Ceremony for Repentance and Forgiveness: Basil Brave Heart and Hilary Giovale

Basil Brave Heart is an Oglala Lakota Elder who lives in Pine Ridge, South Dakota.  He holds a Bachelor of Science with a major in English and a minor in Biology, a master's degree in Psychology and Counseling, and a master's degree in Education Administration. During this time, he has been teaching about the paradigm shift we are seeing now, based on the wisdom of his grandmother, who first taught him the importance of forgiveness in 1938. 

Hilary Giovale, MA-Interdisciplinary Creatrix. Influenced by her relationships with Indigenous peoples, worldviews, movements, and places, she is the author of a forthcoming enthnoautobiography about her process of decolonization. She has been a contributor to Yes! magazine, Dark Matter: Women Witnessing, and Communities Magazine. See her website, www.goodrelative.com

In 1938, Oglala Lakota Elder Basil Brave Heart learned about the importance of forgiveness from his Grandma Lucy.  More than eighty years later, his Grandma Lucy's teachings were still resonating, and they initiated a movement.  Based on his grandma's wisdom, Basil led an International Ceremony for Repentance and Forgiveness in July 2019, attended by relatives from throughout the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Hawaii.  The ceremony created an opportunity for healing the wounds inflicted upon Indigenous peoples, the harm sustained throughout several hundred years of colonialism, slavery, and war, as well as harm to Mother Earth.