Sustenance and Safety (Part 3 of 5 of "Creating Peace")

One of the foundations of creating peace is making sure people are prepared, in the right mindset, and able to do the hard work that creating peace entails. Sustenance and Safety are the building blocks of peace.


Sustenance takes care of our bodily needs. We can't think well when our blood sugar is crashing or when we are dehydrated. Adequate food and water is a must for all in order to be able to even discuss peace (stay tuned for part 4 of Creating Peace).

One of the most important actions a person can take at a gathering is making sure everyone is eating and drinking plenty of water. This year we will be in the Idaho and that generally means dryer gatherings.  One gallon a day of water that has been boiled for 20 minutes or filtered with a 0.2 micron or smaller filter is a must.

When people haven't eaten or are dehydrated they act out. When they are in these conditions for too long, they get sick.  When you combine these issues with over-indulgences, we have a recipe for problems that can impact the entire gathering.

Prevent the problems by making sure you and the people in your vicinity are eating and staying hydrated. Be on the look out for people who look like they aren't getting food and/or water and help them before they start breaking the peace. 

Now for the tough topic: safety.

Safety is a bit harder to come by because what constitutes a feeling of safety is a very subjective and emotional feeling.  To explain what I mean, we'll talk about the estuary by my house.  The salt marsh and estuary have been channelized to prevent flooding and on either bank is a trail. The east side is a paved path that hooks up with bike paths to the north and south. The west side is a dirt road with trees providing shade on a warm day as shown in the image.

The Estuary

People in my neighborhood have very different perspectives on the estuary. Some people view it as a haven for criminals and are afraid to go down there especially after dark. Other people loving taking their kids down to watch the Great Blue Herons and Osprey trying to rustle up a meal.

Now you would think there is some logic as to who feels safe at our estuary and who is scared, but so far I haven't observed any patterns.  I see people with small kids down there watching the sunset and in the early morning many seniors walk their dogs. Then I meet other people in their thirties and forties who are scared to go down without a large group of people because once upon a time someone had a bike stolen (maybe 10 or 15 years ago).

In addition to the herons and hawks at the estuary, one finds the differentially housed: people who live in tents or throw down a sleeping bag under a bush for the night.  Some people are scared of people with different lifestyles then their own, others exchange pleasantries with everyone. Some people who live in non-portable houses are scared of the differentially housed. Others make friends.

Every time I speak at a community meeting, some people go off the deep end on how dangerous the estuary is and others talk about how it's an asset to the community.  I know that I can't change people's opinions about which is which. Plus trying to address how people feel is tough. Your feelings are neither right nor wrong, they just are.

Low crime rates do not make people feel safe. Community makes us feel safe.

So having said all this, how do we help everyone feel safe at the gathering?

One way we can do this is to treat others the way they would like to be treated -- not the way you would like to be treated.  Try finding gentler voices. Look out for each other in peaceful ways and make sure the people in your vicinity seem comfortable. We all have different levels of tolerance, sensitivity, and fear. Honor that.

If someone looks uncomfortable, they probably are. Introduce yourself. Smile at someone you do not know.  We all feel more comfortable when we are around friends. Share your gathering wisdom. Pay more attention to body language. Learn to pick up vibes from the people around you. If you sense that someone is afraid of a situation, help them to feel comfortable by either staying with them, removing yourselves from the situation, or talking to the other person about their fears in a supportive way.  Just because the situation is comfortable for you, doesn't mean it's comfortable for everyone.

Honor our differences and our need to be treated accordingly. Help each other on this journey.

Please pay special attention to law enforcement officers. A scared cop is a dangerous cop (remember Wyoming 2008?). Turn down the volume on negative energy by oming instead of cussing when you do not like a situation.

Think about how you would like others to act around your three year-old child and your ninety year-old grandmother and act accordingly.

Outreach to Members of the Nimiipuu/Nez Perce Tribe

Outreach to Members of the Nimiipuu/Nez Perce Tribe

Regarding the 2020 Idaho Rainbow Gathering

WHO: Two male tribal members of the grassroots group “Nimiipuu: Protecting the Environment (NPTE)”

Rainbows present: Miriam, Feather, Crystal, Apollo (Crystal’s 12 yr old son), Scott, I-Joe and Don Joseph

WHERE: One World Cafe, Moscow, Idaho (The NPTE office is in Moscow.)

WHEN: Tuesday, 28 Jan. 2020 @ 5:30pm

WHO: “Nez Perce Circle of Elders”-present: eight female elders and one male elder; One member of Nimiipuu PTE, who was present at the previous meeting, and the director of the Nez Perce Cultural Resources Program (CRP) arrived during our presentation.

Rainbows present: Miriam, I-Joe and Don Joseph

WHERE: Tribal Language Building, Lapwai, Idaho

WHEN: 7 Feb. 2020 at the monthly, First-Friday 9:30am-2:00pm meeting (2020 Idaho Rainbow Gathering was on their agenda at 11 am)

Concensus # 5 of the 2019 Harvest Council held in Oct. near Bosie, Id. was read at each meeting. That consensus reads “We encourage individuals and future councils related to upcoming gatherings to continue to develop and maintain positive relations and open communications with indigenous peoples in the areas we may gather.”

Some subjects covered at both meetings included:

-who are Rainbow gatherers and their numbers at past gatherings

-the objectives of the Gathering, centering on the July 4^th /Interdependence Day Silent Prayer for World Peace

-our council and site selection processes

-the physical needs and the layout of a gathering village

-Shanti-Sena/Peace Keeper objectives

-mitigation of impacts: including plant, animal, water, soil, archeology, and local communities

-cleanup and site restoration processes  

-past interactions with the Nez Perce Tribe in 1982 and 2017

Pictures taken in 2015 and 2018 from the same vantage points of specific views within the Black Hills gathering location showing a place before and after restoration were shared at each meeting. Reports and other photos from past gatherings were also shared. Questions were answered and some comments were addressed.

A request was made by the Rainbows to each group for future input concerning use of potential sites within the traditional/ceded territory of the Nimiipuu people.

Some questions, comments and concerns expressed at the first meeting by NPTE members where:

“What happens there?”

-impact to salmon during their spawning season in the Snake River Basin- one member said “no where near our rivers” but gathering on a creek depends upon its use by salmon.

-Cultural appropriation- a suggestion was made for “cultural sensitivity classes [workshops]”

-impacts to indigenous First Foods (traditional plant and animal foods and medicines), example- “trampling or picking blue camas flowers”

-no formal organization is a strength, but also your biggest weakness, as in   control of negative behavior

Nimiipuu PTE members said they would provide input on sites within their traditional territory when specific, potential sites were made available to them. They said they may be able to visit sites during the scouting process or before Spring Council. We informed them that the date and place of Scout Rendezvous would be announced on 1 May and Spring Council would begin on 13 June. Viable, potential sites should be available about a week before Spring Council.

Some questions, comments and concerns expressed at the second meeting by the Circle of Elders were:

-“meeting peacefully is good, but what is your mission?”

          -“if near a sacred area… clean up your mess”    

-“with no leaders, you are better organized than I first thought”

-“have to know who to contact and who to blame [said with laughter]”

- where do gatherers use the “bathroom”? and “I heard of some nudity”

-“glad you’re documented” (after photos were shown)

-the program director of CRP said “no way to go around the cultural resource personnel and the tribal executive committee”

The Circle of Elders said they would provide input on sites within their traditional territory when specific, potential sites were made available to them. The chairwoman selected the male elder present at the meeting to be their contact with scouts and Rainbow gatherers. The dates of the Scout Rendezvous announcement and the Spring Council were provided.

A gift of South Dakota sage was presented to each group. Muffins were brought to the Circle of Elders to enjoy with their coffee. The elders said that we were welcome to attend a future meeting to further discuss Rainbow-related issues. We told the CPR director that we would ask for a meeting with his program personnel. Our personal contact info was shared with both groups.

Love (Part 2 of 5 of "Creating Peace")

The rainbow family is full of love. We shout "we love you" to the sky, to other gathers, to the earth upon which we gently walk.  I have many friends whose children were conceived at the gathering.  We shower love as best we can on people who are unhappy about our presence in their neighborhood. We love all our siblings (brothers, sisters and transgenders), even the ones we do not like all that much.  We love the person who didn't pick up their dog shit, but we want to talk to them about it as well.

We even have a somewhat sarcastic phrase "loven you" to indicate our concern without being too mushy. With all these types of love floating around, how does love contribute to creating peace? Does the manner in which we love matter or does it matter more how we express our love?

In English we are limited as we have one word for love. The ancient Greeks had four separate words for love:

• storge - kinship or familiarity
• philia - friendship
• eros - romantic and or sexual feelings
• agape - self-emptying or divine love

Spanish has many words for love:

• encantar - indicating strong like
• gustar mucho - indicating strong like
• querer - to love romantically, to want
• afición - enthusiasm
• amado - sweetheart 
• amor - pure love, romantic love
• caridad - charity

Love is also an emotion. A very strong and powerful emotion.  How many of you have made decisions based on amar, agape, caridad, eros, and storage? I'm guessing everyone.

For the romantics among us, love is what creates beautiful art, amazing music, and sleepless nights.

For the biologists among us, love is a biological function like hunger or thirst that creates attachments between people, thereby insuring their survival in a dangerous and hostile world.

For the psychologists among us, love is not only a feeling, but a series of actions. 

Unconditional love is a common theme of most of the major belief systems and is one of the often unspoken foundations of participating in the phenomenon commonly called the Rainbow Gathering.

So what does all this have to do with creating a culture of peace?

Well besides being a slogan from the 1960s, using love as a way to create connections strengthens our interpersonal relationships. If we love someone with whom we disagree, we are highly motivated to find a solution that meets the needs of everyone.  If we have no personal attachment to other living beings, then we can more easily ignore their perspective and we often do not care about their  happiness.

Yet loving each of our siblings all the time is challenging. Some of our siblings act out, behave poorly, don't clean up after themselves, steal, fight, or are just downright mean. What then?

Then we muster our agape and our caridad and try to make that connection. We try to befriend our siblings. By finding a connection, we are creating a relationship. It may be storage it may be afición, but if we can love another person in the worst situation, then maybe we can use that relationship to work towards peace.


But to be clear, loving someone does not mean you accept all their actions.


True love is being able to love your siblings while calling them on their bullshit (in a loving manner). 

True love is being able to communicate in a loving way why specific actions are hurting you, the planet, or other living creatures.

True love is a meditative practice we undertake as we deal with the frustrations, interruptions, disappointments and annoyances that fill our lives.

 Let your mantra for this year's gathering be I love all my siblings and this beautiful planet we call home.

Love is the path towards peace.