by Dr. Mikhail Morgulis

A group of delegates from the Spiritual Diplomacy foundation, the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, and representatives from the United Nations Environment Department spent four days on the Havasupai Indian reservation.

The tribe name of Havasupai translates as people who live by the blue and green waters. That description may be true as far as the geographic location of their reservation goes. Mountain rivers and waterfalls surround their land; a blue-green canvas of the beauty of wild nature. The tribe lives at the bottom of a very long canyon that stretches for thousands of miles, in a valley surrounded by majestic red mountains. The only way to get to this amazing place is on a helicopter. Having flown from halfway across America, the delegates of Spiritual Diplomacy descended to the land of the blue-green waters. Thirty volunteers traveled with them in different helicopters.

This difficult journey was undertaken to begin a new project of planting 1 000 fruit trees on this Indian reservation. Previously, the inhabitants of the reservation did not use the powers of the Earth to their full potential. The land belongs to them entirely, and they do not pay taxes to the government. Yet, there are no vegetables or fruit trees growing there, no dairy cattle or poultry. On the positive side, the 900-member tribe has 500 horses and a very large number of dogs. Both of these creatures are indispensable constituents of any Native American tribe.

Trees purify the atmosphere and enrich the area around them. Fruit trees also bear fruit, a gift to humanity from nature and the Creator of nature. Philosophically speaking, a tree is the sign of life and its renewal.

The volunteers were representatives of an environmental movement. They planted trees and leveled the ground while the Native Americans looked on and thoughtfully nodded their heads.

The delegation included Dmitry Chavkerov, Mark Bazalev, Alex Carroll, and Spiritual Diplomacy president Mikhail Morgulis. This project to help Native Americans was launched by a Russian businessman in America who supports the goals of Spiritual Diplomacy. Dmitry Chavkerov is a person of high spiritual principles who does much to support the Native Americans, the homeless children in Russia and Ukraine, and the sick children of Belarus.

Today, the Havasupai tribe is experiencing a period of cultural and spiritual decline. Unique traditions are disappearing, cattle breeding and hunting skills are fading, and history is nearly forgotten. The tribe is over 700 years old, but it was officially recognized only in 1920.

Despite its cultural problems, the tribe enjoys relative economic security. Each tribe member receives financial assistance from the state, which is sufficient for living. Additionally, free medical treatment and other social programs are provided. Tribe members do not pay taxes, as they live on their own land. Nevertheless, life has somehow become still. Apparently, the spiritual and psychological core had broken down inside these people, as though many of them lost their purpose in life. Possibly, when everything is received as a gift from somebody, the drive for existence, the desire, the persistence, and the willpower disappear.

The younger generation, constituting approximately 20 percent of the tribe, refuses to accept state help. These individuals participate in the tourism business and look for other venues to apply their skills to realize their dreams. Freedom can not only make a person free, but also lazy. All depends on us.

There are several churches on the tribal land, but their condition is very poor. Only about 10 to15 persons attend services.

The most difficult problem of the tribe is the use of drugs and alcohol. In fact, some drugs are grown right outside people’s homes. Every few days several people are sent to hospitals due to drug overdose; it is difficult to say such things but they are a fact.

During a meeting with the tribal chief, the delegates noted: “We are not here by force or obligation, but by our desire to serve God and other people. We are here to breathe dreams into your people, once proud and brave. We want them to feel in their spirit that there are people on this Earth who want the return of past originality, beauty of folklore, and resoluteness in life – those who want you to be convinced that there are people on Earth who care about the future of your children and who love you.”

Gentle fruit trees changed the image of the courtyards and the entire reservation. Plants and bushes changed the face of this village with their noble contours.

The next day, the delegation had gone to four wonderful waterfalls that belong to the tribe. Turquoise water cutting through the sky from the height of approximately 100 yards gracefully falls into the rushing mountain rivers.

In the evening, everything was set for the Earth baths of purification ritual to take place. A small hole was dug, covered with large branches, and the top covered with clay. Nearby, a fire was started, and small stones were heated. Then the hot stones were transported by shovel to the dugout, and the people crawled in there. The leader of the tribe acted as a supervisor, also fulfilling the role of the shaman. He watered the stones, so that the smoke escaped like a slithering snake into the air, read prayers, played the drums, and sang warrior songs of the past. The ritual consisted of four entries into the ancient purgatory. After each entry, the locals and their guests jumped into the cool turquoise waters of the mountain river. Here, the delegation of Spiritual Diplomacy, including bestselling author Alex Carroll and Dmitry Chavkerov participated in filming a segment of the Spiritual Diplomacy television program. The chief of the tribe gave an interview.

Delegation members participated in a council meeting with the elders of the tribe. The Tribal Chairman, Don Watahomigie, thanked the delegation members for their generous donation that enabled them to do this noble deed, and the spiritual influence this act of kindness had on the members of the tribe.

In the prayer which followed, I had called all those present to work for the Lord, to be wise, confident, and spiritually mature. I had added: “Often blessings are near, but we have to search for them. When we search for them with a heart full of love towards people, God shows us where they are. If we have helped even one person, we have improved the world, we made life better.”

Tribal leader Roland sang for our departure the ancient song of the world when tomahawks were buried in the ground for the sake of children. Then the chief said that if the Foundation of Spiritual Diplomacy and the United Nations will not continue to help the tribe revive the beauty and depth of its heritage, it will disappear, and the existence of a great American Indian tribe will end. Spiritual Diplomacy has invited 10 people from the Havasupai tribe in need of help to a drug rehabilitation center it supports.

The Havasupai tribe is a people that did not race after our civilization. They have not managed to leave the childhood mentality. There are no chickens or geese, goats or sheep, no roosters crowing in the morning, and no cows mooing. One of the locals had told me that one resident had two goats, but they were killed by a puma that lived in the nearby mountains. The hunters and the cattlemen forgot about the pleasure of a life derived from creative work. They do not hunt, grow anything, and cannot protect themselves from the predators that remain. The youth has opportunities to study in college free of charge, but almost nobody does. We were riding  with the horse driver Tony (Sunny Eagle) to the waterfalls while he shared his life stories.

  – Well, what to do? I stopped smoking weed and using drugs and started making money. 60% of our population use drugs. 75% of the inhabitants do not work. I work for my uncle, he has 40 horses and we transport tourists. I have 12 children from different wives, many tribe members envy me. Teenagers often do not study because they are afraid of outside life; they are not used to outsiders.

– Tony, why are there so many overweight people in your tribe, especially women?

– They marry their relatives and live a lazy lifestyle…

Yes, undoubtedly, this is the result of human genes. It is hard to speak of such things, but it is real degeneration. Tony asked me: “Why do you and your friends care for us?”

– Because we live on Biblical morals. Therefore, you are my neighbor, even though we are different. And I should love you and care for you. Ask Dmitry, he will tell you the same thing…

I also thought a little bit and said to myself: “We care also because in our memories still live the heroes of James*Fennimore Cooper,*the*Delaware and the Iroquois tribes, as well as the Last of the Mohicans.

In the evening we met with the head administration of the village; one of the rare members of the tribe who had received an education and returned to the tribe. His eyes were sad and full of worry.

– Yes, if we will be able to overcome the slavery of drugs and laziness, the life of the tribe could continue. If not, we will die. But without you, your spiritual and moral help, we cannot sustain what we’re doing, we will lose.

I said: “We never know what awaits us. This expression has become very ordinary, but it is true. Every person wants their dreams to become a reality. Every person has the right for happiness, and with the help of God and others, it can come. It is necessary only to learn to lift your head from the ground and look towards the sky. We want your tribe to overcome the circumstances of life and everything that kills you. We will help, but first of all, to help yourselves, you should place your hope in the heavenly power of the Creator of the universe!”

Contact information:

Spiritual Diplomacy Foundation

P.O. Box 7789, North Port, FL 34290

Tel.: (630) 417-0306; (360) 330-9258

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sdiplomacy@gmail.com