Thomas Banyacya: The Hopi Prophecy

Thomas Banyacya: The Hopi Prophecy was first produced as a video letter to the United Nations Environmental Programme, at the request of the Hopi elders of Hotevilla.

Thomas Banyacya, a Hopi leader and spokesman for the Hopi high religious leaders was in his 80s in 1989 when this important meeting took place and was recorded on film. In a traditional circle, Banyacya and the elders meet with visiting Lummi, Lacandone, and American and Mexican environmentalists. They discuss the Hopi Prophecy that foretold, “Koyaanisqatsi”, meaning “life in turmoil, life out of balance,” as a result of increasing materialism and environmental destruction.

Thomas carries the Hopi message which calls for universal peace and spiritual unity and how the only hope for humankind to survive is to return to connectedness with Mother Earth. Humanity must use its knowledge and technology to clean up the water, the air, and the contaminated land. At the same time, we must conserve the remaining natural resources. The individual greed of both people and nations must be replaced with global concern for the balance of life on this planet.