Grandmothers Council Archive
“A ceremony with a good ritual eases the relationship between God and man."
Julieta Casimiro, Mazatec, Huautla de Jimenez, Mexico
2004
October 2004 – 1st Global Women’s Gathering, Menla Retreat, New York- The Thirteen Grandmothers first convene and establish a global alliance as a council.
2005
May 2005 – 2nd Council Gathering, Pojoaque Pueblo, New Mexico, hosted by the Mayan Grandmother Flordemayo. The Council holds daily prayers for peace, meets with spiritual elders and community leaders and begin their business as a Council.
2006
May 2006 – 3rd Council Gathering, Oaxaca, Mexico, hosted by Mazatec Grandmother Julieta Casimiro. During this council, the council names two more of their Ambassadors—Maori Elder Grandmother Pauline Tangiora and Princesse Constance de Polignac of France.
October 2006 – 4th Council Gathering, Dharamsala, India, hosted by Grandmother Tsering Dolma Gyaltong. During this gathering the council appoints Jyoti as their Traveling Ambassador Charged with the Mission. The council has an audience with His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama, the Karmapa and the Nechung Oracle of the Tibetan peoples.
2007
June 2007 – 5th Council Gathering, South Dakota, hosted by our Lakota Grandmothers Beatrice and Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance. The council meets with local and state officials, holds an open Council for hundreds of attendees and participates in a Sundance to strengthen their prayers for unity of all people.
2008
July 2008 – European Tour
Prayers at the Vatican: In Italy, the Grandmothers fulfill a long held intention to lay down prayers at the Vatican. They re-deliver their 2005 letter to the Pope requesting that the Vatican rescind several Papal Bulls, accompanied by their first youth ambassador, Davian Stands.
Assisi, Italy, Private Council: The Council holds a seven-day private council in Assisi, Italy.
Spain: The grandmothers touch hundreds of people with their teachings and are present for the release of the Spanish edition of their book. Their prayers on their final night in Europe at the Gaudi Garden attract over 600 people.
2009
August 2009 – 6th Council Gathering, Oregon, hosted by Takelma Siletz Grandmother Agnes Baker Pilgrim. Close to 500 people from around the world attend to support the Council and join in their prayer.
December 2009 – 7th Council Gathering, Sedona, Arizona. Hosted by Hopi/Havasupai Grandmother Mona Polacca. Close to 500 people gathered from around the world to support their prayer for peace.
2010
October 2010 – 8th Council Gathering, Kagoshima, Japan. Hosted by Brazilian/Japanese Grandmother Clara Shinobu Iura. Despite the typhoons which forced us to change the location of the entire gathering, hundreds of people gathered in Kagoshima to light the sacred fire while another hundred devoted people lit a sacred fire at the original site on Amami Island and prayed along with us for seven days.
2011
May 2011– 9th Council Gathering Anchorage, Alaska. Hosted by Yup'ik Grandmother Rita Blumenstein.
May 2011- 10th Council Gathering Brasilia, Brazil. Hosted by Grandmothers Maria Alice Campos Freire and Clora Shinobu Iura
Japan Gathering Updates
8th Gathering of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Kirishima, Japan
Novo Tempo, Nova Vida, Novo Mundo, Novo Povo, Novo Sistema
(New Time, New Life, New World, New People, New System)
(New Time, New Life, New World, New People, New System)
Kirishima Gathering: October 23-26
As you may know, the forces of Mother Nature made decisions for us. 
The largest rainfall in 125 years fell upon Amami Oshima Island on October 20th. There were no flights to Amami as of October 22, so we had to hold the Council in Kirishima, a place of hot springs and many sacred shrines. The Grandmothers made their way to Kirishima, and the Council took place October 23-26.
Many miracles occurred: the first of which was that on a few hours' notice the US and Japan team found a new location for the Council and its participants. More than 200 people were accommodated comfortably, even though there was almost no time to prepare. Not everyone was able to attend in the new location. Thanks to the devotion of the Amami team and others, prayers were laid down both at Kirishima and at Amami. The Grandmothers sent a letter to the Japanese participants thanking them for their continued prayers and understanding.
Nagasaki Visit
After the Council, Grandmothers Clara, Maria Alice, Julieta, and Mona traveled to Nagasaki to lay down prayers at the site of the atomic bomb blast. Grandmother Mona shared some of her impressions from the visit: "Our prayer at the "ground zero of the atomic bomb" (the place where it hit) was so beautiful. We had all sorts of weather just in those few hours, bright and sunny, cloudy, a little rain, some wind. Julieta did a rosary; and Clara/Maria Alice did their ceremony of songs & prayers. I had the last half hour and had them all form a "circle of life" in recognition that they have life through the ones who gave their lives. Several of the people told me that all the little animals came out to look, and birds were flying (including a hawk) around us and singing! I'm glad we went, of course we included you all."
A local newspaper covered the Grandmothers' visit to Nagasaki. Read article (in Japanese). Read English translation by Miyuki Akimoto.
One Last Miracle: Encounter with His Holiness the Dalai Lama
A final footnote to the marvelous story of the Grandmothers' adventures in Japan, thanks to Marisol Villanueva, official photographer and assistant to Grandmother Clara: After the visit to Nagasaki, Grandmother Clara and some of her assistants went to stay in the ancient city of Nara, close to Osaka. As it turned out, His Holiness the Dalai Lama was scheduled to visit Nara that same week, on November 8. Our great friend and organizer Yukari got tickets for Clara to see His Holiness.
Satoko, a lovely woman who assisted Clara at the Gathering, took her to visit a beautiful old Buddhist temple, where Clara prayed, giving thanks to Buddha for putting His Holiness on her path. She realized that her life, like his, is one of service. Grandmother Clara gave thanks for the opportunity to see His Holiness again, even if from far away, since it was her encounter with His Holiness that brought her in touch with her Asian ancestral line. Thanks to the Dalai Lama, Grandmother Clara was moved to bring the Grandmothers to Japan. On our way out we saw a flyer and realized that this was the very temple where His Holiness would appear on the 8th.
When the 8th arrived, Clara and thousands of other Japanese people went to see His Holiness. A handful of people were selected to greet His Holiness up close, including - Clara and Yukari! When Grandmother Clara stood in front of him, she said she was so close their noses could touch. She told him something like: I am on of the 13 Grandmothers holding a prayer for world peace who went to Dharamsala to see you, "Do you remember me?" He held both of her hands, bent forward, smiled and said "Of course I remember you, I remember you very well." She felt so much joy, peace and love in her heart. Then she felt that the Gathering had been completed.
Success in Nagoya
Before the Gathering, the Grandmothers appeared at the COP-10 conference on biological diversity in Nagoya on October 17, as part of a parallel conference that focused on the rights of indigenous peoples. Their appearance was reported in a front page story in a major Nagoya newspaper: Read it in English. See the original ariticle.
Following the Grandmothers' visit to the COP-10 conference in Nagoya, the delegates to the COP-10 conference passed a significant protocol. The Nagoya Protocol, approved early Saturday morning at COP-10, formalizes rules for achieving the CBD's third objective, which is the fair sharing of benefits from genetic resources.
The Japan Times online article describes this achievement in detail. more>>