Thomas Banyacaya told me today that the Hopis do not
consider the invitation to him to participate in the UN's opening
of the Year of Indigenous Peoples to be the fulfillment of the
Hopi prophecy concerning the 'House of Mica.' In phone
conversation Thomas said, "It is unclear what this UN Program
will be, a ceremony, a prayer. They have not gone about it in
the right way."
Having travelled with Thomas to the United Nations in the
fall of 1990 to make preparation for the "4th knock," I was
excited when I read via PeaceNet that Thomas had been asked to
address the United Nations on December 10th--the kick-off of the
UN Year of Indigenous Peoples.
I asked Thomas, "If the UN were to extend an invitation to
the Hopi people to share their message of peace with the world by
speaking before the General Assembly, not just an invitation to
participate in an UN-sponsored ceremony, could this be the
occasion for the fulfillment of the prophecy?"
"Yes" Thomas responded, "if they do it the right way and
invite the Hopis to speak to the General Assembly. A letter needs
to be sent to each member of the UN asking them to take this
occasion to invite the Hopi people. Even though the UN doesn't
recognize the Hopis as a nation, we would have to speak as one
people to the other peoples of the Earth."
I asked Thomas if he would write such a letter. "Yes," he
said. I told him I would contact Robert Muller and other we knew
would help activate a campaign to encourage the UN to use the
occasion of the start of the UN Year of Indigenous Peoples "to do
things the right way": to invite the Hopi people to select their
own spokespersons to bring their message of peace to the world
leaders assembled at the General Assembly, in accordance with the
Hopi prophecies.
Thomas went on to say: "the UN is not supposed to use war."
He said the Hopis would speak of peace, the Hopi way. He spoke
about the suffering in Bosnia Hersigovia. He said we are moving
into a time of great crisis. "This is a time when so much hangs
in balance. People need to weight things. People need to wake up
and do some things. People need to move now."
Thomas will go to Washington State, August 16-20. He invited
me to meet with him then.
MEETING WITH THOMAS: 8-18-92
I met with Thomas Banyacya at Sapa Don Center in Yelm,
Washington yesterday. He spoke to a group of some 50 community
people, prior to the beginning of an Elders Gathering.
He confirmed what he had said to me in the above phone
conversation. He gave me a copy of the letter he presented to the
United Nations when he made the "fourth and final knock on the
House of Mica" on October 22, 1991. In his letter he said: "As
Mother Earth cries out in the pain of abuse, so I, of the Coyote
Clan, add my desperate cry on her behalf, in hope that the United
Nations will soon extend an invitation to Hopi Elders and
traditional leaders of the four directions. If this invitation is
extended, the traditional Hopi societies and traditional leaders
of the four directions will meet together to choose the
appropriate representatives to be sent to the United Nations
where they will be given the opportunity to present their oral
message of peace to the world leaders assembled there.
"This is my fourth and final attempt to open the door of the
Great House of Mica. If it is not opened as we humbly request so
that the red, white, yellow and black peoples might work together
for a peaceful world, then we will return to await the inevitable
time of purification."
Listening to Thomas speak about the Hopi prophecies under
the stars at Sapa Don reminded me of why I had spent so much time
and money to travel with Thomas to the UN in the fall of 1990.
The Earth and the people of the Earth are in such crises. The
recent Earth Summit has made many of us more aware of the depth
of the crises and the need for humankind to make a great turning
towards harmony and a sense of the sacredness. An invitation from
the UN to the Hopi people to share their message of peace with
the world would be a sign of such a turning. As Thomas said in
his letter to the UN: "Such an opening of the doors of the Great
House of Mica would fulfill the instructions of the Kikmongwis
and other Hopi Elders given in 1948....The Hopi and many other
native nations have struggled continually to maintain harmony
with Mother Earth and all the universe through our way of life.
The foundation of our way of life is the sacredness of the land
on which we dwell. If that land continues to be abused, the
sacredness of all life will disappear along with most of humanity
in a great purification by Mother Earth and the Great Spirit."
Let us work together, first, to turn the members of the UN
to kick-off the UN Year of Indigenous Peoples by doing it in the
right way. Then, we must all turn towards harmony and a sense of
the sacredness of all life.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Contact one or more Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs) to request that they form a coalition of
NGOs to urge Secretary-General Butros Butros-Gali and member
states of the UN to extend an invitation to the Hopi people to
address the General Assembly as part of the kick-off of the 1993
UN Year of Indigenous Peoples.
Send a copy of your correspondence to Mike Barnes, Global Forum,
633 SW Montgomery, Portland, OR 97201. 503-226-7807.
Email: PeaceNet: Cascadiaproj.
[ That address would be rendered "cascadiaproj@igc.org" for Internet
purposes. --Gary ]