Earth Peoples United is fortunate to be the steward of 2,000 acres of land in Siskiyou County, (close to the California and Oregon border) where we are dedicated to being a model of regenerative inspired living. Since 2006, the Deer Mountain Sanctuary has been a sacred space for nature-based gatherings, uniting spiritual leaders of many nations, passing on wisdom and ancient traditions to the futu
re generations, and inviting people to connect, share and be rejuvenated. Our 501(c)(3) church spiritual, charitable, and educational purposes relate directly to the land, creating a model that corresponds with the traditional spiritual connection to the land and serves to demonstrate how ceremony, practices, and principle honor a harmonious relationship with the earth. At Earth Peoples United, we are committed to finding what connects us as a human family: the essence of the world’s traditions and teachings, especially the ancient traditions that grew from listening to spirit, source and the natural environment. Fulfilling the nonprofit's mission, Earth Peoples United has created over a dozen powerful and healing Elder & Youth Councils, supporting the transmission of Earth Wisdom, honoring our Elders and empowering the next generations. We host several ceremonial camping-style events each year. Visit our website for upcoming events.
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Earth Peoples United also has the complex goals of utilizing the land and its natural resources in ways that ensure natural systems are enhanced for future generations and to sustainably provide for the needs of the Deer Mountain Center, and generating revenue for the organization through different business ventures. The land creates a place for sharing wisdom from all over the world and in turn, the activities on the land must be regenerative. Regenerative Agriculture:
The majority of the land at Deer Mountain has agricultural zoning that has historically been met by leasing the land for cattle grazing. Earth Peoples United is dedicated to supporting sustainable agricultural practices, particularly regenerative agriculture (regenerative food, farming and land management for the purpose of restoring climate stability and rebuilding deteriorated social, ecological and economic systems). Regenerative agriculture leads to healthy soil, capable of producing high quality, nutrient dense food while simultaneously improving, rather than degrading land, and ultimately leading to productive farms and healthy communities and economies. The practices they will employ will be dynamic and holistic, incorporating permaculture and organic farming practices, including conservation tillage, cover crops, crop rotation, composting, mobile animal shelters and pasture cropping, to increase food production, farmers’ income and especially, topsoil. Indigenous Land Management:
Earth Peoples United wishes to bring forth the old wisdom of traditional indigenous ways of caring for the land, like fire ecology, creating and cultivating a deeper understanding of our relationship with the land and our place within all of nature. Their understanding acknowledges the responsibility that we all carry and hold that comes with our role as one of the keystone players in nature. Thus, emphasizing the responsibility of human beings as stewards of the land and our role in helping to maintain harmony and balance within the natural world. It is our work to help humanity cultivate a deeper, more conscious relationship and connection with their food and with nature in general. Through the Deer Mountain Sanctuary, we will model and teach ways to regenerate depleted land, while bringing connection, healing, and wholeness to people who have also been depleted. The two go hand-in-hand to support a flourishing future for this planet and our future generations. Earth Peoples United is based on direct spiritual experience and connection with the earth. The teachings are associated with Earth-based ways of life and a knowledge that has lasted through the ages, despite great challenges, genocide, and attempts to discredit their spiritual validity. Their cosmological and spiritual belief system recognizes that nature and all its inhabitants are going through a great change that left unaltered will eventually lead to the destruction of the planet; its plants, forests, waters, and human civilization. As the global ecosystem is increasingly endangered, peoples of the world are realizing more and more the wisdom held by indigenous peoples. They are recognizing that in their cosmologies and integrated views of life there are solutions to the problems we are facing in the world today. Older cultures still serve as viable models because as a whole they were most often cooperators, not dominators; they honored and respected the natural environment; they practiced sustainable agriculture; they valued community and culture; they practiced political independence; they followed egalitarian structures; they got their resources from renewable sources; they had a unique sense of their own destiny; and they respected the identity of others. The indigenous teachings know the way of balance and can help us bring that balance back to our Mother Earth. By adopting some of the lessons and world-views of our ancestors – who lived in a stable fashion on the planet for at least 100,000 years – we can change direction and create a sustainable and livable future for at least a portion of the population. In working to bring together ancient and modern wisdom with practical organic and holistic ways of being and establish regenerative models for living, Earth Peoples United can serve as a catalyst for bringing together people from different beliefs, social structures, religious structures, and financial levels. Earth Peoples United’s spiritual community will make a difference and will create a better future for the generations to come.
