Suzanne Carlson: Beating Swords into Plowshares

Cyndi and I drove to Greenfield, Massachusetts to meet with walk veteran Suzanne Carlson and four members of the Kumik intertribal Native American group. We exchanged sacred tobacco and other gifts and had an inspirational discussion for about three hours. Nearby was an historic village site, now on an island in a reservoir, that they said was a sacred place of peace where people of many tribes could meet in safety for trade and rest. Colonists massacred the village inhabitants in the 1600s and the Kumik group does healing ceremonies on the anniversary of the massacre. Their leader is a clear-eyed woman named Strong Oak.

I also interviewed Suzanne, who was on the cross-continental walk. Walk highlights for her included being able to come together in community, gorgeous scenery, climbing into the Sierra mountains, hot springs, connecting with a peace pilgrimage of Europeans, the gathering with the Kaibab Paiutes, Wounded Knee, meeting Glenda Banks and several Native American runners returning from the Jim Thorpe Run, West Virginia’s cranberry bogs, and many other places and events. “The walk gave me a closer connection to the earth,” she said, “and a sense of how out of balance this culture is. We have to learn the wisdom of the elders, especially in valuing the commons and the community above one’s egocentric needs and desires.”

Through a connection with a man named Leo, who was on the walk for the first couple of days, Suzanne learned about the plowshares actions against the nuclear war machine. The group’s name is derived from the biblical concept of beating swords into plowshares. Suzanne eventually participated in a plowshares action, one that involved hammering on a trident missile tube and pouring blood on it. As a result, she served 11 months in prison in Alderson, West Virginia. “I had lots of support while in prison,” she says. “That was my statement of saying no to weapons and yes to life.”

Since the walk, Suzanne has also worked at a homeless shelter and on an organic farm. She currently works at a food coop in Greenfield and is still active in many causes, especially in promoting sustainability on a local level.