Goals
To prepare people for a natural and harmonious
future through:
- Acting as an educational resource of
spiritual and cultural information for individuals, community groups, schools
and public institutions.
- Presenting classes, lectures and workshops
on topics pertaining to the promotion and preservation of natural resources,
Indigenous culture and natural healing.
- Educational support of the peoples of the
world in their plight and struggle for survival and preservation of our Mother
Earth. Our survival and strength lies in the knowledge of ways of life that
are sustainable and in harmony with Mother Earth and all our relations.
- Working towards the unification of
Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and their organizations, to intensify
efforts in search for peace, harmony, and mutual support.
TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURE
This organization has been requested by the elders to organize a network of
tribal groups and indigenous organizations and sponsor a forum to discuss the
preservation of ancestral seeds and the revival of traditional organic farming
techniques. Presently, in the United States alone the Native land base is
approximately 54 million acres. By including the Native holdings in Canada,
Mexico, Central and South America this would bring the amount of land which
Native people control nearly one billion acres. Regional demonstration sites
will be selected to implement the ideas brought forward by the elders. The use
of this land in a conscious and co-operative way could forment a revival of
Native agricultural ideals and change patterns of destructive farming patterns.
Sovereignty and preservation of traditional Native culture is interwoven with a
sacred relationship with the mother earth.
The Organization will conduct regional meetings to develop an active network
while researching resources, national and international policy, and partner
organizations. A foundation of this initiative will be the research and
development of a seed preservation project. This will be one of the major topics
discussed at the forum.
The Seed Bank
INTK with its goal to show a
model of sustainability based on indigenous values that serves community and our
vision of the future is creating and maintaining a seed bank of heritage food
and medicinal seeds.
A seed bank is our way
mitigating the threat of extinction or pollution to generations of heritage
plants that have taken thousands of years to develop. In this way we are
preserving this priceless treasure for the future. Our heritage seed stocks are
endangered by genetically modified food seeds, foods and genetically modified
medicinal herbs. The intense pressure to use GMO,s in the worlds agriculture is
depleting the reserves of natural traditional seeds and ultimately will lead to
the disappearance of the traditional crops. With our Seed bank of 1500 species
including vegetable, grains, medicinal and culinary plants we hope to abate this
situation.
The Greenhouse
The Greenhouse is an integral
part of the sustainable agricultural model. In order to stock and replenish the
seed bank it is necessary to have a known good source for the seeds that go into
the seed bank.
In our greenhouse we are
growing heritage medicinal and food plants for the seed bank and use in our
classes and a future clinic.
Women’s Leadership
The Organization will initiate Grandmother -Granddaughter Workshops in which
elder women can share their traditional knowledge with younger women. At the
same time the younger women can assist the Grandmothers to understand
technology and other resources that could help them live a more active life.
This will help build the capacity of both groups and give a positive
co-operative model to girls. One of the goals of these workshops is the
development of cottage industry demonstration projects to provide economic
generation.
Youth and Elder Activities
The Organization will organize regional activities including storytelling,
music, arts and crafts in which delegates on the Continental Council of Elders
and Spiritual Leaders go into the community to communicate their knowledge and
wisdom to the future generations. An international youth delegation will be
selected to attend the meetings of the Continental Counsel and present to the
elders concerns and ideas of their constituents. This activity will be supported
by a newsletter that the youth will produce and distribute biannually.
Reclamation of
Sacred Objects.
At a major Elders Gathering the organization was asked to be the conduit for the
return of sacred objects which had been bought on the commercial market place.
This was done in a spiritual “Honoring Ceremony” where both parties could feel a
sense of dignity and revisioning the future in a more equitable way. This
process was so meaningful that the elders decided that the organization should
take a major role in reclaiming sacred objects throughout the Americas. This
effort will encompass institutions, governments, museums, private collections
and individuals.
The Organization will begin by researching the continental collection and the
processes of acquisitions. It will develop a method to take tribal and
organization requests for specific objects that may be in the possession of
institutions or individuals. A resource of legal and arbitration experts will
help develop a vehicle for reclamation. The elders will organize appropriate
ceremonies and forums to complete the reclamation process.
Sacred Sites Preservation
The Organization has been asked by more than twenty indigenous groups to help
them preserve and re-establish their sacred sites. This brought awareness that
there needs to be more networking among the elders in order to document the
encroachment and destruction that they have witnessed and establish effective
monitoring mechanisms.
The Organization will research and compile a list of sacred sites in the
Americas that Indigenous peoples want to preserve. After this is completed it
will be published it as a resource with contact information
These efforts will help those groups trying to preserve and obtain legal
documentation for the protection of sacred sites. For example, during the Third
Gathering the organization focused on helping the Canoncito Band of the Navajo
rebuild and re-consecrate their sacred site at Big
Bead, New Mexico with the help of spiritual leaders from fifteen countries in
the Americas. This effort was an inspiration to other groups, which are trying
to preserve their culture because the Canoncito people had persevered through a
long legal and political struggle, which lasted many years.
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Institute
of Natural and Traditional