The BARKA Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)3 charitable organization based in Housatonic, MA. The word « barka » is an African word of blessing, gratitude and reciprocity. It symbolizes the kind of relationship BARKA is devoted to creating between post-modern and indigenous culture and consciousness.

Ina & Esu, BARKA’s co-founders, spend part of their lives in an indigenous village in the bush of Burkina Faso, Africa, the 3rd poorest country in the world. They were gifted land in a small village known to locals as La Petite Village, or simply, « La Petite ». They began by working with shamans, elders, medicine people. However, their spiritual pursuits soon led to humanitarian ones – they had grown so close to their African family that they felt compelled to work toward increasing standards of living and achieving at least the basic needs for human survival and dignity.
Their leap into the mysterious world of indigenous spiritual technology, a term to describe traditional spiritual healing and divination, led them to recognize the preciousness of this resource. The BARKAIVES is being established as an archive of elders, artists and wisdomkeepers to document and preserve indigenous sacred wisdom and illustrates the importance of the message the indigenous world holds for us all. BARKA is working to deliver that message and to bring the indigenous voice to a seat at the table of world discourse on the global crisis issues we are facing at this time.
RECIPROCITY in this case is to share our gifts with each other. Both worlds need each other. BARKA is a bridge. The western world has an incredible capacity to raise quality of living standards through the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These are goals agreed upon by all nations of the UN to empower women, eradicate poverty, achieve universal primary education, and create a global partnership for development by 2015.
The indigenous ethos holds wisdom that cannot be co-opted or capitalized, that can help to regain balance and bring peace and sustainability.

THE BARKA FOUNDATION HAS:
-established ties with UN agencies
-partnered with Housatonic River Initiative, EnlightenNext, Pathways
to Peace, The Colonial Theatre, Monument Mountain H.S., Railroad
Street Youth Project, Greenagers, Center for Peace through Culture,
Women with Wings, Healing Winds
-taken on as fiscal sponsor two non-profit organizations: Devotional
Music Foundation and Future Now.
-established itself as a nonprofit in Burkina Faso and has formed two
Boards of Directors, one in the US and one in Africa
– no paid employees and is supported entirely by volunteers

BARKA Networks is the media production arm of the organization.
Its revenue will fund the Foundation’s humanitarian work.
Its work consists of: TV, film & music production, music label, radio programming, publishing, conferences & events

Tune in on Tuesdays 3-5 pm ET to Jumping Off with Ina & Esu
on WBCR-LP 97.7 FM Great Barrington, live online at www.berkshireradio.org

– – –
Bio: Esu
-aka Howard Ross Patlis
-1988-95 actor, director, author
-1995-98 Launched FOX’s fx and CNNfn, produced original TV programming
-98-2001 Streaming media producer at RealNetworks & Microsoft
-2001-04 Independent media marketing & branding consultant
-Williams College’88

Bio: Ina
-Mother of 3, Grandmother of 3
-Published songstress, singer
-Maine hunting guide
-Healer
-Jewelry and clothing designer
-Gardener
-Initiated Kontomble stick, shell & voice diviner

Ina & Esu are documenting and learning Gulimanchema, the endangered native language of the Gour’mache