WHAT IF for the cost of a bag of groceries, you had the opportunity to help an ancient culture save their sacred homeland?

WHAT IF preserving and honoring that culture was a symbolic and conscious choice to protect and honor the whole earth?

Nestled in the far reaches of the Siberian mountains, protected from the modern influences of east or west, the indigenous Altai people live with the land in a way that has remained wholly unchanged for millennia. They have been silent stewards of the earth, maintaining a connection to their natural homeland long after the rest of us became mired in modern progress and the drive to consume.

Unfortunately, they cannot remain silent stewards. Capitalism is threatening the Altai mountains and it will be devastating in its impact. With little financial support, the people of the Altai Republic are joining together to protect their sacred sites, their collective pastures and waterways, their mountains and their forests.

The new Russian law allows that, until the individuals of the Altai Republic register their homelands, all the communal lands of the Altai People are available for purchase to anyone else who registers that land. Before the lands can be registered, they must be surveyed. By surveying and registering their homelands now, the Altai people will be able to remain on their lands and save the communal spaces that are the domain of all.

Surveying land is expensive and the people of Altai do not have those funds. In partnership with them, Altai Mir University is working to secure and protect some of the most precious, untouched land left on our planet. And, in doing so, to secure and protect the wisdom and spiritual beauty of the Altai culture.

As Americans, we cannot change what our ancestors stripped from the indigenous peoples of North America, who share much in tradition and ceremony with the Altai people. But, we do have an opportunity to preserve this land in the farthest reaches of Russia. There are millions of hectares at stake. Please consider a pledge of support to help the Altai people to survey, register and ultimately secure and protect their native home.

• A gift of $32 surveys 10 acres or 4 hectares.
• A gift of $64 surveys 18.75 acres or 7.5 hectares.
• A gift of $120 surveys 37.5 acres or 15 hectares: the average size of a plot of communal grazing or farmland.
• A gift of $500 or more will enable more land to be surveyed at one time and thereby decrease the cost per hectare.
• 100% of your gift will go directly to the registering of these lands.
  

  contact us: Carol@AltaiMir.org

  in the US:
  206-525-2101
  12345 Lake City Way NE #126
  Seattle, WA 98025-5401

  in Moscow:
  916-116-1040