EARTH MEDICINE LIVES ON AT HAWKWIND

There have been many who have enhanced our earth skills through the years and have left their mark on Hawkwind. We honor each of them for what they have added to our home and inspired with in our many circles. Darry Wood is one of the first who comes to mind. His incredible story telling has been shared with a historical accuracy that can only be topped by the intricate regalia he designed from the hides that he taught us to brain tan. Darry is known as the keeper of the religion of the sharp knife. No one ever better let this man in your home without knowing he will take every dull knife and hone it into an instrument than can skin a deer in a heart beat. He tells many a fine story will running the blade over stone. By the time he leaves, everyone has made fire without a match and each has learned a hundred new skills of survival. We are honored to have spent many a year on the road with this man, and assure you no one will ever starve or be without shelter when they travel the Darry Wood way.

We also want to honor those old craftsmen who showed up here to teach us to work with flint and to build in natural ways. We honor David who helped us two afternoons a week for almost ten years before he retired to his potters wheel. We honor the cooks and clean up folks who show up right on time to prepare for the visits from the many Medicine Elders who passed this way.

We send honor to Bearheart who shared his 80th birthday with us and brought his partner Regina Water Spirit to teach of the old ways. His lodge a combination of his Baptist prayers and those of the Native american Church were a strong reminder to be open to all nations and practice of the Spirit. He is almost 90 now and tells us he will leave soon. He will be missed.

We honor his adopted daughter Wind Daughter who had the courage to carry on behind Sun Bear and now steps into her own vision with her new center in Arkansas. She has danced many a dance with us, and we have supported each other through the good, the bad and the ugly...and back to the good again. She is a spinner and dedicated to the process of transformation on this planet and will continue to continue after so many have gone on.

We honor Jaya Bear who was Sun Bear’s wife to the end. She traveled with us all for many years and was here to bless the first Medicine Wheel at Hawkwind. She now takes folks on tours of Peru and has a wonderful book about her journey out there.

We honor the many Grandmothers who have passed through with a special hug going out to our favorite Grandma Bertha Grove. She has blessed us with countless visits and insights. She has lodged with us to tell us “ Spirit got your resume and you got the job, so get busy...” We are still waiting for the job description! When we met her in New York a young woman asked how to become a real Medicine Woman, she told her...” First you get very comfortable shoes.” She was right. She has taught us the many respects of the waters healing power. She reminds us how to make relationship with each other. She has taught us humor and love of the circle of all nations. She has blessed our babies and offered us healing when the doctors have given up. She has guided our hearts and our hands like to no other and we are blessed each time she pops in. She teases us about the nic-nac paddy wacks in the house that she calls wallpaper to the universe. Our stories of Grandma could go on forever. Let it suffice to say she is a rare and special blessing to all she touches, and we look forward to even more as she continues this wonderful earth walk in her 80's.

We bow and dance to the countless memories that have been provided through our many drummers at the dances. Grandpa Tom is tops of our list, along Mary who leads the women. We herald Ray Oh Ray Oh Ray, Mike, Jim, Bert, Deb, Kip, Aj, Kippie, Jeremy, Wayne, Lulu, Joseph, Alisha, Krista, and oh so many more. They have kept the beat going. We celebrate from our first dance where our good brother Deerheart was the main drummer all night long. Every time we step out to dance we celebrate the drum and the fire and the hundreds of dancers we have shared prayer and Sacred transformation.

We honor our new favorite tricksta sista, Grandma Barbara Blue Star Vitale. She is a pill for our smiles and has been giving us quite a ride for the past three years. We have come to know and respect her wisdom and her butt kicking with a smile. We have come to know the generosity of her love and healing skills. She too, is now a part of the teaching and blessing of our young ones. She is a regular spin around the dance grounds and a reminder that no matter how old you get; you can still have great legs! We love this lady and look forward to the next series of transformational play we will create together.

It is time to honor the power of Grandmother Grace Spotted Eagle, Grandmother Agnes Lone Wolf, and Grandfather Wallace Black Elk. Our life with them began in the 70's and continued with them until they left this world. They taught us to sing, to drum, to Quest, to dance, to be an advocate for change. They taught us volumes of lessons and we spent more time with them then anyone. It was a deep and complicated story of ancient rituals. It was a simple story where Grandma Grace reminded us to make our own bed before we made someone else’s bed. They will have their own story that will fill volumes in our heart and in our home. Each time you do ANYTHING at Hawkwind it is because of these three and the many Medicine Men and Women that they brought into our life. They built the lodge here, they took us on the Altar journey of responsibility and commitment that keeps us here. We were honored that they called us son and daughter. They adopted our children and grandchildren. It was an honor to sit at their side as often as allowed. We were able to serve beyond what any human could have thought possible. They are the deep magic in the Hawkwind soul and bigger than words could express. Although they will get to star in the better part of a full book, very soon. It is within their vision that we ever even began this journey in the first place. Now we seek to see where this vision will grow beyond the first 20 years.

WHERE WILL EACH OF YOU FIT AS WE REWRITE THE RAINBOW HISTORY OF TRANSFORMATION OF THE PERSONAL AND PLANETARY HEALING? WHERE WILL YOU BE IN THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS OF HAWKWIND ? ALL THAT WE HAVE ALL SHARED IN THE PAST GROWS FORWARD INTO THE NEXT SEVEN GENERATIONS! WE HOPE YOU WILL BE THERE WITH US.

Mitakuye Oyasin

Rev. Charla Hermann