Indians hold peace ceremony in Mullingar
Native American Indian spiritual leaders marked the summer solstice and celebrated World Peace and Prayer Day with a peace pipe ceremony in Ireland.
Actor John Hurt and singer Donovan joined hundreds of others at the Hill of Uisneach, near Mullingar, Co Westmeath, on Thursday calling for world peace and sustainable, environmentally-friendly development.
Chief Arvol Looking Horse, spiritual leader of the Sioux people of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota tribes, decided to set up World Peace and Prayer Day in 1994 and this was the first time the ceremony had been conducted outside the Americas.
Chief Arvol, 47, who lives in the Black Hills, South Dakota, said the trip and the ceremony were successful: ‘‘We followed the protocol of our traditional ways and carried out the ceremony to pray for peace and unity and global healing.
‘‘We came to Ireland because, after we had held the ceremony at four places in the north, south, east and west of the Americas, we were told to go east towards where the sun rises.
‘‘This is the first of four countries we are going to visit - the others are South Africa, Australia and Japan - before returning to Turtle Island in North America in 2005.’’
The native Indians were joined by representatives from Inuit, Aborigine and Tibetan people. Chief Arvol has addressed the United Nations, spoke at US President Bill Clinton’s 1996 inauguration and has met Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama.
He was given the role of the 19th keeper of his tribe’s sacred white buffalo calf ceremonial pipe when he was aged 12 and said that, in 1994, the first white buffalo calf of recent memory was born, fulfilling an old prophecy.
He said: ‘‘19 generations ago the buffalo calf spirit woman foretold that she would come back during a hard time when we were at the crossroads.
‘‘The first white buffalo was born in 1994 and since then eight more have been born.’’
