Kent Tompkins

Kent Tompkins explores the sacred places of the American southwest during May’s Lifelong Learning presentation at the Radio Room.

KAFM’s Lifelong Learning Series presents Kent Tompkins on Wednesday, May 27, at 7 pm in the Radio Room.  Kent Tompkins will talk about the sacred places of the American Southwest, and he’ll also discuss the shared wisdom of the Navajo, Sikhs and Tibetans.  This is a free event at the Radio Room on 1310 Ute Ave. in Grand Junction.  Reservations are suggested, and donations to KAFM are kindly accepted.

Tompkins is a counselor, healer and documentary photographer.  Tompkins describes his continuous path as one of finding the sacred.  Tompkins experienced the Navajo culture while he lived on a reservation from 1978 to 1990.  After losing his mother to cancer, Tompkins began an in-depth search for the causes of illness.  As a result, he found himself at a medicine man school in Rough Rock on the Navajo Reservation.  After immersing himself in the culture and earning the trust of the elders, Tompkins was invited to attend and document various Navajo ceremonies and sacred sites through photography.

This experience inspired further travel to northern India (Amritsar and Dharmasala) where the Sikhs and Tibetan refugees live, respectively.  Tompkins found that these cultures along with the Navajo share basic beliefs, three in particular.  Tompkins said the people of these locations “operate from an inspiration of courage.”  They also live by creating a strong sense of community. As a result of this creation, the people of these cultures function as a community to make things happen which benefit humankind as a whole versus only benefiting the individual.

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