Grandfather Great Spirit

 

All over the world the faces
of living ones are alike.

With tenderness they have
come up out of the ground.

Look upon your children

that they may face the winds
And walk the good road to the Day of Quiet.

Grandfather Great Spirit
Fill us with the Light.
Give us the strength to understand,
And the eyes to see.

Teach us to walk the soft Earth
as relatives to all that live.

First to Last Breath

Children were taught that true politeness was to be defined in actions rather than in words. They were never allowed to pass between the fire and the older person or a visitor, to speak while others were speaking, or to make fun of a crippled or disfigured person. If a child thoughtlessly tried to do so, a parent, in a quiet voice, immediately set him right.
Expressions such as "excuse me," "pardon me," and "so sorry" now so often lightly and unnecessarily used, are not in the Lakota language. If one chanced to injure or cause inconvenience to another wanunhecun, or "mistake," was spoken. This was sufficient to indicate that no discourtesy was intended and that what happened was accidental.
Our young people, raised under old rules of courtesy, never indulged in the present habit of talking incessantly and all at the same time. To do so would have been not only impolite, but foolish; for poise, so much admired as a social grace, could not be accompanied by restlessness. Pauses were acknowledged gracefully and did not cause lack of ease or embarrassment.
In talking to children, the old Lakota would place a hand on the ground and explain: "We sit in the lap of our Mother. From her we, and all other living things, come. We shall soon pass, but the place where we now rest will last forever." So we, too, learned to sit or lie on the ground and become conscious of life about us in its multitude of forms.
Sometimes we boys would sit motionless and watch the swallows, the tiny ants, or perhaps some small animal at its work and ponder its industry and ingenuity; or we lay on our backs and looked long at the sky, and when the stars came out made shapes from the various groups.
Everything was possessed of personality, only differing from us in form. Knowledge was inherent in all things. The world was a library and its books were the stones, leaves, grass, brooks, and the birds and animals that shared, alike with us, the storms and blessings of earth. We learned to do what only the student of nature learns, and that was to feel beauty. We never railed at the storms, the furious winds, and the biting frosts and snows. To do so intensified human futility, so whatever came we adjusted ourselves, by more effort and energy if necessary, but without complaint.
Even the lightning did us no harm, for whenever it came too close, mothers and grandmothers in every tipi put cedar leaves on the coals and their magic kept danger away. Bright days and dark days were both expressions of the Great Mystery, and the Indian reveled in being close to the Great Holiness.
Observation was certain to have its rewards. Interest, wonder, admiration grew, and the fact was appreciated that life was more than mere human manifestation; it was expressed in a multitude of forms.
This appreciation enriched Lakota existence. Life was vivid and pulsing; nothing was casual and commonplace. The Indian lived - lived in every sense of the word - from his first to his last breath.

- Chief Luther Standing Bear - Oglala Sioux

Path of Destruction

 

When we Indians kill meat, we eat it all up. When we dig roots, we make little holes. When we build houses, we make little holes. When we burn grass for grasshoppers, we don't ruin things. We shake down acorns and pine nuts. We don't chop down the trees. We only use dead wood. But the white people plow up the ground, pull down the trees, kill everything. ... the White people pay no attention. ...How can the spirit of the earth like the White man? ... everywhere the White man has touched it, it is sore. - Wintu Woman, 19th Century

Honor Your Gifts

 

I've just finished reading two of Kent Nerburn's insightful novels about our first people and how their lives today are important to our own spiritual lives and the lives of our children in their future here on Mother Earth. "Neither Wolf Nor Dog" and its sequel, "the Wolf at Twilight" are both honest views of our indigenous people & how their spiritual lives today reflect their past in today's world & will continue to impact our future if we will only but listen...  - SENECAWOLF

 

“Remember to be gentle with yourself and others. We are all children of chance and none can say why some fields will blossom while others lay brown beneath the August sun. Care for those around you. Look past your differences. Their dreams are no less than yours, their choices no more easily made. And give, give in any way you can, of whatever you posses. To give is to love. To withhold is to wither. Care less for your harvest than for how it is shared and your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace.” - KENT NERBURN

Kent Nerburn's Books 

Walk with me

 

If through experience, your soul

Has gained new heights which I

As yet in dim-lit vision see,

Hold out your hand and point the way,

Lest from its straightness I should stray,

And walk a mile with me.

- UNKNOWN 

New York State Tries to Renege On Treaty With Seneca Nation

 

 

Seneca Nation Response to Governor Paterson's Budget Announcement to Collect Taxes on Indian Lands

CATTARAUGUS TERRITORY, N.Y., Jan. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- "It is the goal of the Seneca Nation to restore economic vitality to our homeland and to the Western New York region," said Seneca Nation President Barry E. Snyder, Sr. "We are encouraged by Governor Paterson's desire to engage in a rational dialogue to discuss outstanding matters between the Nation and the State."
"However, New York State's leadership must not forget that the Canandaigua Treaty of 1794 makes a promise to the Seneca Nation and the other Six Nations unlike any other Indian treaty," said Snyder.  "It not only provides that the United States will recognize title to our lands, but also that we will be recognized in the 'free use and enjoyment' of those lands."
"This means that no other government has the right to interfere in how we use our lands without our consent. It is for this reason that New York State has no authority over us, our lands, or the commerce taking place on our lands," said Snyder. "We have fought hard to recover from the dispossession of our traditional economy due to the loss of our lands over 200 years ago.  We will not be the State's tax collectors and we will defend our freedom regardless of the cost."
More on New York State's attempt to steal from Seneca Nation

The Love of God

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
 

And were the skies of parchment made;
 

Were ev’ry stalk on earth a quill,
 

And ev’ry man a scribe by trade;
 

To write the love of God above
 

Would drain the ocean dry;
 

Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
 

Tho’ stretched from sky to sky

- F. M. Lehman, “The Love of God,” Favorites No. 2,” (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1946, 1974)

Good Timber

 

Good timber does not grow in ease,

The stronger the wind, the stronger trees;

The farther sky, the greater length,

The more the storms the more the strength.

By sun and cold, by rain and snow,

In tree or man good timber grows.

-UNKNOWN 

Your Path

 

Do not allow others to make your path for you.

It is your road and yours alone.

Others may walk it with you,

But no one can walk it for you.

Accept yourself and your actions.

Own your thoughts.

Speak up when wrong, and apologize.

Know your path at all times.

To do this you must know yourself inside and out,

Accept your gifts as well as your shortcomings,

And grow each day with honesty, integrity,

compassion, faith and brotherhood.

- TERRI JEAN, 365 Days of Walking the Red Road

Prayer

You've been lucky... Lucky to suffer and lucky to spend these weary months in bed. For so God has given you a chance to make the spirit within yourself. And as your father cleans his lamp to have good light, so keep clean your spirit, huh?...By prayer, ... And by prayer, I don't mean shouting, mumbling, and wallowing like a hog in religious sentiment. Prayer is only another name for good, clean, direct thinking. When you pray, think. Think well what you're saying. Make your thoughts into things that are solid. In that way, your prayer will have strength, and that strength will become a part of you, body, mind, and spirit. The first duty of these new legs is to get you to chapel on Sunday.  - Richard Llewellyn(author), Philip Dunne(screenwriter), How Green Was My Valley 1941 http://www.filmsite.org/howg.html

Be My Valentine

 

It is in loving, not in being loved, the heart is blessed; 

It is in giving, not in seeking gifts, we find our quest;

Whatever be your longing or your need, that give;

So shall your soul be fed, and you shall live.

-UNKNOWN 

"Nobody's free until everybody's free."

 

 

This little light o' mine, I'm gonna let it shine,

This little light o' mine, I'm gonna let it shine,

This little light o' mine, I'm gonna let it shine,

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

- HARRY DIXON LOES, 1920

Spring's New Hope

 

Behold, my brothers, the spring has come, the earth has received the embraces of the sun and we shall soon see the results of that love!

Every seed is awakened and so has all animal life. It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being and we therefore yield to our neighbors, even our animal neighbors,

the same right as ourselves, to inhabit this land.

Yet, hear me, people, we have now to deal with another race - small and feeble when our fathers first met them but now great and overbearing. Strangely enough they have a mind to till the soil and the love of possession is a disease with them. These people have made many rules that the rich may break but the poor may not. They take tithes[taxes] from the poor and weak to support the rich who rule.

They claim this mother of ours, the earth, for their own and fence their neighbors away; they deface her with their buildings and their refuse. That nation is like a spring freshet that overruns its banks and destroys all who are in its path.

We cannot dwell side by side. Only seven years ago we made a treaty by which we were assured that the buffalo country should be left to us forever. Now they threaten to take that away from us. My brothers, shall we submit or shall we say to them: "First kill me before you take possession of my Fatherland[home]..."

- TATANKA YOTANKA, SITTING BULL, HUNKPAPA TETON SIOUX 

Neil's Old Guitar

 

This old guitar ain't mine to keep

Just taking care of it now

It's been around for years and years

Just waiting in its old case

Its been up and down the country roads

Its brought a tear and a smile

Its seen its share of dreams and hopes

And never went out of style

The more I play it, the better it sounds

It cries when I leave it alone

Silently it waits for me

Or someone else I suppose

This old guitar

This old guitar caught some breaks

But it never searched for gold

It can't be blamed for my mistakes

It only does what its told

Its been a messenger in times of trouble

In times of hope and fear

When I get drunk and seeing double

It jumps behind the wheel and steers

This old guitar ain't mine to keep

Its mine to play for awhile

This old guitar ain't mine to keep

Its only mine for awhile

This old guitar

- NEIL YOUNG

Mother is Sore

"The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. But how can you buy or sell the sky? the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?" - CHIEF SEATTLE

Prayer for the Day

 

 

Dear Father, 

I am blessed today to be one of your children.  I appreciate Your handiwork in all that You have created.  I stand in awe that You made it

all for mankind so that they might enjoy it and be blessed in it.  Thank you for the beauty of the mountains, the glorious sunsets and the blue skies with

those patches of little white clouds on a nice day. Thank you that I have eyes to see all of Your great artistic work in the creation of the earth. Lord,

forgive me when I am tempted to complain about anything.  I really have nothing to complain about when I have the Creator of the whole universe as my Father

and friend.  May I be a good friend to You and serve You faithfully every day of my life.  Use me today to bless and help others.  I ask this in Your Son's name
 Amen.

When God Made Me

 

Was he thinking about my country or the color of my skin?

Was he thinkin' 'bout my religion, and the way I worshipped him?

Did he just create me in his image, or every living thing?

When God made me.

When God made me.

Was he planning only for believers, or for those who just had faith?

Did he envision all the wars that were fought in his name?

Did he think there was only one way to be close to him?

When God made me.

When God made me.

Did he give us the gift of love to say who we could choose?

When God made me.

When God made me.

Did he give me the gift of voice so some could silence me?

Did he give me the gift of vision not knowing what I might see?

Did he give me the gift of compassion to help my fellow man?

When God made me.

When God made me.

When God made me.

When God made me.

- NEIL YOUNG

Did you ever consider why Neil would pen a song about God? I mean Neil's a 'rock 'n' roller, isn't he?

I mean I've followed his music since the 60's when he was with the Buffalo Springfield and protesting the way our country was headed back then. I really think that his mission has matured since those days. But he still writes songs that stir the soul and make you think. Have you listened to him lately or thought that he was dead. Have you ever thought about why God made you? I have... - YO:NIH ONONDAWAGA, SENECA

A Beautiful Message

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news of peace and salvation. - ISAIAH 52:7 NLT

  People need hope. They try to find it in many things, but the only real and lasting hope is in God. That is why it is wonderful to be his representative. Most people have a distorted perception of God - either as a controlling taskmaster or an impersonal being that does not bother to intervene.

  Yet you know who he really is - the God who gives Joy and Eternal Life. Today, tell others the beautiful message of the God of hope so that they can experience his peace and salvation as well. You will find their gratitude is utterly overwhelming when they finally meet and embrace the God they've longed to know.

Dear God, I praise you for your beautiful message. Help me to repeat it to those who need hope so they may know you as well. Amen 

This Kind of Love

 

You speak to me through a broken window
You are alive in an old oak tree
You hold me close when the winter wind blows
I hear your footsteps on the street

I feel your prsence in the early mornin'
I dream of you in the darkest nite
You call to me without a warning
I see your face in the fires lite

This kind of love you cannot hold
This kind of love it has no shame
This kind of love is never old
This kind of love you cannot hold
This kind of love you cannot tame

You found a way through all my secrets
And made my proud defenses fall
This kind of love it has no distance
This kind of love it knows no walls

This kind of love you cannot hold
This kind of love it has no shame
This kind of love is never old
This kind of love you cannot hold
This kind of love you cannot tame
This kind of love is without blame

- BILL MILLER

The Oldest Living Participatory Democracy On Earth

 

Oh Eagle, come with wings outspread in sunny skies.

Oh Eagle, come and bring us peace, thy gentle peace.

Oh Eagle, come and give new life to us who pray.

Remember the circle of the sky, the stars, 

and the brown eagle, the great life of the Sun,

the young within the nest.

Remember the sacredness of things.

- PAWNEE PRAYER