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“Part of our role is to wake up the world.”

Two hundred leaders from seventy-one North American indigenous tribes convened on Monday to discuss rising concerns over global warming, environmental destruction, and the role of humanity as planetary shepherds. Hoping to help lead the way towards a more sustainable future, the tribesmen met at dawn beneath the Mayan city of Palenque, Mexico.

“I sometimes talk to scientists,” said a leader of Alaska’s Tlingit peoples, “and they compartmentalize things, put things in boxes and disconnect them, and doing so promotes disharmony and imbalance.”

The ceremony, in which the participants asked for forgiveness from Mother Earth, is intended to help explore situations in which traditional expertise can create a more balanced world.

“Our grandfathers taught us to have an integrated vision,” said a Nahuatl healer. “The important thing is to look for balance. We should take care of what does not belong to us, for the future, because it is only ours temporarily.”

link (AP News)–>