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Hopi Message to the United Nations
by Mr Thomas Banyacya
of The Hopi Socereign Nation
Kykotsmovi, Arizona
on December 10, 1992
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The presentation by Mr Thomas Banyacya, the
final speaker, was preceded by three shouts
by Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Six
Nations, and first speaker of the day.
The shouts were a spiritual announcement to
the Great Spirit of the of the people
assembled and the intention to give a message
of spiritual importance.
Thomas then sprinkled corn meal next to the
podium of the General Assembly and made a
brief remark in Hopi that translates as
follows:
Hopi Spiritual leaders had an ancient
prophecy that some day world leaders would
gather in a Great House of Mica with rules
and regulations to solve the world problems
without war.
I am amazed to see the prophecy has come true
and you are here today!
But only a handful of United Nations
Delegates are present to hear the Motee Sinom
(Hopi for First People) from around the world
who spoke here today.
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(In English:)
My name is Banyacya of the Wolf, Fox and
Coyote Clan and I am a member of the Hopi
sovereign nation.
Hopi in our language means a peaceful, kind,
gentle, truthful people.
The traditional Hopi follows the spiritual
path that was given to us by Massau'u the
Great Spirit.
We made a sacred covenant to follow his life
plan at all times, which includes the
responsibility of taking care of this land
and life for his divine purpose.
We have never made treaties with any foreign
nation, including the United States, but for
many centuries we have honored this sacred
agreement.
Our goals are not to gain political control,
monetary wealth nor military power, but
rather to pray and to promote the welfare of
all living beings and to preserve the world
in a natural way.
We still have our ancient sacred stone
tablets and spiritual religious societies
which are the foundations of the Hopi way of
life.
Our history says our white brother should
have retained those same sacred objects and
spiritual foundations.
In 1948, all traditional Hopi spiritual
leaders met and spoke of things I felt
strongly were of great importance to all
people.
They selected four interpreters to carry
their message of which I am the only one
still living today.
At the time, I was given a sacred prayer
feather by the spiritual leaders.
I made a commitment to carry the Hopi message
of peace and deliver warnings from prophesies
known since the time the previous world was
destroyed by flood and our ancestors came to
this land.
My mission was to open the doors of this
Great House of Mica to native peoples.
The Elders said to knock four times and this
commitment was fulfilled when I delivered a
letter and the sacred prayer feather I had
been given to John Washburn in the Secretary
General's office in October, 1991.
I am bringing part of the Hopi message to you
here today.
We have only ten minutes to speak and time is
late so I am making my statement short.
At the meeting in 1948, Hopi leaders 80, 90
and even 100 years old explained that the
creator made the first world in perfect
balance where humans spoke one language, but
humans turned away from moral and spiritual
principles.
They misused their spiritual powers for
selfish purposes.
They did not follow nature's rules.
Eventually the world was destroyed by sinking
of land and separation of land by what you
would call major earthquakes.
Many died and only a small handful survived.
Then this handful of peaceful people came
into the second world.
They repeated their mistakes and the world
was destroyed by freezing which you call the
great Ice Age.
The few survivors entered the third world.
That world lasted a long time and as in
previous worlds, the people spoke one
language.
The people invented many machines and
conveniences of high technology, some of
which have not yet been seen in this age.
They even had spiritual powers that they used
for good.
They gradually turned away from natural laws
and pursued only material things and finally
only gambled while they ridiculed spiritual
principles.
No one stopped them from this course and the
world was destroyed by the great flood that
many nations still recall in their ancient
history or in their religions.
The Elders said again only a small groups
escaped and came to this fourth world where
we now live.
Our world is in terrible shape again even
though the Great Spirit gave us different
languages and sent us to four corners of the
world and told us to take care the the Earth
and all that is in it.
This Hopi ceremonial rattle represents Mother
Earth.
The line running around it is a time line and
indicates that we are in the final days of
the prophecy.
What have you, as individuals, as nations and
as the world body been doing to to take care
of this Earth?
In the Earth today, humans poison their own
food, water and air with pollution.
Many of us, including children, are left to
starve.
Many wars are still being fought.
Greed and concern for material things is a
common disease.
In this western hemisphere, our homeland,
many original native people are landless,
homeless, starving and have no medical help.
The Hopi knew humans would develop many
powerful technologies that would be abused.
In this century, we have seen the First World
War and the Second World War in which the
predicted gourd of ashes, which you call the
atomic bomb, fell from the sky with great
destruction.
Many thousands of people were destroyed in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
For many years there has been great fear and
danger of World War Three.
The Hopi believe the Persian Gulf War was the
beginning of World War Three but it was
stopped and the worst weapons of destruction
were not used.
This is now a time to weigh the choices for
our future.
We do have a choice.
If you, the nations of this Earth, create
another great war, the Hopi believe we humans
will burn ourselves to death with ashes.
That's why the spiritual Elders stress
strongly that the United Nations fully open
the door for native spiritual leaders as soon
as possible.
Nature itself does not speak with a voice
that we can easily understand.
Neither can the animals and birds we are
threatening with extinction talk to us.
Who in this world can speak for nature and
the spiritual energy that creates and flows
through all life?
In every continent are human beings who are
like you but who have not separated
themselves from the land and from nature.
It is through their voice that Nature can
speak to us.
You have heard those voices and many messages
from the four corners of the world today.
I have studied comparative religion and I
think in your own nations and cultures you
have knowledge of the consequences of living
out of balance with nature and spirit.
The native peoples of the world have seen and
spoken to you about the destruction of their
lives and homelands, the ruination of nature
and the desecration of their sacred sites.
It is time the United Nations used its rules
to investigate these occurrences and stop
them now.
The Four Corners area of the Hopi is bordered
by four sacred mountains.
The spiritual center within is a sacred site
our prophecies say will have special purpose
in the future for mankind to survive and now
should be left in its natural state.
All nations must protect this spiritual
center.
The Hopi and all original native people hold
the land in balance by prayer, fasting and
performing ceremonies.
Our spiritual Elders still hold the land in
the Western Hemisphere in balance for all
living beings, including humans.
No one should be relocated from their sacred
homelands in this Western Hemisphere or
anywhere in the world.
Acts of forced relocation, such as Public Law
93-531 in the United States, must be repealed.
The United Nations stands on our native
homeland.
The United Nations talks about human rights,
equality and justice and yet the native
people have never had a real opportunity to
speak to this assembly since its
establishment until today.
It should be the mission of your nations and
this assembly to use your power and rules to
examine and work to cure the damage people
have done to this Earth and to each other.
Hopi Elders know that was your mission and
they wait to see whether you will act on it
now.
Nature, the First People and the spirit of
our ancestors are giving you loud warnings.
Today, December 10, 1992, you see increasing
floods, more damaging hurricanes, hail
storms, climate changes and earthquakes as
our prophesies said would come.
Even animals and birds are warning us with
strange change in their behavior such as the
beaching of whales.
Why do animals act like they know about the
earth's problems and most humans act like
they know nothing?
If we humans do not wake up to the warnings,
the great purification will come to destroy
this world just as the previous worlds were
destroyed.
(Thomas and Oren Lyons held up a picture of a
large rock drawing in Hopiland)
This rock drawing shows part of the Hopi
prophecy.
There are two paths.
The first with technology but separate from
natural and spiritual law leads to these
jagged lines representing chaos.
The lower path is one that remains in harmony
with natural law.
Here we see a line that represents a choice
like a bridge joining the paths.
If we return to spiritual harmony and live
from our hearts, we can experience a paradise
in this world.
If we continue only on this upper path, we
will come to destruction.
Its up to all of us, as children of Mother
Earth, to clean up this mess before it's too
late.
The Elders request that during this
International Year for the Worlds Indigenous
Peoples, the United Nations keep that door
open for spiritual leaders from the four
corners of the world to come to speak to you
for more than a few minutes as soon as
possible.
The Elders also request that eight
investigative teams visit the native areas of
the world to observe and tell the truth about
what is being done and stop these nations
from moving in this self- destructive
direction.
If any of you leaders want to learn more
about the spiritual vision and power of the
Elders, I invite you to come out to Hopiland
and sit down with our real spiritual leaders
in their sacred Kivas where they will reveal
the ancient secrets of survival and balance.
I hope that all members of this assembly that
know the spiritual way will not just talk
about it, but in order to have real peace and
harmony, will follow what it says across the
United Nations wall:
"They will beat their swords into plowshares
and study war no more."
Lets, together, do that now!
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Epilogue
The night before the presentations of the
native people from around the world to the
General Assembly, there was a total eclipse
of the moon over New York City and the sky
was clear.
The evening after the presentation by Mr
Banyacya and the other native spokespersons,
heavy rain and strong wind began.
The weathermen had been calling for a
snowstorm but what came the following day
were the worst floods in New York's memory.
Major highways were washed away by the sea
and the United Nations itself experienced
flooding of its lower subfloors, forcing a
shutdown of its heating and air conditioning
and all personnel were dismissed at three
o'clock.
In the ground floor meeting room, where on
December 11, native peoples were meeting
representatives of various UN agencies,
Thomas Banyacya spontaneously called on all
the participants, including UN officials, to
form a great circle.
All the Elders were in the center and Thomas
called in some non-native people as well.
Each silently said a prayer.
The forming of the circle of unity of all
people from the four corners of the Earth was
more than just a symbolic act.
One participant said she had never felt
herself to be in such a safe place.
Later, several people present noted that no
further storm damage occurred in Manhattan
and that the storm itself abated that
afternoon.