Bluemont, VA – Dennis Banks, American Indian Movement (AIM) co-founder, held a sacred prayer pipe ceremony Saturday (Sept. 27) at the Paleo-Indian Site found in Bluemont VA after concluding AIM’s 2014 “Ride to Reverse Diabetes” in Washington D.C.
     Dennis Banks, 78 years old, led the 18,000 mile run across America educating Americans about reversing diabetes. The “Ride to Reverse Diabetes” began on Aug. 23 from Seattle WA and San Francisco, Los Angeles & San Diego, Calif. and ended Saturday, Sept. 27 in Washington D.C. by the White House.
     Following the conclusion of the “Ride to Reveres Diabetes” campaign, a small contingent visited the sacred ceremonial Paleo-Indian site in Northern Virginia. Paleo-Indian site guardians Chris (Comeswithclouds) White and René White (Feather) are custodians of the site which dates last used 10,470 years ago (see Thermoluminescence Dating)  

  Chris gave the AIM elders and young leaders a tour of the concentric rings, the sacred alter, standing stones and other features of advanced knowledge left behind thousands of years ago.
     Following the tour, Banks led a sacred prayer pipe ceremony with the AIM group and Native American Church of Virginia to honor the sacred land and land legacy of this area’s ancestors.

     Attending the sacred ceremony were: Dennis Banks, his daughter Darla Banks, nephew Adrian Sayers, granddaughter Mariah Lindsay, Leonard Seabolt, Mark Winslow, Bryan Halfday, Helen Wolfe, Kenneth Reid, Maria Pasho, Curt and Sheila Hansen, Diana Mullis and site guardians Chris & René White.
     Banks gave thanks to the thousands of people who supported the campaign and blessed him and his team of champions with hospitality, gas cards, food, shelter and friendship at various routes across America during the month-long campaign. Around the sacred fire, Banks also compassionately shared real stories about people whom he met across America who feel “hopeless,” many in wheel chairs and with no feet or legs.
     Banks said he dedicates the rest of his life to help reduce the suffering from diabetes while he balances that with his dedication ad love to his family, especially his grandchildren (grandchildren Mariah (below), daughter Darla (right)).

    “I have never seen anyone more authentic about saving lives and concerned for his family than Dennis Banks,” said René Lumbee Indian and president of the Native American Church of Virginia.
     “While we are not members of AIM, like Dennis, we are called to help reduce the suffering in the world," she added. "We offered to help Dennis and he accepted. We don’t know all the next steps, but we know our steps will include praying and looking to non-profits, educators and others for help.”

     Chris and René are involved in charitable work helping veterans, senior citizens, artists and many others. They are members of Oklevueha Native American Church, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and they are also officers with the Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem for the United States and Priory of Indigenous Peoples Worldwide. Together they volunteer to connect people and resources, transforming suffering to healing.
     Following the sacred prayer pipe ceremony, Chris and René hosted the 15-member group for feast and fellowship.

     The couple operates the Native American Church at their Sanctuary on the Trail, in the remote Virginia Blue Ridge Mountain. Their church’s vision is to “help leaders first,” “acknowledge the Indigenous of the Americas for their global contributions,” and “reduce suffering in the world.”
     Before leaving the D.C. area, Banks was scheduled to visit members of Congress and present them with a national diabetes policy. He decided to delay his meeting as he studies his research findings and develops a clear way ahead.

Thank You in Advance
    Thank you in advance for your generous contribution. In contributing you are helping advance and partnering with the ideal. Your contribution makes it possible for us help others who are suffering, because we believe suffering in the world is impossible to ignore.

Special Thanks
     Special shout out to David and Mary Ann Nalls of Nalls Farmers Market for donating 52 pounds of local Virginia grown apples for the AIM team to enjoy and share as they return home in all four directions.

Bluemont VA - This week, Northern Virginia Paleo-Indian site guardians flew to California, not knowing they would end up at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.
     During the couple’s already scheduled trip to receive volunteer awards in Riverside CA, PBS Religions & Ethics Newsweekly aired an interview of them, along with an interview of a Dr. Ed Krupp.
     It turns out that Dr. Krupp is the director and curator of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, less than an hour away from the ceremony.
     “Astronomer Krupp is considered an expert in ‘Archaeo-astronomy,’” according to Lucky Severson with PBS R&E.
     So the couple drove out to the Griffith Observatory in hopes to introduce themselves to Dr. Krupp.

Having the Courage to Ask Forbidden Questions
     Chris (Comeswithclouds) White said, "It is not about knowing all the answers right now. We pray for the courage to ask the forbidden questions, then seek the answers."
     "With the best questions, then we can develop a better plan and assemble a team of experts to help find answers that lead us to a truer understanding of the beginnings of humanity," he added. "If we don't understand the beginning and don't know the end, how can we have confidence in the direction we are going?"
     “As we develop a long-term strategy for the Paleo-Indian site we need the questions,” said Chris.
     Chris discovered the Paleo site in 2010 and has been investigating it with experts for five years.
     “We are hoping to begin a conversation with Dr. Krupp about what types of questions we should be asking. We need questions before we can find the answers.”
     The couple's airline flights to California were free, courtesy of Southwest Airlines.

Southwest Airlines gifted the couple four round-trip airline tickets because they gave up their 2013 flights to a family in need.

Dr. Krupp Griffith Observatory Curator
     Dr. Krupp has served as the Griffith Observatory director since 1974 and has visited over two thousand ancient and prehistoric sites worldwide, according to PBS R&E. 
     Dr. Krupp is responsible for helping develop a long-term strategy for the renovation and renewal of the Griffith Observatory.
     Speaking about the Paleo-Indian site in Virginia, Dr. Krupp said to PBS R&E, “Am I surprised that some kind of structured monument is that old in North America? I would say, ‘yeah, I am,’ because I don’t know anything else that is that old.”
     Dr. Krupp ended the PBS R&E interview by saying, “We’re actually beholden to all of these ancestors, all around the planet. They are the people that helped make our world the way it is for us today, whether we’re in China, North America, Europe or whatever.”
     "I don’t think you’re ever going to have a confident sense of certainty about the prehistoric past, and prehistoric monuments for the obvious

reason, we don’t have the owner’s manual," he added.
     Chris and René welcome Dr. Krupp and other professionals to see the site in Virginia. The couple is seeking professionals who can help them find questions and answers to help with preservation, protection and restoration.

The Griffith Observatory
     “The Griffith Observatory is perched atop a prominent hilltop in Griffith Park in Mt. Hollywood above Los Angeles,” said René White (Feather), who accompanied her husband to the Observatory.
     “We saw soaring hawks and wild coyotes. It was my first time seeing the Hollywood sign. The views of Los Angeles are magnificent and you can see all the way to Santa Monica from the Griffith Observatory."
     “In front of the Observatory is a day clock. Much different from the day clock my husband found in Virginia. I enjoy taking photos of him as he studies and discovers,” she added.
    The Griffith Observatory is one of the most famous and visited landmarks in southern California, according to the Observatory’s web site. “Tens of millions have come to walk the inside of the building, view the live planetarium shows, or simply gaze out towards the coast and the heavens.”

Riverside, Calif. – President Obama honored Chris (Comeswithclouds) White and René White (Feather) with the prestigious national President’s Call to Service Award in recognition of their sustained service of over 4,000 volunteer hours each.

“In my Inaugural Address, I stated that we need a new era of responsibility – a recognition on the part of every American that we have duties to ourselves, our Nation, and the world,” said President Barrack Obama in letters of congratulation to Chris and René.

On behalf of President Obama, the Supreme Grand Chancellor – Chevalier Massimo J Ellul GCLJ GCMLJ– Grand Priory of Malta and Grand Priory of the United States Secretary General Dame Dr. Karen Cantrell DLJ  DMLJ, with the Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem presented the couple with presidential letters, certificates and lapel pins during a black-tie gala hosted in Riverside CA on Sept. 13. Secretary General Cantrell, and other members of the Order, nominated Chris and René for the award.

The President’s Call to Service Award is intended to help demonstrate Chris and René’s commitment and example to inspire others to engage in volunteer service.

“These are the duties that we do not grudgingly accept, but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit than giving our all to a difficult task. Your volunteer service demonstrates the kind of commitment to your community that moves America to step closer to its great promise,” said President Obama in the personalized letters.

                 ____________________

The couples' community and charity affiliations:

• Medicare Cafe'
• Shenandoah Area on Aging Clarke County Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services Virginia Division for the Aging
• Lumbee Warriors Association
• VFW Post 9760
• Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem
• American Legion Berryville VA
• American Legion Women's Aux VA
  
• Wounded Warriors Assistance

• Disabled Military Veterans Assistance
• Rose Hill Assisted Living
  
• Winsome Retreat
• Emmaus Church
  
• Blue Ridge Volunteer Fire & Rescue
• Clarke County Community Services Activities Council
  
• Clarke County Historical Association, Art at the Mill
  

• Clarke County Fair
  
• Clarke County Library
  
• Barns of Rose Hill Community Center 
• Snickersville Gap Academy
• Friends of Bluemont
• Art in the Foothills
• Clermont Farm Days
  
• Virginia Lovers Gourd Society
• Art in Nature Art Guild
• Art in Nature™
• Native American Church of Virginia

“Our Nation faces the most challenges economic crisis in a lifetime. We will only renew America if we all work together. Individuals, the private sector, and government must combine efforts to make real and lasting change so that each person has the opportunity to fulfill his or her potential,” the President went on to say.

“While government can open more opportunities for us to serve our communities, it is up to each of us to seize those opportunities. Thank you for your dedication to service and for doing all you can to shape a better tomorrow for our great Nation,” the President added.

During the gala event in California, Chris and Rene’ also received the Officer of Merit of the Companionate of Merit from the Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem. The HOSLJ is a non-profit, non-government organization (NGO) and chivalric organization pursuing humanitarian and philanthropic activities around the world.

Others recognized with the
Companionate of Merit Award include:

Naomi Judd
Salif Keita
Sister Helen Prejean
Peter Ash
Thomas Park Clement
Consook Kim
Michael Green
Keith Mitchell
Shawne Duperon
Dan McGrath
Jill Virginia Mancino
Lee Benton
Dr. Joseph Nasralla
Dr. Joy Watson
Dr. Tom Watson
Dr. Eliezer Ben-Joseph
Christopher Chambers

Special Mention:
Christopher Buck
Dan McGrath

Coming up this weekend (Sept. 12-14) on R&E: A Stonehenge-era stone circle discovered in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley may be the oldest such site found in North America and has great spiritual meaning for its discoverer. Watch the story now: 

Bluemont, VA -- Chris (Comeswithclouds) White produced this video to “raise consciousness and public opinion of the indigenous.”
     “These people had faith and believed in two laws,” he says in the video commentary speaking of Indigenous Peoples. “They lived in knowledge of a spiritual reality. The indigenous are a witness two walking in love and faith. Living a sustainable lifestyle for thousands of years.”
     For more about the progress to preserve, protect and restore the Paleo-Indian site and the Native American Church of Virginia please visit www.SanctuaryontheTrail.org.

PBS Religion and Ethics Newsweekly will be airing an interview with us over this weekend (September 12th - 14th).
     It features Chris and Rene' White and the Paleo-Indian site in Clarke County, VA and compares our site with stone circles around the world, particularly Stonehenge.
     The producer is David Tereshchuk. The commentator who interviewed us is Lucky Severson.
    We are not sure when exactly during the weekend your local PBS station would be scheduling it, if indeed it does carry it. Most PBS local stations carry the broadcast but not every single one.
     It will also be available online of course, at www.pbs.org/religion from Friday September 12th.

Images of the filming in July with David, Lucky, Tony and Mark with PBS Ethics and Newsweekly.