What is “Peacekeeper Necklace?”
This section contains songs with key themes of this new book.
- The song “Mashalisk” provides a picture of her important leadership in the Pocumtuck homeland in the 1600’s.
- “Seeds of Partnership” augments the information on Marija Gimbutas who documents the long unbroken years of peaceful Old Europe communities.
- Also look for the song, “The Ballad of Juanita Nelson” in the section called Going Forth and Taking Action.
Peacekeeper Necklace is Sarah’s fifth and newest book. The main characters are two best friends who are part of the Stand Up group at Greenfield High School for students of color. They make a wish to help address the turmoil, oppression and injustice in the world and meet the Keeper who is able to take them through time. What they learned is symbolized in beads that create a necklace.
This book is part of Sarah’s trilogy that began with her first novel, An Outbreak of Peace. The cover of the book says, “You are part of a long line and your voice is needed on the earth.”
This seventy page booklet tells about Juanita and Wally Nelson’s work for nonviolence from their homestead on Woolman Hill. We also travel back 350 years to honor Pocumtuck homeland and leader Mashalisk. The last dozen pages give detailed thumbnail sketches of women who are black, indigenous, people of color. This section incudes youth peacemakers and the significant work they’re engaged in.
As the spiral bead comes forward we learn what Marija Gimbutas’ archeological excavation work reveals. As she explains, her work “may affect our vision of the past as well as our sense of potential for the present and future. We must refocus our collective memory. The necessity for this has never been greater as we discover that the path of ‘progress’ is extinguishing the very conditions for life on earth.”
How to order: Send $15 which covers postage and printing to Sarah Pirtle, 63 Main Street,
Shelburne Falls, MA 01370. Or phone, (413) 625-2355.
Bead necklace: All About Beads in Greenfield, MA carries the beads used in this necklace.
Storytelling performance: A two hour workshop combines songs, storytelling and the making of a necklace. Contact Sarah at sarahpirtle@gmail.com