WINCHESTER, VA - One homeless man teared up in anticipation to be around Native American spiritual mentors at The Gathering this fall. One lady without a car remarked, she will find a way to get to The Gathering. Parents and teachers were thrilled about this educational celebration of agri-culture and a  number of people including college students and a photographer volunteered to join our team.
    The excitement is building! We passed out more than 400 flyers during Kidz Fest on the downtown walking mall in Winchester, Va. today.

    Special thanks to the Virginia Lovers' Gourd Society Janice Kiehl VLGS president for preparing 100 gourd shards for kids to make necklaces and for providing the VLGS tent.  Thanks to Jerome Mack Ogalala Sioux from South Dakota and Rene' Locklear White of Lumbee with the Sanctuary on the Trail(TM). And special thanks to Dario Savarese with Full Circle Marketing and The Old Town Winchester Development Board for inviting us.
    More about  The Gathering at Kidz Fest, HarvesGathering.org and VLGS.org.

News Media Contact:  Rene' White Executive Director of "The Gathering" and Vice President of the Virginia Lovers' Gourd Society:

540-554-2201
www.SanctuaryontheTrail.org
[email protected]

The Virginia wigwam or ati, also wickiup or wetu is a domed room dwelling used by certain Native American tribes in Virgina. Below is the Monacan Living History Exhibit in Natural Bridge Park, Virginia. The shape is also used for Native American sweat lodges used by the Native American Church of Virginia and the VA Medical Centers for helping heal PTSD veterans with

    WINCHESTER, VA - Seeking dancers in regalia, especially youth to serve as Ambassadors for Indigenous peoples during an educational celebration of agri-CULTURE on the old mall in down town Winchester Virginia this Saturday, May 16 during Kidz Fest. Families are invited to participate in regalia with their children.
    Hundreds of families are expected to walk through the living history space to learn about Native American culture, The Gathering and gourds.
    The family-focused event features musical performances along with interactive activities for children of all ages. Rain or shine.

• Sign up via by calling 540-554-2201 or email [email protected]
  

• Get details about location of the living history booth "located in the Virginia Lovers' Gourd Society" and Sanctuary on the Trail tent
  
• Bring or show up in regalia between 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
• You do not have to stay the full day to support this important event.
  

   Those who participate will receive an Ambassador Package to attend “\The Harvest Gathering in Virginia Oct. 30 - Nov. 1. The package includes photos with American Icons, free admission, fry bread, three sister's stew and a great time.
    “To Native Americans and those who walk the Native way of life, by supporting community educational events like this you help inform non-Native American people that we are not just ‘a part of history, we are living history now,’” said René White (Feather) Lumbee and executive director for The Gathering.
    This is a non-profit event hosted by the Native American Church of Virginia a Sanctuary on the Trail™ and the Virginia Lovers' Gourd Society. Additional information available at: Kidz Fest, HarvesGathering.org and VLGS.org.

    Fry Bread to the Native American is as unleavened bread is to the Jewish People they both come with a story of great pain and suffering. It is a bread of remembrance.
    As with the struggles that the Hebrew went through in Egypt, unleavened bread commemorates the Passover and the last plague before leaving Egypt to the promise land.
    Fry Bread to Native Americans commemorates food, village and land lost (imprisonment). And remembering how community struggled to stay together and still be a people with what they were given.  To many, Indian Fry Bread is a sacred tradition that comes with a story of great pain and suffering to be consumed by the people until the land is once again purified.

Clarke County, Virginia (May 8, 2015) – The Harvest Gathering council of elders announced today that American icon and living legend Dennis Banks, co-founder of the American Indian Movement (AIM) will be the Master of Ceremonies for “The Gathering” this harvest season in Virginia.
     “The Gathering” is an educational celebration of “agri-culture” scheduled for Friday Oct. 30 – Sunday Nov. 1 at the Clarke County Fairgrounds in Berryville, Va.
     "I believe in the power of shared experiences and cultures,” said Tracey Pitcock recreation program coordinator Clarke County Parks and Recreation and elder council supporter for “The Gathering.”
     “On so many levels this connects the agri-“culture” community through strong history, conservancy of our environment, preservation of history and the understanding of Native ways," she added.
     The Gathering is a traditional indigenous outdoor Harvest Dance, partnered with the Virginia Gourd Festival and combined with living history exhibitors (authors, vendors and artisans etc.)
     “We are excited to actively combine Native American culture with gourds, particularly since Dennis Banks will be Master of Ceremonies," said Janice Kiehl VLGS president. "As one of the founders of the American Indian Movement, he anchors the connection between Native American culture and gourds as a strong and continuing force in Virginia."

    This is the 14th year the Virginia Lovers' Gourd Society has presented the Virginia Gourd Festival at the beginning of Native American Heritage month to educate the public about the connection of gourds to their native roots and contemporary uses.
     “We’re calling all dancers in native regalia and drums from across the continent as well as local volunteers, teachers and partners who would like to help plant this all exciting seed of possibilities of Thanksgiving and humanity in Northern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley,” said René White (Feather) event executive director and Native American resident of Clarke County. “We’re also offering internship applications on our web site.”

     Dennis Banks is a founder, leader, father, author, activist, professor and military veteran who stood up and continues to stand up for what he believes in. He is also a counselor, teacher and consultant on American Indian rights and is offering to make appearances at regional Universities during his visit here in October.     “Dennis has done as much as anyone alive for the advancement of American Indian rights,” said Curt Hansen council of elders member for “The Gathering” who invited Banks. “Dennis has done for indigenous people like Martin Luther King Jr. has done for people of African American descent.”
     Dennis Banks is among many of the young children of the 20th Century whom the U.S. government tore from their homes and forced to attend government boarding schools to assimilate into the white culture.
     Banks went on to co-found AIM in 1968 in Minnesota to address racism and police brutality; protect the traditional ways of Indian people; and to engage in legal cases protecting treaty rights of Native Americans.
     Dennis Banks is best known for leading the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee by traditional Indians, where, 83 years before, U.S. troops had slain a band of Lakota men, women and children. Banks is the only living leader of the last American Indian vs. U.S. Government armed conflict.
     Today, Banks leads the “Longest Walks” across the nation to raise awareness and reverse Diabetes that culminates in Washington D.C. After reversing his own diabetes through diet and walking, Dennis has become the driving force in leading walks around the country and around the world reversing diabetes and bringing messages of peace, hope and unity along the way.
     His work also includes the “Let Mother Earth Speak” CD performed with Kitaro and the documentary “It’s a Good Day to Die” (2010), available on Netflix.
     Local universities interested in booking Dennis Banks should contact René White at [email protected]. For more information, the official web site for “The Gathering” is www.HarvestGathering.org.

     INTERNSHIPS in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and other leadership skills are available for people 12 – 120 years old who want to be involved with bringing Dennis Banks and “The Gathering” to Clarke County Virginia. The internship application is in the Harvest Basket, an online magazine.
     The Harvest Basket” holds “possibilities” that take place during “The Gathering.” As possibilities reveal themselves, we throw them in “The Basket” for everyone - a kind of checklist of things for you to do, see and experience before and during “The Gathering.”
http://harvestgathering.org/the-basket.html.

     VENDOR and DANCER applications are offered on "The Gathering," web site.

May - Oct.
Clarke County Farmers Market Open

May 16
Kidzfest on the Old Town Walking Mall features a booth & preview for
"The Gathering"

May 23
Art in Nature Hike through the Clarke County Parks and Recreation
Native American Led Watercolor Class

June 27
Grand Opening Social Graces Ballroom Dance Studio, previews "The Gathering" with a Native American Dancer in Regalia

June 27
Lumbee Warriors Veteran’s Military Ball Guest Speaker "The Gathering" Executive Director, North Carolina

July 27
Mini-Harvest Gathering
Clarke County Library
10:30 at the Barns of Rose Hill

Aug. 1
Art in Nature Hike through the Clarke County Parks and Recreation
Native American Led Watercolor Class

Sept. 19
Winchester Ag Fest

Oct. 10
Taste-test Indian Frybread during the Farmers Market by Kim owner of
Boyd's Nest Family Restaurant

Oct.
Native American Inspired
"Three Sisters Art Show/Sale"
and Gourd Artist Mike Connolly
featured at the Barns of Rose Hill Cultural Center
in Berryville VA

Documentary Viewing
"It's a Good Day to Die" at the
Alamo Draft House in Winchester VA

Oct. 30
School Day at "The Gathering"

Oct. 30 - Nov. 1
14th Annual Virginia Gourd Festival at "The Gathering"

Oct. 31 - Nov. 1
Harvest Dance at "The Gathering"

Oct. 30 - Nov. 1
Living History Exhibitors at "The Gathering"