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| Bahá’í News | June 1984 | Bahá’í Year 141 |
‘Trail of Light’ team visits the U.S.
Bahá’í News[edit]
Riḍván message to Bahá’ís of world from Universal House of Justice | 1 |
4-member ‘Trail of Light’ team from South America visits United States | 3 |
Around the world: News from Bahá’í communities all over the globe | 14 |
Bahá’í News is published monthly by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States as a news organ reporting current activities of the Bahá’í world community. Manuscripts submitted should be typewritten and double spaced throughout; any footnotes should appear at the end. The contributor should keep a carbon copy. Send materials to the Periodicals Office, Bahá’í National Center, Wilmette, IL 60091, U.S.A. Changes of address should be reported to the Office of Membership and Records, Bahá’í National Center. Please attach mailing label. Subscription rates within U.S.: one year, $12; two years, $20. Outside U.S.: one year, $14; two years, $24. Foreign air mail: one year, $20; two years, $40. Payment must accompany order and must be in U.S. dollars. Second class postage paid at Wilmette, IL 60091. Copyright © 1984, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. World rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
World Centre[edit]
Riḍván 141: Time of promise, challenge[edit]
To the Bahá’ís of the World
Dearly-loved Friends,
The emergence from obscurity, which has been so marked a feature of the Cause of God during the first five years of the Seven Year Plan, has been attended by changes, both external and internal, affecting the Bahá’í world community.
Externally, there are signs of a crystallization of a public image of the Cause—largely uninformed, however friendly—while internally, growing maturity and confidence are indicated by increased administrative ability, a desire for Bahá’í communities to render service to the larger body of mankind and a deepening understanding of the relevance of the divine Message to modern problems.
Both these aspects of change must be taken into consideration as we enter the third and final phase of the Seven Year Plan.
The year just closing has been overshadowed by the continued persecution of the friends in Iran. They have been forced to disband their administrative structure, they have been harassed, dispossessed, dismissed from employment, made homeless and their children are refused education.
Some 600 men, women and children are now in prison, some denied any contact with their friends and relatives, some subjected to torture and all under pressure to recant their faith.
Their heroic and exemplary steadfastness has been the mainspring in bringing the Cause out of obscurity, and it is the consolation of their hearts that their suffering results in unprecedented advances in teaching and proclaiming the divine Message to a world so desperately in need of its healing power.
For this they embrace the final service of martyrdom. Our obligation is
Persistently greater and greater efforts must be made to acquaint the leaders of the world, in all departments of life, with the true nature of Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation as the sole hope for the pacification and unification of the world.
crystal clear. We cannot fail them now.
Sacrificial action in teaching and promoting the Cause of God must follow every new instance of publicity arising from their persecution. Let this be our message to them of love and spiritual union.
In the international sphere, the beloved Hands of the Cause of God, ever growing in our love and admiration, have, whenever their health has permitted, continued to uplift and encourage the friends and to promote the unity and onward march of the army of life.
The International Teaching Centre, operating from its world seat, has provided loving and wise leadership and direction to the Boards of Counsellors. Its sphere of service has been immensely extended by the assignment of new responsibilities and by raising the number of its Counsellor members to seven.
The dedicated services of the Counsellors in all the continents, ably supported by the Auxiliary Board members, have been invaluable in fostering the spiritual health and integrity of the world wide community. To develop further this vital organ of the Administrative Order, it has been decided to establish a term of five years service for those appointed to the Auxiliary Boards, commencing November 26, 1986.
The work of the Bahá’í International Community in relationship with the United Nations has brought increasing appreciation of our social attitudes and principles, and in some instances—notably the sessions on human rights— the Bahá’í participation has been spectacular, again resulting from the heroism of the Persian friends. The Geneva office has been consolidated and additional staff engaged to deal with its expanding activities.
In spite of severe problems the construction of the Indian and Samoan Houses of Worship has progressed satisfactorily, and the latter will be dedicated and opened to public worship between August 30 and September 3, 1984, when the Universal House of Justice will be represented by the Hand of the Cause Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum.
Immediately following the International Convention last Riḍván, two new National Spiritual Assemblies were formed—in St. Lucia and Dominica. Two new radio stations will make their inaugural broadcasts this year, namely Radio Bahá’í of Bolivia, at Caracollo, and WLGI, the Bahá’í radio station at the Louis Gregory Institute, in the United States. Bahá’í membership in 11 countries, all in the Third World and nine of them island communities, has reached or surpassed one per cent of the total population.
During the final months of the second phase of the Seven Year Plan a generous response has been made by believers and institutions alike to an appeal which set out the increasing needs of the International Fund. We are confident that sustained and regular contributions during the final phase of the Plan will enable its aims and objectives to be fully accomplished.
The entrance of the Cause onto the world scene is apparent from a number
[Page 2]
of public statements in which we have
been characterized as “model citizens,” “gentle,” “law-abiding,” “not
guilty of any political offense or
crime”; all excellent but utterly inadequate insofar as the reality of the Faith
and its aims and purposes are concerned. Nevertheless, people are willing to hear about the Faith, and the opportunity must be seized.
Persistently greater and greater efforts must be made to acquaint the leaders of the world, in all departments of life, with the true nature of Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation as the sole hope for the pacification and unification of the world.
Simultaneously with such a program must be unabated, vigorous pursuit of the teaching work, so that we may be seen to be a growing community, while universal observance by the friends of the Bahá’í laws of personal living will assert the fullness of, and arouse a desire to share in, the Bahá’í way of life. By all these means the public image of the Faith will become, gradually but constantly, nearer to its true character.
The upsurge of zeal throughout the Bahá’í world for exploration of the new dimension of social and economic development is both heartwarming and uplifting to all our hopes. This energy within the community, carefully and wisely directed, will undoubtedly bring about a new era of consolidation and expansion, which in turn will attract further widespread attention, so that both aspects of change in the Bahá’í world community will be interactive and mutually propelling.
A prime element in the careful and wise direction needed is the achievement of victory in the Seven Year Plan, paying great attention to the development and strengthening of Local Assemblies. Great efforts must be made to encourage them to discharge their primary duties of meeting regularly, holding the Nineteen Day Feasts and observing Holy Days, organizing children’s classes, encouraging the practice of family prayers, undertaking extension teaching projects, administering the Bahá’í Fund and constantly encouraging and leading their communities in all Bahá’í activities.
The equality of men and women is not, at the present time, universally applied. In those areas where traditional inequality still hampers its progress we must take the lead in practicing this Bahá’í principle. Bahá’í women and girls must be encouraged to take part in the social, spiritual and administrative activities of their communities.
Bahá’í youth, now rendering exemplary and devoted service in the forefront of the army of life, must be encouraged, even while equipping themselves for future service, to devise and execute their own teaching plans among their contemporaries.
Now, as we enter the final two-year phase of the Seven Year Plan, we rejoice in the addition of nine new National Spiritual Assemblies: three in Africa, three in the Americas, two in Asia, one in Europe, bringing the total number to 143.
Five more are to be established in Riḍván 1985. They are Ciskei, Mali and Mozambique in Africa and the Cook Islands and the West Caroline Islands in Australasia. Thus the Plan will end with a minimum of 148 National Spiritual Assemblies. By that time plans must be approved for the completion of the arc around the Monument Gardens on Mount Carmel, including the siting and designs of the three remaining buildings to be constructed around that arc.
There can be no doubt that the progress of the Cause from this time onward will be characterized by an ever increasing relationship to the agencies, activities, institutions and leading individuals of the non-Bahá’í world. We shall acquire greater stature at the United Nations, become better known in the deliberations of governments, a familiar figure to the media, a subject of interest to academics, and inevitably the envy of failing establishments.
Our preparation for an response to this situation must be a continual deepening of our faith, an unwavering adherence to its principles of abstention from partisan politics and freedom from prejudices, and above all an increasing understanding of its fundamental verities and relevance to the modern world.
Accompanying this Riḍván message are a call for 298 pioneers to settle in 79 national communities, and specific messages addressed to each of the present 143 national communities. They are the fruit of intensive study and consultation by the Universal House of Justice and the International Teaching Centre, and set out the goals to be won and the objectives to be pursued by each national community so that Riḍván 1986 may witness the completion in glorious victory of this highly significant Plan.
It will have run its course through a period of unprecedented world confusion, bearing witness to the vitality, the irresistible advance and socially creative power of the Cause of God, standing out in sharp contrast to the accelerating decline in the fortunes of the generality of mankind.
Beloved friends, the bounties and protection with which the Blessed Beauty is nurturing and sheltering the infant organism of His new world order through this violent period of transition and trial, give ample assurance of victories to come if we but follow the path of His guidance.
He rewards our humble efforts with effusions of grace which bring not only advancement to the Cause but assurance and happiness to our hearts, so that we may indeed look upon our neighbors with bright and shining faces, confident that from our services now will eventuate that blissful future which our descendants will inherit, glorifying Bahá’u’lláh, the Prince of Peace, the Redeemer of Mankind.
With loving Baha’ greetings,
Riḍván 1984
United States[edit]
‘Trail of Light’ visits the United States[edit]
September 27, 1983, marked the beginning of a month-long visit to the United States by the Camino del Sol (“Trail of Light”) teaching team.
The team visiting this country was one of three teams comprised of South American Indian Bahá’ís.
Their purpose was three-fold: (1) to return the visit made to Latin America last year by the Trail of Light teams from North America; (2) to share and exchange cultural traditions, and (3) to spread the Message of Bahá’u’lláh among their indigenous brothers and sisters in Central and North America.
The Trail of Light itself was a cooperative venture that received support from the Continental Board of Counsellors in the Americas and 14 National Spiritual Assemblies.
The 13 members of the three teams first met one another in Panama City, Panama, for orientation and fellowship.
One five-member team remained in Central America, a second team of four departed for Canada and Alaska, and the third team, also with four members, headed for the United States.
The four Bahá’ís who arrived September 26 in Tucson, Arizona, represented three indigenous groups: the Mapuche of Chile, the Quechua of Bolivia, and the Cuna of the San Blas Islands in Panama.
Although the activities of the team varied according to the setting, the Faith was always mentioned, even if in-
The fact that the Trail of Light had come from South America was highly significant to many of the peoples visited; they remembered the stories of their ancestors about a time in the past when there were no frontiers ...
directly.
During meetings with various tribal councils it was possible to discuss the Faith at length, as it related to traditions and prophecies among the indigenous peoples.
Radio, television and newspaper interviews also offered similar opportunities since the interviewers were intensely interested in the purpose of the tour and the organization that was sponsoring it.
During the many public meetings in which the team participated, cultural presentations were interspersed with the teachings of the Faith and their relationship to the fulfillment of Indian prophecies and traditions.
The fact that the Trail of Light had come from South America was highly significant to many of the peoples
| This report of the visit to the United States last year of one of three “Trail of Light” teaching teams from South America was written by Regina Anchondo, a staff member in the office of the U.S. National Teaching Committee who accompanied the four-member team as a translator. |
visited; they remembered the stories of their ancestors about a time in the past when there were no frontiers, and when such visits were common.
More important, they remembered the prophecies that the reinstitution of such visits would signal the renewal of their civilization.
This expectation and the interest in the visit of brothers from the South opened many doors that had previously been closed to local non-Indian Bahá’ís.
In many places, bonds were forged that will never be broken. Even those who could not comprehend the Message of Bahá’u’lláh were inexplicably drawn toward the members of the team and asked permission to accompany them on visits to other nearby Reservations.
Whenever space permitted, these new-found friends were welcome to accompany the team.
It is impossible at this time to measure accurately the impact of the Trail of Light on teaching the Faith to Indians in the United States.
Perhaps a glimmer of the true value of their contribution to our teaching work can be found in the nature and results of various encounters along the way.
Arizona: The beginning[edit]
The members of the Trail of Light teaching team for the United States arrived in Tucson, Arizona, from north and south.
Sabino Ortega, Egon Nieto, Clemente Pimantel and Leopoldo Richard came in from Central and South America.
Counsellor Lauretta King, representing the Board of Counsellors in the Americas and the Tlingit people of southeastern Alaska, arrived from a short visit to Mexico.
Ann Miller Jorgensen, a pioneer to Ecuador and Panama, flew in from Canada where she had served as translator for the Trail of Light team traveling there.
Regina Anchondo, another translator and member of the National Teaching Committee staff, arrived from Chicago.
On the morning of September 28 everyone met together for the first time. Following breakfast and prayers, we reviewed the day’s schedule, and would later find that it was light compared to what would follow.
[Page 4]
The day began with a half-hour
Spanish-language radio interview on
KXEW during which three team members (Clemente had stayed behind to
rest) spoke about the purpose of their
visit, the Faith, and played a few songs
representative of their people.
The interviewer continually repeated the time and place of the public meeting that would take place later that week, challenging the Hispanic community of Tucson to turn out and welcome its brothers from the south.
A luncheon hosted by the Bahá’ís of South Tucson was followed by a newspaper interview with photographs and a dinner hosted by the Spiritual Assemblies of Tucson and Pima County. In retrospect, it was an easy day.
The second day was more typical of the tour as a whole.
After a whirlwind visit to San Xavier Mission on the Papago Reservation for prayers at the shrine (and an opportunity to speak with a young Papago man about the shrine and the Faith), we were whisked off to meet with the spiritual and administrative chiefs of the Pascua Yaqui.
This meeting was special for a number of reasons. For one thing, it was the team’s first meeting with tribal leaders in the U.S.
Since the two leaders are tri-lingual, speaking English, their Indian language, and Spanish, it was the only interview with tribal chiefs for which translators were not needed.
The discussion was open and frank, with the spiritual leader speaking of the continued practice of the Indian religion in addition to Catholicism.
He said he personally had no desire to change his own religion, but certainly would not interfere with any members of his tribe who might wish to become Bahá’ís.
During a luncheon that followed the meeting, he invited members of the team to return after the tour and spend some time on the Reservation as his guests.
Our next engagement was the first of many visits to elementary schools, this one on the Papago Reservation.
The focus of the program was somewhat different when presented at the schools, mainly because the subject of religion could not be raised.
Instead, the team would concentrate on presenting songs and dances, and on encouraging the children to be proud of their heritage and to learn the traditional songs and dances of their people.
Leopoldo was always especially touched by the children; in their brown, round faces he saw himself as a child. One could almost touch the love he felt for them, and they always responded to him with smiles and laughter.
At the end of this particular presentation, they filed past the team and translators and shook our hands.
The standing joke among Bahá’ís in the Tucson area and the team was that Egon Nieto would usually perform a rain dance at the presentations.
The rainy season had ended a week or so before we arrived in Arizona, and the weather was hot with a deep blue, cloudless sky and an almost blinding sun.
Second rain dance[edit]
Consequently, whenever Egon gave his audience a chance to choose between a dance for rain and one for sun, everyone would laughingly shout that they wanted rain.
Following the presentation at the school that day and a brief shopping trip, we went to the community college on the Reservation where we would have dinner, prepared by the Papago Bahá’ís, and give another public presentation.
After the traditional dinner the Trail of Light Team gave its first full presentation on a Reservation, including Egon’s second rain dance of the day.
And it rained. And rained. In fact, it rained so much we weren’t sure we could return to Tucson that night—there are large dips in the road that, when filled with water, can immerse a vehicle.
We did get back to Tucson, but it continued to rain for the duration of our stay there.
The next afternoon we participated in a cultural exchange with the American Indian Student Association at the university.
Only the Navajo members of the club were able to attend, and they shared their dances with the team and then watched dances from Chile and Bolivia.
Sabino talked about the purpose of the visit (he was our team “orator”), and invited them to attend the public meeting that night.
Several non-Indian students also came, and there was ample opportunity to talk to them on a one-to-one basis about the Faith and about the Indians in South America.
Trail of Light team members Egon Nieto (left) and Leopoldo Richard display their musical talents during a presentation at a pueblo in New Mexico.
[Page 5]
Sixteen Bahá’ís from Central and South America comprised the three Trail of Light teams which last year visited communities from Panama to Alaska. Shown at an orientation session in Panama City are (standing left to right) Tomás Nelson de León, a Cuna Indian from San Blas, Panama; Sabino Ortega, a Quechua from Bolivia; Andrés Jachakollo, an Aymara from Bolivia; Egon Nieto, a Mapuche from Chile; Federico Nelson Sánchez, a Mapuche from Chile; Luis Peralta Castro, a Quechua from Peru; Nicanor Torres, a Quechua from Peru; Feliciano Moreno (partially hidden), a Guaymi from Panama; Priseda de León, a Cuna from Panama; Fidel Bejerano (partially hidden), a Guaymi from Panama; Leopoldo Richard, a Cuna from Panama; and Guillermo Bejerano, a Guaymi from Panama whose wife and child are standing in front and to the right of Sr. Richard. Kneeling (left to right) are Nemecio Reyes, a Bribrí from Costa Rica; Mercedes Pilquil, a Mapuche from Chile; Clemente Pimantel, a Quechua from Bolivia; and Vicenta Currillo, a Quechua from Ecuador.
During this time there also was another newspaper interview. The term to be “run ragged” took on a brand new meaning for the translators.
Two things happened that made the evening’s public meeting worth mentioning.
First, the spiritual and administrative leaders of the Pascua Yaqui came to the presentation with their families. Although fervently prayed for, it had not been expected. The result was the reinforcement of the friendship between certain team members and these two gentlemen.
The second event was the appearance of one of the Navajo women who had taken part in the afternoon’s activities at the university.
The woman, Una, asked permission to present traditional gifts to the team members in the traditional Navajo way, pausing from time to time as she approached them.
The gifts included sacred plants such as tobacco, and articles that she had made herself by hand.
She was in turn given gifts by the South Americans. Later, we learned that she had had a long talk with Ann about the Faith, among other things, during a social period that followed the presentation.
We were satisfied with the results, and hoped that Tucson was too.
As we left Tucson at dawn the following day, it was still raining. As we approached our next stop, Albuquerque, it looked like it was going to rain. Someone must have told them Egon was coming.
New Mexico[edit]
The sky may have been overcast when we arrived with the Trail of Light teaching team in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but our spirits weren’t.
This was new territory and cooler temperatures, both of which excited us enormously.
We were picked up at the airport and taken to the home of Auxiliary Board member Ernie Bruss for lunch and a briefing about the pueblos we would visit. Ernie would accompany us while we were in New Mexico and Arizona, and we came to call him our “wagon-master.”
Our first surprise was that we would be traveling in two motor homes for the next 10 days.
My second surprise was that I would be driving one of them.
This was a new experience for most of us—the South Americans had never even seen a motor home, let alone “liv-
[Page 6]
ed” in one.
After a brief discussion about who would get which vehicle, we piled in and headed for Espanola, our home base for the next several days.
Over dinner with the Bahá’ís in Espanola, we learned that our first presentation the following day, Saturday, would be at San Juan Pueblo.
We drove to the pueblo early, parked the motor homes and went for a walk around the area.
Striking up a conversation with one of the women leaving a general store, we found that many of the older residents of the pueblo spoke Spanish. She said she would come to the afternoon program and bring some friends.
The threat of rain materialized as we moved into the hall where the program was to take place. Attendance was sparse at first because of a previously scheduled baseball game, and some of the residents volunteered to go out and round up the team and spectators.
The program began with a welcome from members of the tribal council and three dances performed by children and an elder who sang for them.
The precision of these children was admirable, especially since pueblo drums alter the rhythm frequently.
The Trail of Light presentation followed, after which gifts were exchanged. At the close of the program, we were invited to visit the San Juan crafts cooperative across the street.
The women in the shop hadn’t seen the program, so they asked Clemente Pimantel to play some songs for them on his tarqa (flute) and charango (a stringed instrument made from an armadillo shell).
Since that evening’s program at another pueblo was canceled, some members of the team visited Pojoaque Pueblo where there are a few Bahá’ís and had a successful visit.
The next day, Sunday, was District Convention. The team was scheduled for activities at Santa Clara and Taos pueblos, and so we would not be able to attend.
Instead, team members taped a message to the convention in which they expressed their hope that the friends would be inspired to win the goals for this phase of the Seven Year Plan.
The program at Santa Clara, which took place in the gymnasium, began with dances by the children and youth.
As at San Juan Pueblo, male elders played the drums and sang as the younger people danced.
We had seen one of the dances performed at San Juan the day before, and noted the similarity and differences in its execution.
The eight Northern Pueblos are often referred to as Tewa pueblos because they share a common language known as Tanoan.
Members of each pueblo say they
Aware of the pride that the pueblo Indians have in their children, Sabino and Leopoldo made a point of congratulating the children for their mastery of the traditional dances, and their parents for having instilled in them such pride and discipline.
speak Tewa, but add that they cannot understand the Tewa spoken in the neighboring pueblos.
While on the surface the pueblos may appear to be almost identical, each has its own customs, artistic designs, language, and principal means of support.
Aware of the pride that the pueblo Indians have in their children, Sabino Ortega and Leopoldo Richard made a point of congratulating the children for their mastery of the traditional dances, and their parents for having instilled in them such pride and discipline.
As the Trail of Light team became accustomed to its surroundings, new things were added to its presentation.
For example, Leopoldo had brought with him samples of clothing worn by Guaymi women and developed this into an audience participation activity.
Each member of the team had an area of “expertise.” The presentation usually began with an introduction of the members by Counsellor Lauretta King who explained the history of the Trail of Light.
Sabino would then introduce the program itself, stressing that none of them was a professional artist, but that they were simply common people sharing the customs of their “households.”
He would introduce Clemente who might say a few words and then play two songs, one on the tarqa and another on the charango.
Egon Nieto would follow with a greeting in the Mapuche language, and would explain the meaning of the designs on the head of his kultrun, a small drum made from a hollowed log, covered with goat skin and tied with braided horsehair.
The designs were always of interest to the Indians because they symbolize the four cardinal points—north, south, east and west—to which Indians in this country also make their supplications.
In fact, on the surface at least, the Mapuche culture shared by Egon was the most similar to that of the North American Indians.
As an Auxiliary Board member and dedicated teacher for many years, Sabino had cultivated an ability to speak effectively, so it was always his responsibility to give the “official” message of the Trail of Light during the program, the message of the Faith.
All of us were happiest when this could be done freely and openly, and the spirits of the team members rose and fell in accordance with the opportunities to do so.
After Sabino’s joyful if serious announcement concerning the fulfillment of Indian prophecies, it was Leopoldo’s turn. He had the ability to make people laugh and feel right at home. He always had a special story for the children with a moral based on Bahá’í principles.
Following group photos with the team members and children in their ceremonial dress, instruments, articles of clothing and ornaments from South America were displayed on tables for our pueblo friends to examine.
People would swarm around the tables asking questions, fingering flutes and banging on drums. There was a great deal of interest in the iridescent parrot feathers worn by Leopoldo, and several people wanted to know where they might get some.
Our first thought was that the feathers were a novelty, but we were told that, in fact, they are considered sacred and are used in certain ceremonies of the “old religion.”
After lunch we went up to the Puye cliff dwellings as guests of the Santa Clara Pueblo which owns and maintains the site.
The visit was a tonic for the spirits of
[Page 7]
Egon, Sabino and Clemente, all of
whom come from mountainous areas.
Clemente was in the habit of playing
his tarqa whenever he felt happy, and
the mountains always made him happy.
As we walked along the top of the cliffs our guide, one of the women responsible for training the children in traditional ways, explained the history of the site.
Until a few years ago, she said, it had been used for a particular ceremony each year. At the last gathering there was an electrical storm and several of the participants were struck by lightning and killed. Since then they had not returned.
We talked, too, about the importance of raising one’s children with an awareness of the traditional ways. Her two-year-old son ran ahead of us, picking up pieces of brush that were similar to those used in certain dances, and began two-stepping in rhythm to an imaginary drum.
She said proudly that he had begun learning to dance earlier in the year.
As we climbed into the motor homes to return to the pueblo and prepare for our trip to Taos, my new friend asked if she could come with us.
We took her to her car and then stopped to visit with a woman who lived across the street from the center where we had presented our program. She had asked a friend to bring the team by so she could give them a gift, a lovely piece of pottery that she had recently finished.
We went with our friend while she dropped off her car, then she and her son rode with us in the motor home to Taos where our first stop was a potluck dinner with Bahá’ís in the area.
Arriving at the Taos Pueblo, we found that our meeting that evening had been canceled. The first frost had occurred the night before, and the ceremony marking its occurrence had to be performed right away.
All of the elders and the more traditional youth had gone up the mountain, and the pueblo was closed to the public, even to Indians from other pueblos.
We were, however, able to meet with some of the youth, and the evening was quite enjoyable.
We could hear those on the mountainside singing the ceremonial songs as they came down, but gave up the idea of approaching them since the youth told us they had probably been drinking.
Above: Clemente Pimantel plays and sings for his audience. Right: Sabino Ortega flashes his brilliant smile.
Instead, we talked to the youth and to a young man who worked with them, and then dances were shared and traded.
Egon, Leopoldo and I spent the night in Taos while the others returned to Espanola—each group had radio or newspaper interviews in the respective towns.
The next day we met again in Espanola to prepare for our big night out. We were going to spend a few hours simply wandering around Santa Fe before dinner, then go to the Santa Fe Indian School for a presentation.
The school auditorium was packed with young people. It took a while for everyone to settle down, but when they did they enjoyed the program thoroughly.
Afterward, there was a reception for the team with older students, many of whom were dressed in the traditional way of their people. Several youth from the Northern Pueblos mentioned that their parents or brothers and sisters had seen us at Santa Clara or San Juan.
We met Sioux youth as well, and told them about our upcoming visit to their Reservations, hoping they would alert their parents to watch for us.
Leopoldo taught them a Cuna Indian dance, and they showed us a few too.
We left Espanola the following day to return to Albuquerque. As we were about to leave, our friend from Santa Clara Pueblo came by. She wanted to give the team members copies of a Tewa dictionary she had helped compile and some of the Tewa texts she had been working on.
The South Americans went to her office at the school where she gave them the books. As we left, she cried.
[Page 8]
Egon Nieto, quite adept at dances from
his native Chile, learns a few new steps from some of his young North American Indian friends.
Northern Arizona[edit]
The day after our evening program in Albuquerque, New Mexico, we left the motor homes once more, this time to visit the Navajo and Hopi people in northern Arizona.
By this time the group had grown to include three more members—Chester Kahn, a Navajo Indian who is a member of the National Spiritual Assembly; Roha Ta’eed, who would help as translator; and Barbara Taylor, Counsellor Lauretta King’s secretary.
The ride was spectacular. We passed several of the western Pueblos—Zuni, Acoma and Laguna—which we hoped to visit on the return trip to Albuquerque.
At Window Rock we paused for lunch at the home of Bahá’ís, then continued on to Tsaile, site of the main branch of Navajo Community College.
As soon as we arrived there we were taken to meet several members of the school’s board of trustees who were meeting at that time.
After talking briefly with them we were introduced to several faculty members and two medicine men, and accompanied them to a classroom where we could sit and talk.
The highlight of our conversation was the exchange between the South Americans and the medicine men. Because one of them spoke only Navajo, it was necessary to have three-way translations.
These gentlemen serve as consultants to the cultural component of the faculty at the college. Much information was exchanged regarding the work of these men and their counterparts in the Mapuche culture (who, by the way, are women).
The visitors from South America were especially impressed by the organization of the school and its stress in the curriculum on Indian values and skills.
After a potluck supper, courtesy of the Bahá’ís of Tsaile, the Trail of Light performed on campus before a sizable audience, among whom were people who had been invited to the dinner/reception that had taken place earlier that evening.
The audience was lively, and afterward asked some serious questions relating to culture.
The most notable question, one that would be asked throughout the tour, was why there were no women on the Trail of Light (translators didn’t count—we weren’t Indians, and Counsellor King wasn’t from South America).
It was explained that the team visiting Alaska and Canada included two female members, and that more than that had not been able to escape family commitments and participate.
It was the only issue over which the team was ever put on the spot.
After questions and an exchange of gifts, Leopoldo Richard taught everyone a Cuna Indian dance.
When we left New Mexico and the pueblos, I had assumed that opportunities for teaching Hispanics would be non-existent. Not so! Egon Nieto and I became friends with a tall, attractive woman from the Dominican Republic who was at the college on, of all things, a basketball scholarship.
We met her at the potluck dinner and she came to the program. Although the next day or two would be spent on the Hopi Reservation, we invited her to ride with the Bahá’ís from Tsaile to our next two programs on the Navajo Reservation a few days later.
We spent the night in the homes of the Bahá’ís of Tsaile. They live in faculty housing, which in keeping with the spirit of Navajo Community College, are patterned after the hogan, the typical Navajo home.
The structures are eight-sided with front doors facing east. The living-dining areas comprise the center, while bedrooms and bathrooms open off of the various sides. They are a beautiful adaptation of modern facilities to traditional architecture.
Early the next morning we left Tsaile for the Hopi Reservation, which lies in the middle of Navajo territory. Our first destination was Canyon de Chelly where we said morning prayers near the site of a battle and siege between Spanish troops and the Navajo nearly two centuries ago.
A family visiting the site asked permission to photograph the Bahá’ís from South America and stood by respectfully as we prayed.
Afterward, Clemente Pimantel scared us half to death by perching on the edge of a precipice and playing his tarqa (flute)—it would be a while before we realized how comfortable he felt with mountains.
Horseback ride[edit]
We arrived at Polacca on the Hopi Reservation in time for lunch with a Pueblo-Hopi Bahá’í and her family, taking the opportunity to rest for a while before starting our tour.
While inside the house I heard laughter outside, and ran out to see what was happening.
Someone from the village had been passing by on his horse and had stop-
[Page 9]
ped to chat with Egon and Leopoldo.
He let them climb on the horse, Egon
first and then Leopoldo.
Egon sat with great confidence, but Leopoldo looked somewhat uncomfortable. Soon we realized that it was the first time he’d ever been on a horse—there aren’t many in the jungles of Venezuela. He did pretty well under the circumstances, and we all got a laugh out of it.
Charles Nolley, our official video “chronicler,” met us in Polacca, and after lunch we all went up to the First Mesa for a visit.
The Hopis have built their homes atop the high, flat shafts of rock that project out of the landscape. The stone-made homes were cool and refreshing after our walk to the mesa in the hot sun.
Along the way, we stopped to talk with residents who sat outside whittling or making pottery, and were told that many of the women were busy preparing for a ceremony that would take place later that day. They were underground in the ceremonial site, the kiva, and the village seemed deserted.
After visiting briefly with the cousin of our Hopi-Pueblo Bahá’í friend, we went to the Second Mesa to check into our motel.
The motel is part of a cultural complex that includes a museum of Hopi artifacts and several stores offering Hopi, Zuni and Navajo jewelry, clothing and crafts.
When the storekeepers learned that our friends were Indians from South America, they gave them the usual 50 per cent discount on purchases by Native Americans, included the rest of us in the deal, and treated us to much-appreciated cold sodas.
Our next stop was Oraibi, near the Third Mesa, where we had hoped to visit with the tribal chairman.
Unfortunately, he was unavailable, but we were able to speak with a young man who is the public relations representative for the tribe.
He spoke of Hopi traditions, especially the time of purification, which he felt we are now in the midst of. The South Americans agreed.
He then mentioned that his clan is that of servants, and that although it is considered to be the lowliest of clans, he was proud that they could be of service to others.
Sabino quickly agreed, and told him that in the Bahá’í Faith the station of servant is one of the highest.
The program that evening was well-attended and well-received. For the first time we had to set up for filming, and several of us helped Charles Nolley get everything prepared.
Our public relations friend from the tribal office came, and we asked him to accept the gift that the Trail of Light team wished to leave with the Hopi people. Later, he participated when Leopoldo taught everyone a Cuna dance.
Interesting people popped up all along the tour. As we sampled refreshments after this particular program, we met a young Hopi man who was familiar with some of the musical instruments that Egon and Clemente played.
It turned out that he had made friends and played with a group of South American musicians, and was happy to be able to hear the music once more.
The following day we headed back to Window Rock in Navajo territory for a television interview and a meeting with Peterson Zah, the chairman of the Navajo.
The existence of a radio and television station owned and operated by the Navajo tribe was extremely impressive, especially since they broadcast in the Navajo language.
Of all the Reservations visited by the Trail of Light, the Navajo Reservation would remain uppermost in their minds as an example of what Indians can accomplish in terms of development, maintenance of culture, and self-determination.
That afternoon, Ann Jorgensen, our other translator, accompanied the team members to the meeting with Chairman Zah while I stayed behind to rest.
We translators really came to depend on one another, and a bond was formed between us that was quite separate from that with the Trail of Light team.
Ann was entirely selfless and single-minded in her pursuit of the well-being of the team, and observing her helped me to become better at my task.
Many of our Bahá’í and non-Bahá’í acquaintances from Tsaile attended our presentation that evening in Fort Defiance including our friend from the Dominican Republic.
In fact, she said, some of her friends at the school had tried to talk her into attending a dance instead, but she had insisted on coming to the Bahá’í event.
On Saturday morning we left Window Rock for the Southwest Bahá’í Institute at Burntwater. This had been
Playing their handmade musical instruments from South America are Trail of Light team members Clemente Pimantel (left) and Egon Nieto.
[Page 10]
the training site for the original Trail of
Light team from North America of
which Counsellor King was a member.
We spent the day meeting with friends from around the area including those from Tsaile—and yes, our Dominican friend came again to see us.
The afternoon session took place under a thatch-topped structure with benches made of logs. Roha served as translator for the South Americans, there were short talks by Ben Kahn and Chester Kahn, and songs were sung.
Later, we broke for dinner and then continued the meeting inside the newly constructed hogan. It is a lovely building with each log in the structure looking as though it had been created specifically for that purpose.
More residents from the area around the Bahá’í Institute came as the evening of our last night in Navajo-Hopi territory progressed, and there was much lively discussion of the Faith and of life in South America.
We had hoped the next morning to visit a couple of the western pueblos we’d passed by on the way to Navajo-Hopi, but were told that wasn’t possible.
We stopped instead at a beautiful site near Lupton and did some filming in and around the rock formations. This footage was later put to good use in South Dakota.
After lunch we returned to Albuquerque. The next day was our “free” day.
Ann, Lauretta and Barbara went to the Santa Fe area to visit friends and relatives, while I went shopping with the South Americans, who needed warm coats and shoes for the next leg of our journey.
Shopping was fun, but dinner was even more so. Our hostess took us to a bowling alley where she and her husband have a food concession and treated us to hamburgers and a few games of bowling.
It was the first time any of the South Americans had bowled, and they had a great time bowling and playing video games. By the time we left, Sabino was considering the pros and cons of opening a bowling alley back in Cochabamba.
We spent the rest of the evening resting and packing for our early departure the next morning for the plains of South Dakota where we hoped to make more friends with whom we could share the Message of Bahá’u’lláh.
South Dakota[edit]
The arrival of the Trail of Light team in Rapid City, South Dakota, was probably the most exciting and hectic of all.
As we got off the plane we were met not only by Bahá’ís, but by a television reporter/cameraman as well.
Sabino’s dance was a circle dance, and while we were doing it a couple of our friends came in from outside to say that three eagles were circling the building as we danced. This is considered a good sign by the Native Americans.
He interviewed Counsellor Lauretta King and filmed the team members, and our photographer, Charles Nolley, gave him a copy of the video tape we’d shot in Arizona to incorporate into his coverage.
Afterward, there was time for an hour-long nap (we had been up since 5 a.m.) at the home of our hosts, then we were off to Bear Butte, a mountain sacred to the Sioux, for more filming and some meditation.
We met two young men who had become Bahá’ís during the Amoz Gibson Project earlier in the summer, and began climbing the mountain.
It was windy and cold, but exhilarating. The South Americans felt very much at home and at peace among the mountains.
A fast dinner back in Rapid City was followed by a presentation to which several non-Bahá’í Indians came.
We turned in early, as we had to arise at 5 a.m. the next morning to make it to the Pine Ridge Reservation for a 9:30 presentation at one of the schools there, to be followed by two more.
After lunch with the students we went out to meet with Frank Fool’s Crow, a chief and important spiritual leader of the Sioux who had recently become a Bahá’í.
One of the younger Indian Bahá’ís translated from English to Lakota and back while Ann Jorgensen and I took turns with the Spanish-English translations.
Mr. Fool’s Crow gave each of the South Americans an eagle feather, a rare occurrence. We visited with him until it was time to leave for another dinner and presentation, which was followed by a radio interview in another town.
During the day our presence became known to the administrators of the community college who invited us to spend our two nights in Kyle in the college’s guest apartments. This was a wonderful arrangement.
The next day they gave us a tour of some of their facilities, then treated us to lunch in the school cafeteria.
Our second day in Kyle began with a “free” morning, so we slept late and had a leisurely breakfast.
Afterward, we got out the tape recorder and began playing some of the tapes the Pueblo Indians had given to the South Americans.
There was one in particular, the Eagle Dance, that Egon Nieto and I had liked, and we spent some time trying to reconstruct it.
Then Sabino Ortega decided to try and teach us a Bolivian dance that we could use later at some of the presentations.
Sabino’s dance was a circle dance, and while we were doing it a couple of our friends came in from outside to say that three eagles were circling the building as we danced. This is considered a good sign by the Native Americans.
In the afternoon we were able to visit a Native American art exhibit at a mission on Pine Ridge, and also the tribal offices where we were introduced to each employee and invited them to attend the evening program.
One of the fondest memories of our visit to Pine Ridge is the warm hospitality shown us by the native believers and the homefront pioneers.
Edwin Roberts, who took over as “wagonmaster” when we left Ernie Bruss in Albuquerque, took us to the Badlands and to see bison, as close to them as one can get.
We drove practically on top of them, and as we watched the bull bison watching us, our vehicle felt smaller and smaller and flimsier and flimsier ... Our pride was salvaged when
[Page 11]
the bison decided to take off before we
did.
Ed also took the South Americans up to Eagle’s Nest Butte, another special mountain, so that they could retire from the hustle and bustle and have some time alone to meditate.
Late in the evening of our third day on Pine Ridge, we left for Pierre, where we would spend one more day, do an evening presentation, and then move on to the Standing Rock Reservation, which straddles North and South Dakota.
The people of Little Eagle on the Standing Rock Reservation went all out to welcome the Trail of Light.
There were opening ceremonies, speeches, dinner, the Trail of Light presentation, a pipe ceremony, and the first really significant exchange of dances.
Here the South Americans learned the “Sneak-Up Dance,” which requires that the dancer pay close attention to the drum beat in order to stop dancing on the same beat that the drum stops.
Egon later impressed the Nez Perce in Idaho with his ability and precision in this dance.
It was a marathon evening and a wonderful one, thanks to the organization and participation of the Native American Bahá’ís of the Reservation and the District Teaching Committee of North Dakota.
The next day we were off to Fort Yates, North Dakota, where there was to be a presentation at the community college.
Before we left Little Eagle, however, the South Americans learned about and participated in the sweat lodge, led by a Sioux Bahá’í.
While the men were thus engaged, Ann and I sat in the kitchen with our friend’s wife, a Pascua Yaqui from Arizona, and coincidentally, the granddaughter of the spiritual leader of that tribe whom we had met in Tucson.
By this time Counsellor King had left to return to Alaska and travel with the other Trail of Light team for a while—she would meet us later in Neah Bay, Washington. As she left, Ernie Bruss arrived from New Mexico to replace her.
The ride to Fort Yates, although short, was eventful. I drove the car of a local Bahá’í who had two small children with her, while everyone else traveled in a van.
This drum team of Native Americans helped welcome the Trail of Light team to Neah Bay, Washington. Franklin Kahn, a Navajo Bahá’í from Arizona, is in the dark shirt facing the camera; to his right is Seymour Arkette, a Bahá’í from the Yakima tribe in Washington.
About halfway to Fort Yates the van suddenly pulled over to the side of the road, turned around, and headed back toward Little Eagle.
We couldn’t figure out what the problem was, and continued on to our destination.
When they caught up to us in town, we learned that they had stopped to pick up a porcupine that we had seen lying by the side of the road. It had been killed, and they intended to pull out its quills to make earring and other jewelry. They spent the afternoon doing this.
In Fort Yates we had the opportunity to accept the hospitality of the Indian Health Service as well as the local Bahá’ís.
Ann, Egon, Clemente Pimantel and I were all “under the weather” during our short stay there. All except Ann ended up at the clinic the morning after we arrived.
Initially, I went to the clinic as a translator, but it was soon apparent that God in His mercy had put me in the right place at the right time. I managed somehow to do the job, and was then left to endure the remainder of my 24-hour flu.
The doctors were kind, prescribing and giving us medicine free of charge, and arranging for further medical care for Clemente at the health center on the Nez Perce Reservation.
Later that afternoon we left for Bismarck for a restful dinner with the Bahá’ís in that area, and went to bed early to prepare for our departure the next morning for Idaho and the Nez Perce Reservation.
Idaho and Washington State[edit]
The Bahá’ís of the Lapwai and Nez Perce Reservations met the Trail of Light team at the Lewiston, Idaho, airport and whisked us off in a gigantic motor home to the Reservation.
We had interviews scheduled with members of the tribal council and officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs as well as Clemente Pimantel’s visit to the clinic, which the doctors back in Fort Yates had arranged.
Going to the clinic was a complicated affair. The doctor would ask what Clemente’s symptoms were, I would ask Sabino Ortega in Spanish, and he would communicate the question to Clemente in Quechua.
Then the process was repeated in reverse, with the answer in Quechua to Spanish to English.
[Page 12]
Getting the x-rays turned out to be a
most comical situation. The x-ray technician would poke her head out the
door and say, “Tell him to breathe like
this. ...” I would have to translate and
demonstrate to Sabino, who in turn
would go into the x-ray room to explain it to Clemente. I couldn’t help
thinking that it would have made a hilarious silent movie.
While we waited for the doctors’ prescriptions at the clinic, we had an opportunity to speak with everyone in the waiting room and personally to invite them to the evening program.
One woman who came in recognized Egon Nieto, Clemente and Sabino immediately. She had been in Rapid City, South Dakota, for a Native American education conference and had seen the report of their arrival on the evening news there.
It made us wonder how many other Native American educators whose Reservations we could not visit had nevertheless learned of the Trail of Light.
Our first evening among the Nez Perce was lovely. We were welcomed by members of the tribal council and given eagle feathers as gifts.
One of the Native American Bahá’ís from the area served as emcee and did a marvelous job, introducing the Trail of Light presentation and coordinating the lively interchange of dances that followed.
We celebrated the Birth of the Báb the next day with Bahá’ís from all over northern Idaho. Afterward, Doug Harris, the driver of our wonderful motor home, shooed everyone away from the house so we could rest before the evening’s dinner and our second performance in the area.
While some of us napped, the South Americans went for a walk in the hills surrounding the home of our hosts.
An early start next day got us on the road to Washington and the final four Reservations of our tour.
I stayed behind in Lapwai to make some travel arrangements while the others left in the motor home for the Yakima Reservation.
I came along later with two other Bahá’ís after a short visit to the Nez Perce Museum, a special treat. By that time the team had already met with the Yakima tribal council.
We ran into each other at a trading post owned and operated by a Bahá’í. As I stood looking at a collection of beads, one of the Bahá’ís introduced me to an Indian woman who had just entered the store.
She tugged at my sleeve and told me that she would like for me to translate for her so that she could talk to the South Americans. From the time she had entered the store and seen them, she felt that they were spiritually very powerful. As she said this, her eyes glistened with tears.
That evening was free, and the next
Our morning began with a visit to the tribal offices, and while we met with some of the officials, the other Trail of Light team arrived. It was a happy reunion for both teams, who earlier had been together in Panama.
morning the team took off for a radio interview with a Spanish-language station on the Reservation, followed by a traditional wedding that the tribal council had invited them to the day before.
The groom turned out to be the son of the woman who had approached me at the trading post.
The program presented on our second evening at the Yakima Reservation was preceded by a huge dinner to which at least 300 people came. Some of our friends from Idaho even showed up.
Toward the end of the evening Sabino was filmed for a television interview, and local Bahá’ís video taped the entire proceedings.
The next morning we attended a Bahá’í school, took part in another reception at the Yakima cultural center during which gifts were exchanged, and then visited with an Hispanic woman who had interviewed the team the day before and invited them to her home.
Our spirits were more subdued that day; we had just learned of the death of Counsellor Raúl Pavón, who had worked closely with and was deeply loved by the members of the team.
The next morning we traveled to Seattle, stopping for a brief visit at the Suquamish Reservation at the request of a Sioux Bahá’í living there.
We had a cordial meeting with elders and members of the tribal council, after which we visited the tribal museum and members of one family gave each of us a bag of dried salmon to take with us. The Suquamish Reservation is on a peninsula that juts into Puget Sound, is wooded and extremely beautiful.
We met the Seattle Bahá’ís at a reception that evening, and afterward we settled in at the homes of our hosts.
The following morning I went with Egon and Leopoldo Richard to the Immigration and Naturalization Service to extend their visas in the U.S.—Leopoldo wanted to visit his son in Utah and return to the Southwest for more teaching, while Egon wanted to spend some time with a brother in Washington.
We met everyone else at lunchtime, and the South Americans had their first Chinese meal at a restaurant owned by a relative of a Chinese Bahá’í. Then it was time to prepare for the evening program and to pack our bags for an early morning departure.
Our day was full after leaving Seattle. Included were a radio interview near Bellingham, lunch with elders of the Lummi tribe, a presentation on that Reservation, and an evening television interview on a Christian-oriented program.
We didn’t know that it was a Christian program until they were preparing us for the filming, when I sneaked a look at the host’s list of questions.
I was able to suggest to Sabino that he give some quick thought to Bahá’u’lláh’s relationship to Christ—there was obviously going to be a fundamentalist approach to their membership in the Faith.
However, the interviewer never did challenge them because he became involved in discussing the history of Christianity in Bolivia and its effect on the native population.
The next morning we were off to Neah Bay and the Makah Reservation, where we would participate in the long-awaited council fire with the Trail of Light team that had been traveling in Canada and Alaska and all of the friends each team had made and invited along the way.
We arrived in the afternoon. The Reservation is wildly beautiful, with wooded mountains and seacoast. It reminded me of the small fishing towns
[Page 13]
Above: A welcoming dance for the Trail of Light in Neah Bay, Washington. Below: Team member Egon Nieto (right) with one of his North American Indian brothers.
in New England.
We had dinner at the home of some local Bahá’ís, and throughout the meal friends from various places began arriving—from South Dakota, Idaho—it was great to see them again. Egon’s brother and sister-in-law also arrived from Oregon.
Our morning began with a visit to the tribal offices, and while we met with some of the officials, the other Trail of Light team arrived. It was a happy reunion for both teams, who earlier had been together in Panama.
The council fire began the next day, with Bahá’ís from Canada and the U.S. discussing the success of the Trail of Light in their respective areas and follow-up activities that could capitalize on the good will spread by the teams.
After a late afternoon visit to a sacred beach, we shared dinner with the elders of the Makah Reservation and began one of our most memorable evening programs.
After the tables were cleared and pushed aside, all of us took seats around the meeting room, with all of the visitors connected with the Trail of Light seated together.
Then, members of the Makah tribe began a welcoming song and everyone stood. The song must have lasted at least half an hour, and as they sang everyone circulated around the room and shook hands with the Trail of Light teams and their companions.
It was the most beautiful and moving welcome I have ever seen. As the people passed they also dropped money into a box; it is their custom to give money to visitors from far away so that they can return home in comfort and safety.
The presentation of gifts and a Trail of Light program followed. Our Makah hosts then performed some of their traditional dances for us. They were quite different from anything we had seen previously.
The evening ended with general dancing, the music provided by a “Bahá’í drum,” a drum brought and played by Native American Bahá’ís from Portland, Oregon.
Consultation began again on Sunday morning, our last day in Neah Bay, and continued until lunch time. All of the Trail of Light participants met afterward for a final de-briefing session.
The overwhelming sentiment as our exciting and eventful tour drew to a close was one of gratitude to all of our new-found friends, Bahá’í and otherwise, the memory of whose faces and deeds we will carry always in our hearts.
The world[edit]
World Peace Day observed in Hawaii[edit]
A three-member Bahá’í delegation looks on as Mayor Eileen Anderson of Honolulu signs a 1984 World Peace Day proclamation. Mayor Anderson praised the Bahá’ís for their community service and efforts to secure peace, and asked about the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran. With the mayor are (left to right) Oscar Fennell of Honolulu, Susan Bryson of Koolaupoko, and Lillian Chou of Honolulu.
Sweden[edit]
Bahá’í musicians Bijan Khadem-Missagh (left), director and violin soloist for the Vienna (Austria) Tonkünstler Chamber Orchestra, and Walter Delahunt, a pianist in residence at the Banff School of Music in Canada, talk with members of the audience following their free public concert January 22 in Lulea, Sweden, that country’s northernmost locality with a Spiritual Assembly.
France[edit]
About 100 people attended a harpsichord concert presented last October in the city of Nancy by Olga Imperatori-Lorne, a Bahá’í whose performances are designed subtly to proclaim the Faith.
She performs on a harpsichord that is decorated with a multi-colored bird. After playing, the artist speaks of the bird and describes its two wings as representing science and religion. Her descriptions of the 19th-century composers whose works she plays leads to a discussion of the Faith.
Following the concert in Nancy, the newspaper L’Est Républicain published a favorable review, saying, “The Bahá’í Group of Nancy quite obviously achieved its cultural and spiritual objective.”
Ireland[edit]
More than 100 people, most of whom were non-Bahá’í children, parents and teachers, attended a Bahá’í-sponsored party in Bray, Ireland, last November 12, the anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh.
The party was begun with an explanation of the meaning of the Bahá’í Holy Day and readings from the Bahá’í Writings.
In the two previous years, the national school in Bray had marked the occasion by officially closing. Since the Holy Day fell on a Saturday last November, the school was not in session, but the Bahá’ís obtained permission to invite all the non-Bahá’í teachers, parents and children to the party, which was planned as an alternative to an official closing of the school.
One hundred-seventy Bahá’ís attended an observance of the anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh last
November 11-12 at Ireland’s new national Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Dublin.
The weekend program also included a memorial service for the martyrs in Iran and a teaching conference that stressed the need to increase proclamation efforts and to improve the quality of Bahá’í life.
Zambia[edit]
Two Bahá’ís appeared last November 20 on a 40-minute television program in Zambia.
The program was devoted entirely to the Faith and included a discussion of the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran.
The Bahá’ís who took part were Joel Chitafu, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Zambia, and Dr. F. Ettehadieh, a visiting member of the Auxiliary Board from Austria.
Bangladesh[edit]
Seventy people including many non-Bahá’í guests attended an observance last October 19 of the anniversary of the Birth of the Báb at the national Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The formal program included talks and a question-and-answer session that elicited lively participation. The Bahá’ís also presented a book display.
India[edit]
Above: Progress in constructing the Bahá’í House of Worship for the Indian subcontinent is clearly shown in this photograph taken in March 1984. Below: Among the recent visitors to the House of Worship construction site were members of the Continental Board of Counsellors for Asia.
United States[edit]
The Bahá’í communities of Champaign and Urbana, Illinois, sponsored a Bahá’í music fest last November 12 to celebrate the anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh.
Bahá’í musicians and composers from 10 communities participated in the three-hour program that was video taped for possible future use.
Program notes included extracts from the Bahá’í Writings regarding the effect of music on one’s spirit, and also provided general information about the Faith.
One friend of the Faith was so stimulated by the music festival that he composed three Bahá’í-oriented songs within two weeks of the event.
Bahá’í musicians and composers perform during a music festival last November 12 in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, that was held to celebrate the anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh.
Papua New Guinea[edit]
Participants in an international dinner last October in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, honoring United Nations Day included (left to right) Ho San Leong; Doris Lundeng, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Papua New Guinea; Mr. Subbaraman, the local UN Development Program representative; and Silan Nadarajah, another member of the National Assembly. More than 50 people attended the observance which was hosted by the Bahá’í community of Port Moresby.
Singapore[edit]
More than 100 people including many non-Bahá’ís attended a United Nations observance last October 23 sponsored by the Spiritual Assembly of Katong, Singapore.
The program included talks by a representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and by a Bahá’í, Shirin Fozdar, on the need for world unity.
Dominican Republic[edit]
About 50 people from throughout the country attended a National Bahá’í Youth Conference last October 8-9 in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.
The conference theme was “Vindicating the Martyrs.” Included in the program was an analysis of the message of June 23, 1983, from the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’í youth of the world.
Afterward, there was a session on what individual Bahá’í youth can do at this time.
Fifty Bahá’í youth attended a national Youth Conference last October 8-9 in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. The conference theme was “Vindicating the Martyrs.”
During the conference, the message of June 1983 from the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’í youth of the world was discussed. This was followed by a session entitled “What can youth do, and what can I do?”
Trinidad/Tobago[edit]
Pictured are participants in a Bahá’í school held last December 30-January 2 at Fairy Queen Bay, John Dial Village, Tobago, West Indies. The school included one of the most intensive study programs ever presented in that country. Standing third from the left in the back row is Auxiliary Board member Laurence Coward.
Performing a lively dance are members
of a children’s class held during a
teaching campaign last October in Paharrie Village, Trinidad.
Mrs. Charyl Ioas Thorpe, a pioneer
from the United States to Trinidad and
Tobago, speaks at a memorial program
held last November 4 for her aunt,
Sylvia Ioas, who was the wife of the
Hand of the Cause of God Leroy Ioas.
Also speaking at the memorial program was Mrs. Thorpe’s husband,
Auxiliary Board member Keith
Thorpe.
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