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With this workshop we honor the work of Paula Underwood, Wisdom Keeper of the Oneida people, one of the Five First Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. She inherited the responsibility for her people's oral history from her grandfather's grandmother who learned it by heart in the early 1800's and handed it down through five generations to Paula who not only memorized it but recorded it for "the benefit of all" in her book, The Walking People: A Native American Oral History.

As Paula tells the story, "a young woman, growing up in wisdom, was given responsibility for all this ancient learning. Her Clan was Turtle. She saw all this Ancient Wisdom disappearing around her and grew determined it should not die, but be perpetuated down the generations, until a new generation learned to listen. It should then be give as a gift, she said, to all Earth's children willing to listen."

Paula fulfilled her many-times-great-grandmother's wish that the story someday be written and shared in English, "the language of the broader nation." The Walking People was published in 1993 by A Tribe of Two Press with financial assistance from The Institute of Noetic Sciences. As two of Earth's children who were willing to listen, we're happy to share some of it with you.

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We're gathered together today to share ancient stories. Stories are metaphors. Stories contain the mysteries. Stories, like metaphors, can transform and heal us. They can also spark within us precious gifts insights and ideas and inspiration. And, two more -- laughter and tears. The ancients told stories to pass on critical knowledge of how to survive and make your way in the world.

We invite you to reflect on some stories from The Walking People and ponder ancient wisdom. It's all in there. The hopes, the fears. The dreams, the despair. The sweet triumphs and the bitter disappointments. You can also find much of what we think of as new and discover it's ancient. For in the story of The Walking People, you can find creative thinking in action, people learning to honor different ways of knowing (they sensed what we call right/left brain thinking and thinking style preferences) and value and purposefully leverage mental diversity. You'll find examples of extraordinary leadership, learning organizations, dialogue, vision and purpose, even continuous improvement.

Listen for images that attract you. Ted loves the story of the bear and how the people met the creative challenge of keeping bear out of the cave but keeping bear's protection in. Alison loves the wise, courageous women who inspire and lead the people. And you?

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First Wisdom of The Walking People before their journey across "Walk by Waters" began

If there is not one among us who contains sufficient wisdom, many people together may find a clear path.

Those who always follow only learn the shape of another back.

There are many ways of choosing,

but to choose quickly is often best
or the choice may come too late.