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The first four days of August we found ourselves in the ancestral homelands of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) for the 18th Protecting Mother Earth gathering. Hundreds of domestic and international supporters, allies, and frontline communities joined us from far and wide.
The four-day gathering began in the predawn twilight, August 1, 2024, as parents with sleepy-eyed toddlers, elders, and youth from all walks of life formed a circle in an open meadow along the Oconaluftee River on the edge of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian reservation. We were all there to witness the traditional lighting of a sacred fire. The passing of the sacred fire from community to community to connect each of the previous PMEs was continued at the sunrise ceremony that kicked off this PME. IEN Executive Director, Tom Goldtooth, and EBCI, IEN staff member, and founder of the local host organization Eastern Cherokee Organization (ECO) Mary Crowe, spoke about the site’s history and the gathering’s purpose.
As the speakers talked, two large elk descended from the nearby mountainside, stood for several minutes, and quietly observed the ceremony.
At the edge of the open meadow were tents, and pavilions, and where services were set up for the four days of workshops, plenaries, entertainment, and dining, 100 or more camps were set up for hundreds of feet along the river and under the shade of a variety of trees that make up the temperate rainforest canopy surrounding Qualla Boundary. Dotted in among the rainbow of modern-day camping tents and several tipis were peaceful spaces where all aspects of wellness and healing – Body, Mind, and Spirit – were the priority. Near the edge of the river, constructed by local Eastern Band men, sat an “osi” or “asi” in the language of the EBCI, commonly known as a sweat lodge. Prayers and purification were offered each evening. Chosen Firekeepers lit, nurtured, and maintained a sacred fire throughout the gathering for this lodge.
Five hundred yards to the west, perched atop a slight outcropping above the rambling river, rested a screen-walled cabana, open between sunrise and sundown for appointed sessions of therapeutic massage and other holistic wellness practices were offered to the gathering’s more than 1,400 registered participants.
Moving west, around the PME grounds, sits a modest sage green, 3-bedroom, cozy ranch-style house that served as a daycare facility for attendee’s children up to 12 years of age. Teri Johnson, one of the founding organizers of the PME, and her daughter Kori, who was but a baby herself at the first gathering, lovingly entertained, educated, and ensured nearly 50 children with the help of several community volunteers, including parents when they weren’t engaging in roundtables, workshops, or volunteering in other areas of service to the spirit of the event.
Across the way from daycare, further to the west of the circular campground, was the site of what might have been the hottest topic of this PME Gathering: the kitchen, where some of the best traditional dishes of the EBCI were planned, prepared, and served up by local chef, culture bearer and traditionalist Tyson Sampson. Sampson, local elders like Gramma Amy Walker, and Cherokee community members began preparations for traditionally harvesting and preserving wild greens, 13 kinds of wild mushrooms, chestnuts, and berries last fall.
In the spring, at the site of the Cherokee Peoples’ Mother Town, known as Kituwah (Ga-doo-wah), EBCI community members planted vegetables that included 300 pounds of potatoes harvested just days before the start of the PME. With the help of 200 non-Indigenous, trained volunteers, meals with hearty entrees like elk meatloaf and an array of vegetarian dishes were served three times daily. One of the local favorites is a traditionally prepared chestnut bread prepared by wrapping the bean mixture in hickory leaves. This bread has an exceptionally mild, sweet, and nutty flavor – and is a favorite staple at local celebrations and gatherings, especially liked by visiting tribes. On the final day, a creamy fresh Pumpkin cake with a pudding-like consistency was declared, by all lucky enough to taste it before it disappeared, to be the best pumpkin they had ever tasted. Approximately 1,000 people were fed on the first day.
During the four days, participants gathered inside several large, air-conditioned event tents or under open-air arbors between meals. August in the Smoky Mountains can be pretty warm. But for most of us, we find ourselves experiencing weather patterns of hotter and drier summers. A balance of mild temperatures and rainfall has been the reason this inland temperate rainforest has provided the Cherokee Peoples with all they needed to thrive for thousands of years. This summer, we have reached new record highs, and the early afternoons were uncomfortable and reminded everyone of the threats from climate change – to prevent and adapt to.
The largest of the event shelters, at 4,000 square feet, was filled each morning for the opening plenary session. IEN leadership, local EBCI, and ECO hosts opened the first morning’s plenary, welcoming participants from as far away as the Arctic Circle, Guam, and the Philippines and south to Colombia and Brazil. Local leaders discussed highlights of environmental justice issues in the region. Watch the video above.
Subsequent morning plenary topics included “Indigenous Just Transition: Building Healthy Communities” and “Engaging the UN in Issues Impacting Indigenous Communities.” The final morning plenary was a session for all participants to hear and approve resolutions led by IEN Inherent Relationships Jurisprudence lead and counsel Michael Lane. Trained rapporteurs developed conference statements from notes taken by specially trained note-takers. Final submissions of PME conference resolutions and statements from earlier discussions and participants’ recommendations will be included in IEN’s work, going forward.
In the afternoons, workshops were conducted by Indigenous and community grassroots leaders on topics that included the following titles: Treaties Matter, Geoengineering in the Arctic, Indigenous Just Transition, The 1872 Mining Law, US Inflation Reduction Act, Nuclear Fuel Chain, Indigenous Peoples of the Pacific and Climate Change, Voices of the International Indigenous Peoples of the Land, Divestment Campaigns, Carbon Pricing, Engaging the United Nations, Environmental Justice Resources and EPA Activities, Militarization, Genocide & Indigenous Resistance, Critical Minerals & Rare Earth Elements, Youth Beyond Intergenerational Organizing, Reclaiming Feminisms, Non-Violent Direct Action Introduction, Defending Sacred Relatives and Territories From Carbon Offsets, Extractivism, Capitalism and Patriarchy, Indigenous Water Ethics, and Indigenous Feminisms and Seeds of Sovereignty and Resistance.
Round table discussions were quite popular, with topics such as Principles of Engagement: Indigenous Movement with Black, POC and Social Movement-building Power and Rights of Nature/Rights of Mother Earth: Inherent Relationship Jurisprudence.
IEN Communications Team members recorded most sessions, which, as post-production takes place, will be available here on our website and on our Youtube account.
Additional content will be added, including interviews with elders and community leaders that were conducted throughout the four days. As we curate and link this content, we will announce additional content on our social media timelines and in future IEN Monthly Newswires.
Late afternoons, to cool from the day’s heat, youth and elders alike found themselves taking respite in the Oconaluftee River that ringed the PME campground and sauntered its way through the town of Cherokee. The curious elk who witnessed the first morning’s sunrise ceremony roamed through the camp at will and were especially interesting and majestic to people who had never seen them, like Chief Ninawa from Acre, Brazil. Two elk were observed trying to dismantle an orange tent, causing the inhabitants to relocate. Wild turkeys visited the camp at will, too.
On Friday and Saturday afternoons, teams made up of EBCI local Wolftown men demonstrated traditional stickball games. Each player is armed with 2-3 feet-long sticks made from tree saplings, thinned on one end, bent around, and attached to the neck of the stick, looking much like a long-handled spoon. The open “spoon” end was then enclosed with netting made of sinew and used to catch and throw the game ball usually made of cloth or fur and tightly wrapped in leather. Teams score when the ball hits a tall goalpost, usually topped with a carving of an animal. Historically, stickball was often played to settle disputes.
Each evening, attendees not resting or engaged in other activities, gathered in the plenary and largest tent for cultural sharing, including poetry, stories, and rap. One young woman performed a Plains-style hoop dance. Another night, well-known Indigenous musicians like Pura Fe and Desirae Harp performed. Before one evening’s concert, Haudenosaunee dancers and singers led the crowd in traditional songs and dances that had the crowd on their feet with excitement and joy.
The 18th PME was closed in the same manner it was opened, with a circle of participants around the Sacred Fire. The Sacred Fire was put to rest, and the coals were saved and entrusted to a young Cherokee man from Oklahoma, Kaleb Proctor, who made his way into the hearts of IEN and EBCI local leaders Mary Crowe and Lisa Montelongo. Kaleb will keep and deliver the coals to the next PME location, where the Sacred Fire will burn again at IEN’s next PME (date and location TBD.)
IEN staff and locals remained on-site for another two days past the end of the 18th PME to take down the big tents and shelters and pack and load everything required for such a huge event. It was hard to leave the lush green mountains of the Eastern Band Cherokees, but we look forward to the next PME, wherever that might be, on Indigenous lands.
