A Peace Elder
visiting the Chinook Nation
at the mouth of the Columbia River
in the U.S. Pacific Northwest
Like water, be gentle and strong. Be gentle enough to follow the natural paths of the earth, and strong enough to rise up and reshape the world.
— Brenda Peterson
This fall, a Native American Peace Elder at a "reparation ceremony" between the Columbia River's Chinook Nation and descendents of the Lewis and Clark Expedition reminded all attending that peace comes from respecting nature and each other.
In Kenya, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Matthai fostered the planting of 30 million trees in watersheds across Africa. She died this year, but left us her legacy of restoring forests – the mothers of rivers – to ensure a future of peace within and between nations.
