alive.  Finding water is hard. Finding water that is uphill from where we want to gather is critical as gravity can help transport water to our population centers, kitchens, medical care, etc.  Protecting these water sources is important.  The water we drink keeps us alive, maintains our health, and can contribute to or prevent the spread of disease among gatherers. The Great Lakes region has lots of surface water, but that is not always the cleanest water for drinking and cooking. Making sure each and everyone has enough clean and safe water to drink is critical to maintaining your hea

This great explanation of the gathering comes from MC She, recorded at the Colorado July 4th Gathering in 2006. A friend of mine has an amazing website called Sounds From The Rainbow , where this and other amazing recordings exist.

The filmmakers of Ritual Nation explore ritual in our lives not just related to rainbow gatherings, but I think shows the importance of rituals in our lives and specifically at the gathering. Shot in the 1990s, it's a beautiful introduction and statement about why people gather in many different ways. Especially relevant to the big rituals, which happen at the gathering, like the prayer for world peace .

Circle on July 4 Copied from Steven Hager's Blog The silent prayer/meditation for world peace is the culmination of our attempts to create a peaceful and harmonious gathering. Starting as the sun rises on the morning of July 4 th , the gathering will become silent. As people wake up and get ready for their day, most people respect the silence. As people are so inclined they head to main meadow to pray for world peace, do yoga for world peace, meditate for world peace and all sorts of other mellow and silent manifestations of creating the energy of world peace and the healing of the planet. . We hold this peace in preparation for the arrival of our children. The children's parade (meet at Kid Village or Dirty Kid Village a few hours before noon if you have kids and want them in the parade ) will come into the center of the circle. Please hold the silence until all the children (even the ones at the end of the parade) have made it into the center of the circ

Some would say the phrase “Shanti Sena” means “peace army” from Sanskrit and has its roots in Gandhi’s concept of non-violent volunteer based peace keepers . While in gathering lore, some would translate the phrase as peace scene .  No matter the logical translation you wish to put on it, I translate it as being part of a family and looking out for my family in peaceful ways. In the years of the strife between gatherers and the United States Forest Service Law Enforcement Officers (USFS LEOs), the phrase came to spell trouble for the LEOs and by 2008/2009 many gatherers actually thought the cops were the Shanti Sena (so not true). Because of the many misconceptions floating around, I thought I would take the time to rap about my perspective on keeping the peace at a gathering. As many of my friends point out, “Shanti Sena” is a verb not a noun. In other words, no one “is” Shanti Sena, but many people “do” Shanti Sena. Most functions at the gathering are verb rather than noun

For those of you who knew Tamara from San Diego, she was a keeper of the Rainbow songs and chants. Tamara was a bright shining star in this world. She has transcended to her next adventure and left us much too soon. We love you Tamara! Safe journeys and happy trails. To listen to Tamara's recording, click here .

Thanks to the Free Assembly Project for putting up court documents on their website. This specific excerpt is from a Hearing Transcript, 5 July '07 near the Annual Gathering in Arkansas with this comment: (NOTE: The accuracy of this official transcript is under review, yet to be determined.) The answers (A) are from from Gene Smithson. The questions (Q) are from Don E Wirtshafter. Q Is there any ongoing training that officers receive in 19 1 crowd control? 2 A Every year we are -- we are going to be recertified in it. 3 Q Uh-huh. 4 A Yeah. 5 Q And what do you have to do to get recertified in crowd 6 control? 7 A You have to complete the course that the park police 8 requires you to complete. That's as per our agency's direction 9 we follow in accordance with their policies. 10 Q Is there anyone receiving training as part of their 11 participation in the National Incident Management Team? 12 A Every officer on