All is Sacred

"Every part of the earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect. All are holy in the memory and experience of my people."


Chief Seattle

The Great Spirit and Mother Earth

The Great Spirit is in all things: He is in the air we breathe. The Great Spirit is our Father, but the Earth is our Mother. She nourishes us; that which we put into the ground She returns to us.

- Big Thunder (Bedagi) Wabanaki Algonquin

The Spirit Wind

Every breath we take brings God within us.
God is ever present within our being.
We don't have to look for God outside, God is within us.
Kauila Clark, Hawaiian Healer (below right)



Gen 2:7 And Jehovah God formed the man out of dust from the ground,
and blew into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living soul. (LITV)

Cornerstone of Character

The Wise Man believes profoundly in silence - the sign of a perfect equilibrium. Silence is the absolute poise or balance of body, mind and spirit. The man who preserves his selfhood ever calm and unshaken by the storms of existence - not a leaf, as it were, astir on the tree, not a ripple upon the surface of the shinning pool - his, in the mind of the unlettered sage, is the ideal attitude and conduct of life. Silence is the cornerstone of character.

Ohiyesa (Charles Alexander Eastman) - Santee Sioux

Tell Your Story

Rev. Mervin Wolfleg, photo by Lynn Ross/Anglican Journal

"We want to tell our own stories, in telling our stories we heal," said Rev. Mervin Wolfleg, of the diocese of Calgary, "If you want to heal with us then tell your own stories," he added.

Listen and Understand

Respect means listening
until everyone
has been heard and understood,
only then is there a possibility of Balance and Harmony, the goal of "Indian Spirituality."


- Dave Chief, Grandfather of Red Dog

Not Enough

... I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not enough for a man to depend simply upon himself.

Lone Man (Isna-la-wica) Teton Sioux

Time for Thought

Praise, flattery, exaggerated manners and fine high-sounding words were not part of Lakota politeness. Excessive manners were put down as insincere, and the constant talker was considered rude and thoughtless. Conversation was never begun at once, or in a hurried manner. No one was quick with a question, no matter how important, and no one was pressed for an answer. A pause giving time for thought was the truly courteous way of beginning and conducting a conversation.

-Chief Luther Standing Bear (Ota Kte, Mochunozhin) , 1868-1939

Wisdom of the Eagle

"In an eagle there is all the wisdom of the world."

Lame Deer, Minnicoujou

The Grass is Still Growing There

.
.

"Traditional people of Indian nations have interpreted the two roads that face the light-skinned race as the road to technology and the road to spirituality. We feel that the road to technology.... has led modern society to a damaged and seared earth. Could it be that the road to technology represents a rush to destruction, and that the road to spirituality represents the slower path that the traditional native people have traveled and are now seeking again? The earth is not scorched on this trail. The grass is still growing there."

Speak the Truth

.
.

"It does not require

many words

to speak the truth."

Chief Joseph

Respect

.
.

Gerald Sitting Eagle
of the Siksika Nation near Calgary, Canada,
said Blackfoot spirituality
could be summed up in one word;
respect.

Respect for one's elders,
respect for all two leggeds,
respect for the four leggeds,
the winged,
and the swimming people.
Respect for Mother Earth and
All Our Relations.

Alison Parry and Gerald Sitting Eagle of Siksika examine some Blackfoot material.

All Things Tell of the One Above

.
.

In the beginning of all things, wisdom and knowledge were with the animals, for Tirawa, the One Above, did not speak directly to man. He sent certain animals to tell men that He showed Himself through the beast, and that from them, and from the stars and the sun and moon, should man learn.. all things tell of Tirawa.

- Eagle Chief (Letakots-Lesa) Pawnee

Library of Life

.
.

"Knowledge was inherent in all things. The world was a library and its books were the stones, leaves, grass, brooks and the birds and animals that shared, alike with us, the storms and blessings of the earth. We learn to do what only the student of nature ever learns, and that is to feel beauty. We never rail at the storms, the furious winds, the biting frosts and snows. To do so intensifies human futility, so whatever comes we should adjust ourselves by more effort and energy if necessary, but without complaint. Bright days and dark days are both expressions of the Great Mystery, and the Indian reveled in being close to the Great Holiness."

-Chief Luther Standing Bear

Good is Good

.
.

Rev. Mervin Wolfleg, photo by Lynn Ross/Anglican Journal

"Good is Good and Bad is Good."

All Creation is Sacred

.
.

All of this Creation is Sacred
And so do not forget
Every dawn as it comes is a holy event
And everyday is holy,
For the light comes from "WAKAN-TANKA"
And also you must remember
That the two-leggeds
And all other peoples
Who stand upon this Earth
Are Sacred and should be treated as Such

"White Buffalo Woman" Sioux Sacred Woman, quoted by Black Elk , (Oglala Sioux)1947.

Grant us this Prayer

.
.

Oh Great Spirit....

Grant us this prayer:

That all men live as one with nature,

and peace reign everywhere...

Mending the Sacred Hoop

As Natives, we believe that each race was entrusted with special roles and responsibilities during the creation to complete the great "Sacred Hoop" of life.Unfortunately, over time, each race forgot that their knowledge was incomplete - only a fraction of the whole truth, and the races began to quarrel with one another, each believing that their knowledge was the whole truth.

In order to mend the "Sacred Hoop", we must remember what is important - family, children, and community. It is our goal to bring families of different races together, to bring down the walls of misunderstanding to share a little of our heritage, through music and dance, and to understand that we are all not that different.

.

.

Ralph Moisa, Jr.

The Sound of Love

"It is ... the sound of love that at times aches to reach across the barriers of people's strong denial of their better selves. These barriers are stronger than steel and built from generations of fear and doubt, formed and shaped by traditions, and the machinery of powerful political and economic systems."

-- from "Pillars of Fire in a Darkening World" by Paul Lucero