Topic: Native Hearts

[Nichi]

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

[Nichi]

"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

[Nichi]

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

[Nichi]

"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

[Nichi]

The above (and possibly subsequent) quotes taken from this page.

[Nichi]

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

[Nichi]

"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

[Jennifer-]

"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

 

[Nichi]

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/

[Nichi]

"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

[Ke-ke wan]

"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.'   

[Nichi]

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

[Nichi]

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

[Nichi]

<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mR-tbOxlhvE/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mR-tbOxlhvE"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/mR-tbOxlhvE" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/mR-tbOxlhvE</a>

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.

[Ke-ke wan]

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,