The Rise In Love Foundation

11/07/2025

“Daughter of the Setting Sun”

She leans above the golden stream,
where lilies bloom like whispered dreams.
The world around her burns in grace—
a sky of fire, a river’s face.

Her braids hang low, her spirit still,
the sunset hums beneath her will.
Each ripple knows her sacred name,
each flower bows beneath her flame.

She carries stories in her eyes—
of loss, of birth, of endless ties.
The earth remembers through her hands,
the way love heals, the way it stands.

No crown, no throne, no sound of fame,
yet all creation knows her claim:
for where she kneels, the light remains—
a woman strong as roots and rain.

And when the dusk consumes the day,
her heart becomes the guiding ray.
She is the bridge ‘tween sun and sea—
the keeper of eternity.
🎨Artist and narrator: Elvis Becker

11/01/2025

“She Stands Where Voices Were Taken”

She stands
with her mouth painted red —
not for silence,
but for the blood of words
ripped from throats
that no one bothered to remember.

Behind her rises the bear —
ancestor, witness, law
older than any court that failed them.
Its breath is a vow:
we protect our own.

Her hands are still,
yet the air around her shakes —
with names unspoken,
with footsteps never returned,
with daughters turned into statistics
instead of stories.

She is not alone.
She is the sum
of every woman who vanished
without ceremony or searchlight,
of every mother who howled
into bureaucratic walls,
of every sister who still ties red cloth
to branches like prayers that refuse to die.

She stands
and in her standing
a nation of ghosts rises upright.

Because the world may forget —
but a people who carries grief like fire
never does.

🎨Artist and narrator: Elvis Becker

10/27/2025

10/27/2025

Carbon markets are harming Indigenous communities!

In complete neglect of their ancestral and legal rights to their traditional forest territories, the Indigenous Ogiek Peoples were evicted from their lands by the Kenyan government for it to be used for carbon trading projects, as community members state. This calculated eviction is a result of an ongoing surge in carbon credit projects in Kenya, and ties into decades of fighting eviction and a long history of colonial displacement of the Ogiek.

Making up about 25 percent of the carbon credit market in Africa, Kenya has the highest concentration in the continent, with projects mostly falling under the category of nature-based carbon-removal, such as forest and grasslands projects. Most carbon credits in Kenya are sold to multinationals, including tech companies such as Meta.

Carbon credit projects are a dangerous false solution to the climate crisis, and the devastating Ogiek evictions are just one example of the ongoing displacement, violence, and Indigenous and human rights violations resulting from these schemes. Further, these projects do nothing to cut pollution at the source, allowing the continuation of over-consumption and fossil fuel expansion worldwide.

Global governments and financial institutions must respect Indigenous people’s rights, including Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), and their right to say “no” to harmful projects in their territories.

🔗 Read more here: https://tinyurl.com/y942rdab

10/27/2025

10/27/2025

In Loving Memory of Unci Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance

Oglala Lakota Elder • Beloved Grandmother of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers

🌿 Born on Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota ~ Journeyed to the Spirit World 10:37 p.m., October 24, 2025 🌿

From Nathan Blindman:

With a heavy heart and deep love, I share that my dear mother, Unci Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance, has journeyed to the Spirit World. She passed away peacefully on the evening of October 24, 2025, at the age of over 100 years old.

Unci Rita was the oldest living member of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers and a revered Oglala Lakota Elder. Born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, just one year after Native Americans were granted U.S. citizenship, she dedicated her entire life to her family, her people, and the preservation of Lakota language, traditions, and ceremonies.

From her early years caring for her dying mother after leaving school in the 8th grade, to her later decades working tirelessly for youth empowerment, cultural revitalization, and spiritual healing, Unci Rita lived every day in service. She taught by example—through love, humility, and prayer—helping generations reconnect with their Lakota identity and spiritual ways, from the Sundance to language preservation.

She leaves behind a vast family—children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren—along with countless hearts around the world who called her Unci (Grandmother).

As my mother said of her Grandmother Sisters, “I often wondered about the other grandmothers and what challenges they had when they were young women.”

Now she joins them again in that sacred circle of prayer beyond the veil.

Honoring Unci Rita’s Journey

Her two-night wake will begin Thursday evening, October 30, and continue Friday evening, with the funeral service on Saturday afternoon, November 1, 2025, at the Sioux Funeral Home on Pine Ridge Reservation.

Our tribe will cover basic funeral expenses, but our family must provide for traditional needs—food, giveaways, gas, and ceremonial items—to properly honor her in the Lakota way.

If you are moved to help, your donation of any amount will be deeply appreciated and will directly support the costs of these traditional protocols.

💛 Tax Deductible Donation Link: bit.ly/UnciRitaElderFund

The Path
3103 North Maywood Avenue
Boise, ID 83704
Memo : Unci Rita Edler Fund

From the bottom of my heart, I thank each of you who prayed for my mother and walked beside her throughout her journey. Your kindness and support have carried us through.

Wopila Tanka – Deep Gratitude and Blessings All Ways,

Nathan Blindman
on behalf of the Long Visitor Holy Dance Family

PS: you can send condolences to Nathan Blindman, PO Box 1756, Pine Ridge, SD 57770

10/27/2025

THREE WHO REMEMBER

Three women walk beneath the sky,
their eyes closed not in blindness
but in trust —
for they have memorized the way
the land keeps its promises.

Their robes hold the colors of dawn,
their bones hold the names of the gone,
and the feathers they carry
are not ornaments
but oaths.

They are the sisters of prophecy —
one for the past,
one for the living day,
and one for the unborn fire.

When they breathe,
the ancestors rise like warm wind in the pines.
When they walk,
the earth recalls its courage.

They are not only women —
they are the long echo
of a people who refused to vanish,
and the quiet thunder
that says:
we are still here.
🎨Artist and narrator: Elvis Becker

10/27/2025

More than a signature. A commitment to a better world.

10/14/2025

Pima women, both the O'ob (Lower Pima) of Sonora and Chihuahua and the Akimel O'odham (Upper Pima) of Arizona, have played fundamental roles in their communities throughout history.
Traditionally, they were pillars of the subsistence economy, actively participating in agriculture, harvesting, and the production of crafts such as basketry and pottery, which were not only utilitarian but also cultural expressions. In the family and social spheres, older women were bearers of oral tradition, transmitting knowledge, values, and the history of the people to new generations.

10/09/2025

A recent commission for AISES. The theme is ‘We Are All Scientists.’ Our traditional knowledges-such as Star knowledge, plant medicine, and our understanding and teachings of water even the ways of buffalo(as a few examples)should be recognized and upheld as equally valuable as western science. Just some thoughts…