Moccasins Across America Present Eagle Staff, Continue Journey

On Tuesday, July 1, Moccasins Across America stopped at Apache Lone Star Casino to meet Oklahoma runners.

The journey began in San Diego, California and is heading to Washington, D.C.

Oklahoma coordinator Melvin Battiest, who also started in California, will meet the group in Washington, D.C. He said they began with 5 people and grew to 12. However, he said there should be more walkers in Oklahoma.

“It feels just awesome. It's a spiritual movement that we believe that we're fulfilling from a prophetic voice of Reverend Billy Graham, who said 50 years ago in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before tribal nations, that one day a sleeping giant was going to arise,” Battiest said. “He was going to lead a spiritual movement in this land and possibly go out to the whole world. That would be reconciliation, restoration of the land to the people.”

He said the walk signifies the stewardship of the land.

“Native people, we believe that for all our existence, we were given the original stewardship of this land, and we lost it along the way,” Battiest said. “And now, I think it's time that we rise up and regain that stewardship in which we're bringing reconciliation, restoration into this land and possibly throughout the whole world.”

He wanted to appreciate the time the walkers have given.

“The resilience of the walkers that have walked from California all the way to here, to Texas and Oklahoma border, I'm just so proud of them, and they're really strong,” Battiest said. “And so, I just want to speak blessings upon them today.”

He said the passing of the Eagle Staff symbolizes stewardship and shows respect for the land and its tribes.

“The Eagle Staff is a staff of authority, and so we are walking with authority,” he said. “And whenever a state we get to, we pass that Eagle Staff. We give each state that authority to make their proclamations.”

Comanche Nation Chairman Forrest Tahdooahnippah also attended to receive the Eagle Staff.

“It was a great feeling to be here today. You know, you could really feel a spirit of fellowship, you know, good fellowship to have so many different people from so many different tribes, you know, so many different tribes in Oklahoma,” he said. “So many different tribes in the whole United States, and then other people, you know, that aren't a member of any tribe, all to come together with a common goal, you know, it just it felt really good and really positive.”

Tahdooahnippah said he would like to meet with Moccasins Across America when they host this event again.

“They may want to go other places and have other tribes, in which case I'd love to go over there and participate, you know, as a visitor as well,” he said. “I just really appreciate their message of positivity, forgiveness, and, you know, uplifting all our community.”

Tahdooahnippah also got to meet the walkers.

“The organizer, Terry, you know, I just really felt a good positive energy coming from her, you know, she gifted me a blanket and gave me a flag from her tribe, the Navajo Nation, and so I just thought that was just like an awesome gift,” he said. “…The fact that she's been walking all this way from California and is going all the way to Washington, D.C., I mean, that's just such a monumental undertaking that, you know, I just have a lot of respect for that.”

Tahdooahnippah said anytime someone is promoting spirituality, he would like to be there.

“For me, anytime that someone's doing something towards God, anyone's doing something to promote spirituality, I want to participate because I want our people to have spirituality…There’s so much trauma that we have to deal with, and I think that spirituality is an antidote, you know, and a healing, so I just really want to promote that,” he said. “So anytime that people invite me, you know, obviously I can't make everything, but if I get an invite and it's for something that's, you know, religious in nature, I just make an extra special effort to go and be there.”

Tahdooahnippah said he enjoyed hearing Travis Komahcheet, who played his grandmother’s hymn, on the flute.

“You could feel the positivity, but then also you could even, you know, it even affected the weather, so I thought that was pretty amazing,” he said.

Battiest said there’s always a place and time for people to make their mark, no matter what they're doing.