Tipi Village front page news again today. A neighbour, we suspect Bob and Suzi Given (the people who want to displace us for the BLM National Monument), paid a lawyer to have the county code 're-interpreted' to make our way of life illegal. We are asking for subsitance to be a basic human right. Stand in solidarity for the benefit of all:
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130830/NEWS/308300325
Restore the Commons. Land has been privatised for the benefit of the few over the many. We are all a part of the world and the world is a part of us. This relationship is common to all life.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Participate
This is more than a story, as the end is yet unwritten. This is the moment of possibility. A dandelion through the concrete, it is alive. We are Tipi Village, a collective of families and single people, young and old dedicated to living on the ground, around the fire, migrating seasonally in dwellings we manifest with our hands and feet. Established since 2008, the village moves in spring and autumn from the high mountains of the Cascade-Siskiyous of Southern Oregon, to the valley below. Fetching wood and carrying water are daily practices. Children are born here, our blood and tears are in this soil, the echoes of our laughter are in these mountains, we hope to die here. Our priorities and inspiration are maintaining and cultivating a way of living which is spiritually and physically harmonious with the land, flora and fauna. Fauna including ourselves and our relationships and their names.
After a five year relationship with the private “owner” of the land on which we reside, we have been offered an opportunity to purchase this land. There is a wealthy neighbour who intends to buy it, have us removed and then sell the land to the national monument for preservation in exclusion of living, human relationship. We feel strongly that re-introducing humanity and wild, inside and outside, is of great importance at this time. Wildness is a neglected aspect of much of our species, especially in the industrialized world. Humans can live symbiotically with mother earth.
We have no interest in 'owning property' (how can we own that which holds us?) so we have come up with the Land Liberation Project. Land that is part of The Project will never again be sold, will belong to no 'one' and shall maintain an open place for all who have the inspiration to live in harmony, low-impact, movable.
This message is a call for help, guidance, ideas, money. We have until the 1st of October, 2013 to raise $300,000. We have fiscal sponsorship from The Way Foundation (EarthTeach) which has non-profit status. We're reaching out in all directions.
This is where we call upon you to become we and participate in this project of unprecedented movement. Together, we can free this land. Free ourselves.
Financial Contributions are tax deductible and can be sent to:
Tipi Village Land Liberation Fund
c/o The Way Foundation (EarthTeach)
10025 Dead Indian Memorial Road
Ashland, OR 97520
The Village maintains an open place for all who have the inspiration and intention to participate. The Big Lodge is our central community space, a 27' tipi used for musical gatherings, talking circles, ceremonies, shared meals and as a place for guests, visitors and all newcomer. For more information regarding visiting Tipi Village, click here.
Ways In Which To Participate!!
1: Spend some time in the Big Lodge, bring a bed roll
2: Buy a 'Coyote Share'. Shares are $1000 each. A share is an ongoing connection to The Project. It's a way of stating a clear intention of support and it's a stake in the future. It all ows for continuation. The term 'Coyote Share' comes from the new paradigm thinking of 'owning' 'free' land. It subverts the notion that land can ever actually be 'owned' and it empowers the relationship between one and Mother Earth.
3: Buy a raffle ticket. Tickets are $3 each. Prizes include a 13' Rogue Dwellings tipi, with poles. An obsidian, horn handled knife. A tricycle. A 1hr massage from a licensed therapist. Lindy Kehoe artwork. More prizes are being contributed all the time (another way to participate). The draw will be on the 1st of October and winners will be announced here. To buy tickets online use the paypal donate button above and include your name and phone number in the note; we'll fill out a ticket and put it in the hat. You can also send money to The Way Foundation (address above). Be sure to make a note that the contribution is for Land Liberation Project (LLP).
4: Make a straight, simple donation of any amount, by the same above methods.
5: Spread the word about the cause, pass this blog address on to everyone you know even if you think they might not be interested. Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/landliberationproject
Striking sparks in dry tinder can make a big fire.
6: Watch, like and share our short video at
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/land-liberation-project/x/4291885
Contribute there and receive a gift.
All contributions will go towards the Land Liberation Project for purchasing land. Large or small, all are most welcome and necessary. The Land Liberation Project extends beyond the current deadline of the sale of the Summer Lands.
Go on, do it! Join in! But be careful, you might not get out! Big love and hugs from us all.
Dear friends and family
Dear friends and family,
This is solidarity, not charity.
This is more than a possibility, as we know it works.
A harmonious way forward that is inclusive to all.
Our birthright here on the great earth mother.
I sit here now, on the ground, next to the hearth in my home of canvas and pole,
writing to you and praying to something bigger.
There must be a place for us to live as one with wildness.
For years I have cultivated this internally and with my family.
And now, the law is needing to be integrated.
I suppose we as a village could walk away, and hide in the woods elsewhere.
My inspiration whispers to me.....
It may be time to share this now....
Where are you? People who love the land, who value a deep relationship with it, who recognize that we can not own the earth? Come forth. We need you now. For real. Right now.
Donate. Nothing is too small. 33 days left and tens of thousands more to raise.
This is solidarity, not charity.
This is more than a possibility, as we know it works.
A harmonious way forward that is inclusive to all.
Our birthright here on the great earth mother.
I sit here now, on the ground, next to the hearth in my home of canvas and pole,
writing to you and praying to something bigger.
There must be a place for us to live as one with wildness.
For years I have cultivated this internally and with my family.
And now, the law is needing to be integrated.
I suppose we as a village could walk away, and hide in the woods elsewhere.
My inspiration whispers to me.....
It may be time to share this now....
Where are you? People who love the land, who value a deep relationship with it, who recognize that we can not own the earth? Come forth. We need you now. For real. Right now.
Donate. Nothing is too small. 33 days left and tens of thousands more to raise.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Another KSKQ interview
Ellen Hufft interviews Kayla and Ande in the KSKQ studio. Click the link and listen to them discuss village life, roles, raising kids, and the Land Liberation Project.
A birds eye view of village
We soared like birds,
catching the wind in upward spirals,
again and again,
until we dived into the next current,
only to be lifted higher.
A flight over the Cascade-Siskiyous and Tipi Village on a hand-made two-seater plane.
-Kayla
-Kayla
Monday, August 26, 2013
The Resonance of Chief Sealth (Seattle)
Chief Sealth's intention has resonated through generations and across cultures. What's all the more remarkable is that his original oration in the mid nineteenth century is obscured. It was spoken in Lushootseed and translated into Chinook, and then various English versions have transpired. It illustrates how authenticity is an internal understanding. Here is the most recent version. This long dead man walks still...
"The President in Washington sends word that
he wishes to buy our land. But how can you
buy or sell the sky? the land? The idea is
strange to us. If we do not own the freshness
of the air and the sparkle of the water, how
can you buy them?
Every part of the earth is sacred to my people.
Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore,
every mist in the dark woods, every meadow,
every humming insect. All are holy in the
memory and experience of my people.
We know the sap which courses through the
trees as we know the blood that courses
through our veins. We are part of the earth
and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are
our sisters. The bear, the deer, the great eagle,
these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the
dew in the meadow, the body heat of the
pony, and man all belong to the same family.
The shining water that moves in the streams
and rivers is not just water, but the blood of
our ancestors. If we sell you our land, you
must remember that it is sacred. Each glossy
reflection in the clear waters of the lakes tells
of events and memories in the life of my
people. The water's murmur is the voice of my
father's father.
The rivers are our brothers. They quench our
thirst. They carry our canoes and feed our
children. So you must give the rivers the
kindness that you would give any brother.
If we sell you our land, remember that the air
is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit
with all the life that it supports. The wind that
gave our grandfather his first breath also
received his last sigh. The wind also gives our
children the spirit of life. So if we sell our
land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a
place where man can go to taste the wind that
is sweetened by the meadow flowers.
Will you teach your children what we have
taught our children? That the earth is our
mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the
sons of the earth.
This we know: the earth does not belong to
man, man belongs to the earth. All things are
connected like the blood that unites us all.
Man did not weave the web of life, he is
merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the
web, he does to himself.
One thing we know: our God is also your God.
The earth is precious to him and to harm the
earth is to heap contempt on its creator.
Your destiny is a mystery to us. What will
happen when the buffalo are all slaughtered?
The wild horses tamed? What will happen when
the secret corners of the forest are heavy with
the scent of many men and the view of the
ripe hills is blotted with talking wires? Where
will the thicket be? Gone! Where will the eagle
be? Gone! And what is to say goodbye to the
swift pony and then hunt? The end of living
and the beginning of survival.
When the last red man has vanished with this
wilderness, and his memory is only the shadow
of a cloud moving across the prairie, will these
shores and forests still be here? Will there be
any of the spirit of my people left?
We love this earth as a newborn loves its
mother's heartbeat. So, if we sell you our land,
love it as we have loved it. Care for it, as we
have cared for it. Hold in your mind the
memory of the land as it is when you receive
it. Preserve the land for all children, and love
it, as God loves us.
As we are part of the land, you too are part of
the land. This earth is precious to us. It is also
precious to you.
One thing we know - there is only one God. No
man, be he Red man or White man, can be
apart. We are all brothers after all."
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Tipi Village in the Mail Tribune!
Awoke this morning to raindrops, a small but cozy fire and a lovely article on the front page of the Mail Tribune. Thank you Mark Freeman and Jamie Lusch for your interpretation of this place through words and photos. Well done.
Check it out.
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130825/NEWS/308250314
-Kayla
Check it out.
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130825/NEWS/308250314
-Kayla
Saturday, August 24, 2013
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