The McCollum Foundation has a 50-year commitment to helping raise up the voices of Indigenous Peoples and empowering them to be seen, heard, and appreciated! A<\/span>n important step in this project took place in February 2019 when we took an international group of Indigenous Elders to the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad India.<\/p>\n

The elders were honored guests at what now stands as the largest gathering of human beings in history with over 150 million individuals attending the event. A sacred Kiva was built to honor the presence of the Elders who met with world dignitaries and conducted ceremony with Indigenous Elders from 40 countries to the appreciation and participation of huge audiences.<\/p>\n

The team at the McCollum Foundation coordinated and provided the logistical support necessary to bring this about. We would like to express our deep gratitude to our amazing friends Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati and Sadhvi Bhaghawati of the Parmarth Niketan Ashram for graciously hosting us in India. We would also like to thank the Hindu America Foundation and in particular Mihir Meghani and Suhag Shukla for their financial assistance in support of this historic journey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This project accomplished a number of the McCollum Foundation\u2019s long-term goals, but there is much yet to be done. The next steps will take place in the Amazon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Amazon has long been recognized as an important repository of biodiversity and natural resources. Not only for local peoples and indigenous communities but also for the rest of the world. Unfortunately, as forests continue to disappear and the effects of climate change become more of daily reality, we run the risk of losing this great natural treasure for future generations.\u201d<\/em> Amazon Aid Foundation<\/a><\/p>\n

While at the Kumbh Mela, Patrick was officially welcomed into many of the tribes and informed that he had been identified as the white man prophesied to unite the tribes to save the Amazon.\u00a0 These esteemed elders have asked Patrick and the McCollum Foundation for assistance in creating a sacred meeting place, a council house designed in accordance with their prophesies and traditions. This will be a place where the elders come together to stand as equals, cultivate strong inter-tribal alliances and provide the infrastructure to develop a cohesive plan to protect the ancient wisdom repositories and defend the irreplaceable resources of the Amazon region holds for the entire planet.<\/p>\n

This will be a multi-pronged project.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1<\/strong> \u2013 Patrick McCollum and a small group will travel to South America to walk the region with the elders, meet and conduct ceremonies with the tribes in their homelands, and visit the proposed site for the Council House. This phase is instrumental for establishing relationships and assessing the physical site and needs for campus facilities and supportive services for the visiting elders such as housing, food, sanitation, media communication, etc.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong> \u2013 The council house will be built using local labor with assistance from outside agencies as needed and approved by the indigenous leaders. This council house will become a repository for each tribe\u2019s valuable wisdom of the earth.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong> \u2013 Bringing all the tribes together and creating a coalition allows for greater unity and strength to challenge the outside forces that are negatively impacting and threatening the sustainability of this ecosystem. Loss of the rainforest is currently identified as the #1 threat to the entire planet.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong> – Giving the tribes a greater voice and authority over their own lands will promote greater stability in the region. Creating alliances between the tribes and the governments of the countries in which their lands lie further enhances the ability to sustain the rainforest.<\/p>\n

5<\/strong> – Through Patrick\u2019s affiliations with powerful political leaders across the globe, he plans to facilitate alignments with the governments of Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil to support the efforts to protect the vast resources which are being decimated by drug cartels, gas and oil development, deforestation and other industries with disastrous climate consequences.<\/p>\n

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If you are in support of empowering Indigenous Peoples and advancing their wisdom, and you want to address Climate Change, protection of our sacred rivers and water sources, and good planetary stewardship, please donate to this Fund by clicking on the button below. The future of our planet and humanity is in your hands!<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>.<\/p>\n

The McCollum Foundation is a 501-c3 nonprofit, and all donations are tax-deductible.<\/p>\n<\/form>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"