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By Drew Beck 

Daily Planet Staff 

East Bay youth and community members came together Wednesday with Native American prayer runners to rally for peace and dignity across the Americas.  

The rally was but one stop on a transcontinental run the Native Americans are engaged in. The run is part of Peace and Dignity Journeys 2000, an event that sees runners start from Alaska and Tierra del Fuego and meet on the temples of the Sun and the Moon in Teotihuacan, near Mexico City. 

The East Bay leg of Peace and Dignity Journeys 2000 was hosted by Youth Together, a multi-racial violence- prevention and socia-justice project operating in five high schools in the East Bay. Youth Together provided food and shelter for the Native American runners while they were in the Bay Area. 

Members of Youth Together took this opportunity to speak out against poor quality schools and the lack of preventative measures to stem the tide of youth violence.  

"We’re taking this opportunity to share with the runners our stories," said Raquel Jimenez, an organizer of the event and Youth Together participant. "We want them to take these stories with them as they continue across the continent." 

The event took place in Martin Luther King Jr. Park in downtown Berkeley. It started with the Youth Together participants and other community members in a circle while the Native American runners were still en route. From the center of the circle Juanita Chaves and Emilio Mariscal of Danza Cuahtonal, a local Aztec community dance group, explained to those present what the ceremony was about and what it would entail. 

As Chaves passed a bowl of burning incense in front of each of the participants, Mariscal beat a rhythm on a ceremonial drum and asked that anyone who wanted to leave the circle do so only through the east side of it. 

After the incense ceremony, the runners arrived and took their places in a smaller circle inside the larger. Jimenez welcomed the runners and asked for one of them to step forward and say some words on the goals of the runners. The man who stepped forward spoke of the history of Peace and Dignity Journeys and of the goal of starting 500 years of reconciliation with all peoples.  

"When Columbus got here what he brought was disrespect," he said. "And as a result we’ve had 500 years of disrespect." 

After this stirring speech, Pam Pradachit, a Youth Together organizer and recent Berkeley High graduate, spoke on the issue of violence in schools along racial lines. She exhorted the crowd to "struggle to find the solution within our selves." 

Later, another runner led the group in a traditional song of welcoming. 

At the end of the ceremony, Chaves and Mariscal guided the gathering in honoring the four directions, East, West, North and South.  

After the ceremony the runners took off once again to head towards Castlemont High School in Oakland where ceremonies would include African, Aztec, Polynesian and Mien dancers. pants and other community members in a circle while the Native American runners were still en route. From the center of the circle Juanita Chaves and Emilio Mariscal of Danza Cuahtonal, a local Aztec community dance group, explained to those present what the ceremony was about and what it would entail. 

As Chaves passed a bowl of burning incense in front of each of the participants, Mariscal beat a rhythm on a ceremonial drum and asked that anyone who wanted to leave the circle do so only through the east side of it. 

After the incense ceremony, the runners arrived and took their places in a smaller circle inside the larger. Jimenez welcomed the runners and asked for one of them to step forward and say some words on the goals of the runners. The man who stepped forward spoke of the history of Peace and Dignity Journeys and of the goal of starting 500 years of reconciliation with all peoples.  

"When Columbus got here what he brought was disrespect," he said. "And as a result we’ve had 500 years of disrespect." 

After this stirring speech, Pam Pradachit, a Youth Together organizer and recent Berkeley High graduate, spoke on the issue of violence in schools along racial lines. She exhorted the crowd to "struggle to find the solution within our selves." 

Later, another runner led the group in a traditional song of welcoming. 

At the end of the ceremony, Chaves and Mariscal guided the gathering in honoring the four directions, East, West, North and South.  

After the ceremony the runners took off once again to head towards Castlemont High School in Oakland where ceremonies would include African, Aztec, Polynesian and Mien dancers.pants and other community members in a circle while the Native American runners were still en route. From the center of the circle Juanita Chaves and Emilio Mariscal of Danza Cuahtonal, a local Aztec community dance group, explained to those present what the ceremony was about and what it would entail. 

As Chaves passed a bowl of burning incense in front of each of the participants, Mariscal beat a rhythm on a ceremonial drum and asked that anyone who wanted to leave the circle do so only through the east side of it. 

After the incense ceremony, the runners arrived and took their places in a smaller circle inside the larger. Jimenez welcomed the runners and asked for one of them to step forward and say some words on the goals of the runners. The man who stepped forward spoke of the history of Peace and Dignity Journeys and of the goal of starting 500 years of reconciliation with all peoples.  

"When Columbus got here what he brought was disrespect," he said. "And as a result we’ve had 500 years of disrespect." 

After this stirring speech, Pam Pradachit, a Youth Together organizer and recent Berkeley High graduate, spoke on the issue of violence in schools along racial lines. She exhorted the crowd to "struggle to find the solution within our selves." 

Later, another runner led the group in a traditional song of welcoming. 

At the end of the ceremony, Chaves and Mariscal guided the gathering in honoring the four directions, East, West, North and South.  

After the ceremony the runners took off once again to head towards Castlemont High School in Oakland where ceremonies would include African, Aztec, Polynesian and Mien dancers.