Soma

Sacred Earth => Native American: The Red Road [Public] => Topic started by: nichi on November 13, 2006, 12:22:38 AM

Title: Native Hearts
Post by: nichi on November 13, 2006, 12:22:38 AM
Hekura Song (Iramamowe's)

After days of calling the hekura of
the hummingbird,
she finally came to me.
Dazzled, I watched her dance.
I fainted on the ground
and did not feel as she
pierced my throat
and tore out my tongue.
I did not see how my blood
flowed into the river,
tinting the water red.
She filled the gap with precious feathers.
That is why I know the hekura songs.
That is why I sing so well.

Shabono .....
Florinda Donner
Title: Native Hearts
Post by: nichi on January 27, 2008, 11:35:38 PM

  dreaming into the ground

 
  Coming onto the golden belly
  of this mother the earth
  where the winds talk
  and the stones cast no shadows
  i was dreaming
  my face in the ground
  belly to belly
  i wept into the earth
  a dreaming
  but when it was there
  it was a singing
  my mouth as wide
  as the heart of the earth
  into the ground I was dreaming
  all dressed in hair
 
  Tobacco Indian
 
Title: Flower Song
Post by: nichi on January 27, 2008, 11:47:38 PM
FLOWER SONG

 
The most alluring moon
has risen over the forest;
it is going to burn
suspended in the center
of the sky to lighten
all the earth, all the woods,
shining its light on all.
Sweetly comes the air and the perfume.
Happiness permeates all good men.
 
We have arrived inside the woods
where no one will see what we have
come here to do.
 
We have brought plumeria flowers,
chucum blossoms, dog jasmines;
we have the copal,
the low cane vine,
the land tortoise shell,
new quartz, chalk and cotton thread;
the new chocolate cup,
the large fine flint,
the new weight,
the new needle work,
gifts of turkeys, new leather,
all new, even our hair bands,
they touch us with nectar
of the roaring conch shell
of the ancients.
 
Already, already
we are in the heart of the woods,
at the edge of the pool in the stone
to await the rising
of the lovely smoking star
over the forest.
Take off your clothes,
let down your hair,
become as you were
when you arrived here on earth,
virgins, maidens.



The Songs of Dzitblaché
Ancient Mayan Lyrics
Ah Bam Translation 18th Century
Original 14th Century and prior

Title: ICNOCUICATL
Post by: nichi on January 28, 2008, 12:19:17 AM
ICNOCUICATL


Waking up,
I dream this life.

My time on earth
Is borrowed.
In an instant
One day
I must leave.


NAHUATL SHAMAN


Title: Solitary Bird
Post by: nichi on January 28, 2008, 12:51:14 AM
The conditions of a solitary bird are five:
The first, that it flies to the highest point;
the second, that it does not suffer for company,
not even of its own kind;
the third, that it aims its beak to the skies;
the fourth, that it does not have a definitive color;
the fifth, that it sings softly.



San Juan de la Cruz
'Dichos de Luz y Amor'
(from Carlos Castaneda, 'Tales of Power')
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: nichi on January 28, 2008, 12:56:01 AM
Don Juan's Song

(Que lejos estoy del cielo donde he nacido.  Immense nostalgia invade
mi pensamiento.  Ahora que estoy tan solo y triste cual hoja al viento, quisiera llorar, quisiera reir de sentimiento.)


I'm so far away from the sky where I was born.   
Immense nostalgia invades my thoughts.
Now that I am so alone and sad like a leaf in the wind,
sometimes I want to weep,
sometimes I want to laugh with longing.

Journey to Ixtlan
Carlos Castaneda
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: nichi on January 28, 2008, 01:01:57 AM
Three Flint

Woman, who is born in the silence of the night
from the conch shell, she breathes the air from this red world
and though the truth is hidden behind the stones,
she can be seen dancing with death before the steam bath
stone woman, stone woman, my stone woman
By the river of the white palm and in the presence
of the gods, stone woman comes down naked from the sky
red and pearls are her dress, during the sun of movement,
she arrives,
stone woman, stone woman, my stone woman


Lila Downs


Stone seed

I am the daughter of a man of stone
a deer and wind gave birth to me
I was born the color of the earth
from a fire and steam bath
I searched the world for my purpose
I believed the truths of others
from my conscience the need arose
to seek the sky of my childhood
I returned to the sanctuary of stone and clay men
back to the womb of blood stained by everything
to the land of childhood and death
to the wind that set my luck
I came back to the land of sentiment
where I could not find what I was looking for
for this moment I have lived
today, I have gained my lost pride.

Lila Downs

Title: From Cantares Mexicanos
Post by: nichi on January 28, 2008, 11:42:50 PM
Cuicapeuhcáyotl, The Origin of the Beginning


Beginning of the Songs

I speak from my heart.
From whence shall I take the beautiful, fragrant flowers?
Whom shall I ask?
Perhaps I should ask the lovely hummingbird,
the jade-colored hummingbird?
Perchance I must ask the butterfly the color of the zacuan (1).
For they possess the knowledge,
they know where the beautiful,
fragrant flowers bloom.
I shall enter the forest of fir trees
where the tzinitzcan (2) birds live,
or perhaps I shall enter the flowery woods
where the red quechol (3) lives.
There they bow in dewy splendor
beneath the rays of the sun,
there they are made joyful.
Perhaps I shall see them there?
If they are shown to me,
I will gather them in my lap
and thus I will salute the princes;
I will please the lords.

2.

Truly they live in this place,
I hear their flowery song.
It is as if the mountain could respond to them.
In truth the precious water flows
beside the fountain of the xiuhtototl (4).
The centzontle, bird of four hundred voices,
sends forth his songs.
He answers himself with songs,
the coyoltototl answers him.
There the music of timbrels,
varied, beautiful songbirds.
There they praise the Lord of the Earth;
their voices resound.

3.

I say, I cry out with sadness,
that I will not annoy you,
whom he loves.
Soon they kept silent.
Then the beautiful hummingbird came to speak:
singer, whom do you seek?
I answer him immediately,
I say,
where are the beautiful flowers
with which I must create joy
in those who are like you?
Later they warbled intensely to me:
singer, we must show them to you,
perhaps in this way you will truly give joy
to those who are like us, the lords.

4.

Inside the mountains,
at the Place of our Sustenance,
at the Flowery Land they introduced me;
there where the dew shines with the rays of the sun.
There I saw
the varied, precious, perfumed flowers,
the beloved, aromatic flowers bedecked in dew,
with the splendor of the rainbow.
There they say to me:
cut, cut flowers,
those that you prefer,
enjoy yourself, singer,
you will come to proffer them
to our friends, the lords,
to those who give happiness to the Lord of the Earth.

5.

And I put in my lap the varied,
fragrant flowers, the pleasing ones,
those that make one happy.
I say:
ah, if one were to enter,
we would take a great many.
But, now that I have become aware,
I will go and tell our friends.
We always come here to cut
the precious, varied, fragrant flowers
and to gather the diverse and beautiful songs.
With these we shall give pleasure to our friends,
the lords of the earth,
the princes, eagles, tigers.

6.

Then I went to gather everything, I the singer.
Thus I place flowers upon the heads of the princes,
thus I adorn them,
I fill their hands with flowers.
Later, I intone a beautiful song,
with which the lords are exalted,
before the Omnipresent One.
But he who deserves nothing,
from whence must he take,
must he look for the fragrant flowers?
Perhaps he will approach the Flowered Land with me,
the Land of our Sustenance?
Those there are who merit nothing,
those there are who suffer,
those there are who do not value earthly goods.
In truth only the Omnipresent One
decides who shall deserve
the flowers here on earth.
For this my heart weeps,
I remember that I have gone over there
to contemplate the Flowery Land,
I the singer.

7.

And I say,
truly there is no good place
here on earth,
truly there is another place where we must go,
there is joy in the beyond.
Is all only in vain on earth?
There is another place where life becomes disembodied.
I am going over there,
I am going to sing
at the side of the varied and precious birds,
there I would enjoy the gorgeous and fragrant flowers,
the most pleasing ones,
those that bring joy,
those that enrapture one with pleasure,
those that intoxicate, that with their fragrance
bring joy.

~Translated from the Nahuatl in the 16th Century


1. Beautiful golden-yellow colored bird
2. Trogon Mexicanus, a bird known for its splendid plumage
3. An aquatic bird, brilliant red
4. Cotinga amabilis or turquoise bird
Title: Hungry Coyote
Post by: nichi on January 29, 2008, 01:19:08 AM
A SONG

The destruction of the Mexican state was foreshadowed by a series of omens and prodigies which took place during the ten years preceding the arrival of Cortes. By the "smoking stars" is meant a comet that was visible for about a year.

The sweet-voiced quetzal there, ruling the earth, has intoxicated my soul.
I am like the quetzal bird, I am created in the one and only God;
I sing sweet songs among the flowers; I chant songs and rejoice in my heart.
The fuming dewdrops from the flowers in the fields intoxicate my soul.
I grieve to myself that ever this dwelling on earth should end.
I foresaw, being a Mexican, that our rule began to be destroyed,
I went forth weeping that it was to bow down and to be destroyed.
Let me not be angry that the grandeur of Mexico is to be destroyed.
The smoking stars gather against it: the one who cares for flowers is about to be destroyed.
He who cared for books wept, he wept for the beginning of the destruction.

Nezahualcoyotl ("Fasting Coyote") of Texcoco
A pre-eminent poet-ruler of the 15th century.
1402-1472, pre-Cortes.


From The Flower Songs of Hungry Coyote
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: tangerine dream on January 29, 2008, 04:38:29 AM
Vicki,
Where are you finding all these precious gems??!!
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: nichi on January 29, 2008, 05:03:28 AM
(All over!  :-*)

http://forums.delphiforums.com/creaturehood/start (my 8yo forum, which means that I don't remember now from whence many came. If anyone wishes to get into that, one can make a delphi account, and then the password to the forum is forestkin)

http://www.indigenouspeople.net/poetry1.htm

http://www.wordswithoutborders.org/article.php?lab=OpeningPoem

http://www.carnaval.com/dead/aztec_poetry.htm

http://www.theosophy.org

Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: tangerine dream on January 29, 2008, 06:23:12 AM
Wow!
Thanks!
Will save these links when I get home.
(Am at the library right now for peace and privacy.  Aaaaaahhhhhhhh 8))
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: nichi on March 10, 2008, 04:48:09 PM
Crazy Horse Speaks

by Sherman Alexie

1.
I discovered the evidence
in a vault of The Mormon Church
3,000 skeletons of my cousins
in a silence so great
I built four walls around it
and gave it my name.
I called it Custer
and he came to me
again in a dream.
He forgave all my sins.

2.
Little Big Horn
Little Big Horn does not belong to me.
I was there
my horse exploded under me.
I searched for Long Hair
the man you call Custer
the man I call My Father.
But it wasn't me who killed him
it was __________
who cut off his head
and left the body for proof.
I dream of him
and search doorways and alleys
for his grave.
General George Armstrong Custer
my heart is beating
survive survive survive.

3.
I wear the color of my skin
like a brown paper bag
wrapped around a bottle.
Sleeping between
the pages of the dictionaries
your language cuts
tears holes in my tongue
until I do not have strength
to use the word love.
What could it mean
in this city where everyone is
Afraid-of-Horses?

4.
There are places I cannot leave.
Rooms without doors or windows
the eternal ribcage.
I sat across the fire
from Sitting Bull
shared smoke and eyes.
We both saw the same thing
our futures tight and small
an 8 1/2 by 11 dream
called the reservation.
We had no alternatives
but to fight again and again
live our lives on horseback.
After the Civil War
the number of Indian warriors
in The West doubled
tripled the numbers of soldiers
but Indians never shared
the exact skin
never the same home.

5.
History.
History is never the truth.
So much happen
in the space between
touching and becoming.
I dream Custer
walking along the hills
of Little Big Horn
counting blades of grass
trying to find some measurement
of why he fell.
I tell him the exact number
and the story
about the grandmother
the mother and the daughter
who did the counting
each growing larger
and larger with every word.

6.
I am the mirror
practicing masks
and definitions.
I have always wanted to be anonymous
instead of the crazy skin
who rode his horse backwards
and laid down alone.
It was never easy
to be frightened
by the sound of a color.
I can still hear white
it is the sound
of glass shattering.

7.
I hear the verdict
in the museum in New York
where five Eskimos were flown in
to be a living exhibit.
Three died within days
lacking natural immunity
their hearts miles
and miles from thin ice.
The three dead Eskimo
were stuffed and mounted
hunched over a fishing hole
next to the two living
who held their thin hands
close to their chests
mortal and sinless.

8.
Whenever it all begins again
I will be waiting.

 

http://florycanto.net/
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Jennifer- on March 22, 2008, 01:39:12 AM
I love this whole thread Vicki! It had slipped away into the posting of Soma to stay hidden to me until this cold windy morning.

Thank you!

Quote
One of my favorites..

The conditions of a solitary bird are five:
The first, that it flies to the highest point;
the second, that it does not suffer for company,
not even of its own kind;
the third, that it aims its beak to the skies;
the fourth, that it does not have a definitive color;
the fifth, that it sings softly.



San Juan de la Cruz
'Dichos de Luz y Amor'
(from Carlos Castaneda, 'Tales of Power')

Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: nichi on March 23, 2008, 09:30:36 PM
A MOTHER OF THE WASHITA

BY NOKWISA TAWO'DI

DOWN A DARKENED PATHWAY
FLEEING FOR MY LIFE
THE CANNONS ALL AROUND ME
THE SOUNDS OF DEATH AND STRIFE
FRIGHTENED AND COLD, I WAS RUNNING
I CLUTCHED MY CHILD SO TIGHT
I HEARD THE HORSES COMING
I FELT THE BULLET STRIKE
MY LIFE-BLOOD POURED FROM ME
THE BULLETS CAME LIKE RAIN
I FELL UPON THE FROZEN GROUND
MY SPIRIT TO REMAIN
TO WALK THIS GOOD LAND
WITH ALL OF THOSE I KNEW
WATCHING OVER MY LITTLE ONE
AND THE MAN INTO WHICH HE
GREW....



*I can find no other work by or information about this poet, who might be "Ann Monken" or "Star hawk".
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: nichi on July 05, 2008, 12:42:15 AM
Three Lakota Songs


May the sun rise in splendor
May the earth appear in light

~~~~~

A wind
wears
me

Look

It is
sacred


~~~~~


A rainbow hoop
wears
me

Everybody
sees me
coming
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: nichi on August 08, 2008, 11:15:42 PM
George Carlin on Indians, as found on Joy Harjo's site:

"Now the Indians. I call them Indians because that's what they are.
They're Indians. There's nothing wrong with the word Indian.

"First of all, it's important to know that the word Indian does not derive from Columbus mistakenly believing he had reached 'India.' India was not even called by that name in 1492; it was known as Hindustan.

More likely, the word Indian comes from Columbus's description of the people he found here. He was an Italian, and did not speak or write very good Spanish, so in his written accounts he called the Indians, "Una gente in Dios." A people in God. In God. In Dios. Indians. It's a perfectly noble and respectable word.

As far as calling them 'Americans' is concerned, do I even have to
point out what an insult this is? ----- We steal their hemisphere, kill twenty or so million of them, destroy five hundred separate cultures, herd the survivors onto the worst land we can find, and now we want to name them after ourselves? It's appalling. Haven't we done enough damage? Do we have to further degrade them by tagging them with the repulsive name of their conquerors?

You know, you'd think it would be a fairly simple thing to come over to this continent, commit genocide, eliminate the forests, dam up the rivers, build our malls and massage parlors, sell our blenders and whoopee cushions, poison ourselves with chemicals, and let it go at that. But no. We have to compound the insult....

I'm glad the Indians have gambling casinos now. It makes me happy that dimwitted white people are losing their rent money to the Indians. Maybe the Indians will get lucky and win their country back. Probably wouldn't want it. Look at what we did to it."



http://www.joyharjo.com/news/
Title: John Trudell, Crazy Horse
Post by: nichi on September 22, 2008, 04:21:48 PM
http://www.youtube.com/v/Ku8ga-krBe4&hl=en&fs=1

Trudell/Sahme (aka Quiltman)

Crazy Horse
We Hear what you say
One earth one mother
One does not sell the earth
The people walk upon
We are the land
How do we sell our mother
How do we sell the stars
How do we sell the air
Crazy Horse
We hear what you say

Too many people
Standing their ground
Standing the wrong ground
Predators face he possessed a race
Possession a war that doesn't end
Children of god feed on children of earth
Days people don't care for people
These days are the hardest
Material fields material harvest
decoration on chains that binds
Mirrors gold the people lose their minds
Crazy Horse
We Hear what you say
One earth one mother
One does not sell the earth
The people walk upon
We are the land
Today is now and then
Dream smokes touch the clouds
On a day when death didn't die
Real world time tricks shadows lie
Red white perception deception
Predator tries civilising us
But the tribes will not go without return
Genetic light from the other side
A song from the heart our hearts to give
The wild days the glory days live

Crazy Horse
We Hear what you say
One earth one mother
One does not sell the earth
The people walk upon
We are the land
How do we sell our mother
How do we sell the stars
How do we sell the air

Crazy Horse
We hear what you say
Crazy Horse
We hear what you say
We are the seventh generation
We are the seventh generation

John Trudell spoken word
Quiltman Traditional Vocals
Mark Shark slide guitar and percussion
Ricky Eckstein Keyboards and percussion
Billy Watts Electric guitar
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: nichi on January 24, 2009, 10:47:55 PM
Sometimes I go about pitying myself,
and all the time
I am being carried on great winds across the sky.

~Ojibway (Anonymous)
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on February 27, 2009, 10:38:18 AM
We only rise from sleep, we only come to dream,
it is not true, it is not true, that we come on earth to live.
 
Tochihuitzin Coyolchiuhqui
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on February 27, 2009, 11:18:13 AM
Not always on earth;
Only a short while here.
Even jade splits.
Even gold breaks.
Even the quetzal's feathers fall.
Not always on earth;
Only a short while here."
 
Nezahualcoyotl (Hungry Coyote), Last Emperor of Texcoco
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on March 24, 2009, 04:07:20 AM
Teach Us and Show Us the Way

We call upon the earth, our planet home, with its beautiful depths and soaring
heights, its vitality and abundance of life, and together we ask that it

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the mountains, the Cascades and the Olympics, the high green
valleys and meadows filled with wild flowers, the snows that never melt, the
summits of intense silence, and we ask that they

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the waters that rim the earth, horizon to horizon, that flow in our
rivers and streams, that fall upon our gardens and fields and we ask that they

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the land which grows our food, the nurturing soil, the fertile fields,
the abundant gardens and orchards, and we ask that they

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the forests, the great trees reaching strongly to the sky with earth in
their roots and the heavens in their branches, the fir and the pine and the
cedar, and we ask them to

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the creatures of the fields and forests and the seas, our brothers and
sisters the wolves and deer, the eagle and dove, the great whales and the dolphin,
the beautiful Orca and salmon who share our Northwest home, and we ask them to

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon all those who have lived on this earth, our ancestors and our friends,
who dreamed the best for future generations, and upon whose lives our lives are
built, and with thanksgiving, we call upon them to

Teach us, and show us the Way.

And lastly, we call upon all that we hold most sacred, the presence and power of
the Great Spirit of love and truth which flows through all the Universe, to be with
us to

Teach us, and show us the Way.


~Chinook (Anonymous)
 

 

from The Essential Mystics: Selections from the World's Great Wisdom Traditions, Edited by Andrew Harvey
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on March 07, 2010, 03:33:48 PM
CALLING-ONE'S-OWN
OJIBWA


Awake! flower of the forest, sky-treading bird of the prairie.
Awake! awake! wonderful fawn-eyed One.
When you look upon me I am satisfied; as flowers that drink dew.
The breath of your mouth is the fragrance of flowers in the morning,
Your breath is their fragrance at evening in the moon-of-fading-leaf.
Do not the red streams of my veins run toward you
As forest-streams to the sun in the moon of bright nights?
When you are beside me my heart sings; a branch it is, dancing,
Dancing before the Wind-spirit in the moon of strawberries.
When you frown upon me, beloved, my heart grows dark—
A shining river the shadows of clouds darken,
Then with your smiles comes the sun and makes to look like gold
Furrows the cold wind drew in the water's face.
Myself! behold me! blood of my beating heart.


Earth smiles—the waters smile—even the sky-of-clouds smiles—but I,
I lose the way of smiling when you are not near,
Awake! awake! my beloved.
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on March 07, 2010, 03:37:35 PM
HOLY SONG
(WINNEBAGO)
   

(Saith the Spirit,
"Dream, oh, dream again,
And tell of me,
        Dream thou!")


Into solitude went I
And wisdom was revealed to me.
    (Saith the Spirit,
"Dream, oh, dream again,
And tell of me,
        Dream thou!")


Let the whole world hear me,
Wise am I!
    (Now saith the Spirit,
"Tell of me,
        Dream thou!")

All was revealed to me;
From the beginning
Know I all, hear me!
All was revealed to me!
    (Now saith the Spirit,
"Tell of me,
        Dream thou!")
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on March 07, 2010, 03:41:05 PM
LOVE-SONG
(WINNEBAGO)

Whomsoe’er look I upon
    He becomes love-crazed;
Whomsoe’er speak I unto,
    He becomes love-crazed;
Whomsoe’er whisper I to,
    He becomes love-crazed;
All men who love women,
Them I rule, them I rule,
    My friend;
Whom I touch, whom I touch,
    He becomes love-crazed.

Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on March 08, 2010, 02:20:27 PM
FIRE-FLY SONG
(OJIBWA)

Flitting white-fire insects!
Wandering small-fire beasts!
Wave little stars about my bed!
Weave little stars into my sleep!
Come, little dancing white-fire bug,
Come, little flitting white-fire beast!
Light me with your white-flame magic,
Your little star-torch.
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on March 08, 2010, 02:40:33 PM
EARTH-MOTHER

O, ho, yo,
O, ho, yo,
To thee, my life,
To thee, my wife,
To thee, my mother—

Who are these the many-feeding?
Heaps of horns,
Hills of fur—
To thee, I come to partake of food,
My mother,
O, ho—

So say’th the spring,
So say’th the wing,
So say’th my mother—

Thus, it was I heard the feet beat—
My ear down,
On the ground—
Yea, I put my lips to thee and drank song,
My mother,
O, ho—

So cries the tree,
So cries the sea,
So cries my mother—

There, the word was overheard,
By the cactus
Standing lone—
Yea, by the cypress thou wilt teach me,
My mother,
O, ho—

So walks the light,
So walks the night,
So walks my mother—

Even unto the long black shadows,
Goeth the frail thing,
Evening star—
Whither thou goeth and thy smile go I,
My mother.
O, ho—

So broods the dark,
So broods the bark,
So broods my mother—

Beneath the bark-blanket were the little men—
The six-legged,
Painted black and red—

Unto thee will I hide me to sleep,
My mother,
O, ho—

To thee, O breath,
To thee, O death,
To thee, my mother—

I saw it, yea in a dream, I saw it—
My soul
Arise from sleep—
In the morning, thou wilt call me,
My mother.

O, ho, yo,
O, ho, yo,
To thee, O—
Yo.


The Path on the Rainbow, edited by George W. Cronyn, [1918], at sacred-texts.com
 (http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/por/por70.htm)

Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on March 26, 2010, 05:00:01 AM
SONG OF A PASSIONATE LOVER
FROM THE YOKUT


Come not near my songs,
You who are not my lover,
Lest from out that ambush
Leaps my heart upon you!

When my songs are glowing
As an almond thicket
With the bloom upon it,
Lies my heart in ambush
All amid my singing;
Come not near my songs,
You who are not my lover!

Do not hear my songs,
You who are not my lover,
Over-sweet the heart is
Where my love has bruised it,
Breathe you not that fragrance,
You who are not my lover!
Do not stoop above my heart
With its languor on you,
Lest I should not know you
From my own belovèd,
Lest from out my singing
Leaps my heart upon you!

Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on June 26, 2010, 10:37:32 AM

In the beginning, there was blackness. Only the sea. In the beginning there was no sun, no moon, no people. In the beginning there were no animals, no plants. Only the sea.
The sea was the Mother. The Mother was not people, she was not anything. Nothing at all. She was when she was, darkly. She was memory and potential. She was aluna....

Everything we do is an event not only in the physical world but also in the spirit world. We live in a world shaped in spirit. Every tree, every stone, every river, has a spirit form, invisible to the Younger Brother. This is the world of aluna, the world of thought and spirit. Aluna embraces intelligence, soul and fertility: it is the stuff of life, the essence of reality. The material world is underpinned, shaped, given life and generative power in aluna, and the Mama's work is carried out in aluna.

"You are changing the world into light. Be not afraid of your innocence and your child nature, it is close to God. Let your imagination soar into a Dream where love surrounds all events, then "see" it as real. Let the sounds of your hearts talk to those who are not alive. You have shown them the way by your example, now "show" them the way from within. Listen, and your heart will speak. We are with you now. We will help you.".


-Kogi Indians
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on June 26, 2010, 10:54:08 AM
"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."

- Chief Luther Standing Bear
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on June 26, 2010, 10:57:40 AM
And while I stood there, I saw more than I can tell, and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being.

-Black Elk
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on June 30, 2010, 01:38:57 AM
"Handed down from my people was a story that the only duty left to us from the ancient ones was the duty of prayer, so, I became a prayer person.

"Getting old isn't for wimps. You've got to be tough. When something hits your body, you have to bounce back up through the power of the mind. I've chosen. I want to live. And I've got a lot of things left to do yet."

-Grandmother Agness Baker Pilgrim

http://www.grandmotherscouncil.com/docs/ICT_aggie.pdf
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on June 30, 2010, 06:52:46 AM
Know that you are essential to this World. Believe that. Understand that. You yourself are desperately needed. Yes, our life energy must be a gift for our future. Your life, my life, everybody’s life must follow your given path. So pray or meditate. Follow your inner path and learn just how powerful you are and learn that you are a leader for your people, your family, your children, and the Mother Earth.

- Chief Arvol Lookinghorse
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on June 30, 2010, 06:56:30 AM
"It is not enough to have a vision. In order to have its power, you must enact your vision on earth for all to see. Only then do you have the power."

- Black Elk, Lakota


Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on June 30, 2010, 06:57:01 AM
The above (and possibly subsequent) quotes taken from this (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Walking-the-Red-Road/116756885014151) page.
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on July 01, 2010, 01:39:41 AM
Within each one of us we hold our own sacred space. The way of the people tell us there are seven directions to pray. There are the four directions of the Medicine Wheel then there is the above or Father Sky and then Mother Earth. When we pray we send out these payers to the directions all around us. The seventh direction is within our own Sacred Space the very center of our physical and spiritual being here on this Earth. It is from this place we live and we pray and hold our own council for the peace to return.

From the time we are born we know our Sacred Space it is what we all carry within and can be the place that will teach us all to survive. In order to enter this space we must remain still and silent and listen to our own heart and our own minds. Once you have found the silent stillness then you can enter into this space. The place of knowing of all things is here and it will tell you how to survive if you reach it. The Wisdom Keepers are here and the Vision Keepers live in this space. This is the vibral core of our being and is connected to the Sacred Tree Of Life where all things are kept safe and pure. From this invisible connection we are fed the things we need to know for our survival. You are never alone you always surrounded by this spirit. The trees and plants are part of this spirit. Mother Earth holds the same wisdom as does all living and being things that live on her. From all these living things we draw on for our life and for our wisdom. The wheels spin within the wheels holding all things sacred and safe within their hoops. Nothing is ever rally lost just kept safe for a while until we enter the sacred hoop of life to seek the wisdom. The others who came later to this land lost their way and also lost their connection to this sacred tree. In time they too will seek out the old ways and come to learn a better way to be keepers of the Earth Mother.

Blessings Maka Nupa L Cota
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on July 02, 2010, 08:18:11 AM
"In the Sun Dance when the men pierce their chests, it isn’t for themselves. It is for the welfare of the people. Women have a different role in the Sun Dance. They instruct the girls and then they dance with the pipe. There is also the sweat lodge where you can resolve a lot of things, obtain information and advice, and talk over... whatever is bothering you without fear that it will be shared with others. Whatever is said in the sweat lodge stays there. We all need a belief system. Christianity really disrupted the kinship unit. In the 1930s we weren’t even allowed to go to some of the traditional funerals. Now, our people no longer go to the Christian churches, and they don’t know their own Native belief systems. In a sense they are in spiritual limbo.”

--Beatrice Medicine, Lakota
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Jennifer- on July 02, 2010, 09:06:40 PM
"It is not enough to have a vision. In order to have its power, you must enact your vision on earth for all to see. Only then do you have the power."

- Black Elk, Lakota




 :)
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on July 03, 2010, 06:05:53 AM
Melting the Ice in the Heart of Man is a teaching from the Eskimo-Kalaallit people, a peaceful culture thousands of years old that has never known war. It summons us to bridge the distance from our minds to our hearts through strength and gentleness; through compassion and love; through courage and grace, bringing about personal transformation and global healing for the times to come.The time has come to unite our voices and our hearts, to walk our spiritual paths with practical feet, to restore the balance that’s been missing on the earth. We cannot wait. Through our Healing Circles, we create experiences that empower us to live more compassionately, transforming our world one life at a time, melting the ice in the heart of man.The Eskimo-Kalaallit people have a prophecy that when the once rock-hard glaciers become so soft that you could leave a handprint on them, this would be a sign that Mother Earth is in profound turmoil. Uncle never thought he would witness the prophecy taking place in his lifetime.

-Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq
http://www.icewisdom.com/icewisdom/
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on July 17, 2010, 04:26:41 AM
"When we examine American Indian tribal religion, we find a notable absence of the fear of death. Burial mounds indicate a belief that life after death was a continuation of the life already experienced. Personal possessions, familiar tools and weapons, cooking utensils and frequently food were placed near the body so that it would be sustained in the next life. It was not contemplated that the soul would have to account for misdeeds and lapses from a previously established ethical norm. All of that concern was expressed while the individual was alive. Some tribes viewed entrance into the next life as almost a mechanical process to which everyone was subject, a natural cosmic process to which all things were bound...

Some decades ago I attended a burial in a Christian cemetery at Mission, South Dakota. After the body was in the grave and the several mourners were standing at the grave, an old woman stepped forward and put an orange on the grave. The Episcopal priest who had conducted the service rushed over and took the orange away, saying "when do you think the departed will come and eat this orange?" One of the Sioux men standing there said, 'When the soul comes to smell the flowers.'   No one said anything after that."

Vine Deloria, Jr. (Ogala Sioux), 1973
Native Wisdom
Quoted from God is Red by Vine Deloria, Jr.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The_Other_Syntax_Discussion
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Ke-ke wan on July 19, 2010, 10:39:48 PM
"when do you think the departed will come and eat this orange?" One of the Sioux men standing there said, 'When the soul comes to smell the flowers.'   

Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on August 11, 2010, 08:38:07 AM
Long ago the trees thought they were people. Long ago the mountains thought they were people. Long ago the animals thought they were people. Someday they will say, long ago the humans thought they were people.

- from a traditional Native American story recounted by Johnny Moses
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on February 21, 2014, 02:27:50 PM
Don Juan's Song

(Que lejos estoy del cielo donde he nacido.  Immense nostalgia invade
mi pensamiento.  Ahora que estoy tan solo y triste cual hoja al viento, quisiera llorar, quisiera reir de sentimiento.)


I'm so far away from the sky where I was born.   
Immense nostalgia invades my thoughts.
Now that I am so alone and sad like a leaf in the wind,
sometimes I want to weep,
sometimes I want to laugh with longing.

Journey to Ixtlan
Carlos Castaneda

Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Nichi on June 12, 2014, 03:34:48 PM
http://www.youtube.com/v/mR-tbOxlhvE

There are groups who are not giving up on this issue...
The National Football League would not air it, but apparently it is airing during the National Basketball finals.
Title: Re: Native Hearts
Post by: Ke-ke wan on June 15, 2014, 08:07:24 PM
I'm so far away from the sky where I was born.   
Immense nostalgia invades my thoughts.
Now that I am so alone and sad like a leaf in the wind,