By Emma Bracken

On the evening of March 7, students and Fayetteville locals gathered in the dimly lit, but vibrant Giffels Auditorium in the heart of the University of Arkansas. As the oldest building on campus, the intricately crafted walls of Old Main hold over a century of stories and lessons learned within them. 

Even older are the Ozark Mountains which cradle the campus, from which come author and spiritual leader María Cristina Moroles. Moroles is a shaman and matriarch of the Arco Iris Earth Care Project, a sanctuary originally established for women and children of color, as well as the queer community to have a safe and sustainable way of life in the mountains. She has lived there for 50 years with her children after leaving her Texas hometown, after a dream called her to the Ozarks. Moroles, also known as Águila, visited the university to share her experience and discuss her autobiography, “Águila: The Vision, Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Two-Spirit Shaman in the Ozark Mountains.”

The members of the Arco Iris Earth Care Project partnered with the university’s Multicultural Center, Mexican American Student Association, and Latin American Studies program to present a reading from Moroles, and a Q&A led by a student staff member of the Multicultural Center. 

The event began with a land acknowledgement from the student coordinator, Sophia Ordaz, reminding the audience first and foremost of the history of the land on which the university was built. With Moroles taking the lead, the members of Arco Iris led the room in prayer. Lending their respect and gratitude toward each of the cardinal directions, the group emphasized all of the world’s nations and lands to be of sacred importance. 

“We’ve been given the duty to live together in harmony and balance with all living things,” Moroles said, leading the group to a presentation on gratitude.

As they shared the stage, the group members acknowledged all of the things to which they give thanks, including Mother Earth, the waters, the fish and animals, the plants and medicinal herbs, the celestial bodies, their enlightened teachers, and their Creator. Another group member shared that if an audience member felt anything was forgotten, it was in their hands to extend that gratitude, bringing us closer to this intimate moment. 

Being both Mexican American and Indigenous, Moroles incorporates many different cultural and spiritual practices into her work. She is both from and has lived in several places across the American continent, and along the way has collected wisdom and a deeper appreciation for the land upon which we were all born. Her memoir traces this path, leading us through the traumas, successes, and lessons of her life up to this point. “Águila” follows not just her spiritual enlightenment but her physical journey that led her to the wilderness upon which she built her life’s work. 

“A vision led me to this land with the sacred responsibility to protect my Mother Earth,” Moroles shared. “I was led here to live. Initially, we sought simply to survive. I needed to reclaim my self-determination to remember who I really am.”

Moroles described years of hard work, as her family tried to build a community from the ground up on this untouched land. With her daughter by her side on stage, Jennifer agreed that the struggles were worth the lessons on care and gratitude that they gained in the process. They lived by trial and error; what appeared to be most resilient was not any rules or set way of doing things, but the spirit and devotion underlying the reason for trying. As the community was able to blossom into the 400 acres of wilderness owned and stewarded by the Arco Iris Project now, Moroles became a figure of wisdom and inspiration for many. She began traveling as an apprentice for healers and shamans across the country, sharing the wisdom that would become “Águila.”

“It’s a true story,” Moroles said. “The apple cider vinegar kind: raw and unfiltered.”

Her autobiography uses the telling of her own life’s events as a call to action for fellow Indigenous women, to adapt her same warrior spirit and use their voices. As well as making space for themselves in the sociopolitical world, Moroles hopes that Indigenous people can use their voices to call back to the old ways of the natural world in the name of sustainability.

“It is our time as Indigenous women to speak out, we must act now for the survival of our Indigenous sisters and children, and of our Mother Earth,” she said.

As a woman in her seventies, Moroles has already touched many lives and is as active as ever in her efforts for the preservation of Indigenous and Ozark culture as well as sustainable living. Though she had been asked many times over the years to write her story for people around the world to read, a recent request finally struck a chord with her after she began receiving signs in nature that now was the right time.

“Many women I respect have asked me to write my stories over the years,” she explained. “It was an important thing I needed to deal with. I needed to set my fears aside and answer the call. I wrote it to inspire others so that we can overcome our traumas, overcome our fears, overcome our real and received obstacles, if we choose to serve as a light. We need it at this time, to serve the light of love, the light of peace, the light of our Mother Earth.”

Her legacy, she hopes, is one of generosity and compassion. Moroles considers generosity a sacred quality, and through it comes the sharing of knowledge, love, compassion, and empathy beyond just food and shelter. Through her work with Arco Iris, this will be immortalized in the mountains as women and children of color, displaced Indigenous people, and queer communities thrive in the unexpected shelter of Northwest Arkansas.

“I envision an ecovillage led by Indigenous women for all people to have a safe space to grow, led by original ways that sustain us spiritually, physically, and emotionally.”

To those who don’t yet have that community or have difficulty connecting with the earth and spirituality, Moroles advises them to spend time away from technology, alone with their thoughts outside. She calls it a modern-day vision quest, in which we find guidance in our connection to the Earth. Whether your guidance is pointed at a spirit guide, a guardian angel, your ancestors, or just the general spirit tying you to something greater, Moroles believes that in the natural world, you can find this clarity and connection to your inner self. This, she shares, is enlightenment. 
María Cristina Moroles has been an extremely important figurehead in efforts of conservation and preservation of Indigenous culture, all the while creating a flourishing community here in the Ozark mountains. To read her story in full, “Águila” is out now both for online order and in local bookstores around the NWA area. Arco Iris Earth Care Project also provides volunteer and internship opportunities for people who would like to get involved in both spiritual learning and sustainable lifestyle practices.