Help me travel to learn from traditional elders

I am an African American Elder in Minnesota. The Mississippi & the Nile pulse and flow in my veins! I am putting this fundraiser out there to help me get back to Africa to continue my study with Oromo Elders so that I can bring a richer understanding of shared indigenous knowledge back to my community in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

I'll be in Africa January- March. I'm looking to my community to support my work writing a book about this experience, and preparing to bring others back to experience this community. I need ~$2000 more to support the work of my guides and translators on the ground, and to fund my housing.

Read on to learn more about my journey.

In 2018 during a presentation about the ancient Oromo Gadaa System in south Minneapolis, I began to notice similarities in values between the Indigenous People I knew here on Turtle Island and traditional Oromo culture. The more I listened, the more similarities surprised and pleased me. My communal and familial relationships with both people caused me to feel immensely blessed.

Here are a few things: 1) The belief that "water is life"; 2) The interconnections of all life; 3) The importance of how things done today affect life 7 generations down the line; 4) The belief in one Creator of all things; 5) The powerful role of women which seems to have a matriarchal dynamic. 6) The sacredness of trees especially the Odaa (a sycamore) as the meeting place central to tribal life; 7) For the Native Americans the Sundance tree is sacred where the people pray for the entire world in a sacrificial way with song, dance, flesh and blood Sun up to Sundown; 8)The traditional Oromo pray to Creator as Waka, the Dakota beseech Wakan Tonka. THE MORE I LEARN, THE MORE I REALIZE I DON'T KNOW. We are in hospice and the birthing room now. I walk in awe and gratitude for this Life.

I began to learn about indigenous wisdom and practices from Dakota, Annishinaabe and Lakota people. As relatives and community they prepared me to look eastward to my Ancestral home in what is known as Africa. Their blood, sweat and bones are in the soil here, but I keep being pulled eastward toward the Sunrise. Now is the time. Reclaiming and practicing global Indigenous wisdom is crucial now for all beings on Mother Earth.

This time I will listen to more people to appreciate the complexity of voices who don't have the same stories though living on the same land. Colonization and and patriarchy has had effects over many centuries. So I ask: "What are the paths toward healing now?" My focus now as I leave on January 7th is tor return to Minnesota with the draft of a book about indigenous and our way forward in a world living in crisis now. I have a vision of healing and resilience I want to share with others as we co-create across or Identities and nations.