The Council of Elders Circle the World: History of the Councils of Turtle Island and the Pacifica

People are always asking us how the Grandmothers Circles we work with got their start. Here is a brief history:

History of the Councils of

Turtle Island and the Pacifica

By Grandmother Susan Stanton

In September of 2009, a small group of commited men and women spent three days gathered around a firepit in the Mimbres of New Mexico. This sacred valley is deep in the heart of Apache land; it is the birthplace of Geronimo. The people came together to begin a process that in just a few short months has evolved halfway around the world.

Two Grandmothers, Gail Whitlow (Mohawk) and Susan Stanton (Haudenosaunee)

responding to instructions from Canoncito Dineh Grandfather Leon Secataro, had called the small group together to share the Teachings they had been receiving for several years at an annual Gathering in the Canoncito Ancestral lands near Mt. Taylor, one of four sacred mountains of the Navajo. These teachings were given to the Five Fingered Ones to help prepare them for the Earth Changes that are coming, and to help them enter the next 500 years in a good way.

At this Gathering many sacred things took place. The people were taught by Abuelo Miguel Angelo, a Mayan Grandfather who shared with them the concept of the Long Days Count. Men and Women came together around the fire in Peace with an apology for years of pain and domination, and everyone present shared a profound and mutual healing experience. Grandfather Gil Aguilero, a member of the Spiritual Elders of Mother Earth and friend of Leon Secataro's, initiated a new Warrior in the Circle, Otter, Cherokee and a former Navy Seal who had come to provide support and protection to the Grandmothers. And at this Gathering, the Mimbres Circle was called, and the work of the 13 Grandmothers of Turtle Island Core Council began.

Just a few short weeks later Grandmother Ma'ata Tukuafu (Tongan from Waimea Hawaii) and Grandmother Susan Stanton traveled together to Indiana and sat with Grandfather Warren Ramey, Cherokee Elder and member of the Spiritual Elders of Mother Earth with Grandfather's Aguilero and Secataro. At that meeting Grandfather Warren charged them with the responsibility to take this sacred work to the Islands of the Pacific.

Grandmother Ma'ata returned to the Big Island, called for the women of Hawai'i to join her, and in February of 2009 the second Circle was born. The work of the 13 Grandmothers Pacifica Core Council had begun.

In October of 2009, the Maui Gathering organized by Robin Youngblood of Kihei, met for 3 days and birthed the Maui Circle. Just as the Mimbres and Big Island Circles, it has its own agenda, it's own protocol, it's own members, it's own dynamic. As with the others, it was created to meet and find solutions to the needs of the Community which were identified during the 3 days of Gathering. But with this new Circle it now became evident that a pattern was forming. Even without intentional deliberate construction, it had become a Circle within a Circle within a Circle.

The natural law of the Circle is like a pebble thrown in a pond. There is no space in which there is no matter. Rippling outward, the Circle evolves through its relationship with other Circles. What is at the Center of these Circles? Which Circle is the first and is it the most important? Or do the Circles work with the concept of interconnectedness and the Natural Laws to create a Oneness that permeates and strengthens them all. The answer is "yes".

When you consider the lesson of the pebble and the pond, it would seem that the further outward a Circle expands, there will come a time when it no longer exists....but this is not so....it just moves outward and blends into an ever- widening circle of Influence. The Center still holds, and in truth, returns back into itself again, and again, and again. This is the nature of Eternity - it is a Natural Law.

In our design of the Grandmothers Councils, we have developed a model for assisting the Circles to birth and evolve. We have organized a Non-profit 501(c)3 (Grandmothers Circle the Earth) with the intention to help both new and existing Circles by offering suggestions, answering questions, assisting with funds for travel and program development, and helping to find seed money to begin and strengthen new projects that will benefit the Community in ways that the women of the Circles have identified. All development begins at the Center of the Circle with local efforts, and then moves outward. And as the Circles become self-sustaining they in turn will help each other.

The Core Councils (currently there are two: Turtle Island and Pacifica) provide Spiritual and Ceremonial support to the Circles from each of the the Indigenous Grandmothers who sit on them. Together their combined professional and life experiences make them a powerful and creative source of wisdom and support to the Circles. The protocol of both Councils require that the Grandmothers be Native by blood, a Ceremony Keeper, and a Spiritual Leader in her Community. The Circles do not have this requirement and are open to anyone who has a desire to learn and support. The Councils also send out Grandmothers to assist with opening the way for the new Circles to be born. The Grandmothers are midwives. Each Core Council provides support and assistance to a total of 13 Circles.

In addition to the Mimbres, Maui and Big Island Circles (their second annual Circle is scheduled for March 31-April 4), there are two Circles in New Zealand (North and South Island) with more on the way; Gila New Mexico, Arkansas, Mt. Pleasant Iowa, Nauvoo Illinois and Southern Illinois. Plans for new Circles are underway in Hawaii (Oahu), Davenport Iowa, Massachusetts, Maine, Salt Spring Island in British Columbia and Warsaw Poland. Invitations have come in from Ireland and England, and we're considering possible Gatherings in Romania and Italy. If you would like to get involved just let us know! Grandmothers always have room!