"Silent voices speak to honor the life and passing of a revered Elder Spiritual Leader of the Anishinabek Nation: Peacemaker, William Commanda, the founder of “Circle of All Nations,” which promotes “indigenous wisdom and peace to foster respect and reconciliation amongst nations.” He passed back into the Spirit World on August 2, 2011 at age 97. He offered a prophecy of peace: “… that the time would come when the voice of Indigenous Peoples would rise again after 500 years of silence and oppression, to light a path to an eternal fire of peace, love, brotherhood and sisterhood amongst all nations.”

We are regaining our voices, breaking the silence violence has imposed upon us. Recently, the word “courage” came to mind from a note Jim Thorpe wrote to my grandfather Charles Mitchell—friends and teammates at Carlisle Indian School. His word of “en-couragement”—to be courageous— describes the bold, open discussion and the healing forum on IndianCountryTodayMediaNetwork.com’s Circle of Violence Series, “Reflections of Communal Pain and Dysfunction.”

There cannot be found a clearer, more intimate and honest journalistic examination of the devastation of violence—from every perspective—anywhere else in the so-called free world. Only from the strength of traditional values and respect for Creation, derived from thousands of years of our ancestors living in harmony with nature, could we have survived the gauntlet of western civilization. Indigenous Peoples are unique in that our cultural memory, founded upon the heart, history and tradition of our people, builds an enduring memory. There are many tribes and nations, creating and weaving their own culture and ways of expressing the life experience. However, the universal commonality— the values of Honor, Family and Respect for Creation— has enabled our survival over the last 500 years."

Get the Story:
Tandie Mitchell: Praise for the Circle of Violence Series (Indian Country Today 11/6)