As a senior at Northwestern University, Steve Traisman was deeply moved by reading the book Rolling Thunder by Doug Boyd, which described in detail the life and work of renowned Cherokee medicine man John "Rolling Thunder" Pope.

Upon graduating from Northwestern in 1975 with a BA in Psychology, Steve travelled to Carlin, Nevada to visit Rolling Thunder. Unbeknownst to him, a traditional Native American Community named Meta Tantay (Chumush for "Walk In Peace") had just been started by Rolling Thunder and his family on land purchased for them by the Grateful Dead band. Steve lived at Meta Tantay from 1976 to 1984.

Our proposal for a cooperative, self-sustaining community is based on the lifestyle and customs at Meta Tantay, beginning with a drug and alcohol free environment.

Meta Tantay disbanded in 1984, the first and most successful alternative community in which non-Indians lived with Native Americans according to traditional ways and customs. Every morning began with a Sunrise Ceremony, and after a full day of hard ranch work, ended with drumming and dancing under a brilliant desert sky, with wild coyotes coming to the edge of the camp to join in the singing.

Rolling Thunder's vision of a clinic where Native American medicine people could preserve and practice their ancient healing arts with modern doctors and facilities never came to pass. This was to be the economic base of Meta Tantay and is the key for sustainability in our current proposal: a healing center where terminal illness is cured through a combination of Native American, alternative, natural, and modern medicine. Such an approach addresses the spiritual cause and the physical manifestations of disease.

Steve has witnessed Native American medicine men heal patients where modern medicine failed, and vice versa. His own life was saved at age four by modern medicine, and he comes from a prominent Chicago medical family. One of his three daughter's life was saved by a Lakota medicine man. To put the two modalities of healing together only makes sense. Otherwise, an ancient and powerful healing knowledge will soon disappear forever. We must preserve Native American culture and medicinal ways. Please help us to make Rolling Thunder's dream a reality.

(See Honoring The Medicine by Kenneth Cohen, page 317)