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Lee & Maria Cantu
Teri Griswold
Bert Gunn-Sundancer
Ginger McCord
Grandmother Sara Smith
Sparky Shooting Star
Chief Reverend Marvin & First Lady Hiroko Swallow
Maestro Tlakaelel

Sparky Shooting Star, whose ancestry is Cherokee and Irish, is a founding Board Member of Blue Star, a non-profit church and educational foundation dedicated to respecting, preserving and practicing indigenous traditions of all races and colors of human beings.  She helped found Blue Star in 1988, and in 1989 moved to Texas to help establish its retreat center, Thunder Ranch.  Her teacher, Mary Elizabeth Thunder, author of Thunder's Grace, is president and founder of Blue Star.  Sparky became a teacher in Blue Star and began Sun Dancing in 1988. 

Sparky had the pleasure of supporting John 'Rolling Thunder' Pope for 2 years, 1986 to 1987.  She began studying Tibetan Buddhism in 1987, as assistant to Tsultrim Allione, author of Women of Wisdom.
    
Since 1992 she has been instrumental in organizing Wolf Song, a Peace Council for Indigenous Elders.  She organized two councils at Thunder Ranch and attended two others as a Peace Elder in NY and Holland.  After Wolf Song completed in 1997, Sparky helped Thunder design and lead several Four Directions Conferences.  Since 1994, she has also been a collaborator and dance leader at Thunder's Woman's Dance, now in its 11th year.
    
In 1997 Sparky was chosen as a representative of the North American Delegation at a United Nations-sponsored conference, Circle of United Traditions in Arvillard de Hugo, France.   This council was led by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and attended by 8,000 people. 

In 1999, Sparky was among the first to be ordained as a minister of Blue Star, which  deepened her responsibilities in celebrating life through officiating weddings, funerals, baby blessings and building dedications.  Being a minister enhances her ever-deepening commitment to healing through ceremony and prayer. 

In 1989, Sparky established ceremonial grounds in New Paltz, NY at the Center for Symbolic Studies, where she now leads monthly sweat lodges and pipe ceremonies.  She began leading Vision Quests there in 1994.  She also conducts ceremonies and provides services around Boston, Portland, ME and Spring Valley, NY.  Her newsletter, published biannually, includes her schedule.
    
Since 1994, Sparky has consulted to Windhorse Associates in Northampton, MA, which helps people recover from psychosis and addiction in a 'therapeutic household.'  She serves as spiritual advisor at Windhorse, and maintains a counseling and healing practice in Amherst, MA.

In 1995, Sparky wrote the epilogue to Thunder's Grace.  She has articles, poems, photos and prayers published in several national magazines including Scholastic Magazine.  She produced two films, the second of which,was broadcast throughout the Southeast on public television.   In 1999, she began an ongoing project to document ceremonies on digtal video.   
    
Sparky has always been committed to working with children and teens, starting in the early 1970's in camp settings.  In the 1990's she has led summer day camps for the Audubon Society in Tennessee as well as other camps in New York State. 

Sparky has spoken at schools, universities and national conferences, including the Association for Education of Young Children and the Passive Solar Energy Division of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES).   She has taught in museums, including The Museum of Natural History in NYC and the New Orleans Museum of Art.  Sparky has also lectured at Tulane University Medical School.
    
From 1978 to 1984, Sparky was instrumental in establishing TVA's Renewable Energy Education Programs.  During that time, she was on the Board of the Tennessee Solar Energy Association and nominated to the board of its national Passive Solar Energy Division. In 1992 she was Conference Manager for the Passive Division's annual national conference in Knoxville, TN.  Through her planning and direction, the conference included a public concert, a film festival, and an art show, making this event truly multifaceted.
    
Sparky received a BA in Psychology from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 1977.  She did graduate work there in communications. 

• Sparky Shooting Star/ L. Jan Hunt
  306 Middle St. 
  Amherst, MA  01002
  413-256-4710  wolfspark@aol.com

Spiritual Direction and Counseling Sessions

• Either by phone or in person