The call has come from Earthdance The Global Festival for Peace for donors, activists, volunteers and for like-minded folks to take part in the two-day Unity Concert at the Elk Creek Lodge in Piedmont, South Dakota on September 13th and 14th. Organized by the elders of The Great Sioux Nation (the Paha Sapa Unity Alliance) along with other native and non-native groups, The Unity Concert’s goals are to inspire a connectedness and a recommitment of people everywhere to the sacredness of nature and to return guardianship of parts of the Black Hills to The Great Sioux Nation (Lakota, Dakota and Nakota).
With concerns for climate change, the current path of ecological destruction and many sacred sites facing development or destruction, The Unity Concert aims to bring about the transformative powers of music and spiritual activism with two days of ceremonies, sweat lodges and musical performances at this free event.
Opening with the Wiping Away the Tears ceremony, The Unity Concert will also feature artists like Navajo Dine musician and poet Lyla June; Cree singer, songwriter and musician Buffy Saint Marie; Oneida singer, composer and musician Joanne Shenandoah and her daughter Leah; singer and musician Arlo Guthrie and the musical duo of Bethany & Rufus; Crow hip hop artist and dancer Supaman; and Aztec environmental activist and hip hop artist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez. Also on tap to play will be David Amram, Shawn Little Thunder, Cody Blackbird, Aloysius Weasel Bear, Davidica, Earth Guardians, Nahko Bear, Paul Winter, the Porcupine Singers, Tsering Lodge, Tina Malia, Ta’kaiya Blaney and Peter Yarrow from Peter, Paul and Mary.
Hoping to reclaim a way of life for The Great Sioux Nation, as well as inspire others to follow a path to environmental awareness, The Unity Concert’s goal “is for the event to have a major impact on how endangered sacred sites are treated worldwide, encouraging a revival in the use of ancient ceremonial practices to honor the Earth and sustainable human guardianship of the land.”
Now is your chance to answer the call by way of a tax-deductible donation made at https://ioby.org/project/unity-concert-2014. Those looking for a more hands on approach might want to lend an actual hand for volunteer positions and internships for those ages 13 and up that include setting up and breaking down, registration and information, camping and tipi support, the outdoor kitchen, transportation, fire tenders, water stations and stage hands.
Certainly there are some world music junkies looking for the opportunity to ogle some music luminaries! For those bogged down, tied up and generally unavailable, simply passing the word to friends and family would help get out the word for The Unity Concert.
Author: TJ Nelson
TJ Nelson is a regular CD reviewer and editor at World Music Central. She is also a fiction writer. Check out her latest book, Chasing Athena’s Shadow.
Set in Pineboro, North Carolina, Chasing Athena’s Shadow follows the adventures of Grace, an adult literacy teacher, as she seeks to solve a long forgotten family mystery. Her charmingly dysfunctional family is of little help in her quest. Along with her best friends, an attractive Mexican teacher and an amiable gay chef, Grace must find the one fading memory that holds the key to why Grace’s great-grandmother, Athena, shot her husband on the courthouse steps in 1931.
Traversing the line between the Old South and New South, Grace will have to dig into the past to uncover Athena’s true crime.
