Sunbow 5 Journal

By Grandfather William Commanda,
Traditional Elder, Algonquin Nation
Sunday 6 October 1995

(NOTE: The Sunbow 5 coordinator is back in the office as of Monday, 10/2/95. Day 101 of the Sunbow 5 Journal is being posted today to update all on the walk's progress and whereabouts; from here on the Journal will resume its regular publication schedule. Days 97 through 100 of the Journal will be published retroactively this week to fill the gap of missing days.)

The walkers continued their steps on Route 70 across central Arkansas. They have covered about 120 miles since crossing the Mississippi River last Thursday morning.

The terrain here is flat, much flatter than most of the walkers are accustomed to. It's a very different feeling and distances are proving to be deceptive. What appears as a short jaunt frequently turns out to be a lengthy ramble. The weather continues generally hot.

By the end of the day Sunday the walk had reached the area of Carlisle, Arkansas, and the walkers pitched camp on the bank of a river at the Cypress Swamp Wildlife Reserve. The setting was beautiful but unfortunately had no facilities of any kind. As night fell fierce lightning, tremendous explosions of thunder, and a heavy, unremitting rain came upon the camp.

The walk may reach Little Rock on Monday evening, October 2—once again several days ahead of schedule. The walkers hope to remain in the Arkansas capitol for several days.

In Washington, DC Grandfather Commanda was up well before the Sun, as is his habit, and made a short journey to the Washington Monument for Sunrise ceremonies at the One Mind, One Voice, One Heart, One Prayer vigil in the heart of the city.

With cane in hand, Grandfather walked across the mall to the sacred fire in the center of the circle of tipis set just to the north of the Washington monument. There he joined a ceremony being led by Corbin Harney of the Western Shoshone Nation. Mr. Harney and his helper sang five songs, and asked the people—over 200 of them at sunrise—to dance a simple round dance and thereby help to anchor the energy of the songs more strongly to the earth with the sacred intent of their steps.

Later in the morning Leon Shenandoah, Tadadaho (Chief of Chiefs), Iroquois Six Nations, led a half-mile walk to a site near the Lincoln Monument where three Trees of Peace have been planted in recent years—one in the South, one in the West and one in the North. On this day Chief Shenandoah presided over the ceremonial planting of a fourth tree in the East direction—signifying the beginning of a new day for the Seventh Generation of children to be born since people of different colors began to move onto this Turtle Island continent. As the Washington walkers drummed, chanted, and stepped toward the young white pine at the planting site, a tangible wave of energy preceded them by a good 40 feet.

Over the course of the weekend Grandfather Commanda spoke both privately and publicly about the Sunbow 5 Walk for the Earth. However, the walkers themselves did not have an opportunity to present a statement. So many distinguished spiritual elders were at the gathering from so many far off places, that there just was not time. Had there been opportunity, the walkers would have formally extended their greetings to the participants in the Washington Prayer Vigil, and thanked them for their powerful efforts on behalf of the Earth and the Sacred Hoop of life. The walkers feel a strong kinship with the organizers and participants in the Washington prayer vigil, for the vision of both efforts arose in the aftermath of the historic Cry of the Earth conference at United Nations headquarters on Nov. 22, 1993—the fulfillment of an ancient Hopi instruction. Because the messages of the over 28 Traditional Elders who spoke at the 1993 gathering did not reach the public fully or clearly at that time, the respective efforts of Sunbow 5 and the prayer vigil came to life.

Had the walkers spoken in Washington, they would have made several other key points:

• We are walking East to West along the pathway of the Sun as our elders have requested, not for ourselves alone but that all may live.
• - We feel individually and collectively that the Creator has asked us to do this walk to remind all the people that we face a choice of two roads. The choice must be made now or we face purification that may bring tremendous suffering to many.
• We acknowledge with humility that Jesus Christ carried a similar message 2,000 years ago when he walked in the Holy Lands: Love your neighbor as yourself, treat all with respect.
• We have gone nearly 1,800 miles, and have about 2,000 more to go. We are discovering ourselves in community, and will stay in continuous prayer until we reach our place in the West with the 8th Fire, as requested by Grandfather William Commanda.
• We have a message for youth: One way you can help is to think before you speak or write, and also to think before you act.
• Look around and see what is. Listen to the wind, to the creature teachers, to your family and neighbors, and to your heart. Make your choice now with clarity. This is the time of choice.
• Come and walk with us. Remember, we may all seem to be walking separate paths in life, but they eventually are all running parallel. Our paths all come out at the same end.

IT NEEDS TO BE DONE No one ever said this walk was going to be easy; we have simply understood that it needed to be done, and so we are doing it.

- Grandfather William Commanda, Traditional Elder, Algonquin Nation