The purpose of the Peacekeeper Mission is to bring forth a most great peace in the hearts of the people and the Earth.  These teachings have transformed my life and have brought great benefit.  One of my favorite Cherokee teachings that I have certainly taken to heart encourages that it is our 'Spiritual duty to be happy'.   Another favorite teaching is that we can determine whether teachings are good for us if they 'grow corn' in our lives.  By this it is meant, do you find that the teachings benefit you as an individual, benefit your family, your community, your nation, and your world?  If this is the case then you know the teachings are good. 
 
This is an effective way to tell the difference between good teachings and teachings of a harmful 'cult'.  In a cult, the teachings are often secretive, with no benefit for one's family, community, nation, or world.  This is a most important distinction.
 
The Peacekeeper Mission teachings grew much corn in my life and continue to do so.  They were the greatest gift I ever gave myself. 
 
The Peacekeeper Mission is based on sacred Cherokee Teachings from a great being known as 'The Pale One', said to have lived over 2,000 years ago.  This special being reminded the people how to live in harmony with the fundamental truths of creation.  From the 'Pale One's' teachings arose the 'Code of Right Relationship'.  This code as well as other important teachings, some of which are included in the Peacekeeper Mission Trainings, can be found in Dhyani Ywahoo's highly recommended book, 'Voices of Our Ancestors'. 
 
The Cherokee say the Pale One is a cyclically incarnated being.  He comes when the people have forgotten their sacred ways, bringing reminders of the Law, and recalling all to right relationship.  They say he is expected soon again and may be alive even now.  
 
People with a limited understanding might say that I and others are simply trying to 'play' Indian, or that we are trying to steal once again from our Native American brothers and sisters.  Let me say this is absolutely not the case.  Wise Native American Elders gave permission for these specific teachings to be shared with people of all colors and nationalities, with the intention of helping people come back into right relationship with the Earth and all life upon her.   For those of us who recognize how far we as a people have veered off the path of sustainable, life affirming ways of living, these teachings have been a God send, offering us a way that people of all nations can work together for the greater good.  
 
I want to thank those wise Elders for allowing this small portion of Native American spiritual teachings to be shared with all people.  I also want to thank my teacher Dhyani Ywahoo for being the vehicle through which these Cherokee teachings were passed down through generations of her family members.  These teachings were care taken and protected through the darker times of great intolerance, that included vilification of our Native American brothers and sisters, taking their children away and putting them in schools to teach them white culture ways, and forbidding them to practice their spiritual traditions.  Then their lands could be more easily taken, because we called them 'savages'.  Through these horrendous times, many Native American wisdom teachings were lost for ever, but some managed to remain protected and in tact to varying degrees. 
 
Finally we are living in more tolerant times.  As of the 1970s, our Native American brothers and sisters can once again practice their own beautiful spirituality, and even share some of these profound teachings when they are given permission to do so, for the benefit of us all.  I can understand why there is strong resistance among some Native peoples regarding having any of their teachings shared with the 'White Man'.    I am also aware of how desperately the world needs teachings of how to live in right relationship with all life.  We can look around ourselves and around the world and see people struggling with their lives.  Many of us see what we individually and collectively have done to our once pristine natural world and how we need to make some serious corrections.  We are blessed that there are many Native American teachers who realize how important it is to share their great wisdom, and they are doing this around the world.   
 
I have learned so much from the many Native American elders who come to the Peace Village and teach each summer at the Elder's Gathering.  These teachings, along with the Peace Keeper Mission Teachings, have encouraged me to go back to my own roots.  As one having been raised within the Christian faith, (Quakerism, a mystical form of Christianity), I have returned to these roots with a renewed vision of the beauty and wisdom within the Christian faith that at first I could not see.  This was due to the anger I held in my heart because of crimes committed against Native Americans by people calling themselves Christians.  I know that is painting people with a very 'broad brush', because ignorance can found in the hearts of people in all cultures, all faiths.  I now know it is this ignorance that used to upset me so.  
 
It is time to share the good news that helps to dispel our own ignorance, helps to develop ourselves as dignified human beings choosing to live in integrity, helps show the way of right relationship with all life.  I have found this good news within the Peacekeeper Mission Teachings based on the teachings of the Pale One.  These wisdom teachings of the Cherokee are written about in the book, Voices of Our Ancestors, by Dhyani Ywahoo.  Perhaps we have no time to waste.  For those who hear the message, let us grow corn to feed the people.   
 
A wonderful aside:  I have had the pleasure and honor to meet a greatly respected and very wise Native American Elder, Grandfather Warren Ramey who has been coming for a number of years now to the Elder's Gathering held at the Sunray Peace Village.  Although not a part of the Peacekeeper Mission Trainings, Grandfather Warren believes that the 'Pale One' was none other than Jesus Christ.  He told me about a book entitled, 'He Walked the Americas', by L. Taylor Hansen, an archaeologist who for 25 years researched many different tribes all over the Americas.   I read the book and found it to be most fascinating.  Although the tribes were different, and the name they called this 'Pale One' was different for each tribe, the stories were basically the same.  Passed down through the various oral traditions, it was reported that a great and wise being, traveling by himself or sometimes with twelve others, visited with various warring tribal peoples.  Miraculously able to speak the precise language and unique dialect of each tribe, this luminous, pale colored man, either by himself or with his small group, introduced teachings of Peace, which were then embraced by the people.