Humanity entered the 21st Century hoping that for a change from the wars and environmental destruction so rampant in the 20th Century.

It has become clear that in order to provide a better future for our children, we must stop thinking of the earth as a resource to be exploited, and instead remember that it is our Mother. We need a philosophy that cherishes and respects our connection with all other life on this earth.

Just such a philosophy has been taught for thousands of years by indigenous people all over the word: Native Americans, Inuit, Aborigines, Ainu, Maori to name a few, and many other indigenous peoples of Asia, Africa, South America, Pacific Islands.

Among these peoples are prophecies and messages passed on from generations regarding the future of the earth. Sensing a growing crisis in the global environment, indigenous people from around the world gathered in 1993, the U.N. Year of Indigenous Peoples, and started a movement to share their traditional prophecies and teachings with the rest of the world. At that time, Lakota spiritual leader Chief Arvol Looking Horse received a vision that in order to bring about world peace and global healing, people must go beyond their differences and join hearts together in prayer. That led to the birth of World Peace & Prayer Day to be held each year on sacred sites around the world, on summer solstice.

The first World Peace & Prayer Day gathering began in 1996 at a sacred site in North America, and since 2001 it has been held in Ireland, South Africa, and Australia. Now Japan will be the next site of this gathering of hope for world peace and global healing.

TThe event will be held for three days, June 19-21, 2004. Chief Looking Horse will join with other indigenous people and the people of Japan in a gathering that will include an international symposium of indigenous people, 　storytelling, a festival of music and dance, a traditional Native American horse ride, and an eco-fair presenting sustainable ways of living on this earth.

On June 21, the summer solstice, all participants will join in a large circle to send their prayers of gratitude to the Earth. " For hundreds ofyears, our ancestors have been predicting that humanity would come to a　historic turning point. And at that time, we would be faced with the choice　between continuing destructive ways that would lead to our own extinction,　or creating a global culture of peace for our children."

"Most of the problems we are facing today result from a civilization that violates the natural order. To solve these problems, we must fundamentally change the way we view ourselves, others, and the Earth that gives us life."

"Among the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota people, there is a story that several hundred years ago the White Buffalo Calf Woman appeared, and taught us how to perform our sacred ceremonies and how to live in harmony with all life. She left us a sacred bundle that contained the pipe of prayer for peace, and promised that she would appear to us again when we were faced with a crisis. In 1994, a female white buffalo calf was bornﾑa sign that the time of the prophecy is upon us."

                            Chief Arvol Looking Horse
                            19th Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe

After the birth of this white buffalo, in 1996 Chief Looking Horse put out a call to spiritual leaders around the world to join in prayer for world peace and global healing. He suggested that people of all faiths should gather to pray in their own sacred sites on June 21. In the four years after 1996, Chief Looking Horse performed ceremonies in four corners of North America, from Canada in the north to Costa Rica in the south. And in 2000, he completed the North American cycle with a ceremony of gratitude at the Lakotasﾕ most sacred site in the Black Hills. This became the start of a new waveﾑin the new millenniumﾑthat would carry the gathering to the four corners of the earth.

World Peace & Prayer Day seeks to confront the problems faced by humanity with a global perspective rooted in the Earth. It is a day for people everywhere to join in invoking peace and healing for our children and all succeeding generations. Millions of people of every race, culture, and nation will take part in this effort to bring about positive change on a global scale.

We look forward to welcoming all who wish for peace on earth to join us on June 21, 2004 at the sacred site of Mt. Fuji, Japan.