Fourth International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers Held in Dharamsala, India
October 13, 2006 The alliance of thirteen indigenous grandmothers was formed in the fall of 2004, and they represent indigenous people from all over the world: the Arctic Circle, North South, and Central America, Africa, and Asia. Their first meeting was at a Tibetan retreat center in New York, and they decided to form an alliance for they were deeply concerned with the unprecedented destruction of our Mother Earth and the destruction of indigenous ways of life. [They] believe the teachings of ancestors will light our way through an uncertain future. The grandmothers convene every six months and they achieve their vision through the realization of different projects that are directed at protecting our diverse cultures: lands, medicines, language and ceremonial ways of prayer and through projects that educate and nurture our children. The Grandmothers Council meets at each grandmother's home place, and in October of 2006, the grandmothers met at Dharamsala, India.
Tsering Dolma Gyaltong, serving on the Grandmothers' Council, brought the rest of the grandmothers to Dharamsala, as she could not bring them to Tibet, her real home place. Tsering Dolma Gyaltong was also a founding member of TWA and she served on TWA's executive member for 10 years. She has been an advisor since then to the organization. The Grandmothers' Council convened from October 13 to 26 in Dharamsala, and more than 150 people joined the conference. Kalon Tsering Phuntsok, Department of Religion and Culture, attended the first day of the conference as their keynote speaker.
All the grandmothers brought their own unique culture and heritage with them and they shared it with other grandmothers and the participants through performing sunrise, midday, sunset, and prayers for unity and peace. The council also visited the Tibetan Children's Village, Dolmaling Nunnery, Gyutoe Monastery, Mentsekhang, and they were very lucky to receive a private audience with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. The grandmothers approved four projects towards strengthening the Tibetan cause: Tibetan nuns' education, GuChuSum Ex-Political Prisoners Movement, Tibetan Old People's welfare and provision of a ten year scholarship program for five students in Upper TCV. Tibetan Women's Association shares the same vision as the grandmothers of protecting mother earth and applauds their initiatives to resuscitate the indigenous way of life, which is to live in harmony with nature.