Family Spirit Walk Update Report

13 August 2002

From: Marc Page


Dear People,

About 20 people gathered in Chimayo, NM for three days to prepare for the FSW (Family Spirit Walk). Danny & Levina Johns (Little Big Medicine Sundance hosts from the Navajo Nation in Arizona) came after our sweat lodge to offer blessings and a pipe ceremony. Willy brought the walking staff from the European Peace Pilgrimage & Walk For Mother Earth to us so we could carry it again on this walk. This is the tangible continuation of the prayer that some of our group and many others started 10 years ago, which helped slow the nuclear arms race. Some of us went to see Bruce Gagnon of the Global Network speaking in Santa Fe and in Gallup this past week on the insanity of the star wars program (which consumes US resources and tax $$$ to the detriment of our environment and global security).

Our Family Spirit Walk started out beautifully, with about 48 miles traveled in the first three days from Tsankawie, through Los Alamos, and on into the Santa Fe National Forest. The next day's Albuquerque newspaper for Santa Fe had a large full-color photo of No More Nucs Norb wishing a passing motorist peace and encouraging all to remember Nagasaki (the words on his shirt) for the day. Nights get quite chilly at these 10,000 feet above sea-level forest heights, and the Perseid Showers (falling stars of early August each year) are terrific sights! We took advantage the comfortable climate for a day of rest on the fourth day and have begun walking again just today. We started out with 30 people (some of whom were local Colorado & Northern New Mexico folks, some from out of state) including people who only could join us a few days, so we're down to our core group of 23 now, including the two children.

On our third day of walking the Redondo Retreat Center Women @ Jemez Springs made a great dinner for us, and Kevin Camps & Susi Snyder told us about the politics of the Yucca Mountain Project and the sacredness of the mountain and the trouble with nuclear energy/waste. We have had much contact with the local people who drive by, some of whom stop to offer words of encouragement, or to dialogue with us on the nuclear issues. Tomorrow we'll arrive in Cuba, NM and take a day to rest and clean up on Thursday. Many of us bathed in the nearby hotsprings that night.

We probably can't send many other updates, as computer/city access is limited for our busy nomadic community, but we may be able to telephone updates to our website coordinator, so you can see what we're up to on the site @ http://www.angelfire.com/retro/nuclear .

Hopefully you can join us in Gallup on August 26th, and/or at the Nevada Test Site on October 11th!

For Love's Sake,
Marc Page
POB 4973
Gallup NM 87305
505 722 6330

 



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