Editor,
I ask everyone to think for a moment about where we live.
Eureka Springs was built upon sacred healing waters. You could say that the spirit of healing dwells here.
Throughout time people have been drawn here. Long before bike trails, long before you and I came, long before Eureka Springs was found and founded, people were drawn here.
It is a sacred trust that we hold with this place.
The native people from the Northwest and Southeast called this land and these waters sacred.
Long before any white man came they knew of these sacred springs, and in honoring the spirit that dwelled here they did not live upon this place. It was Wakan. Power dwells here, not people. Power to heal and more (but those things are not to be spoken of).
Within our sensitive karst terrain the rain that falls passes through flint beds recharges our springs, and takes on the power of fire to cut through the disease of those who drink and bathe. Realize this is the land upon which you stand. This is the sacred trust you are given, to protect and preserve this land and her waters.
Now here we stand at this crossroads once again, where some among us are choosing to assert their will over this place. They are choosing to not listen as the women and men of this place open their hearts and share the truth of this place and what must be done to preserve it for generations to come.
Can you feel the spirit of healing that dwells here? Can you bow before the waters and be healed? Will you uphold the sacred trust?
Josie Yerby