Gathering at Pocantico: Space for Wisdom and Shared Purpose

Written by Lara Mastropasqua, The Earth Elders Head of Partnerships

(Elders in Council with Change-makers at Pocantico Center. Photography provided by Lara Mastropasqua)

The Earth Elders held a retreat at The Pocantico Center in New York’s Hudson Valley, co-hosted with our Co-Chair, Chris Rockefeller Lindstrom, an early supporter and key ally of The Earth Elders. 

The gathering brought our work into a setting closely associated with reflection and exchange;a place to slow down and step back from immediate demands, giving attention to the relationships and responsibilities that sustain our mission. The Earth Elders’ Head of Partnerships, Lara Mastropasqua, co-designed the retreat with a focus on ceremony, connection and relationship. 

(Pocantico Center in New York’s Hudson Valley, photography provided by Lara Mastropasqua)

Surrounded by the changing colours of the season, as leaves transformed from green to vibrant shades of orange and red, guests were invited to broaden their awareness and reconnect with the natural world. These seasonal changes offered a meaningful reminder of the deep relationships Original Peoples maintain with the land and the wisdom found in observing nature’s rhythms. 

Over two days, the programme was curated to foster a deeper connection with the land, with one another, and with the wisdom of Indigenous traditions. Guests walked the grounds, took part in a sacred water ceremony, and brought meaningful offerings to an altar created for the gathering. Five Elders—Mindahi Bastida (Otomi-Toltec), Ninawa Inu (Huni Kuin), Masaaki Nagai (Kannagara), Shane Cobb-Adams (Kauai wisdom), and Yegwanihst Jill Clause (Tuscarora)—shared the Earth Elders’ Five Mandates, inviting reflection on our responsibilities to one another and the living Earth. Through ceremonies, conversations, and shared exercises, the gathering created space for connection. The first day ended on a lighter note, as some night owls stayed up for an unexpected evening of karaoke.

(In circle and in ceremony with the seasons. Photography provided by Lara Mastropasqua)

Pocantico was once the country home of John D. Rockefeller, the oil magnate and industrialist. Today, the historic estate is stewarded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF), which has, over the past several decades, brought people together at Pocantico to reflect on pressing social questions and explore pathways toward meaningful change. Through its work, the RBF seeks to advance a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world.

At a time when income inequality is out of control, and less than 0.01% of all philanthropy is invested in indigenous causes, that commitment offered a meaningful setting for the work of The Earth Elders, rooted as we are in Indigenous leadership and care for the living Earth. 

This particular retreat also took place at a time when urgency is shaping so much of public life. Ecological breakdown, social fragmentation and rapid technological change now demand urgent responses, yet the quality of those responses depends on how carefully we listen and how deeply we understand our responsibilities. Making time to gather is itself an investment in the foundations of lasting work.

For The Earth Elders, wisdom is carried through relationships: between generations, within communities, and among people, lands and waters. Ancestral knowledge lives through practice and through the responsibilities of those who hold it. Supporting that knowledge requires trust, continuity and respect for the communities from which it comes.

(Gathering Together Pocantico Center. Photography provided by Lara Mastropasqua)

Pocantico also carries a responsibility to remember Place. The Center acknowledges that it stands in Lenapehoking, the unceded homeland of the Lenape Peoples . For an organisation serving Indigenous leadership, that recognition matters. Every gathering takes place within a landscape with its own history, living relationships and custodianship.

Co-hosting the retreat with Chris Lindstrom placed the gathering within the shared stewardship of our organisation. The role of leadership includes creating space for attention, connection and reflection, alongside the practical demands of carrying work forward.

The importance of retreat extends beyond any single meeting. Organisations depend on the strength of their relationships and the clarity of their purpose. Time and space together can help sustain both, allowing the people carrying a mission to reconnect with the values that guide it.

Our gathering at Pocantico belongs within this continuing commitment: to make room for Elder wisdom, honour the places where we meet, and nurture the relationships through which meaningful action becomes possible. As The Earth Elders’ work unfolds, these foundations remain essential to serving the Earth and the good living  of generations yet to come.

For more information, ways to support or be involved email us at comms@theearthelders.org