While we have recently seen the escalation of fear, separation, war and violence in our world community, the birthing of the GrandMother Drum Project in Alaska could not have been any timelier. The seven-foot diameter, kettle-shaped drum was born on June 5, 2001, after thirteen years of prayer, ceremony and physical labor by the Alaskan community. The GrandMother Drum is a living, beating symbol and message from the hearts of Alaskans that we are truly all one people; that Mother Earth is our one country; that love is stronger than fear, and that peace is the birthright of all humanity.

The project and the Ring of Fire World Tour have been funded solely on love from the Alaskan community. Prayers, blessings and traditional ceremony were held by the Athabascan tribes of Eklutna, Chickaloon, Kenatize, Qutekcak, Tyonek and Nondalton for the drum to be built on Athabascan land. Thousands of Alaskans took part in the making of the drum and the community healing ceremonies that followed. In August 2001, the GrandMother Drum honored Athabascan Grandmother Katie John at the largest human rights march in Alaskan history -- the "We the People" march and rally.

The GrandMother Drum has now launched its first world Ring of Fire tour with the theme: The Heartbeat of One Family, One Earth." In March 2002, the tour began with a three-month journey throughout Australia. Drumkeeper and spiritual healer, Suraj Holzwarth, just returned from traveling over 6,000 miles across Australia, participating in community and spiritual healing ceremonies throughout the country.

AK Wellness: Let's begin with how the GrandMother Drum Project came about.

Suraj: We received the dream of the GrandMother Drum Project from indigenous Grandmothers as the first international, multicultural, interactive "world drum" dedicated to promoting Unity, Peace and Life, and healing the separation between all Earth's children. According to these Grandmothers, we are in conflict outside because we are in conflict inside. Healing, they say, must happen within ourselves first. World peace can happen only through inner peace. In other words, we must become that which we are seeking outside ourselves. To our Elders, the drum speaks the direct language of the heart and connects us to community, to our ancestors and the Spirit world. The GrandMother Drum is the very heartbeat of sharing these teachings.

AK Wellness: What are some of the activities involved in the Ring of Fire World Tour?

Suraj: The Ring of Fire Tour involves a series of personal and community healing ceremonies, workshops and interactive performance concerts that focus on the activation of what the Grandmothers refer to as the "Ring of Fire." The Ring of Fire is a key site in the opening of Mother Earth's womb and represents a spiritual healing and alignment related to male-female relationships, power and tribal (racial) healing about to take place for Earth peoples in the next ten years.

During the tour, specific drumming activations will take place in caves and volcanic areas along Mother Earth's Ring of Fire to assist in a graceful transition for the Earth and her children during a time known by many spiritual traditions as one of great purification and healing.

AK Wellness: Where exactly is the Ring of Fire?

Suraj: If you look on a world map, and follow with your eyes the edges of the land around the Pacific Ocean, you will see the area called the "Ring of Fire." It includes areas of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington State, Oregon, California, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, Chile, Colombia, and Central America.

AK Wellness: And why is it called the Ring of Fire?

Suraj: Scientifically, the area is named for the presence of volcanoes. Volcanoes are vents in the earth's crust from which come molten, rock and steam. These vents are dormant, active, or extinct. The name Ring of Fire explains that this area has active vents. Our earth uses vents to release excess, accumulated energy. The Grandmothers have many teachings about the spiritual purpose of the Ring of Fire.

Barbara Wolf of Global Meditations explains it this way:

"September 11, 2001, and the subsequent chain reaction have been helping to accumulate energy in an unnatural manner. Since that date, there has been a great outpouring of emotion from the human race in the form of fear and anxiety. All emotion is energy, and therefore, one can say that since September 11th, there has been a great outpouring of negative energy. Energy IS. It must be counted. What the human race produces in the form of negative energy will be reflected in the earth, and the most likely place to find this accumulated energy is the Ring of Fire.

Energy can be transformed. When a child cries from gas in the stomach, the mother needs to release this energy. We can do the same for the Ring of Fire. It is only a matter of putting attention on this area, and with our mind and hearts, releasing this energy."

AK Wellness: Will you tell us a little about your time in Australia?

Suraj: We just returned from three amazing months with the Australian people. Thousands of women, men and children welcomed us all over the country with such genuineness and generosity. We have never met a more generous people committed to the healing of themselves and their communities.

Our journey took us through the outback deserts, rainforests, oceans, mountains and to the very heart of Australia at Uluru (Ayers Rock) carrying the GrandMother Drum on the back of the truck we named "Waltzing Matilda."

We participated in many traditional healing circles and ceremonies with the Aboriginal and Maori communities. We were honored to be welcomed so openly. We were in awe of the land, so ancient and eternal and by the courage of the indigenous people to maintain their role as traditional keepers of the land amidst genocide and great loss. One can easily feel the depth and strength of their love for the land, surviving as the oldest civilization on Mother Earth.

AK Wellness: What about the animals of this land? Did you have any unusual encounters?

Suraj: As my medicine is Eagle medicine, I came to spend a lot of time in Australia with the Wedgetail eagles. These birds are very similar to Bald eagles in that they mate for life and usually fly together in spiral patterns. The Wedgetail eagles began assisting me at the beginning of every ceremony. They did this so consistently that I began to ask them when to start the ceremonies. When the time was right, the eagles would come and spiral above head.

At one point, the eagles asked me to take on their medicine for the land. During the middle of trip, I received a message in a dream that I was to take on their medicine completely. What did that mean? I didn't know. The following day, while driving on the highway to reach the next ceremony, I saw a dead Wedgetail eagle on side of road. I asked the truck driver to stop. I walked over to the bird and did some energy work to see where its spirit was. I found it was only 12 hours dead, and its spirit about half crossed over. I do a lot of work helping animals cross over when I find them, so I have a sense of what usually happens. But what happened with this bird was very different than what would happen in North America. Partly this is because the energy is so different in Australia. Normally, when assisting animals to transition, I usually hold the energy as a conduit, but this time the energy of that bird went into me. It literally entered my body. It was a very powerful experience. And I am still carrying that. I am carrying the medicine of the Wedgetail eagle for that land, and am just now beginning to understand what I am being asked to do.

AK Wellness: Can you share another story of something that touched you in your journey with the Australian people?

Suraj: While being in Mititjulu, an Aboriginal community at the base of Uluru and through my meeting of Uncle Bob Randall, Elder and traditional custodian of Uluru, I began to learn more about what is referred to as "The Stolen Generation."

(For more see: http://www.humanrights.gov.au/social_justice/stolen_children/).

The Aboriginal people are just recently breaking the silence on an entire generation of children who were literally stolen out of their villages by white officers and missionaries. As a mother myself, I could feel and understand the incredible burden of hurt and deep injury that hangs like a cloud in the hearts of the 'stolen generation' and their families. The collective experience of the stolen generation has been negated by the government and their stories hidden in archives. It is an experience that is just now being talked about. I saw and felt the overwhelming need for people to tell their stories. I have learned from my own healing journey that when our stories are heard and accepted, the healing can begin.