"We Are all Indigenous
to Mother Earth"
Hereditary Chief Phil Lane Jr.
Long Standing Leadership
Hereditary Chief Phil Lane Jr.
Chief Phil Lane Jr.
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Hereditary Chief Phil Lane Jr. is an enrolled member of the Ihanktonwan Dakota and Chickasaw Nations and is an internationally recognized leader in human, community, and economic development. He was born at the Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, Kansas in 1944, where his mother and father met and attended school.
During the past 50 years, Chief Lane has worked with Indigenous Peoples from North, Central and South America, Micronesia, South East Asia, India, Hawaii, and Africa. He served 16 years as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada (1980-1996).
With Chief Lane's guidance and applied experience, Four Worlds International Institute (FWII) , founded in 1982, has become an internationally recognized leader in human, community, and economic development because of the Institute’s unique focus on the importance of culture and spirituality in all elements of development. Both Four Directions International and First Nations Solar serve FWII's economic development arm. Both, dedicated to the development of sustainable commercial enterprises that support holistic, political, social, cultural, environmental, and educational development.
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Commitment and Leadership
In 1982, with Indigenous elders and spiritual leaders from across North, America, Chief Lane founded the Four Worlds International Institute (FWII). FWII became an independent Institute in 1995. As well, Phil is Chairman of Four Directions International, First Nations Solar, Compassion Games International, and is a Global Trustee of the United Religions Initiative.
In August 1992, Chief Lane was the first Indigenous person to win the prestigious Windstar Award, presented annually by the late John Denver and the Windstar Foundation. The Windstar Award recognizes a global citizen whose personal and professional life exemplifies a commitment to a global perspective, operates with awareness of the spiritual dimension of human existence, and demonstrates concrete actions that benefit humankind and all living systems of the Earth.
In November 2000, Chief Lane received the Year 2000 Award for Freedom and Human Rights in Berne, Switzerland. Chief Lane was the first North or South American person to win this award. The Swiss Foundation gave this Award for Freedom and Human Rights in recognition of Chief Lane's, "Unique contributions to improving the lives and future hopes of Indigenous populations. In particular, his merits of promoting freedom and justice for Indigenous Peoples by building human and spiritual capacity, rather than opposing oppression directly and his international visionary initiatives with Indigenous populations by healing the root causes of hopelessness and despair."
In June 2008, Chief Lane was awarded the 14th Annual Ally Award by the Center for Healing Racism in Houston, Texas. The Ally Award presented annually by the Center for the Healing of Racism, Houston, Texas, honors the achievements of those dedicated to achieving harmony of all ethnic and cultural groups
In 2008, Chief Lane completed a three-year tenure as CEO of the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation (UIATF) in Seattle, Washington 2008. He served as Director of Planning and Education and Assistant Executive Director of UIATF from 1973-1980. The Foundation's achievements during his tenures include the launching of the First Native American Film Festival and the development of a host of innovative education programs. These innovative programs ranged from elementary and high school curriculum design and development, adult education, early childhood education, and the launching of a $3.5 million holistic poverty-alleviation program model for urban Indigenous Peoples.
Since 2008, Chief Lane has stepped into global leadership. He is Chairman of the Four Worlds International Institute (FWII), Four Directions International, First Nations Solar, the International Compassion Games, a Global Trustee of the United Religions Initiative (URI), a member of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, (AISES), Council of Elders. He also serves as Faculty Member of the Shift Network and Host of Shift’s Global Indigenous Wisdom Summits , and Honorary Advisor to the Help Foundation of the Beijing Women's and Children’s Development Foundation.
In June 2013, the Four Worlds Foundation officially opened at the City of Knowledge in Panama City, Panama. It is the only Indigenous NGO, of the 250 NGOS, United Nations Agencies, Educational Institutions, and Businesses centered at the City of Knowledge. The Four World Foundation is the International Hub for actualizing the Reunion of the Condor, Quetzal, and Eagle across the Americas and beyond via the Fourth Way.
