VFA's Youngwolf's India Tour

[Guest guest]

Tour of India by SD Youngwolf, December 2002 to February, 2003

 

 

I was invited to India to attend the Janajati Faith and

Culture Conference in Guwahati,

 

Assam, Dec. 14-15, 2002. After accepting, I was also invited to a

conference near Mumbai,

 

"Children of the Mother Earth Unite", sponsored by Elders of the

Ancient Traditions, Feb. 4-9,

 

2003. I planned my trip to India to include both of these

conferences. I was also asked to attend

 

the Thinkers Meet, in Hyderabad, Dec. 6-7, 2002.

 

I arrived in Delhi on Dec. 6, and stayed overnight with Mr.

Jagadish Kumar. The next

 

morning, I flew to Hyderabad for the conference, which took place at

the Tulip Manohar Hotel.

 

While there, I mostly listened and observed, but also attended

meetings of the Vedic Friends

 

Association and the formation of the Indic Journalists Association

International(IJAI).

 

Following the conference, I travelled by train to Vishakapatnam,

where, along with Mr.

 

Andrew Foss and Mr. Vrin Parker, I addressed meetings of the Pragna

Bharati and the Vigyana

 

Bharati, on the preservation of Indigenous culture.

 

We then flew to Guwahati, by way of Kolkata, for the Janajati

conference, where we were

 

joined by Ms. Yvette Rosser, Mr. David Frawley, and Mr. Stephen

Knapp. Although time did not

 

permit reading my paper, I gave two short speeches to the assembled

delegates, which included

 

representatives of many Northeastern tribes. I also was asked to

perform at the cultural event,

 

which I did, singing Native American/Cherokee songs, and doing a

blessing ceremony.

 

Following this convention, I spent eight days touring

Arunachal Pradesh, with Gauri, of

 

the Vivekenanda Kendra, as my guide. We visited Daporijo, Along,

Ruksin, and Pasighat. At each

 

of these places I gave talks to the tribal people there assembled on

the importance of preserving

 

their culture. We also visited, and stayed at, Vivekenanda Kendra

Vidyalayas at Sher, Kuparijo,

 

Jirdin, Ayom, and Tinsukia(Assam), where I interacted with students

and told Cherokee stories,

 

which were received with great enthusiasm. At some of the town

meetings, an interpreter was

 

available, which helped considerably. I also visited and stayed with

an Adi family at Pasighat, and

 

visited Mishmi people at Wacro. I had expressed a desire to stay

longer in the Northeast, so after

 

returning to Guwahati, another tour was arranged for me, to attend

the Mass Prayer Meeting

 

(Brai Shibarai) of the Dimasa people, in Haflong, Assam. This

involved a fourteen hour bus trip to

 

the Cachar Hills, where I gave a short speech, again on preserving

Indigenous culture, which was

 

interpreted for the people. Before leaving Assam, I also gave a

lecture on Cherokee Art and

 

Culture, at the Vivekenanda Kendra in Guwahati.

 

In Guwahati, I was invited to attend the Youth Convention at

Kanyakumari, Jan. 22-24.

 

So, after two weeks on my own, I arrived there, and gave talks and

interacted with both the

 

delegates, from all over India, and staff of the Vivekenanda Kendra.

The students were very

 

enthusiastic, and my stay there was delightful.

 

I then flew to Bangalore, where a program had been arranged

for me by two

 

groups,Heritage and Madhyam. I spoke at the Krishnamurti Rishi Valley

School, BNM College,

 

and Mt. Carmel College, as well as to a smaller group at Madhyam.

 

Afterwards, I returned again to Hyderabad, to address a

meeting of about 200

 

Government Tribal Administration employees. I also travelled to

Bhadrachallam and Vidyanagar,

 

accompanied by Mr. Venugopal Reddy, a principal at a tribal school.

At Vidyanagar I visited with

 

the Konda Reddy people. At Bhadrachallam I visited a tribal girlsÆ

school and spoke to them,

 

and also visited with a local tribal administration official. After

returning to Hyderabad, I was

 

driven to Karimnagar, with a student named Rakesh, where I addressed

a meeting of the Pragna

 

Bharati. There was an audience of about 300 people, including a group

of children, which I

 

interacted with separately. After returning once again to Hyderabad,

I gave a talk at the National

 

Institute of Nutrition.

 

The final event on My tour was the six day conference of

Indigenous people from around

 

the world, "Children of the Mother Earth Unite", First International

Conference and Gathering of

 

the Elders, which was organized on the theme, "Mitakuye

Oyasin"(Lakota saying meaning "We

 

are all Related"). The conference took place on the grounds of

Rambhau Mhalgi Prabbodhini,

 

near Mumbai. There were 164+ delegates, from all around the world,

with many more coming

 

and going during that time. While there, I read my paper, part of

which was published in the book,

 

"Sanskriti Sangam", volume 1, which was compiled from the papers

presented at the conference. I

 

also gave two talks to the students of the school on the grounds, and

ran a "sweat lodge' (Native

 

American traditional ceremony) for 33 people. At this conference, I

met many wonderful people

 

and established a basis for further interaction with them.

 

Overall, I would have to say, my tour of India was

stimulating, enlightening, and

 

educational, for me as well as for the audiences I spoke to. The

interaction of tribal people, of

 

India and the world, in the preservation and celebration of their

cultures, is an endeavor well

 

worthy of support and encouragement .I am grateful to have had this

opportunity, and look

 

forward to further interactions of this kind in the future, in other

countries as well as India.

 

SD Youngwolf

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