Desert Palm United Church of Christ presents Standing on Sacred Ground: Fire and Ice
Sunday, October 16, 2016, 5:30pm
Desert Palm UCC, Tempe, Arizona
FREE and open to the public
Indigenous People’s Day
The United Church of Christ is part of a growing movement to rename Columbus Day, “Indigenous People’s Day.” This name change reflects the evolving realization that Europeans historically said to have “discovered” the Americas were actually agents of colonialization and genocide whose devastating invasions and exploitative practices helped pave the way for the current ecological catastrophe unfolding all around us. In a spirit of solidarity with oppressed Indigenous peoples throughout the world, Desert Palm UCC and the national UCC are committed to truth-telling, restoration and the ongoing struggle for justice.
In our support of Indigenous People, we will be screening the award winning four part series, Standing On Sacred Ground, touching on the plight of Indigenous peoples around the globe.
Fire and Ice
From the Gamo Highlands of Ethiopia to the Andes of Peru, indigenous communities protect their sacred lands from development, competing religions and climate change.
Fire and Ice explores two mountain cultures fighting to protect their cultural and ecological heritage with the help of modern science. In the Gamo Highlands of Ethiopia, spiritual traditions that long protected trees, meadows and mountains are under attack by evangelical Christians. During a New Years bridal ceremony, tensions erupt into a riot. In the Peruvian Andes, Q’eros potato farmers face an invisible foe: global warming that is melting the glaciers, their only water source. They still make their annual pilgrimage to pray for abundance, and they are also building the Parque de la Papa (Potato Park), a community research farm to adapt indigenous agriculture to the changing climate. Stunning landscapes and vivid ritual scenes offer rare insight into little-seen, oft-misunderstood cultures. Narrated by Graham Greene (Oneida), with storytelling by Q’orianka Kilcher.
More information: http://desertpalmucc.org/?events=film-series-standing-on-sacred-ground-fire-and-ice
