EARTH DAY: Supporting Earth Elders Council
This Earth Day, we are donating all profits to The Earth Elders Council. We recognize that meaningful environmental change cannot happen without centering Indigenous voices and leadership. Supporting their work is not just an act of giving, but an acknowledgment of responsibility—to shift attention, resources, and trust toward Original Peoples leading the way with integrity and deep connection to land.
Letter from The Earth Elders
'When we speak of bio-culture, we speak of the sacred, interwoven relationship between biological life (plants, animals, ecosystems) and cultural life (languages, beliefs, practices, knowledge systems). For Original Peoples, these connections are lived, practiced, and passed through generations. Bio-cultural awareness recognises that human culture and nature are not separate, they are co-evolving and deeply intertwined. This perspective holds profound solutions for restoring planetary balance.
Unity in our Diversity is the prophetic call of our time.
The prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor has its roots within a number of the traditions of the Original Peoples in differing totemic forms across the world. One version tells of a time when humanity diverges into two distinct paths—the Eagle, symbolising the rational mind, industry, and the masculine, and the Condor, representing the heart, intuition, and the feminine.
In its last cycle in the 1490s, the prophecy coincided with the arrival of European conquistadores, marking the ascendance of industry and rational intellect. This paradigm dominance of the Eagle foretold of a time that could lead to the extinction of the Condor people, and the destruction of life on Earth. In the subsequent 500-year phase, commencing in the 1990s, a possibility of change has emerged. A reconciliation between the Eagle and Condor representing a synthesis of perceived dualities and promising a new era of unprecedented peace and harmony.
Guided and built by an indigenous-led Council, our mission is to protect and regenerate Nature. We work with Original Peoples across the world to lead conservation and regeneration efforts.
In 2013, over 100 indigenous elders held a series of ceremonies in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Colombia to find a way out of the man-made crises threatening life on our planet. It was within this gathering that elders understood the era of the Eagle and Condor prophecy had begun. In ceremony, elders received the Five Earth Mandates; instructions from Mother Earth to restore planetary health. To deliver these mandates, a Council of 13 was appointed through rigorous selection and spiritual processes.
Indigenous Peoples are the last line of defence for Mother Earth, Tthe Earth Elders NGO aims to reshape the global conservation (conversation? Platform? Arena? Movement? Seems like a word is missing here)with game-changing indigenous-led infrastructure. Built on intact linages of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), Original Peoples hold critical knowledge to the restoration and regeneration of Nature. The Earth Elders University of Mother Earth initiative represents a key Nature-based solution.
Through our Earth Shield Initiative, we champion the protection of a web of 52 bio-cultural territories that are vital for the health and wellbeing of our planet. As we do so, we will also equip the next generation of earth guardians. By supporting The Earth Elders council, you can help us defend the planet’s last remaining intact ecosystems for the benefit of future generations.'
The Earth Elders is a non-profit registered in the US as a 501c3.
Learn more about The Earth Elders
Photography by Lucy Martens and Melanie Pyne. Shot for the documentary 'Earth Elders' Directed by Lucy Martens and the Earth Elders. Learn more and follow their work. Website: www.earthelders.fim Instagram: @eartheldersfilm
