1995 Thanksgiving Council Notes
This document consists of
Council Minutes
from the
1995
Rainbow Family of Living Light
ThanksGiving Council
as compiled in a manner selected by consensus.

The following were consented to by the group of people who met in the council circle

at the 1995 Rainbow Family of Living Light Thanksgiving Council :

P.O. Box: The address for the 25th Annual Gathering of the Tribes of the Rainbow Family of Living Light is:

Rainbow '96
P.O. Box 402
Coyle, OK 73027.
Frenchy and Janet (and anyone who really wants to help) will focalize postal communications. Janet will handle communications with any regional focalizers. The '96 communication center will be moved with the base camp.
Bank Council: The bank council between Thanksgiving council and Spring council is : Sheila, Toad, Janet, EverGreen, and Frenchy. No communication regarding bank business will go on the internet.
Spring Council and Scout Rendezvous: The 1996 Rainbow Family of Living Light Spring Council will begin April 1st, 1996 on the old regional site from 1987 in the National Forest near Mena, Arkansas. Spring council will be ongoing from then. Scout Rendezvous will be (at the scouts' convenience) approximately 2-3 days before April 1st, at the Mena site. (Ed. Note - Scouts say they will attend Spring Council.)
Support Our Scouts: The scouts and base camp need our support, so if anyone can send a personal donation or focalize a fund raiser please send donations to the Coyle box.
Thanksgiving Council Minutes: The final version of the minutes will be organized by the scribes, EverGreen will type, and Rob will mail them, by themselves, First Class, to all the focalizers and friendly publications to be published. They will be available for anyone else who wants them through the Coyle P.O. Box. If possible, please send a donation to cover postage.
Barter Circle: The 1995 Rainbow Family Thanksgiving Council feel that the barter circle could be held in a more respectful location than along the main trails and main circle. We hope that this concern will be further addressed at Spring council.
The 25th Annual Gathering of the Tribes of the Rainbow Family of Living Light: The 1995 Rainbow Family Thanksgiving Council invites all to the 25th Annual Gathering of the Tribes of the Rainbow Family of Living Light, June 28 through July 10, 1996, in the Ozark Range. "Ignore All Rumors of Cancellation Regardless of Source."
Tribal Council on the land last summer The Dates of the Annual Gathering: The 1995 Rainbow Family Thanksgiving Council notes and is hereby acting upon the consensus of the Rainbow Family that the dates of the Annual Gathering of the Tribes are June 28 through July 10.

The following notes are minutes from the Thanksgiving Council containing comments which are not necessarily related to Thanksgiving council business nor any council circle consensus :

Council Beginning

first, people in the council circle set several agenda items .

P.O. Box and banking, internet, the Rainbow Guide, scouting, compost and shitters, clean-up / recycling / garbage, health and children, barter circle, the new Forest Service regulations, a report from the Tennessee council, process of consensus, vision council, etc. . . .

then, discussion on these items took place, and several comments were spoken.

PO Box and Banking

mail, banking and other postal services should be located reasonably close to camp.
mail should be opened on the land .
bank mail can be earmarked for particular purposes .
mail forwarding will be handled by the Post Office when base camp location changes .

the Rainbow Guide

there will be a Rainbow Guide council on July 5th.
the guide should be completed in 60 days.

the All Ways Free newspaper

All Ways Free folks will attempt to produce an issue before spring council.
the address to be used for All Ways Free communication is :
All Ways Free
c/o Rainbow Oaks
Rt. 2, Box 84
Warrens, WI 54666.

Spring Council and Scouting

should spring council and scout council occur at the same time and place?
scouts should utilize locals for information, supply sources, etc. . . .
scouts from various areas should scout around their territories and come together in one place for a council to have a consensus on a gathering site.
scouts should not go into town to collect food stamps.
should scouts be independent?
scouts will participate in spring council and be responsive to the ongoing camp.
scouts as of this time are Badger, Art, and Gypsy and a contingent crew from the areas near the Ozark Range.
there was a discussion about a consensus for a mailing to raise funds for scout camp, seed camp, and spring council, however no consensus was reached.

Composting and Shitters

compost sites are located near the kitchens.
they feed our earth mother.
the composts should be covered for health reasons.
we should use (for excrement) slit trenches which are to be monitored by a crew from CALM and others.
the "cat-scratch" method is used by some, but is not appropriate at large gatherings of people.

Clean-up, Garbage, Recycling

intelligent recycling is important.
the deeds of "if you pack-it-in, then you pack-it-out" are more important.
Everything should be removed! This includes Clothing, Equipment, and Food!
all literature put out should have a strong clean-up focus.
if possible, family within the local region should bring a vehicle to help with recycling and garbage, and should bring knowledge of local recycling companies.
clean-up also includes the healing and re-naturalizing of the land.

Health and Children

we need to ingest more fluids and to eat live foods.
we should help the children because they are the future.
we should help young parents because they cannot function without community.
a report was given about a high incidence of Tuberculosis among the homeless.
health problems should be dealt with before they become very serious.

Barter Circle and Trading

there was a very active discussion about barter circle with a large variety of opinions.

barter circle in New Mexico '95 was an obstacle to travel along the main path, it disturbed operations at CALM, and became a possible safety hazard.

barter circle has changed from being small to being very large.

from being a part-time involvement for some to being an all day every day market place.

sometimes cash is used for barter despite the consensus that we are a non-commercial event.

green energy should go to the magic hat.

sometimes food is used for barter . . . food supplies should go to kitchens.

several people are spiritually outraged by the barter circle.

could barter circle be moved outside the parameters of the gathering?

the barter circle is a spoke of the rainbow wheel . . . those who are trading are family.

originally barter circle was to have its own meadow.

maybe if it cannot be contained nor controlled, then it should not be.

barter circle should be a beginning of a change in consciousness from "Babylon's" federal capitalism.

our family needs to come home for vacation and experience the rainbow, and not just continue what they do outside of rainbow.

Forest Service regulations

we held a lengthy discussion about the new Forest Service regulations.
Exercise the right to peaceably assemble!
in order to defend the right to gather, we must gather.
the rainbow family is an extended family of living light, and not a political entity.
our unalienable rights are protected in law by the U.S. Constitution, which is the only permit we need.
talk to everyone (particularly those who are not family) about the Rainbow, about the Forest Service regulations, and about our unalienable rights.
an individual's action can affect the entire family.
no individual should be held accountable for the actions of any other individual, even if they are family.

Process of Consensus

the council process and consensus by silence was discussed.
filibuster can be used to abuse the consensus process.
consensus by attrition is not true consensus.
the council process works when handled with respect.
trust in spirit through the process . . . even if the process fails, spirit does not.

Vision Council

the vision council process and the events of the vision council in New Mexico were discussed.
why should we use the "Babylon" line drawings to map our visions?.
following the "wheel in four directions" and never repeating a "state" were traditions, not consensus.
vision council should be a place to open up to actual visions, and to all of our visions.

Miscellaneous Remarks

a variety of reports were discussed and some position papers were passed around, however council consensus did not accept any of them for inclusion in these minutes.

the status of the New Mexico clean-up.

communications and co-operation with locals.

some activities and plans of family local to the Ozark Range.

a possibility of an Oklahoma regional.

the Florida winter regional and the need for local family in Florida to change the site from Ocala, and potential legal repercussions regarding further use of the Ocala site.

family business does not concern itself with the business of any political/legal action groups, and family councils cannot condone actions of political action groups.

the minutes should not be placed on the internet; the consensus clearly states that they should be mailed through snail mail to focalizers and friendly publications; many internet personnel and participants do not even participate in rainbow family.

the need to educate people new to the rainbow family about our processes, our traditions, our clean-up responsibilities, health and sanitation concerns, and our unalienable rights "

Close to fifty dollars was collected from the circle to finance the mailing of the minutes, by themselves.

These minutes only contain notes taken from spoken discussions in council about family business.

1995 Thanksgiving Council Notes This document consists of Council Minutes from the 1995 Rainbow Family of Living Light ThanksGiving Council as compiled in a manner selected by consensus.