Kautantowit's Mecautea's
Spiritual Wisdom Discussions
Greetings everyone, thank you for joining us here today, as we address and explain the significant importance of "Earth day" among Kautantowit's Mecautea. My name is 'Hawkeye' Graves, Sachem *Chief) of Oklevueha Native American Church Kautantowit's Mecautea, as well as a healer and the spiritual leader, and on behlaf of ONAC KM I humbly welcome you and thank you again for being here with us today.
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So, each year, Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd marking the anniversary of a modern environmental movement that was first established back in the year of 1970 and officially declared "Earth Day". Although mainstream America largely remain oblivious to environmental concerns during this era, the stage had been set for positive and honorable change that the hippie generation was determined to initiate and we as Kautantowit's Mecautea are here to ensure that the effort and homage for our mother earth continues.
According to legend, the idea for a national day to focus on the environment was publicly introduced to the worlds occupants by Earth Day founder, Mr. Gaylord Nelson, who was then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin. Nelson accredits his vision having come after witnessing the ravages of a Massive oil spill in 1969 in Santa Barbara, California. Senator Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media and is said to have persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman at the time, to serve as his co-chair. It's said that Nelson also recruited a gentleman by the name of Dennis Hayes from Harvard University to serve as national coordinator. Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land. April 22, falling between Spring Break and Final Exams, was selected as the date.
Kautantowit's = Great Creator's
Mecautea = Warrior soldiers who fight off evil and the enemy.
On April 22, 1970, more than 20 million Americans took to the streets, occupied parks, and flooded auditoriums, all to demonstrate and advocate for a healthy and sustainable environment in what would flourish into a massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. As they did, various groups that had been fighting specific battles such as against oil spills, polluting factories, animal testing, and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife all suddenly began to come to the realization that they shared common values and sough t common goals... goals that could be proven attainable if the people as a whole came together in unification.
Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment from both the Republicans and Democrats, but to the ultimate surprise of the masses was that the establishment of earth day also brought the rich and poor, city folk as well as the ranchers and farmers, rich, labor workers and unemployed all side by side and arm and arm to one equal level and platform. The result of that first Earth Day led to and remains accredited for the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency as well as the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. “It was a gamble,” Gaylord recalled to reporters, “but it worked.”
In 1990 as the now annual event approached, a group of environmental leaders are said to have asked Denis Hayes to organize another big campaign. This time because of their efforts, Earth Day went global, mobilizing an estimated 200 million people throughout 141 different countries and lifting environmental issues onto the global stage. Earth Day pf 1990 ultimately proved to give a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It also is said to have prompted US President Bill Clinton to award Senator Nelson "The Presidential Medal of Freedom" award in 1995—the highest honor ever given to civilians in the United States—for his role as an original Earth Day founder.
In the year of 2000, Mr. Hayes agreed to spearhead yet another enviornmental campaign, this time focused on global warming and a push for clean energy. With 5,000 environmental groups in a record 184 countries reaching out to hundreds of millions of people. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, DC for a First Amendment Rally, sending world leaders a very loud and clear message that citizens around the world wanted quick and decisive action on global warming and clean energy.
Earth Day of 2010 brought approximately 250,000 people to the National Mall for a Climate Rally, and launched the world’s largest environmental service project ever... "A Billion Acts of Green®", which introduced a global tree planting initiative that has since grown into what's known as "The Canopy Project," engaging 22,000 partners in 192 different countries all agreeing to observe Earth Day, the largest secular observance in the world that is now celebrated by more than a billion people every year, and is accredited as a day of action that changes human behavior and provokes positive and earth-friendly policy changes within government. In 2017 it's reported that over 1 B .
The year 2020 is going to mark the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day. In honor of this milestone, Earth Day Network are already launching an ambitious set of goals to shape the future of 21st century environmentalism