Summer Solstice, June 21, 2009

AP Photo/Akira Suemori

The Summer Solstice celebration has been an event that spans hundreds of years and although I've never had the opportunity to experience the celebration at Stonehenge I still find it intriguing. Stonehenge has left historians, archeologists and visitors of the landmark in awe and curious about how the large rocks came to stand on end.

The one thing for certain is that approximately 35,000 people took part in the Summer Solstice celebration for religious and curiosity reasons today. The area & the event will never cease to amaze me.

To read more on today's summer solstice event at Stonehenge please see ~ Pagans, Partygoers Greet Solstice at Stonehenge

Memorial Day

Please stop what you are doing at 3 p.m. today and remember those who have fallen in order for America to remain free. For more information, please see the following link ~ http://www.remember.gov/MomentofRemembrance/tabid/54/Default.aspx

Longest Walk 2

On February 11, 2008, in San Francisco, California, American Indian tribes from all over North America along with supporters began the Longest Walk 2 to commemorate the first Longest Walk held in 1978. The purpose of the walk in 1978, which ended in Washington, D.C. on July 11, was to bring attention to 11 congressional bills that would abrogate Native American treaties by the United States government. The 1978 Longest Walk defeated the bills and one month later, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 was passed.

Thirty years later, on July 11, Longest Walk 2, a grassroots effort to bring attention to environmental disharmony and also intended to bring attention to the health and well being of Mother Earth, human life, all communities, and the preservation of national Native American sacred sites, will commence in Washington, D.C. The mission of LW2 is a parallel mission with the Alliance Community Media that convenes from July 9 to July 12, 2008 in Washington, D.C.

Events while in Pennsylvania

The Walkers arrived in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area after holding a Pow Wow in Farmington, PA on June 21 and on June 28, a prayer vigil in Lewisburg, PA for Leonard Peltier, a member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) who was wrongly arrested in the mid 1970s for shooting 2 FBI agents and is incarcerated at the Lewisburg Federal Prison.

On June 29, Dan and I had the opportunity to attend a benefit performance by two of the bands, One Tribe and Earth Vision Weavers, at Your Daily Grind in Mechanicsburg, a suburb of Harrisburg.

On July 1, the Walkers held a prayer vigil at the Carlisle Indian School Cemetery where 190 children are buried. The children were students of the Indian school whose deaths were caused by tuberculosis, smallpox, and stress (broken heart). After leaving Carlisle the Walkers traveled to Codorus State Park where they stayed until July 6.

Washington, D.C. Bound

There are two groups of Walkers, the northern Walkers, and the southern Walkers. Each group has its own itinerary with the southern group traveling through the southern part of the United States and the northern group traveling the northern part of the United States.

On July 7, the two groups merged at Greenbelt Park, Maryland, 13 miles from Washington, D.C. The following schedule lists the events that will take place beginning Friday, July 11. Dan and I plan to be in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, July 12 for the Pow Wow that will take place at the National Museum of the American Indian.

(below the schedule are links to various websites that includes photos and stories during the walk)

Highlights of Schedule:

Friday, July 11
7 am Converge at Malcolm X Park and walk to White House
1:30 pm: Walk to Capitol steps, Constitution Ave NE and Independence Ave SW
6 pm: Walk to Sylvan Theater: Washington Monument, 15th St and Independence Ave SW
7:30 pm Honoring walker; film tribute to Floyd Westerman and Vernon Bellecourt
Saturday, July 12
9:30 am: Water ceremony at Lincoln Memorial
Noon: Powwow at National Museum of the American Indian (4th St on DC Mall)
Sunday, July 13
10 am: Powwow at National Museum of American Indian
2 to 6 pm: Concert

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

The Longest Walk 2