Post by Okwes on Apr 14, 2008 13:45:24 GMT -5
Lummi Nation, Dalai Lama share vision of peace Tribe
presents Tibetan leader traditional hat, sash, necklace
www.bellinghamherald.com/477/story/379285.html
<http://www.bellinghamherald.com/477/story/379285.html>
[http://media.bellinghamherald.com/smedia/2008/04/12/23/337-Dalai_Lama01\
.embedded.prod_affiliate.39.jpg]
<http://www.bellinghamherald.com/pages/image.html?image=http://media.bel\
linghamherald.com/smedia/2008/04/12/23/327-Dalai_Lama01.standalone.prod_\
affiliate.39.jpg>
Holding a staff given to him by Lummi Nation dignitary James Hillaire
and wearing a hat, sash and necklace made by participants at the Lummi
Cultural Learning Center, the Dalai Lama grasps hands with members of
the audience following a meeting with Native American representatives at
Qwest Field in Seattle on Saturday. SEATTLE — The Dalai Lama
donned a Lummi Nation cedar bark hat Sunday as he urged a small audience
of Native Americans to safeguard their culture. A Lummi delegation
presented him with the hat as well as a sash and necklace during a brief
meeting that followed his main address to a gathering of about 50,000
people inside the stadium. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of
Tibetans and head of that land's government-in-exile. He won the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
The setting for his meeting with the native groups was a bit
incongruous: the FSN Lounge inside Qwest Field, beneath larger-than-life
portraits of Cortez Kennedy, Jim Zorn and other members of the Seattle
Seahawks' Ring of Honor. But the drums and chants of the Lummi,
Tulalip and other tribes transformed a sports fan's watering hole
into a place of ceremony.
"There was a lot of good feeling in the room," said Darrell
Hillaire, a former Lummi chairman who serves on the organizing committee
for the five-day Seeds of Compassion event that brought the Dalai Lama
to Seattle. The gifts the Dalai Lama wore as he departed had been
crafted at Lummi Nation's Cultural Learning Center under the
direction of Doralee Sanchez.
"I'm honored that he went out wearing what we'd made at our
cultural center," Sanchez said. "It kind of brought tears to my
eyes to see him with the hat, the sash, the necklace."
Sanchez said the youngsters who learn Lummi crafts at the center worked
for weeks on the gifts for the Dalai Lama and his entourage. She said
the Tibetan leader had expressed interest in learning how native
Americans preserve their cultures after being displaced from their
ancestral lands, as he himself has been displaced since his exile to
India in 1959 after the Chinese government in Beijing tightened its grip
on Tibet. "We wanted to show him how we do it through our
youth," Sanchez said. "I think he really did get an up-close
look at who we are and what we do." She added that the Dalai
Lama's message of compassion is a natural fit with traditional Lummi
ways. "You have very little but you share what you have,"
Sanchez said. "That's how we were raised." Other people from
Whatcom County also went to Seattle for the event. "It's been
one of my lifelong dreams to get a blessing from the Dalai Lama,"
said Bellingham resident Shelley Muzzy. "It was fabulous."
Before the Dalai Lama spoke to the stadium throngs earlier in the day,
the Lummis joined a colorful procession of cultures marching into the
stadium on the first warm and sunny day of the year to greet the
spiritual leader. Among the marchers were Cambodian, Indian, Vietnamese,
Iranian and Chinese contingents.
James and Lutie Hillaire of Lummi were among the small delegation of
dignitaries who joined the Dalai Lama on the rostrum, along with Gov.
Chris Gregoire. James Hillaire, wearing a feathered headdress, also
addressed the crowd, thanking the Duwamish tribe for allowing the
gathering to take place on their ancestral lands.
"We are always honored when we receive guests from so far away, from
different lands," Hillaire said. He got enthusiastic applause when
he added, "We have been taught that we are all brothers, we are all
sisters. It doesn't matter the color of our skin or our
culture." The Dalai Lama opened with words of humility. "Some
people come to listen with great expectations," he said.
"That's a mistake. … I am just one human being."
Consulting occasionally with an interpreter at his side, he sat in a red
upholstered armchair to tell his audience that a more peaceful world
must begin with them.
"Many of the problems are essentially man-made problems," he
said, adding, with a mischievous grin, "Women may be less
troublemakers. Sometimes, in the home, in the family, women are the top
troublemakers." But at the global level, he said, men are causing
most of the trouble. Later, as an obviously appreciative Gregoire
clasped his hand, he mused that female leaders may help the world become
more compassionate. "Women may have a greater, important role,"
he said. "Females, I think, should take a more important role in
this age." Observing that the 20th century had been marked by
bloodshed, he urged his audience to make the 21st century "the
century of dialogue." "If you use force in order to solve one
problem, it often creates unexpected side effects," he said.
"The concept of war is outdated." While he agreed that world
leaders need to consider nuclear disarmament, he also observed that
laying down weapons is not enough. "We need inner disarmament,"
he said, calling on his listeners to root out suspicion and fear from
their hearts. By taking care of the needs of others, we make it more
likely that others will meet our needs, he said. "Selfish should be
wise-selfish rather than foolish-selfish," he said.
After his address, he answered questions that organizers had selected
from hundreds submitted in writing. One questioner wanted to know what
compassionate people could do to get their leaders to move away from use
of force. "The real answer for that question? I don't know,"
he replied. But he also said he saw small signs of hope, small signs of
gradual change in the way world leaders address problems.
He suggested that world leaders and their families should get together
for a week or two to get to know one another without discussing any
weighty matters. Then, he said, when weighty matters must be discussed,
they will be more likely to see one another as fellow human beings.
"If each individual makes the effort, without losing hope, I think
this century will be a better century, a happier century," he said.
presents Tibetan leader traditional hat, sash, necklace
www.bellinghamherald.com/477/story/379285.html
<http://www.bellinghamherald.com/477/story/379285.html>
[http://media.bellinghamherald.com/smedia/2008/04/12/23/337-Dalai_Lama01\
.embedded.prod_affiliate.39.jpg]
<http://www.bellinghamherald.com/pages/image.html?image=http://media.bel\
linghamherald.com/smedia/2008/04/12/23/327-Dalai_Lama01.standalone.prod_\
affiliate.39.jpg>
Holding a staff given to him by Lummi Nation dignitary James Hillaire
and wearing a hat, sash and necklace made by participants at the Lummi
Cultural Learning Center, the Dalai Lama grasps hands with members of
the audience following a meeting with Native American representatives at
Qwest Field in Seattle on Saturday. SEATTLE — The Dalai Lama
donned a Lummi Nation cedar bark hat Sunday as he urged a small audience
of Native Americans to safeguard their culture. A Lummi delegation
presented him with the hat as well as a sash and necklace during a brief
meeting that followed his main address to a gathering of about 50,000
people inside the stadium. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of
Tibetans and head of that land's government-in-exile. He won the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
The setting for his meeting with the native groups was a bit
incongruous: the FSN Lounge inside Qwest Field, beneath larger-than-life
portraits of Cortez Kennedy, Jim Zorn and other members of the Seattle
Seahawks' Ring of Honor. But the drums and chants of the Lummi,
Tulalip and other tribes transformed a sports fan's watering hole
into a place of ceremony.
"There was a lot of good feeling in the room," said Darrell
Hillaire, a former Lummi chairman who serves on the organizing committee
for the five-day Seeds of Compassion event that brought the Dalai Lama
to Seattle. The gifts the Dalai Lama wore as he departed had been
crafted at Lummi Nation's Cultural Learning Center under the
direction of Doralee Sanchez.
"I'm honored that he went out wearing what we'd made at our
cultural center," Sanchez said. "It kind of brought tears to my
eyes to see him with the hat, the sash, the necklace."
Sanchez said the youngsters who learn Lummi crafts at the center worked
for weeks on the gifts for the Dalai Lama and his entourage. She said
the Tibetan leader had expressed interest in learning how native
Americans preserve their cultures after being displaced from their
ancestral lands, as he himself has been displaced since his exile to
India in 1959 after the Chinese government in Beijing tightened its grip
on Tibet. "We wanted to show him how we do it through our
youth," Sanchez said. "I think he really did get an up-close
look at who we are and what we do." She added that the Dalai
Lama's message of compassion is a natural fit with traditional Lummi
ways. "You have very little but you share what you have,"
Sanchez said. "That's how we were raised." Other people from
Whatcom County also went to Seattle for the event. "It's been
one of my lifelong dreams to get a blessing from the Dalai Lama,"
said Bellingham resident Shelley Muzzy. "It was fabulous."
Before the Dalai Lama spoke to the stadium throngs earlier in the day,
the Lummis joined a colorful procession of cultures marching into the
stadium on the first warm and sunny day of the year to greet the
spiritual leader. Among the marchers were Cambodian, Indian, Vietnamese,
Iranian and Chinese contingents.
James and Lutie Hillaire of Lummi were among the small delegation of
dignitaries who joined the Dalai Lama on the rostrum, along with Gov.
Chris Gregoire. James Hillaire, wearing a feathered headdress, also
addressed the crowd, thanking the Duwamish tribe for allowing the
gathering to take place on their ancestral lands.
"We are always honored when we receive guests from so far away, from
different lands," Hillaire said. He got enthusiastic applause when
he added, "We have been taught that we are all brothers, we are all
sisters. It doesn't matter the color of our skin or our
culture." The Dalai Lama opened with words of humility. "Some
people come to listen with great expectations," he said.
"That's a mistake. … I am just one human being."
Consulting occasionally with an interpreter at his side, he sat in a red
upholstered armchair to tell his audience that a more peaceful world
must begin with them.
"Many of the problems are essentially man-made problems," he
said, adding, with a mischievous grin, "Women may be less
troublemakers. Sometimes, in the home, in the family, women are the top
troublemakers." But at the global level, he said, men are causing
most of the trouble. Later, as an obviously appreciative Gregoire
clasped his hand, he mused that female leaders may help the world become
more compassionate. "Women may have a greater, important role,"
he said. "Females, I think, should take a more important role in
this age." Observing that the 20th century had been marked by
bloodshed, he urged his audience to make the 21st century "the
century of dialogue." "If you use force in order to solve one
problem, it often creates unexpected side effects," he said.
"The concept of war is outdated." While he agreed that world
leaders need to consider nuclear disarmament, he also observed that
laying down weapons is not enough. "We need inner disarmament,"
he said, calling on his listeners to root out suspicion and fear from
their hearts. By taking care of the needs of others, we make it more
likely that others will meet our needs, he said. "Selfish should be
wise-selfish rather than foolish-selfish," he said.
After his address, he answered questions that organizers had selected
from hundreds submitted in writing. One questioner wanted to know what
compassionate people could do to get their leaders to move away from use
of force. "The real answer for that question? I don't know,"
he replied. But he also said he saw small signs of hope, small signs of
gradual change in the way world leaders address problems.
He suggested that world leaders and their families should get together
for a week or two to get to know one another without discussing any
weighty matters. Then, he said, when weighty matters must be discussed,
they will be more likely to see one another as fellow human beings.
"If each individual makes the effort, without losing hope, I think
this century will be a better century, a happier century," he said.