"We are all brothers and sisters on this Earth. People are similar throughout the world and we need to work together to solve problems. We need to carry on our culture, to take care of each other and our planet, not poison our atmosphere and our food. It�s not only our people, but others where people get sick and don�t know how they�re going to get well. We need to help one another, teach one another for a better way. That�s why I learned my ceremonies -�� to help people."

- Jonas Benally, Navajo elder, hoop dancer and healer

Whoa..! Someone's been busy while I've been away...

A lot of repetition from the two threads previously, but I do a lot of repetition too, so no probs...

Thanks fro keeping the thread alive, Sea..

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THE SUN DANCE CEREMONY

The sundance is the predominant tribal ceremony of Great Plains Indians, although it is practiced by numerous tribes today as a prayer for life, world renewal and thanksgiving. On a personal level, someone may dance to pray for a relative or friend, or to determine their place in the universe, while on a larger scale, the sundance serves the tribe and the earth. Indigenous people believe that unless the sun dance is performed each year, the earth will lose touch with the creative power of the universe, thereby losing its ability to regenerate.

The sun dance was outlawed in the latter part of the nineteenth century, partly because certain tribes inflicted self-torture as part of the ceremony, which settlers found gruesome, and partially as part of a grand attempt to westernize Indians by forbidding them to engage in their ceremonies and speak their language. Sometimes the dance was performed when reservation agents were lax and chose to look the other way. But as a rule, younger generations were not being introduced to the sun dance and other sacred rituals, and a rich cultural heritage was becoming extinct.

Then, in the 1930's, the sun dance was relearned and practiced once again. Michael Fitzgerald, an adopted member of the Yellow Tail family of the Crow tribe, and author of Yellow Tail Crow Medicine Man and Sun Dance Chief related this amazing story to me. A man by the name of John Trojillo was walking in the mountains while on a vision quest when he was struck by lightning. At that moment, the Spirit of the mountain came to Trojillo and carefully explained to him different healing ceremonies and medicines.


Three days later, Trojillo noticed himself walking through a rock, and then saw himself lying on the floor of the cave. He laid down in his body and awoke, realizing that he had been in his Spirit all this time much like when you're in deep meditation, not his physical body.

Trojillo was given explicit instructions to follow for a years time. He was told to pray, to go on vision quests, and not to practice his medicine power. Afterwards, Trojillo was able to call upon the Spirits of the medicine fathers, whenever someone was in need of help, and was the vehicle for many miraculous healings. The first healing was especially dramatic, involving a man who had been shot twice, just above the heart. The doctors of this time were not skillful enough to perform such a delicate operation, but Trujillo prayed for the man, and sprinkled the wound with a sacred powder, called lightning root. The next day, the bullets worked themselves out and were lying beneath the man. The patient fully recovered and lived many more healthy years. While the herbs played a role, Trujillo credited the mans survival to the Spirits who had responded to his prayers.

Trujillo became prominent in his tribe as a result of this incident and was asked to reinstate the sun dance on the Shoshoni reservation. Then in 1941, he was invited to the Crow reservation to teach the sun dance, which had also been lost due to generations of U.S. government Indian policy. Since this new version differed from the original dance, the Crows called the ceremony the Crow Shoshoni sun dance.

The tribes learned that the sun dance consisted of various elements. There was the ritual of the sacred pipe, the purification ceremony, monthly prayer ceremonies, and a yearly ritual. The sun dance chief offers the prayers from the sacred pipe to the four directions, as well as the earth and sky, on a daily basis. The purification ceremony is performed before the sun dance and again afterwards. Monthly sun dance prayer ceremonies take place 12 times a year, at the time of the full moon. During this ceremony, two medicine bundles are opened, and ritual objects are taken out and placed on an elks skin in the middle of the floor. Heated coals are brought into the lodge, incense is placed on the fire, and special songs are sung to help carry the prayers of the smoke to a subtler world.

At the end of the ceremony, people in the audience come forth to be healed. Animal instruments, such as eagle feathers and otter skins, are used. Fitzgerald notes that a great spiritual leader, Yellow Tail, used a hollowed out horn of a spiked horn elk as his primary method of healing. Blowing on a patients back with the horn created a terribly shrill sound, but resulted in many miraculous cures and protection against danger. In one instance, a prominent American Indian was sent to Viet Nam and shot at close range by the Viet Cong. Although the bullet tore through his tee shirt, it did not penetrate him.

During the healings, the medicine man prays over the patient, touching him or her with the animal instrument. The bad spirits are taken into the prop, and then cast into the wind. Sometimes herbs are given to the patient to alleviate simple symptoms, but as mentioned earlier, the essential cure is through prayer. The medicine man calls forth spiritual entities to enter the physical world in order to cure the patient.

In addition to the 12 monthly ceremonies, there is a three to four day sun dance that takes place each summer, usually in July. The preparation is too detailed to describe here, but involves building a lodge from a large cottonwood tree, with a forked branch in the middle. Twelve upright poles are placed about 13 paces from the center pole in a circular fashion, with rafter poles connecting the outside of the circle to the inner pole. From an aerial view, this appears as a wagon wheel with a hub in its center. This symbolizes the tribe (on the outside of the circle) trying to find their way straight to the center.

Fitzgerald told me about the preparations for the Crow sun dance, where the dancers greet each sunrise with sacred songs. Then the medicine man prays on behalf of the tribe, the world, and all creation. Throughout the day, 100 or more tribe members may dance to a drum beat, which represents the heart of the universe. The dancers fast for the duration of the ceremony. All their time is spent praying to the Creator and dancing toward and away from the center pole. The ceremony is brutal and causes many dancers to collapse, what Indians call taking a fall. This is followed by a vision, similar to what happens on a vision quest, only here many people are given guidance for the good of the tribe. In a sense, this is a community vision quest to renew the people and the bioregion.

On the second day, spectators from the tribe enter the lodge to be healed, bearing gifts of tobacco and incense. This is exactly the same process that takes place during the monthly prayer sun dance ceremonies, where harmful spiritual and physical manifestations are taken into an animal instrument and cast off to the wind, while prayers are said to heal the person.

Sun dance ceremonies typically end with a purification ceremony so that tribe members can re-enter the world refreshed and regenerated. Fitzgerald notes that this ritual is as concrete as it is symbolic, and related to me a time when he was in a purification lodge with Yellow Tail. While praying, Yellow Tail suddenly threw a scoop of water onto the very hot volcanic rocks. The force of the 212 degree steam knocked Fitzgerald down. He equated the feeling to that of an egg that sizzles when dropped onto a skillet. Yellow Tail continued to pray, and then asked Fitzgerald if he was alright. Fitzgerald leaned up onto his elbow to assure Yellow Tail that he was fine, feeling too embarrassed to admit that he was thrown onto the ground. At that moment, Fitzgerald realized that this was more than a symbolic death; there was an element of pure suffering accompanying this ceremony of death and renewal.

The dual meaning of this ritual is also expressed by Yellow Tail, who says, "When water is thrown onto the rocks, the heat does not merely cleanse us from the outside. It also goes all the way into our hearts. We know that we must suffer the ordeal of the heat in order to purify ourselves. In that way, we re-emerge from the sweat lodge at the end of the ceremony as new men who have been shown the light of the wisdom of our spiritual heritage for the first time. This allows us to participate in all of our daily tasks with the fresh remembrance of our position on earth, and our continuous obligation to walk on this earth in accordance with the sacred ways."

----- http://www.native-americans-online.com/native-american-sun-dance.html

"Our Father is the Sky! Our Mother is the Earth!
Our Life is our song! May our Songs Create joy!
May our Children always Smile."

---- Two Feathers

"Human kind 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

"We once thought you people came to live with us. You still could have that chance. We're still here, and we live on this land. We don't live in your libraries in the pages of your books. This project is not for digging up our pottery-or for digging up our bones, for that matter. It's not even for digging up data and statistics about us.

We have a long surviving and sacred tradition and an experiential wisdom that's been passed on for more centuries than you people can imagine. This is your chance to benefit from that. All you have to do is be quiet and listen and quit worrying about proving and believing. I want this to happen because this is still our home here, and you are our guests here-and because you still do not understand our home and you are spoiling it."

---- Mad Bear / Tuscarora Holy Man of the Tuscarora Nation of the Six-Nation Iroquois Confederacy

SEVEN PHILOSOPHIES
FOR THE NATIVE AMERICAN (MAN/WOMAN)

The following was from the Gathering of Native Americans Men, in June 1996 at Colorado:

The wisdom of Native Elders is contained in the Seven Philosophies and is offered to Native Americans men so that they may be better fathers, sons, husbands, uncles, relatives, friends, Tribal members and citizens of the countries in which they live. The Seven Philosophies point the way towards a return to the values of Native Americans culture for the healing of individuals, families and Native Communities.

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FIRST PHILOSOPHY - TO THE WOMEN

The cycle of life for the woman is the baby, girl, woman, and grandmother. These are the four directions of life. She has been given by natural laws, the ability to reproduce life. The most sacred of all things is life. Therefore, all men should treat her with dignity and respect. Never was it our way to harm her mentally or physically. Indian men were never abusers. We always treated our women with respect and understanding. So from now on:

I will treat women in a sacred manner. The Creator gave women the responsibility for bringing new life into the world. Life is sacred, so I will look upon the women in a sacred manner.

In our traditional ways, the woman is the foundation of the family. I will work with her to create a home atmosphere of respect, security and harmony.

I will refrain from any form of emotional or physical abuse. If I have these feelings, I will talk to the Creator for guidance.

I will treat all women as if they were my own female relatives. This is my vow.

SECOND PHILOSOPHY - TO THE CHILDREN

As an eagle prepares its young to leave the nest will all the skills and knowledge it needs to participate in life, in the same manner so will I guide my children. I will use the culture to prepare them for life.

The most important thing I can give to my children is my time. I will spend time with them in order to learn from them and to listen to them.

I will teach my children to pray, as well as the importance of respect.

We are the caretakers of the children for the Creator. They are His children, not ours.

I am proud of our own Native language. I will learn it if I can and help my children to learn it.

In today's world it is easy for the children to go astray, so I will work to provide positive alternatives for them. I will teach them the culture. I will encourage education. I will encourage sports. I will encourage them to talk to the Elders for guidance; but mostly, I will seek to be a role model myself.

I make this commitment to my children so they will have courage and find guidance through traditional ways.

THIRD PHILOSOPHY - TO THE FAMILY

The creator gave to us the family, which is the place where all teachings are handed down from the grandparent, to the parent, and to the child. The children's behavior is a mirror of the parents behavior. Knowing this, I realize the importance for each Indian man to build a strong and balanced family. By doing this, I will break the cycle of hurt and ensure the positive and mental health of the children, even the children yet to be born. So from now on:

I will dedicate my priorities to rebuilding my family.

I must never give up and leave my family only to the mother.

I am accountable to restore the strength of my family. To do this, I will nurture our family's spiritual, cultural, and social health. I will demonstrate trust, respect, honor and discipline; but mostly I will be consistent in whatever I do with them.

I will see that the grandparents and community Elders play a significant role in the education of my children.

I realize that the male and female together are fundamental to our family life. I will listen to my mates council for our family's benefit, as well as for the benefit of my Indian Nation.

FOURTH PHILOSOPHY - TO THE COMMUNITY

The Indian community provides many things for the family. The most important is the sense of belonging; that is, to belong to "the people", and to have a place to go. Our Indian communities need to be restored to health so the future generation will be guaranteed a place to go for culture, language and Indian socializing. In the community, the honor of one is the honor of all and the pain of one is the pain of all. I will work to strengthen recovery in all parts of my community. As an Indian man:

I will give back to my community by donating my time and talents when I am able.

I will cultivate friendships with other Indian men for mutual support and strength.

I will consider the effects of our decisions on behalf of the next seven generations; in this way, our children and grandchildren will inherit healthy communities.

I will care about those in my community so that the mind changers, alcohol and drugs, will vanish, and our communities will forever be free of violence.

If each of us can do all these things, then others will follow; ours will be a proud community.

FIFTH PHILOSOPHY - TO THE EARTH

Our Mother Earth is the source of all life, whether it be the plants, the two-legged, four-legged, winged ones or human beings. The Mother Earth is the greatest teacher, if we listen, observe and respect her. When we live in harmony with the Mother Earth, she will recycle the things we consume and make them available to our children and to their children. As an Indian man, I must teach my children how to care for the Earth so it is there for the future generations. So from now on:

I realize the Earth is our mother. I will treat her with honor and respect.

I will honor the interconnectedness of all things and all forms of life. I will realize the Earth does not belong to us, but we belong to the Earth.

The natural law is the ultimate authority upon the lands and water. I will learn the knowledge and wisdom of the natural laws. I will pass this knowledge in to my children.

The mother Earth is a living entity that maintains life. I will speak out in a good way whenever I see someone abusing the Earth. Just as I would protect my own mother, so will I protect the Earth. I will ensure that the land, water, and air will be intact for my children and my children's children - unborn.

SIXTH PHILOSOPHY - TO THE CREATOR

As an Indian man, I realize we make no gains without the Great Spirit being in our lives. Neither I nor anything I attempt to do, will work without the Creator. Being Indian and being spiritual has the same meaning. Spirituality is out gift from the Great One. This day, I vow to walk the Red Road.

As an Indian man, I will return to the traditional and spiritual values which have guided my ancestors for the past generations.

I will look with new eyes on the powers of our ceremonies and religious ways, for they are important to the very survival of our people.

We have survived and are going to grow and flourish spiritually. We will fulfill our teachings and the purpose that the Creator has given us with dignity.

Each day, I will pray and ask for guidance. I will commit to walk the Red Road, or whatever the spiritual way is called in my own culture.

If I am Christian, I will be a good one. If I am traditional, I will walk this road with dedication.

If each if us can do these things then others will follow. From this day forward, I will reserve time and energy for spirituality, seeking to know the Creators will.

SEVENTH PHILOSOPHY - TO MYSELF

I will think about what kind of person I want to be when I am an Elder.

I will start developing myself now to be this person.

I will walk with the Great Spirit and the grandfathers at my side. I will develop myself to remain positive. I will develop a good mind.

I will examine myself daily to see what I did good and what I need to improve. I will examine my strengths and weaknesses, then I will ask the Creator to guide me. I will develop a good mind.

Each day, I will listen to the Creators voice in the wind. I will watch nature and ask to be shown a lesson which will occur on my path.

I will seek out the guiding principles, which guided my ancestors. I will walk in dignity, honor and humility, conducting myself as a warrior.

I will seek the guidance of the Elders so that I may maintain the knowledge of culture, ceremonies, and songs, and so that I may pass these on to the future generations.

I choose to do all these things myself, because no one else can do them for me.

I know I cannot give away what I don't have, so I will need to walk the talk.

FROM ---> http://www.spiritalk.net/native-americans-7philos.html

You�re welcome Jag It�s my pleasure This thread is simply my "matter of the heart". And more I know, more I want to find out.

Yes, someone�s been very, very busy learning, reading, watching movies, using every free minute trying to find every source (books, Native www, Native news online, facebook pages, online books, youtube, whatever...) that can be reached in english, czech, croatian or serbian just can�t add quotes from other languages - it would be my translation and it might differ a lot from the original

I was trying to add mostly things I couldn�t remeber if you posted them but it is so hard to find anything that is not already in the thread. It doesn�t matter though, as it was said once upon a time: Repetitio mater studiorum est - Repetition is mother of knowledge So - let�s know

There is a film I watched on youtube, sad, painful, but also full of hope: "Where the Spirit Lives"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os5KqErc7XY

As I come from the country which was for centuries under Ottoman Empire and people suffered a lot under that occupation, children taken away from their families, islamized, tougher taxes on christians etc.,I can relate to it very much not only personally but also through the history of my people - although it wasn�t the same. But spirit of the people can never be conquered no matter what.

"The Wise Woman's Stone

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation.

The traveler left rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But, a few days later, he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. "I've been thinking," he said. "I know how valuable this stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me this stone."

- An American Indian Legend, Nation Unknown

"Nothing the Great Mystery placed in the land of the Indian pleased the white man, and nothing escaped his transforming hand. Wherever forests have not been mowed down, wherever the animal is recessed in their protection, wherever the earth is not bereft of four-footed life - that to him is an "unknown wilderness."

But, because for the Lakota there was no wilderness, because nature was not dangerous but hospitable, not forbidding but friendly, Lakota philosophy was healthy - free from fear and dogmatism. And here I find the great distinction between the faith of the Indian and the white man. Indian faith sought the harmony of man with his surroundings; the other sought the dominance of surroundings.
In sharing, in loving all and everything, one people naturally found a due portion of the thing they sought, while in fearing, the other found the need for conquest.

For one man the world was full of beauty; for the other it was a place of sin and ugliness to be endured until he went to another world; there to become a creature of wings, half man and half bird.
Forever one man directed his Mystery to change the world. He had made; forever this man pleaded with him to chastise the wicked; and forever he implored his God to send His light to earth. Small wonder this man could not understand the other.

But the old Lakota was wise. He knew that the man’s heart, away from nature, becomes hard, he knew that lack of respect from growing, living things soon led to a lack of respect for humans, too. So he kept his children close to nature’s softening influence."

Chief Luther Standing Bear, Lakota

"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."

—Chief Crowfoot, Blackfoot

About telling stories and one beautiful Native story:

"Telling stories can revive our spirits and transform our perceptions of the world. Even when a story is not believable, it can contain elements that speak to the human experience. This point is made by Tchin, an award winning Blackfoot and Aragansett artist and story teller from Norfolk, Virginia. Tchin shared this story with me about the creation of autumn, and then told me about the psychological healing such a story can promote:

"In traditional Native American culture, adolescent males and females are not allowed to be alone together. A young man and young woman never see each other unless the young woman is chaperoned. Her aunts, her sister, her mother, or someone else is always with her.

Parents come together, at the right time of year, when the moon is in correct part of the sky, and plan a hoop dance. The hoop dance is where all the eligible young people come together to be introduced. They learn about the clans of the other people, and about who they can marry as well as which marriages are taboo. People dance, and frequently change partners. This way, everyone gets to be introduced to each other.

During this hoop dance, the parents noticed one couple that did not change partners. In fact, they even heard some of the conversation. The young lady was saying that she worked in her mother's fields during the day. And the young man said that his uncle was teaching him to play the flute.

The next day, the young man went down to the field with his flute and played a song. People hearing the flute didn't know what it was. They would say, �Listen to that sound blowing through the trees. I wonder what it is.' But the young lady knew it was the young man playing the flute for her. It made her so happy that her heart jumped.

She wanted to send him a message, so, she went to a tree, and asked the tree for a leaf. After receiving that gift, she placed it into a stream. The stream took the message down to where the young man was playing. He knew it was from the young lady. It made him so happy that his heart jumped. He picked up the leaf, and went home.

Day after day, the young man would go down to the stream and play his flute. And day after day, she would go to the tree, ask for a leaf, receive that gift, and place it into the stream, where it would travel to the young man. As the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, their love for each other grew strong and powerful, even though they never spoke a word to each other.

Then one day, the young man's uncle came to him and said, 'Young man, it is time that you stopped fooling around down by the stream, and that you learned how to make a living. I'm going to take you out and teach you how to hunt.' It made the young man really happy to know that he would learn how to make a living by hunting. If he learned this, he could take his place in the village. If he could make a living, he could get married. And he knew with whom he wished to marry. So, with great joy and expectations he went out to learn how to make a living.

Day after day, the young lady would work in the fields of her mother, and not hear the flute of the young man. She wondered why he no longer played for her. Maybe he had to help his aunt. Maybe he had to do something for his uncle. He had to help the elders. He had more important things to do. As days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, she exhausted all the possible reasons why he could not come and play. And after all of these reasons were exhausted, she came to the thought that he might be playing his flute for some other woman. When this thought came to her, a great pain stabbed her in her heart causing her to fall to the ground. Her parents, who loved her strongly, called to all the medicine people to doctor their daughter. But even in those days, people did not know how to heal a broken heart.

After many months, the young man came back, very much a new person, with new muscles, and a joyful outlook on life. He ran down to the stream and began to play his flute. But no leaf flowed downstream. At first, he thought to himself, 'It's too late in the day. Maybe all the people have gone home.' Then, as he was walking back to the village, he saw the young lady's brother. It made him happy and they talked about all kinds of things that happened to him while he was learning to hunt.

Eventually, he got around to asking the brother, 'How is your sister?� The young brother bowed his head and said, 'I guess you have been gone for a long time because they placed my sister over there in the rock.' When the young flute player heard what had happened to the young lady, the pain stabbed his heart so great that he fell to the ground.

The flute player was in tears, saying, �Please take me to where they placed your sister.� The young brother agreed, and they walked the distance to the rock, where she was. He left the young flute player there never ever to see him again.

The young man took out his flute and played a song. Then something miraculous happened because, you see, love is strong, and true love is ever lasting. As that young flute player played his song, all the leaves on all the trees began to fall.

You know that I am telling you a true story, and you can prove the truth of this story telling to yourself because around October and November, if you were to go out, you could look at the trees, and you could see that when you look around, all the leaves on all the trees start to fall. This is because love is strong and powerful. Now you know why all the leaves fall off all the trees at that time of year."

- from http://www.native-americans-online.com/native-american-story-telling.html

"Our wise men are called Fathers, and they truly sustain that character. Do you call yourselves Christians? Does the religion of Him who you call your Savior inspire your spirit, and guide your practices? Surely not. It is recorded of him that a bruised reed he never broke. Cease then to call yourselves Christians, lest you declare to the world your hypocrisy. Cease too to call other nations savage, when you are tenfold more the children of cruelty than they. No person among us desires any other reward for performing a brave and worthwhile action, but the consciousness of having served his nation. I bow to no man for I am considered a prince among my own people. But I will gladly shake your hand."

- Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea), Mohawk - 1742-1807

"We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can't speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees."

- Qwatsinas (Hereditary Chief Edward Moody), Nuxalk Nation