Sometimes I go about pitying myself, and all the while I am being carried across the sky by beautiful clouds.
Ojibway proverb
A frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives.
- American Indian proverb
The song that I will sing is an old song, so old that none knows who made
it. It has been handed down through generations and was taught to me when I was
but a little lad. It is now my own song. It belongs to me. This is a holy song
(medicine-song), and great is its power. The song tells how, as I sing, I go
through the air to a holy place where Yusun (The Supreme Being) will give me
power to do wonderful things. I am surrounded by little clouds, and as I go
through the air I change, becoming spirit only.
- Geronimo, Apache (1829-1909)
Only to the white man was nature a wilderness and only to him was the
land 'infested' with 'wild' animals and 'savage' people. To us it was tame,
Earth was bountiful and we were surrounded with the blessings of the Great Mystery.
- Black Elk, Oglala Lakota Sioux (1863-1950)
If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it…but we continue to try…all in the
name of progress or something like that. We put paint where we don’t need
paint, we knock down mountains to build some more. We show others ‘our way’ so
they can improve on ‘their way’. Mind your own backyard and quit worrying about
the neighbors’.
The time will soon be here when my grandchild will long for the cry of a
loon, the flash of a salmon, the whisper of spruce needles, or the screech of
an eagle.
But he will not make friends with any of these creatures and when his
heart aches with longing, he will curse me.
Have I done all to keep the air fresh?
Have I cared enough about the water?
Have I left the eagle to soar in freedom?
Have I done everything I could to earn my grandchild's fondness?
- Chief Dan George, Tsleil-Waututh (1899 - 1981)
I am going to venture that the man who sat on the ground in his tipi
meditating on life and its meaning, accepting the kinship of all creatures, and
acknowledging unity with the universe of things was infusing into his being the
true essence of civilization.
- Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Lakota Sioux (1868-1939)
A very great vision is needed and the man who has it must follow it as the
eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky.
- Crazy Horse, Oglala Lakota Sioux (circa 1840-1877)
I was standing on the highest mountain of them all, and round about
beneath me was the whole hoop of the world.
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 all things in the
spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being.
And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that
made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one
mighty flowering tree to shelter all children of one mother and one father.
And I saw that it was holy.
Black Elk, Oglala Lakota (Sioux) (1863-1950)
Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about his religion.
Respect others in their views and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long and of service to your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or
even a stranger, if in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people, but grovel to none.
When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life,
for your strength.
Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living.
If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.
Touch not the poisonous firewater that makes wise ones turn to fools and
robs their spirit of its vision.
When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled
with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a
little more time to live their lives over again in a different way.
Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.
- Tecumseh, Shawnee (1768-1813)
I am an old woman now.
The buffaloes and black-tail deer are gone, and our Indian ways are
almost gone. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I ever lived them.
My little son grew up in the white man's school. He can read books, and
he owns cattle and has a farm. He is a leader among our Hidatsa people, helping
teach them to follow the white man's road.
He is kind to me. We no longer live in an earth lodge, but in a house
with chimneys, and my son's wife cooks by a stove.
But for me, I cannot forget our old ways.
Often in summer I rise at daybreak and steal out to the corn fields, and
as I hoe the corn I sing to it, as we did when I was young. No one cares for
our corn songs now.
Sometimes in the evening I sit, looking out on the big Missouri. The sun
sets, and dusk steals over the water. In the shadows I see again to see our
Indian village, with smoke curling upward from the earth lodges, and in the
river's roar I hear the yells of the warriors, and the laughter of little
children of old.
It is but an old woman's dream.
Then I see but shadows and hear only the roar of the river, and tears
come into my eyes. Our Indian life, I know, is gone forever.
- Waheenee, Hidatsa
The beauty of the trees,
the softness of the air,
the fragrance of the grass,
speaks to me.
The summit of the mountain,
the thunder of the sky,
the rhythm of the sea,
speaks to me.
The strength of the fire,
the taste of salmon,
the trail of the sun,
and the life that never goes away,
they speak to me.
And my heart soars.
- Chief Dan George, Tsleil-Waututh (1899 - 1981)
One thing to remember is to talk to the animals. If you do, they will
talk back to you. But if you don't talk to the animals, they won't talk back to
you, then you won't understand, and when you don't understand you will fear,
and when you fear you will destroy the animals, and if you destroy the animals,
you will destroy yourself.
- Chief Dan George, Tsleil-Waututh (1899 - 1981)
Cherokee Prayer Blessing
May the Warm Winds of Heaven
Blow softly upon your house.
May the Great Spirit
Bless all who enter there.
May your Mocassins
Make happy tracks
in many snows,
and may the Rainbow
Always touch your shoulder.
Native American Prayer
Oh, Great Spirit
Whose voice I hear in the
winds,
And whose breath gives life
to all the world,
hear me, I am small and
weak,
I need your strength and
wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty and
make my eyes ever behold
the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the
things you have
made and my ears sharp to
hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may
understand the things
you have taught my people.
Let me learn the lessons
you have
hidden in every leaf and
rock.
I seek strength, not to be
greater than my brother,
but to fight my greatest
enemy - myself.
Make me always ready to
come to you
with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the
fading sunset,
my Spirit may come to you
without shame.
(translated by Lakota Sioux
Chief Yellow Lark in 1887)
Honor the sacred.
Honor the Earth, our Mother.
Honor the Elders.
Honor all with whom we
share the Earth:-
Four-leggeds, two-leggeds,
winged ones,
Swimmers, crawlers,
plant and rock people.
Walk in balance and beauty.
Native American Elder
Lakota Instructions for Living
Friend do it this way - that is,
whatever you do in life,
do the very best you can
with both your heart and mind.
And if you do it that way,
the Power Of The Universe
will come to your assistance,
if your heart and mind are in Unity.
When one sits in the Hoop Of The People,
one must be responsible because
All of Creation is related.
And the hurt of one is the hurt of all.
And the honor of one is the honor of all.
And whatever we do effects everything in the universe.
If you do it that way - that is,
if you truly join your heart and mind
as One - whatever you ask for,
that's the Way It's Going To Be.
passed down from White Buffalo Calf Woman
Go Forward With Courage
When you are in doubt, be still, and wait;
when doubt no longer exists for you, then go forward with courage.
So long as mists envelop you, be still;
be still until the sunlight pours through and dispels the mists
-- as it surely will.
Then act with courage.
Ponca Chief White Eagle (1800's to 1914)
Earth, Teach Me
Earth teach me quiet ~ as the grasses are still with new light.
Earth teach me suffering ~ as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility ~ as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth teach me caring ~ as mothers nurture their young.
Earth teach me courage ~ as the tree that stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation ~ as the ant that crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom ~ as the eagle that soars in the sky.
Earth teach me acceptance ~ as the leaves that die each fall.
Earth teach me renewal ~ as the seed that rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself ~ as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness ~ as dry fields weep with rain.
- An Ute Prayer
Treat the earth well.
It was not given to you by your parents,
it was loaned to you by your children.
We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors,
we borrow it from our Children.
Ancient Indian Proverb
You have noticed that everything an Indian does in a circle,
and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles,
and everything and everything tries to be round.
In the old days all our power came to us from the sacred hoop
of the nation and so long as the hoop was unbroken the people
flourished. The flowering tree was the living center of the hoop,
and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace
and light, the south gave warmth, the west gave rain and the north
with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance. This
knowledge came to us from the outer world with our religion.
Everything the power of the world does is done in a circle.
The sky is round and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball
and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls.
Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as
ours.
The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon
does the same and both are round. Even the seasons form a great
circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were.
The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is
in everything where power moves. Our teepees were round like the
nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation's hoop,
a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our
children.
Black Elk, Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux 1863-1950
Over a hundred years ago Black Elk had a
vision of the time when Indian people would heal from the devastating effects
of European migration. In
his vision the Sacred Hoop which had been broken, would be mended in seven
generations.
The children born into this
decade will be the seventh generation.
When you were born, you cried
and the world rejoiced.
Live your life
so that when you die,
the world cries and you rejoice.
White Elk
If the white man wants to live
in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace...
Treat all men alike. Give them
all the
same law. Give them all an even
chance
to live and grow.All men were
made by
the same Great Spirit Chief.
They are all brothers. The
Earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon
it....
Let me be a free man,free to
travel,
free to stop,free to work,free
to trade where I choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my
fathers,free to think and talk and act for myself, and I will obey every law,
or submit to the penalty.
Heinmot Tooyalaket ( Chief
Joseph), Nez Perce Leader
Humankind has not woven the web of life.
We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
All things are bound together.
All things connect.
Chief Seattle, 1854
The True Peace
The first peace, which is the most important,
is that which comes within the souls of people
when they realize their relationship,
their oneness, with the universe and all its powers,
and when they realize that at the center
of the universe dwells Wakan-Taka (the Great Spirit),
and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.
This is the real peace, and the others are but reflections of this.
The second peace is that which is made between two individuals,
and the third is that which is made between two nations.
But above all you should understand that there can never
be peace between nations until there is known that true peace,
which, as I have often said, is within the souls of men.
Black Elk, Oglala Sioux & Spiritual Leader (1863 - 1950)
May the stars carry your sadness away,
May the flowers fill your heart with beauty,
May hope forever wipe away your tears,
And, above all, may silence make you strong.
Chief Dan George
Hold On
Hold on to what is good,
Even if it's a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe,
Even if it's a tree that stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do,
Even if it's a long way from here.
Hold on to your life,
Even if it's easier to let go.
Hold on to my hand,
Even if someday I'll be gone away from you.
A Pueblo Indian Prayer
Before our white brothers arrived to make us civilized men,
we didn't have any kind of prison. Because of this, we had no
delinquents.
Without a prison, there can be no delinquents.
We had no locks nor keys and therefore among us there were no thieves.
When someone was so poor that he couldn't afford a horse, a tent or a
blanket,
he would, in that case, receive it all as a gift.
We were too uncivilized to give great importance to private property.
We didn't know any kind of money and consequently, the value of a human
being
was not determined by his wealth.
We had no written laws laid down, no lawyers, no politicians,
therefore we were not able to cheat and swindle one another.
We were really in bad shape before the white men arrived and I don't know
how to explain how we were able to manage without these fundamental
things
that (so they tell us) are so necessary for a civilized society.
John (Fire) Lame Deer
Sioux Lakota - 1903-1976
What is life?
It is the flash of a firefly in the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.
It is the little shadow which runs across
the grass and loses itself in the sunset.
Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator 1830 - 1890
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, Black Elk Speaks
Lakota Prayer
Wakan Tanka, Great Mystery,
teach me how to trust
my heart,
my mind,
my intuition,
my inner knowing,
the senses of my body,
the blessings of my spirit.
Teach me to trust these things
so that I may enter my Sacred Space
and love beyond my fear,
and thus Walk in Balance
with the passing of each glorious Sun.
According to the Native People, the Sacred Space
is the space between exhalation and inhalation.
To Walk in Balance is to have Heaven (spirituality)
and Earth (physicality) in Harmony.
So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about their religion;
respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your
people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend,
even a stranger, when in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people and grovel to none.
When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of
living.
If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.
Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools
and robs the spirit of its vision.
When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled
with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep
and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different
way.
Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.
Chief Tecumseh (Crouching Tiger) Shawnee Nation 1768-1813
O' GREAT SPIRIT
help me always
to speak the truth quietly,
to listen with an open mind
when others speak,
and to remember the peace
that may be found in silence.
Cherokee Prayer
Peace and happiness are available in every moment.
Peace is every step. We shall walk hand in hand.
There are no political solutions to spiritual problems.
Remember: If the Creator put it there, it is in the right place.
The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.
Tell your people that, since we were promised we should never be moved,
we have been moved five times.
An Indian Chief, 1876.
When all the trees have been cut down,
when all the animals have been hunted,
when all the waters are polluted,
when all the air is unsafe to breathe,
only then will you discover you cannot eat money.
Cree Prophecy
Like the grasses showing tender faces to each other,
thus should we do,
for this was the wish of the Grandfathers of the World.
Black Elk
I do not think the measure of a civilization
is how tall its buildings of concrete are,
But rather how well its people have learned to relate
to their environment and fellow man.
Sun Bear of the Chippewa Tribe
We do not want schools....
they will teach us to have churches.
We do not want churches....
they will teach us to quarrel about God.
We do not want to learn that.
We may quarrel with men sometimes
about things on this earth,
but we never quarrel about God.
We do not want to learn that.
Heinmot Tooyalaket ( Chief Joseph), Nez Perce Leader
Certain things catch your eye,
But pursue only those
that capture your heart.
An old Native American saying
Thanksgiving
We return thanks to our mother, the earth,
which sustains us.
We return thanks to the rivers and streams,
which supply us with water.
We return thanks to all herbs,
which furnish medicines for the cure of our diseases.
We return thanks to the moon and stars,
which have given to us their light when the sun was gone.
We return thanks to the sun,
that has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye.
Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit,
in Whom is embodied all goodness,
and Who directs all things for the good of Her children.
Iroquois
"Give thanks for unknown blessings
already on their way."
Native American saying
There is a road in the hearts of all of us, hidden and seldom traveled,
which leads to an unknown, secret place.
The old people came literally to love the soil,
and they sat or reclined on the ground with a feeling of
being close to a mothering power.
Their teepees were built upon the earth
and their altars were made of earth.
The soul was soothing, strengthening, cleansing and healing.
That is why the old Indian still sits upon the earth instead of
propping himself up and away from its life giving forces.
For him, to sit or lie upon the ground is to be able to think more deeply
and to feel more keenly. He can see more clearly into the mysteries of
life and come closer in kinship to other lives about him.
Chief Luther Standing Bear
'When all the trees have been cut down, when all the animals have been
hunted, when all the waters are polluted, when all the air is unsafe to
breathe, only then will you discover you cannot eat money.' – (Cree Prophecy)
------------- Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. --Chief Seattle Duwamish
The earth has received the embrace of the sun and we shall see the results of that love --Sitting Bull
When you know who you are; when your mission is clear and you burn with
the inner fire of unbreakable will; no cold can touch your heart; no deluge can
dampen your purpose. You know that you are alive.
- Chief Seattle, Duwamish (1780-1866)
In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations. - Iroquois Maxim (circa 1700-1800)
-------------
Hold on to what is good,
Even if it's a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe,
Even if it's a tree that stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do,
Even if it's a long way from here.
Hold on to your life,
Even if it's easier to let go.
Hold on to my hand,
Even if someday I'll be gone away from you.
Pueblo Prayer
-------------
Geronimo once said “The sun, the darkness, the winds…they are listening to what we have to say.”
Geronimo once said “The sun, the darkness, the winds…they are listening to what we have to say.”
