A Huge Thank You to the Burns Paiute Tribe

The Burns Paiute Tribe are the First Nation people upon whose traditional lands this year's gathering was held. Thanks to some long time gatherers contacting the tribe in the spring of this year, we were able to create positive relationships between gathering participants and tribal members to protect Flagtail Meadows and the surrounding areas.  A huge shout out to the tribe for staffing an information station in the main meadow adjacent to INFO.  Many great conversations took place and I personally learned quite a bit about the land used by the Paiute for generations.

One of the members of the Burns Paiute tribal council spoke to a workshop taking place in the teepee on July 3 regarding the rainbow gathering/Standing Rock connections. He told us that when he heard we were coming to their traditional lands, he was upset due to the Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016 in which damage to culturally sensitive artifacts occurred. He told us he was afraid that the gathering would be a similar event. When, he saw what was happening for himself, he was happy. He asked us to protect the creek and said the rest would heal over time. 

Vision council/counsel/circle put out together this consensus on July 8, 2017:

"The Rainbow Family of Living Light vision council (counsel) on the land day 2, Oregon, July 8, 2017 thanks the Burns Paiute Tribe for welcoming us to gathering on your traditional lands. We appreciate working closely with you to protect sacred sites and the environment. We deeply empathize with the loss of your traditional lands by colonization. We support your ongoing work to build a strong, healthy, and vibrating Burns Paiute Tribe now and for future generations."

Here is a photo of the letter as written out in council/counsel/circle.

This letter, along with several pieces of Obsidian that had been turned into INFO (without a location provided), were delivered to Dean Adams, Vice-Chair of the Burns Paiute Tribal Council, on Monday, July 10 about 9:30 a.m. by myself and a friend.

While we were at the reservation, we drove by the children's park called Rainbow Park.  Here's a photo in case you are curious about the synchronicity of our interactions. I look forward to continuing this relationship after the gathering and cleanup are over.

Updates from the Gathering June 23

Happy Friday everyone,

Here are some things you need to know.

Law Enforcement is on the road into the gathering. Please read right side bar to make sure you have all the information on how to get in without a mandatory court appearance ticket. Be especially careful when you turn onto Forest Service Road 24.

Nights have been in the 40s and even occasionally into the 30s. Be prepared with cold weather gear for night. Days have been in the 70s and 80s - bring sunscreen and a hat.

Wild horses live in the area. If you do not have a horse and are charged by a wild horse, please make lots of noise and use Bear strategies to scare them off. If you have a horse, be aware that a group of riders were attacked by a wild stallion and one person died. 

We are trying to get town Shanti Sena and porta potties going in John Day.  We need someone to check out the scene in Burns, Oregon to the south and see if we need town Shanti Sena  and/or porta potties there as well. 

If you come through John Day, Oregon, please stop at Chester's Thriftway and pick up family trying to get home. If they need gas, please pitch in so we can keep people rolling to the site and not be a nuisance in town. If you come through Burns, please look for the grocery store and pick up family and get them home or help them with gas money.

June 26 & 27 a US Forest Service contractor will be flying helicopters over the site for a wild horse count. This was planned months ago.

There is a prescribed burn in the area. Click here for details.

Key things to know about the site:

• Stay 200 feet away from the creek to protect trout eggs and nesting birds.
• Only cut down timber that has a trunk less than 1 foot in diameter. If a larger tree is marked with blue spray paint, it's OK to cut.
• Dogs must be on a leash to protect wildlife resources and the creek.
• A representative from the Burns Paiute tribe has sat in council with us and we hope some of the tribal members will come back and help us learn how to protect their traditional lands.
• Pink ribbons mark sensitive resource areas that we need to stay out of.
• Green ribbons mark areas that are good for us to use.
• From the main parking lot, there is an old forest service road into the gathering which is awesome if you have a wagon. Just past Welcome Home (at the corral), there is a short cut to main meadow but it's no good for carts.

Rap 107 & Rap 701 - How to Live Lightly and Be Healthy in Oregon

RAP 107 Gathering Consciousness

Kitchens:  Consult with Forest Service Resource folks for appropriate locations to build a kitchen, ask at INFO, or be prepared to relocate your camp due to pockets of sensitive resources. Please ASK before you dig!

Creeks: Stay at least 200 feet from the creeks to protect trout and bird eggs ready to hatch.  Stay out of the marshy/fragile meadows marked by signs or pink ribbons. Get all water from piped sources and/or go to a kitchen. Do not disturb rocks in the stream or on the land. First Nation Tribes have been restoring the creeks in this area. Please preserve their hard work.

Wood: Please leave all wood along the creek and the riparian zones. Down and dead wood less than one foot in diameter can be used for firewood outside the riparian areas. Larger down dead is used by wildlife as their home. Please protect the homes of birds and other creatures.

Wildlife & Pets: Wild horses and bears live in this area. If you are camped on the edges of the gathering, please be prepared and bear-proof your food. Treat wild horses and bears the same way to scare them off. Be very careful if you bring horses to the gathering, as the stallion may attack your horses. Beaver in area have giardia. Ticks in this area carry Lyme disease – check yourself for ticks daily. All pets must be on a six-foot leash to keep them away from critical habitat.

Tribal Relations: The Burns-Paiute Tribe has been to the site and are concerned about sensitive areas. Please respect their wishes by following ALL these site specific guidelines.. If you are digging and you find Obsidian, please stop digging immediately, mark off the site so no one else digs and let INFO or a USFS resource person know.

Pink Ribbons designate sensitive habitat, please stay out. Green Ribbons are open areas for  use. Trees with Blue spray-paint are OK to use for firewood.

Please protect this Beautiful Land. Walk softly. Harm no living thing. Harmonize - Blend in. Use only down, dead wood. Cut no living trees. Preserve the Meadows...camp in the Woods NOT in the meadows or along the creek. We are caretakers of this land. Everyone sharing makes a strong Human Tribe!

Please Protect the Water Sources by staying out of DELICATE spring areas. Avoid camping, peeing, washing above spring areas. Keep ALL soap out of streams, springs or the creek (even biodegradable soap)! Collect water from the pipes and use a bucket to take your bath 200 feet away from the water source. To be certain of drinking water: boil it!  Use the slit trenches or covered latrines - cover your paper & waste with ashes or lime, wash hands. Break the fly/illness connection: shit-fly-food-you! Dig no shitters near water areas or kitchens.

Protect our Health! Use your own cup, bowl & spoon! Wash them after eating and rinse in bleach-water. Cover prepared food with lids. Visit C.A.L.M./M.A.S.H. if you feel ill - especially if you have a contagious disease - or are injured. Camp Together - Establish neighborhoods.

PACK IT IN - PACK IT OUT !!!

Cleanup begins when you arrive. Bring in only what is necessary. There is no janitor here...you are the cleanup crew. Separate Garbage for recycling. Don't litter - Find collection point. Compost in pits only.

You are the Gathering! Participate in Shanti Sena, the peace keepers council, and all activities, councils, work crews, workshops. Volunteer wherever needed: kitchens, welcome home, fire watch, parking lot, shitter digging, supply, front gate, etc. R-E-S-P-E-C-T your Sisters & Brothers energies. Keep the Balance: Earth, Sky, Trees, Water & People! Alcohol is Discouraged, Guns are Inappropriate, Violence is contrary to the Spirit. Please take no photographs or videos of people without permission. Discourage Drug Abuse. Buying and selling endangers our legal right to be here. The Magic Hat is our Bank, donate early to fund our Needs. The Magic Hat goes around at mealtime circles and with the Magic Hat Band.

Rap 701 In preparation for leaving....

Pack up all your trash and bring to the appropriate recycling areas on the road. Dismantle and disappear your encampment. Vanish ALL traces. Fire rocks scattered, ashes cold out and buried, pits filled in. Latrines and compost holes covered over. String and twine get removed from tree limbs. Hardened ground gets aerated with tools for future root growth and moisture catch. All litter is picked up. Help with recycling. Where everyone helps, the effort is easy. When an area is clear and clean, then NATURALIZE! Scatter logs, branches, leaves, duff to disappear trails and camps and renew forest habitat. H2O systems and latrine tops are removed and cleaned for the next time. In parking areas help disabled vehicles and fully dismantle ramps and bridges. Steep places are water-barred to prevent erosion. The final crew reseeds appropriate seed to renew vegetation and complete process.

Transport as many riders as possible to aid our travels. Treat local folks with great kindness. They have been kind to us. Drive safely and share this love wherever you go.

Our power together is many times our power separated.

Enjoy the Rainbow with an open heart and you Will see the Vision. Join us for July 4th Silent Contemplation & Prayer for Peace, respect those maintaining silence from dawn. Hold the silence until the arrival of the Children's Parade. Be prepared and look out of the health and safety for those who are unprepared.

On Creeks and Camping

Bad Tent Location - Too Close to Creek
(Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/meganpru/5914413517/)

Creeks provide water for animals in the area and spawning grounds for fish.  Creeks are the heart of the ecosystem. When folks disrespect the creek, they disrespect the land on which we gather as well as the heart of the gathering itself. 

The creeks in this gathering have trout eggs waiting to hatch and the shrubs along the creek have birds sitting on eggs waiting to hatch. Let's give our fish and feather friends some space to raise their families.

When silt gets into the creek it covers trout eggs preventing the fish from hatching. Lots of people have been putting a lot of effort into restoring the creeks at our gathering site and supporting spawning grounds for the native trouts.  We need to honor the trout and the people working year round on protecting trout habitat.

If we are not careful, we will silt up the creek. 

THINGS NOT TO DO: Enter riparian areas with pink ribbons.  Allow yourself, your dogs, or your kids to play in the creek. Trample up the banks or in the muddy riparian areas near the creek.

THINGS TO DO: Stay 200 feet away from the creek.  The local tribes have invested heavily to restore the creeks where we are gathering. Please let's leave these creeks in as good or better shape then we found them. Educate yourself and take your knowledge home and share with others.

~~~Nothing is biodegradable in water.~~~

Good Tent Location - In Woods away from Creek
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/50461467@N00/6075694833/)

Soil filters and decomposes soapy water, food scraps and urine.  We always need to make sure we keep all our waste far enough back from the creek so that the wonderful micro-organisms in the soil have the chance to do their magic.

In my mind, our shining stars are folks who make signs asking people to not camp along the creek. Family who go around and talk to people about why we don’t camp adjacent to creeks are my heroes and I workshop at your feet.

When we gather, we are visitors to the land. The plants and animals that live there year round are depending on us to tread lightly and leave the ground upon which we drummed and danced, ate and loved, in better shape than when we arrived. This, my friends, is the Rainbow way. 

Of course every site is different. The soil drainage and the type of creek varies ecosystem to ecosystem and the down-stream features indicate how close is too close. Different areas have different animals who need access to the creek for drinking purposes. If you’re too close, you’ll scare them off. This year the local First Nation tribes have requested that no one harms the restored streams by keeping camps at least 200 feet away from any creek.  This includes insuring that kitchens and/or shitters are at least 200 feet or more away from the creek. When you come home, check in with INFO to learn the site specific considerations for each the current gathering. Or find a friendly Forest Service Resource person and pick her/his brain.

Or camp on the promenade -- a flat plateau with trees to shade your tent.


A gathering is not a festival. Please don’t camp on the grass.  Camp in the woods, under the trees, 200 feet back from a creek.

Be the consciousness you wish to see in this world!

Outreach to First Nations - a report

Updated May 7, 2017 @ 6:50 p.m. Oregon time

OUTREACH TO TRIBAL CULTURAL RESOURCE PERSONNEL

2017 ANNUAL RAINBOW GATHERING

WHO: Don Joseph and Dinner-Circle Daniel

WHERE: EASTERN OREGON – The Warm Springs, Umatilla and Burns Paiute Reservations. (The Nez Perce and Klamath tribes will be contacted shortly as part of this on-going family process.)

WHEN: The last week of March 2017

The 2016 Thanksgiving Council in Eugene was unanimous in its support for making an early effort to contact native tribes with interests in any National Forest in Oregon which could be the location of the Annual Gathering, even if such contacts could lead to controversy.

Subjects covered in meetings with tribal cultural resource representatives were: the nature of the Gathering; our council and site-selection process; tribal concerns about landscape impacts including archaeological, historical, animal, plant, water and soil resources; and site cleanup and restoration.  Each asked for further consultation if a specific site or sites within their traditional territory are under active consideration. No other actions were requested until that time. Our personal contact information was given and the resource personnel for each tribe provided their contact info.  Each provided a map of their traditional territory, which includes National Forest lands.

The two enclosed documents, as well as a copy of the 2016 Vermont “Operating Plan,” were handed out to provide additional information and to share with the tribal council and other tribal members.  A gift of Paiute sweet sage was presented to each representative.

All the tribal representatives expressed gratitude for our having taken the time to explain the Gathering and to seek their input.

FYI. Google has the location of these PDFs marked as a problem site, but there is nothing wrong with the PDFs. Continue past the error.

To view Daniel's Basic Resource Needs Handout, click here.
To view Oregon Handout To Tribes, click here.

Updates from April 27


On 10 April, Miriam and I meet with the Nez Perce Tribe's archaeologist.  Just as for the first three tribe's contacted, the Nez Perce person said that his tribe would give us their input on any site we are considering in their traditional territory and he gave us his tribe's "official"  territorial map. 


On 13 April, I called Perry Chocktoot, the Director of the Culture and Heritage Dept. for the Klamath Tribes, to try and set up a meeting time with him. On the phone, Mr. Chocktoot said, that although he was not judging the purpose of event, “the {Klamath] tribes can’t support the resource damage of the site [of a Rainbow gathering] in their traditional territory.”  He also said “there are more cultural and resource sites in our territory than for any other tribe in Oregon” and “we have to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.” Mr. Chocktoot agreed to a personal meeting which was set for 10 AM, 21 April at the Tribes' new Culture and Heritage building in Chiloquin, OR.  The Klamath Tribes have Klamath, Modoc, Northern Paiute and Pit River people.


On 21 April 2017, Miriam  and I were at tribal office at 10 AM in Chiloquin.  Mr Chocktoot was ill and not available.  We met with Ron Busby, Language Instructor, and Mandy Roberson, Culture and Heritage Department Office Manager. Ms. Roberson said “Perry’s job is to protect the sites.” She also said “I don’t think the tribes will allow a Rainbow Gathering in our territory.”   They will try to get a map of their traditional territory and mail it to DJ.


So, as of now, all the native tribes of central and eastern Oregon have been contacted and we have tribal territorial maps for four of the five tribes.  Hopefully, we will get the fifth soon.


Onward toward scouting a  great, acceptable Gathering site in Oregon,  Yes, much love to you too, Don Joseph