Legend of Rainbow Warriors
Encyclopedia
Since the early 1970s, a legend of Rainbow Warriors inspired some environmentalists in the United States with a belief that their movement is the fulfillment of a Native American
prophecy. The origin is from a 1962 book titled Warriors of the Rainbow by William Willoya and Vinson Brown from Naturegraph Publishers. Brown, who is attributed with research supporting chapters on Hopi
prophecies, is the founder and owner of Naturegraph Publishers. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0870499882http://www.johntarleton.net/niman.htmlhttp://www.naturegraph.com/about.html
A Prentice Hall book, The Greenpeace Story, traces the popular spread of a legend of a Hopi prophecy told among environmentally minded nomads through Greenpeace
plankholder Bob Hunter
, who got a copy of the Warriors of the Rainbow in 1969. Hunter, who died May 5, 2005 was the author of many of the myths told among Greenpeace
supporters, and the first president of Greenpeace. The Economist
, in Hunter's obituary, has him reportedly receiving from a wandering dulcimer maker in 1969 a copy of the book in which the legend of a Hopi prophecy was first published. By Hunter's account, he first read the book in 1971 during a voyage on rough seas of the North Pacific where the name Greenpeace was also conceived. Hunter was reportedly 1/32 Kwakiutl
Indian, but intensely proud of that part of his heritage. Hunter is attributed with giving Greenpeace its bent toward mischievous protest.http://www.abcbookworld.com/?state=view_author&author_id=4407http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0911010246http://ces.fgvsp.br/index.cfm?fuseaction=noticia&IDnoticia=24824&IDidioma=2
Lelanie Fuller Stone attributes a very similar prophecy to a Cree
woman. http://www.welcomehome.org/rainbow/prophecy/stone.htmlhttp://www.powersource.com/ebt/stone.html Stone, who says she is a non-enrolled person of Cherokee
descent, reports a Cree
woman told her
In numerous retellings of Stone's account, the Cree woman was her grandmother, but Stone does not make such an assertion.http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=Lelanie+Fuller+Stone+grandmother Folklore shared among attendees at Rainbow gathering
s has held since the earliest years of those gatherings that they are fulfillments of a Native American prophecy, similar in verse to that told both by the Naturegraph book and by Stone. The legend also inspired the name of three of Greenpeace's ships, named Rainbow Warrior
and used in environmental-protection protests by Greenpeace
.
In 1987, the legend of the Warriors of the Rainbow inspired an achievement-based award system within the New Zealand-based Spirit of the Sword Youth Initiative.
The following quotation is often attributed to Chief Seattle
, who lived from 1780 to 1866: "When the Earth is sick, the animals will begin to disappear. When that happens, The Warriors of the Rainbow will come to save them." Seattle was of a leader of Washington State's Suquamish and Duwamish Native American tribes. However, the precise origin of this quotation, like many of Seattle's supposed sayings, is subject to dispute. http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=5071
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
prophecy. The origin is from a 1962 book titled Warriors of the Rainbow by William Willoya and Vinson Brown from Naturegraph Publishers. Brown, who is attributed with research supporting chapters on Hopi
Hopi
The Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...
prophecies, is the founder and owner of Naturegraph Publishers. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0870499882http://www.johntarleton.net/niman.htmlhttp://www.naturegraph.com/about.html
A Prentice Hall book, The Greenpeace Story, traces the popular spread of a legend of a Hopi prophecy told among environmentally minded nomads through Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
plankholder Bob Hunter
Robert Hunter (journalist)
Robert Lorne Hunter was a Canadian environmentalist, journalist, author and politician. A member of the Don't Make a Wave Committee in 1969 with Dorothy and Irving Stowe, Marie and Jim Bohlen, and Ben and Dorothy Metcalfe...
, who got a copy of the Warriors of the Rainbow in 1969. Hunter, who died May 5, 2005 was the author of many of the myths told among Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
supporters, and the first president of Greenpeace. The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, in Hunter's obituary, has him reportedly receiving from a wandering dulcimer maker in 1969 a copy of the book in which the legend of a Hopi prophecy was first published. By Hunter's account, he first read the book in 1971 during a voyage on rough seas of the North Pacific where the name Greenpeace was also conceived. Hunter was reportedly 1/32 Kwakiutl
Kwakiutl
The term Kwakiutl, historically applied to the entire Kwakwaka'wakw ethno-linguistic group of originally 28 tribes, comes from one of the Kwakwaka'wakw tribes, the Kwagu'ł or Kwagyeulth, at Fort Rupert, with whom Franz Boas did most of his anthropological work and whose Indian Act Band government...
Indian, but intensely proud of that part of his heritage. Hunter is attributed with giving Greenpeace its bent toward mischievous protest.http://www.abcbookworld.com/?state=view_author&author_id=4407http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0911010246http://ces.fgvsp.br/index.cfm?fuseaction=noticia&IDnoticia=24824&IDidioma=2
Lelanie Fuller Stone attributes a very similar prophecy to a Cree
Cree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
woman. http://www.welcomehome.org/rainbow/prophecy/stone.htmlhttp://www.powersource.com/ebt/stone.html Stone, who says she is a non-enrolled person of Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
descent, reports a Cree
Cree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
woman told her
There will come a time when the Earth grows sick and
when it does a tribe will gather from all the cultures
of the World who believe in deeds and not words.
They will work to heal it...they will be known as the "Warriors of the Rainbow."
In numerous retellings of Stone's account, the Cree woman was her grandmother, but Stone does not make such an assertion.http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=Lelanie+Fuller+Stone+grandmother Folklore shared among attendees at Rainbow gathering
Rainbow Gathering
Rainbow Gatherings are temporary intentional communities, typically held in outdoor settings, and espousing and practicing ideals of peace, love, harmony, freedom and community, as a consciously expressed alternative to mainstream popular culture, consumerism, capitalism and mass media.Rainbow...
s has held since the earliest years of those gatherings that they are fulfillments of a Native American prophecy, similar in verse to that told both by the Naturegraph book and by Stone. The legend also inspired the name of three of Greenpeace's ships, named Rainbow Warrior
Rainbow Warrior
-Vessels:*Rainbow Warrior , a former fishing trawler, acquired by Greenpeace in 1978.**Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, by French intelligence operatives in 1985....
and used in environmental-protection protests by Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
.
In 1987, the legend of the Warriors of the Rainbow inspired an achievement-based award system within the New Zealand-based Spirit of the Sword Youth Initiative.
The following quotation is often attributed to Chief Seattle
Chief Seattle
Chief Seattle , was a Dkhw’Duw’Absh chief, also known as Sealth, Seathle, Seathl, or See-ahth. A prominent figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship with David Swinson "Doc" Maynard. Seattle, Washington was named after him...
, who lived from 1780 to 1866: "When the Earth is sick, the animals will begin to disappear. When that happens, The Warriors of the Rainbow will come to save them." Seattle was of a leader of Washington State's Suquamish and Duwamish Native American tribes. However, the precise origin of this quotation, like many of Seattle's supposed sayings, is subject to dispute. http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=5071
External links
- http://www.alightfromwithin.org Rainbow Warriors of Prophecy who walk talk with White Buffalo Calf Woman, Holiness Running Eagle Shooting Star and other Elders (those who do what they say, upon the red road, the law of love). Angel Services Around the World integrating the Great Give-A-Way. Point to your Heart.
- Legend of the Rainbow Warriors - by Steven McFadden - 2005 edition A journalist's account of many different versions of the legend, with a focus on how the legends may apply to the present moment.
- The documentary "Warriors of the Rainbow" by Melitta Tchaicovsky © 2005-2010 is a synthesis of Rainbow philosophy. The Gathering is honored as evidence of how such selfless devotion to the ideal of World Peace and Love can bridge cultural boundaries to touch the lives of so many people, and to lift their spirits through their communal experience.
- http://www.8thfire.net Odyssey of the 8th Fire, an epic, nonfiction saga by Steven McFadden, tells the story of a prophetic prayer walk from the Atlantic to the Pacific under the sign of the rainbow and the whirling rainbow (Sunbow). The pilgrims walked for 8 months in 1995-96, and visited with Native Elders as they made their way 'retracing the footsteps of the ancestors.'
- The Rainbow Warrior as represented in Spain as Indalo Man - el guerra del arco iris, para la buena suerte - for good luck and protection
- http://www.eliterainbowwarriors.com Uniting and inspiring Rainbow Warriors as their emergence continues to gain momentum.