Ilarion Merculieff, Unangax̂ (Aleut), was given the name Kuuyux at age four. It translates roughly as “messenger.” And one child per generation in his culture has carried it. But Merculieff told audiences last week that he will be the last one to carry that sacred designation. The practice is not being passed on. The Earth crisis has reached such a roil that either all people will collectively raise their consciousness to a new level and come into harmony with Mother Earth, in which case the position is no longer needed, or we will not survive as a species. Either way, no more Kuuyux’s. That was one of many challenges Indigenous elders delivered to delegates at the 12th World Wilderness Congress, which convened last month in the Black Hills, Hé Sapa in Lakota. Merculieff, who works as the president of the Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways, delivered his words on August 31, 2024, the final day of the convening, with a row of elders from around the world sharing the stage holding space beside him. He said even in this moment of planetary ecological breakdown that the primary obligation for people across the planet is to heal themselves, to “know who they are.” The wrinkle here is that the project of salvaging of the human species in inexorably tied to the restoration and repair of Earth systems, a key theme of WILD12, as it is these infinitely complex networks of life that make our place on the planet possible. So if our primary work now is healing ourselves, a key mechanism of that healing remains the process of giving Mother Earth deep and loving attention. This is the process of recollecting or, as Mercullieff encourages, “knowing who we are.” Deceleration recorded Merculieff’s words and offers a transcription of them below. — Greg Harman
Ilarion Merculieff, addressing the 12th World Wilderness Congress
Recorded August 31, 2024
Mother Earth, she doesn’t need humans to help save her. We are all tied together with an old paradigm that we must get rid of, we feel. And that is: Victim, perpetrator, and savior. And we’re trying to play savior: We’re going to save this part of Mother Earth. But we’re not. Mother Earth has survived for billions of years. She’s going to survive for billions more. It’s a question about whether or not if we humans are going to survive and be here. And we have very little time left.
The elders say that we must change our consciousness now. Because she is crying for her people … not to punish us. But because she has to heal, She is going to intensify what you see today. The fires, floods, the droughts, the earthquakes. All these things that are happening on Mother Earth now. It’s beause of the way that we have treated her, that she has to come to cleanse Herself. And She’s asking us to cleanse ourselves because she is going to intensify Her power. She’s going to intensify it and it’s going to be a in short time. You notice these things are happening closer and closer to human habitation? Well, it’s going to be in human habitation. And we are in for a hard time. And we’re…We need to wake up.
The sages of the world have talked about that for thousands of years. That we are asleep. We have forgotten who we are. And we need to, right now, remember who we are. And we are here on Mother Earth by choice at this time. All of you. We need everyone to participate in our healing. That if we don’t do that, we’re done for.
Now I am Kuuyux. I am going to be the last Kuuyux. We’re not going to pass along this tradition. I am going to be the last Kuuyux because, one: we either wake up and we’re going to move to a different level of consciousness; and in that case we don’t need Kuuyux anymore. Or: We’re gone. Either way, a new Kuuyux is not needed. Same thing. You heard Arvol Looking Horse talk about that. He may be the last sacred pipe carrier.
You know, I don’t know if you know. When we say sacred land. We mean something that cannot be explained in words. And the Black Hills are sacred. It is the heart of Mother Earth. And they are the protectors. They even turned down a billion dollars for the loss of their land. And they refused. It’s taking people like them that are the protectors of sacred sites throughout the world. These sacred sites are more important than people realize. They are the way that Mother Earth communicates with us directly and the way that she clears her energy that needs to be cleared.
Now she is moving up in consciousness and vibration. And what her energy is doing is hitting our bodies now. It’s a way that she has chosen to help us. Because what it’s doing is hitting up the things that are out of balance. That’s why we have many people that get sick, who get hurt. Whatever the issue is that they have to face spiritually that they need to face now. Because we chose to be here now.
And that individual groups that, they—bless their hearts, they are good hearts—they are trying to save the whales, save the water, save this, save that. But we are piecemealing something that is sacred. We know that this sacredness is a whole. And we’re taking parts of they whole when they are, in fact, synergistically something else.
You cannot help Mother Earth by taking a piece of her and studying it and trying to save it. Mother Earth is going to save Herself. We have to look at ourselves. The elders say that the most unselfish thing you can do at this time is to heal yourself.
And what they know is that we have reversed all the laws for living. The Yupik elders know this. They call this the reverse society. Or the inside-out society. Because we reverse all the laws for living. And now the mind tells the heart what to do. When traditionally all around the world the heart tells the mind what to do. And the mind’s job is to implement that which the heart is telling you.
Now most people, they don’t follow their heart because we have suffered so much trauma that we don’t want to feel the trauma. But the path from the heart to the mind, and the mind to the heart, is very difficult. As all the people say: It’s difficult. It’s the most difficult journey to make. Because what you have to do is processing—watch yourself as a human being processing the traumas, not reliving them. But they are afraid. They don’t want to go back to that heart. And so we’ve left our hearts and we’ve forgotten who we are.
Our elders a long time ago said that Mother Earth and all things feminine are going to be abused, or harmed, or damaged in some way. And sacred teachings come from the womb at the center of the universe. The identical field of energy is in every woman’s womb. That’s why we used to consider women sacred, a long time ago, before time began. We invented time. When we, the way to be as a real human being is present in the moment and in the heart. That’s all. Then you are in the womb. It tells you what you must do. The heart and the womb is pure love. Patience. And all these things that we want in life. It never guides you wrong. It always guides you impeccably right. And if we can understand that.
You know, acting from the heart is going to be difficult because we want planning. All of these things, we want, goals, to achieve our goals. We are afraid for ourselves. Hey, you’re heart is telling you you have to go out there and do a dance. Like most Native people, they know that they are treated that way when they show things. So they keep it secret. The time for secrets is done. The time of the lone wolf is done. We must face that. So in conclusion, we speak out of love for our younger brothers and sisters. We call yourselves younger only because you’re still asleep.
Out of love and in prayer we heal ourselves. Not try to save Mother Earth. We must focus on ourselves. And when we do that we will know who we are.
And we want to ask for your forgiveness, as Indigenous people, for tying ourselves in this victim, perpetrator, and savior. So we first forgive ourselves as Indigenous people. Then we ask for your forgiveness. So thank you very much.
More about Illarion Mercullieff from the Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways.
