Mitakuye Oyasin

About Mitakuye Oyasin.

Mitakuye Oyasin is a bit of a surprise! It grew out of a friendship that my friend Mike and I have with a local traditional Dakota elder we have known since we were kids. As the three of us grew in trust and love for each other, we began to spend more time in each other's worlds. We found ways to serve and bless each other. One thing led to another and now we are here.

Specifically, Mitakuye Oyasin (Dakota for "we are all related") responds to invitations from (usually) remote indigenous communities whose sacred songs and stories are threatened with extinction. Volunteer pilots, sound engineers, and recording technicians fly to these communities and record the songs and stories. These recordings are then made accessible to all who want them. The volunteer teams are diverse and are themselves a picture of reconciliation as non-traditional and traditional indigenous people work with followers of Jesus to preserve the songs and stories.

The partners of Mitakuye Oyasin understand reconciliation requires honor, reparation, and humility.

andrew-james-fVNCEtygXOA-unsplash.jpg

Thus, reconciliation happens as:

  1. We honor the sacred stories and songs by acknowledging they contain the wisdom and presence of the Creator and are worthy of being preserved.

  2. We seek to repair the cultural damage done by Christians. We hope the practical work of preserving sacred songs and stories is also experienced as a restorative symbolic action for those who invite us to their communities.

  3. We learn. As one Dakota spiritual leader put it, "Reconciliation will happen when you allow us to teach you something new about God."

 

Truly, we are all related.

All proceeds from sales of The UPSIDEDOWN Life go to "Mitakuye Oyasin".