Rabiah tells this story about its creation:

The Elder’s Tipi serves as a place to remember those who have come before us, whose presence we miss and whose spiritual energy we invite to be with us to join their prayers and good will with ours to affect a flow of peace and healing for the planet and all of us whose lives are intertwined with hers. This tipi evolved over time with prayer and careful listening for guidance on what was needed to inspire the energy of healing and peace. The plants, water, and all its components worked to produce this effect.

While it was being put together a woman and her children popped in to see what was going on. She asked if she could come in saying her children wanted to see the inside. We invited them in and she looked around. She said she had just gotten out of the hospital and she was drawn to come into the tipi. When she felt the energy inside, she said this is a place of healing and that it is just what I need and I will be back. “I was drawn in from the street and felt I needed to come in here.”

• Although our beloved Baba Ngoma, Father Drum, left for the spirit world, we were graced with his best friend and students providing us with a tribute and carrying on his energy and force both in a special ceremony and also in our annual closing Drums of All Nations: Make A Joyful Noise event. In a spiritually intimate moment, we knew the place the Vigil has in Baba’s heart and he knows the place he has in ours.