Assonet Wampanoag elder, philosopher, storyteller, poet and lecturer

Manitonquat (Medicine Story) is a storyteller, an elder and a keeper of the lore of the Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation of Massachusetts. Author of ten published books and a former columnist and poetry editor with the internationally acclaimed journal Akwesasne Notes, he has also edited Heritage, a journal of Native American liberation. He continues to develop tools for creating a more humane society based upon teachings of the elders of the First Nations and the explorations of his camps under the designation The Circle Way.

Manitonquat has spoken to peace conferences and groups on 3 continents, was the keynote speaker at the United Nations observance of the 50th anniversary of Gandhi’s assassination, directs prison programs for native spirituality, advises a nature school, and, with his wife Ellika, Circle Way workshops and annual international family camps in 10 European countries and the US.

Comments about Manitonquat from gkesedtanamoogk, Wampanoag elder and teacher of Native Studies at the University of Maine:

“The work that You have been engaged with over the many years—raising Communities in centered humanity–spirituality–is really at the Heart of the Sacred and the greater promise for the future. …maintaining a People’s History is both a fine art and an evocative response to the incoherence, tyranny, and cynicism of modernity.

“Manitonquat is one of the Wampanoag Nation’s leading national treasures.”

by Manitonquat

Non-fiction

Return to Creation – A Survival Manual for Native and Natural People
Ending Violent Crime – A report of a Prison Program that is Working
The Circle Way (available through the order form (pdf)) – How to Start and Use Circles for Many Purposes
The Original Instructions – Reflections of an Elder on the Teachings of the Elders
Changing the World – A Vision for Achieving a Truly Human Society
Have You Lost Your Tribe? – The Paradise on Earth Now Under Construction

Fiction

Children of the Morning Light – Legends of the Wampanoag
Granddaughter of the Moon (available through the order form (pdf))
Wampanoag Morning – Stories of Life before the Invasion

Order Manitonquat’s books here

Poetry

Grandfather Speaks
Birch Cottage

Editor

Heritage – Journal of Native Liberation, Issue # 3
Talking Stick

Recordings

Tales of the Eastern Woodlands – Algonquin
Tales of the Eastern Woodlands – Iroquois
The Song of Creation – Wampanoag
Maushop Tales – Wampanoag
The Singing Stone – A Play by Ellika Linden
Native American Poetry

Ellika Lindén

Is a Swedish writer of children’s plays, who also directs them, creates scenography, posters, and puppets and has often performed them in Scandinavia. Earlier she toured many countries with a Swedish theater group, studied mime with Marcel Marceau in Paris, and worked in children’s television in Stockholm. Since 1985 she has been a partner in marriage and in directing The Circle Way workshops and camps with Manitonquat.

Ancient wisdom and practical tools
for healthier relationships and communities

The Circle Way*
is a non-profit learning center
and service organization.

Our mission:
to foster a more human society,
based on cooperation and equality,
closeness and caring.

Our work respectfully incorporates Native American wisdom with Re-evaluation Counseling, as well as other traditions, which honor our spiritual connections with all Creation.

We receive no outside funding, but are supported entirely by donations, lectures, seminars, sales of books and CDs.

Summer Workshop Camps

Each summer, Manitonquat and Ellika host a number of Circle Way week-long intensives: where participants can live and learn the Circle Way, on a daily basis, in rural settings of natural beauty.

These summer workshops are part of our on-going work, creating circles world-wide for healing, building community, and world change.

Schedule

Ending Violent Crime

Circle Way has also long been dedicated to remembering the most neglected and villified segment of society: offering regular Native American circles for incarcerated inmates in New England prisons.

Ten on-going Circle Way meeting groups, centered on mutual respect and cooperation, have demonstrated remarkable results, in improving the lives and lessening recidivism for former offenders.

Read more in the book Ending Violent Crime.

 

“It is possible that the next Buddha will not take the form of an individual. The next Buddha may take the form of a community—a community practicing understanding and loving kindness, a community practicing mindful living. This may be the most important thing we can do for the survival of the Earth.“

– Thich Nhat Hanh