Gustavo Rodriguez is a New York City-based photographer, originally from northern California. He has been photographing for over 25 years and professionally for more than ten. Gustavo participated in the Peace and Dignity Journeys in 2000. This exhibit includes six photos he took during the Journeys, as well as a video projection of additional photos that can be viewed after dark on the front window of the River Street Art Project.
MY PEACE AND DIGNITY JOURNEY
The Peace and Dignity Journeys began in 1992, a significant date that marked the beginning of a new cycle according to the Sacred Stone Calendar of the Mexica People (the Aztec Calendar). The Peace and Dignity Journeys is a coalition of people who work diligently to make the Peace and Dignity Journeys a reality that takes place every four years. This event does NOT have corporate sponsors, but is a true community-based and grass roots effort. Spiritual prayer is a central component of Peace and Dignity, and the runs bring people together to share experiences and histories to learn from one another.
At the commencement of the run, people take off from Alaska in the North and Tierra del Fuego in South America. Their journey to Teotihuacan in Mexico, which lasts 6-8 months, takes them through Native and non-native communities along the way to pray and spread the spirit of Peace and Dignity.
Peace and Dignity Journeys are ceremonial runs that connect all participants to Indigenous communities rich in ancient wisdom and traditions.
I joined the run in Phoenix, Arizona in 2000, after they had already been running for three months, coming from Alaska. The runners rested in Phoenix with a 3-day peyote Huichol ceremony in the desert. After the ceremony, we loaded up with three vans full of runners.
I would like to say every day was magical and sacred, but we’re in the 5th Sun Cycle according to my ancestors, which means things are rough all around the world. And the runners come from universities, barrios, ghettos, suburbs, reservations, and cities with all the problems of modern society. My fellow runners came with baggage at times (as did I). A few kids (gang members), who were from rough neighborhoods gave me a hard time on the run. I took it as another obstacle in life to get through. Sometimes the harder the run was, the more focused I was on running and praying. We were always sun-burnt, tired, hungry, dirty, and usually nursing some soreness. But we were always wide eyed at the beauty of our Mother Earth, our Father Sky, and our Native relatives.
In the images, you see us running with prayer staffs that are given to us from families, individuals, and communities that want us to carry their prayer through the other communities, all the way to Mexico City, Teotihuacan.
Our main staff was an unassuming, cut broom handle with more than 150 eagle feathers. Our main staff led the way for the day. And every day a different lucky person got to run with it all day; I got lucky three days!!! It was full of magic.
There’s something to be said for dropping everything and going for months on a continental run across this beautiful tectonic plate. It’s knowing that before horses, cars, airplanes, trains, and ships, you could only get there with your feet.
Being on the run eliminated the pressure of paying rent, or even of having money. It’s the heartbeat of my feet pounding the road, and of new sounds like a lizard scattering across the desert floor. Endless sunrises and sunsets, and wind cooling me in the mid-day summer sun. It was hanging out all day with strangers that would become good friends. It was about praying for the life I wanted, while spending the day thinking about myself in connection to all living and nonliving things. It was peyote prayers, sweat lodge songs, sun dancers, new places every day, new sunsets on new horizons, new smiles, and lots and lots of running miles.
GUSTAVO RODRIGUEZ
I am of Mexican descent. My ancestors were both Indigenous and European. I am a mix of both cultures, which came in a violent clash. I consider myself a Native person. I wasn’t raised with Native traditions, but I found this path and it changed my perception of reality.
During this run, we were fed by Native people in small towns, reservations, casinos, community centers, and a few cities. They housed us in their homes at times, or in community centers. Extremely humble people from all over the continent shared their songs, stories, and dances with us. They built sweat lodges for us, had peyote ceremonies, smoked the sacred chanupa pipe, and helped us out with fundraising, gas money, shoes, clothes, and good words. They fed our spirits as well as our bodies.
I am thankful to the Creator for my life and for the photography passion I have.
Runner & Photographer,
Gustavo Rodriguez
An interview with Gustavo from medium.com can be found here.
Gustavo on instagram, www.instagram.com/quetzal_photography/
Gustavo on facebook, https://www.facebook.com/QuetzalPhotography/
MORE ABOUT THE PEACE AND DIGNITY JOURNEYS
Peace and Dignity Journeys is a spiritual run by representatives of Indigenous nations from throughout the western hemisphere. Every four years runners cover the length of the continent, starting from both Chickaloon, Alaska and Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Both groups run toward Central America, meeting approximately half-way. Runners carry staffs to collect feathers from Indigenous nations along the way. New people also join as the Journeys pass by. The group prays over land, water, animals, and people. It is not a race, but is a six-month prayer dedication.
The Journeys began in 1990, when over 200 representatives of Indigenous nations met in Quito, Ecuador. There, they witnessed the unfolding prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor, which represent the re-uniting of the many nations of Turtle Island (the Indigenous name for North America). Through Peace and Dignity Journeys, numerous and diverse Indigenous nations reunite and reclaim dignity for their families and communities.
In 1992 the first Peace and Dignity Journeys were completed, followed by Journeys approximately every four years. For the people involved, Peace and Dignity Journeys was a powerful form of prayer that was beginning to unite and heal their nations. Peace and Dignity Journeys’ purpose is to attain the following goals:
MY PEACE AND DIGNITY JOURNEY
The Peace and Dignity Journeys began in 1992, a significant date that marked the beginning of a new cycle according to the Sacred Stone Calendar of the Mexica People (the Aztec Calendar). The Peace and Dignity Journeys is a coalition of people who work diligently to make the Peace and Dignity Journeys a reality that takes place every four years. This event does NOT have corporate sponsors, but is a true community-based and grass roots effort. Spiritual prayer is a central component of Peace and Dignity, and the runs bring people together to share experiences and histories to learn from one another.
At the commencement of the run, people take off from Alaska in the North and Tierra del Fuego in South America. Their journey to Teotihuacan in Mexico, which lasts 6-8 months, takes them through Native and non-native communities along the way to pray and spread the spirit of Peace and Dignity.
Peace and Dignity Journeys are ceremonial runs that connect all participants to Indigenous communities rich in ancient wisdom and traditions.
I joined the run in Phoenix, Arizona in 2000, after they had already been running for three months, coming from Alaska. The runners rested in Phoenix with a 3-day peyote Huichol ceremony in the desert. After the ceremony, we loaded up with three vans full of runners.
I would like to say every day was magical and sacred, but we’re in the 5th Sun Cycle according to my ancestors, which means things are rough all around the world. And the runners come from universities, barrios, ghettos, suburbs, reservations, and cities with all the problems of modern society. My fellow runners came with baggage at times (as did I). A few kids (gang members), who were from rough neighborhoods gave me a hard time on the run. I took it as another obstacle in life to get through. Sometimes the harder the run was, the more focused I was on running and praying. We were always sun-burnt, tired, hungry, dirty, and usually nursing some soreness. But we were always wide eyed at the beauty of our Mother Earth, our Father Sky, and our Native relatives.
In the images, you see us running with prayer staffs that are given to us from families, individuals, and communities that want us to carry their prayer through the other communities, all the way to Mexico City, Teotihuacan.
Our main staff was an unassuming, cut broom handle with more than 150 eagle feathers. Our main staff led the way for the day. And every day a different lucky person got to run with it all day; I got lucky three days!!! It was full of magic.
There’s something to be said for dropping everything and going for months on a continental run across this beautiful tectonic plate. It’s knowing that before horses, cars, airplanes, trains, and ships, you could only get there with your feet.
Being on the run eliminated the pressure of paying rent, or even of having money. It’s the heartbeat of my feet pounding the road, and of new sounds like a lizard scattering across the desert floor. Endless sunrises and sunsets, and wind cooling me in the mid-day summer sun. It was hanging out all day with strangers that would become good friends. It was about praying for the life I wanted, while spending the day thinking about myself in connection to all living and nonliving things. It was peyote prayers, sweat lodge songs, sun dancers, new places every day, new sunsets on new horizons, new smiles, and lots and lots of running miles.
GUSTAVO RODRIGUEZ
I am of Mexican descent. My ancestors were both Indigenous and European. I am a mix of both cultures, which came in a violent clash. I consider myself a Native person. I wasn’t raised with Native traditions, but I found this path and it changed my perception of reality.
During this run, we were fed by Native people in small towns, reservations, casinos, community centers, and a few cities. They housed us in their homes at times, or in community centers. Extremely humble people from all over the continent shared their songs, stories, and dances with us. They built sweat lodges for us, had peyote ceremonies, smoked the sacred chanupa pipe, and helped us out with fundraising, gas money, shoes, clothes, and good words. They fed our spirits as well as our bodies.
I am thankful to the Creator for my life and for the photography passion I have.
Runner & Photographer,
Gustavo Rodriguez
An interview with Gustavo from medium.com can be found here.
Gustavo on instagram, www.instagram.com/quetzal_photography/
Gustavo on facebook, https://www.facebook.com/QuetzalPhotography/
MORE ABOUT THE PEACE AND DIGNITY JOURNEYS
Peace and Dignity Journeys is a spiritual run by representatives of Indigenous nations from throughout the western hemisphere. Every four years runners cover the length of the continent, starting from both Chickaloon, Alaska and Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Both groups run toward Central America, meeting approximately half-way. Runners carry staffs to collect feathers from Indigenous nations along the way. New people also join as the Journeys pass by. The group prays over land, water, animals, and people. It is not a race, but is a six-month prayer dedication.
The Journeys began in 1990, when over 200 representatives of Indigenous nations met in Quito, Ecuador. There, they witnessed the unfolding prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor, which represent the re-uniting of the many nations of Turtle Island (the Indigenous name for North America). Through Peace and Dignity Journeys, numerous and diverse Indigenous nations reunite and reclaim dignity for their families and communities.
In 1992 the first Peace and Dignity Journeys were completed, followed by Journeys approximately every four years. For the people involved, Peace and Dignity Journeys was a powerful form of prayer that was beginning to unite and heal their nations. Peace and Dignity Journeys’ purpose is to attain the following goals:
- Initiate spiritual runs as a prayer to heal our nations.
- Honor our Ancestors, Elders, Children, Medicine Peoples, Heroes, Leaders, Future Generations, and all those who are in the Spirit world.
- Reinforce unity among all First Nations from North, Central, and South America.
- Recognize over 500 years of strength and survival of Indigenous people’s self determination to preserve language, culture, and spirituality.
- Inform the world of our desire for a peaceful coexistence with the four sacred colors of the world.
- Make people aware of the sacredness and delicate balance of nature and the environment.
- Honor our Ancestors and Elders for their skills in administration, healing, knowledge of herbal medicine, animal husbandry, agriculture, and for sharing their knowledge with the younger generations.
- Promote a cultural exchange between First Nations, where languages, art, dance, music, and ceremonies can be shared and respected.