Native American Culture.

[Barek Halfhand]

hey JC also stands for Johnny Cash! (RIP).....B

Johnny Cash God's Gonna Cut You Down Lyrics

You can run on for a long time

Run on for a long time

Run on for a long time

Sooner or later God'll cut you down

Sooner or later God'll cut you down

Go tell that long tongue liar

Go and tell that midnight rider

Tell the rambler,

The gambler,

The back biter

Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down

Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down

Well my goodness gracious let me tell you the news

My head's been wet with the midnight dew

I've been down on bended knee talkin' to the man from Galilee

He spoke to me in the voice so sweet

I thought I heard the shuffle of the angel's feet

He called my name and my heart stood still

When he said, "John go do My will!"

Go tell that long tongue liar

Go and tell that midnight rider

Tell the rambler,

The gambler,

The back biter

Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down

[ Lyrics found on http://www.metrolyrics.com ]

Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down

You can run on for a long time

Run on for a long time

Run on for a long time

Sooner or later God'll cut you down

Sooner or later God'll cut you down

Well you may throw your rock and hide your hand

Workin' in the dark against your fellow man

But as sure as God made black and white

What's done in the dark will be brought to the light

You can run on for a long time

Run on for a long time

Run on for a long time

Sooner or later God'll cut you down

Sooner or later God'll cut you down

Go tell that long tongue liar

Go and tell that midnight rider

Tell the rambler,

The gambler,

The back biter

Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down

Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down

Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down

Edited April 8, 2007 by Barek Halfhand

[Gone away]

REBEL,

This thread has been most righteous! Your posts have been passionate, and very informative. I do believe you accomplished what you set out to do.

I wish you well in all you do,

dp

For you my friend.

Edited April 8, 2007 by dixiepixie

[hetrodoxly]

Joslyn Art Museum

Alfred Jacob Miller, Driving Herds of Buffalo over a Precipice, 1867

The average mature bison weighed some 700-800 pounds and yielded 225-400 pounds of meat, and communal hunts resulting in the deaths of dozens or hundreds of animals (30, 60, 100, and even 600, 800, and 1000 were reported killed) produced fantastic quantities of meat: 50 cows, for example, yielded 11,000-20,000 pounds of usable meat. Many European observers were struck by gourmandizing as well as by what struck them as subsequent "profligacy" or "indolence." At times, Indians used everything. But on occasions they did not, and the observers remarked upon "putrified carcasses," animals left untouched, or Indians who took only "the best parts of the meat." Sometimes Indians were said to kill "whole herds" only for the fat-filled tongues.

The most efficient technique was what Crow Indians called "driving buffalo over embankments," which involved enticing and leading buffaloes to the edges of cliffs or bluffs up to seventy feet high, then driving them over to instant death or a broken back or leg or other crippling incapacity, ended by a thrust from a lance or blow from a stone maul. This hunt involved an entire society: the "chaser" or "runner," who possessed special skills and knowledge, led animals he had found toward the precipice, where other people, hidden behind trees or rock piles, waved blankets and shouted the animals onward to their doom at the base of the cliff. Yet others waited to kill, butcher, and transform buffaloes into useful products. These communal techniques were tightly controlled by leaders and societies whose duties were to police the hunt, preventing any single man from premature action that might spoil the attempt to obtain such an important resource for all.

Illegal commerce in eagle feathers and migratory bird feathers is enormously profitable. In recent years, the increased popularity and demand for feathers has resulted in soaring prices. Compared to a similar case from 1988, the price of an intact golden eagle tail, which has 12 feathers, has quadrupled from approximately $100 to $400. During this investigation, special agents learned that in today's market, a single golden eagle feather could sell for about $100; a red-tailed hawk peyote fan, $150; and an anhinga feather fan, $300.

The popularity of Native American items made with migratory bird feathers has resulted in alarmingly high numbers of birds being killed for profit. For example, to make an eagle fan it takes the entire tail from an eagle. To make a single scissor-tailed flycatcher fan, it can take 25 birds.

Enslaved warriors sometimes endured mutilation or torture that could end in death as part of a grief ritual for relatives slain in battle. Some Indians cut off one foot of their captives to keep them from running away; others allowed enslaved captives to marry the widows of slain husbands. The Creek, for example, treated the children born of slaves and tribal members as full members of the tribe rather than as enslaved offspring. Some tribes held captives as hostages for payment. Other tribes practiced debt slavery.

If i come across as if i dislike Native Americans it's not intentional and couldn't be further from the truth.

What i don't like is the BS and Fantasy stuff. Ancient proverb, "never drink another mans beer" as told to me by "Big bloke down pub" c2006.

He's writing me some commandments next week, a we'll pretend we're the best people ever.

[Barek Halfhand]

Joslyn Art Museum

Alfred Jacob Miller, Driving Herds of Buffalo over a Precipice, 1867

The average mature bison weighed some 700-800 pounds and yielded 225-400 pounds of meat, and communal hunts resulting in the deaths of dozens or hundreds of animals (30, 60, 100, and even 600, 800, and 1000 were reported killed) produced fantastic quantities of meat: 50 cows, for example, yielded 11,000-20,000 pounds of usable meat. Many European observers were struck by gourmandizing as well as by what struck them as subsequent "profligacy" or "indolence." At times, Indians used everything. But on occasions they did not, and the observers remarked upon "putrified carcasses," animals left untouched, or Indians who took only "the best parts of the meat." Sometimes Indians were said to kill "whole herds" only for the fat-filled tongues.

........

The most efficient technique was what Crow Indians called "driving buffalo over embankments," which involved enticing and leading buffaloes to the edges of cliffs or bluffs up to seventy feet high, then driving them over to instant death or a broken back or leg or other crippling incapacity, ended by a thrust from a lance or blow from a stone maul. This hunt involved an entire society: the "chaser" or "runner," who possessed special skills and knowledge, led animals he had found toward the precipice, where other people, hidden behind trees or rock piles, waved blankets and shouted the animals onward to their doom at the base of the cliff.

sounds like a dangerous job....consider how effective this technique was , thats a lot of buffalo meat for some crafty blanket waving....

Yet others waited to kill, butcher, and transform buffaloes into useful products. These communal techniques were tightly controlled by leaders and societies whose duties were to police the hunt, preventing any single man from premature action that might spoil the attempt to obtain such an important resource for all.

this is my perception of this as the standard .....

Illegal commerce in eagle feathers and migratory bird feathers is enormously profitable. In recent years, the increased popularity and demand for feathers has resulted in soaring prices. Compared to a similar case from 1988, the price of an intact golden eagle tail, which has 12 feathers, has quadrupled from approximately $100 to $400. During this investigation, special agents learned that in today's market, a single golden eagle feather could sell for about $100; a red-tailed hawk peyote fan, $150; and an anhinga feather fan, $300.

The popularity of Native American items made with migratory bird feathers has resulted in alarmingly high numbers of birds being killed for profit. For example, to make an eagle fan it takes the entire tail from an eagle. To make a single scissor-tailed flycatcher fan, it can take 25 birds.

poaching is an ongoing problem we are ALL guilty of to some degree......

Enslaved warriors sometimes endured mutilation or torture that could end in death as part of a grief ritual for relatives slain in battle. Some Indians cut off one foot of their captives to keep them from running away; others allowed enslaved captives to marry the widows of slain husbands. The Creek, for example, treated the children born of slaves and tribal members as full members of the tribe rather than as enslaved offspring. Some tribes held captives as hostages for payment. Other tribes practiced debt slavery.

I think some African American slaves may have endured similar actrocities.....

If i come across as if i dislike Native Americans it's not intentional and couldn't be further from the truth.

What i don't like is the BS and Fantasy stuff. Ancient proverb, "never drink another mans beer" as told to me by "Big bloke down pub" c2006.

He's writing me some commandments next week, a we'll pretend we're the best people ever.

there's one at every pub!........B Edited April 8, 2007 by Barek Halfhand

[Kalien]

To All My Relations by Ulali

To our Elders who teach us of our creation and our past,

So we may preserve Mother Earth for ancestors yet to come:

We are the Land.

This is dedicated to our relatives before us thousands of years ago

And the one hundred and fifty million who were exterminated across the western hemisphere

In the first four hundred years time starting in 1492.

To those who have kept their homeland,

And the nations extinct due to mass slaughter, slavery, deportation and disease unknown to them,

And to the ones who are subjected to the same treatment today.

To the ones who have survived the relocation,

And the ones who died along the way.

To those who carried on traditions,

And live strong among their people.

To those who left their communities, by force or by choice,

And for generations who no longer know who they are.

To those who search and never find.

To those that turn away from the so called non accepted.

To those that bring us together,

And to those living outside, keeping touch, the voice for many.

To those who make it back,

To live and fight, the struggle of their people.

To those who give up,

And those who do not care.

To those who abused themselves and others,

And those who revive again.

To those who are physically, mental or spiritually incapable,

By accident or birth.

To those who seek strength in our spirituality,

In way of one and those who exploit it, even our own.

To those who fall for the lies,

And join the dividing line that keep us fighting amongst each other.

And to those of us who don't know better.

To the leaders and prisoners of war,

Politics, crime, race, and religion, innocent or guilty.

To the young, the old, the living, and the dead,

To our brothers and sisters.

And all living things across Mother Earth,

And her beauty we have displayed.

And denied the honor that the Creator has given each individual,

The truth that lies in our hearts,

All My Relations.

Thought you would like this, Rebel

[War Eagle]

The Indian Museum of North America

Awesomely cool Kaylee!

I think in those short but righteous & very inspiring statements pretty much covered NA Culture-Spirituality & History to precision.

Later...

-

[Kalien]

<3 this topic

[CAptain Scuttle Tew]

Halu Kola,

I am Lakhota and I like your idea for this thread. I'm sure you know that there really isn't a "North American Indian Culture." There were over 300 distinctly different culturs on North America before the Waseechu arrived. We do not see ourselves as one culture of "North American Indians." That concept of grouping is hard for us to grasp. (I'm sure you knew that already, but just in case some other reader didn't.) It is sad that most of those cultures were lost. Being Lakhota who lives in two worlds, I still find things difficult. There are many good books that document many of group's stories. I will check on this because I don't have the book in front of me, but a good book of Iroquois stories is, I think, "Tales from the Spirit World." I will try to get the correct title and writer for you. Another good book on the subject is "The Primitve Mind." Again, I'll try to get the writer's name for you.

[CAptain Scuttle Tew]

Halu Kola.

Here is a Lakhota joke. "Home Land Security: Fighting Terrorism since 1492."

[War Eagle]

Halu Kola,

I am Lakhota and I like your idea for this thread. I'm sure you know that there really isn't a "North American Indian Culture." There were over 300 distinctly different culturs on North America before the Waseechu arrived. We do not see ourselves as one culture of "North American Indians." That concept of grouping is hard for us to grasp. (I'm sure you knew that already, but just in case some other reader didn't.) It is sad that most of those cultures were lost. Being Lakhota who lives in two worlds, I still find things difficult. There are many good books that document many of group's stories. I will check on this because I don't have the book in front of me, but a good book of Iroquois stories is, I think, "Tales from the Spirit World." I will try to get the correct title and writer for you. Another good book on the subject is "The Primitve Mind." Again, I'll try to get the writer's name for you.

Thanks CS & i understand where your coming from on the many nations that where around before the invasion.

When i started this thread i wanted to make sure that i discussed as many of the nations an try'd to bring them all together as a whole on one thread so to speak more or less,.....like a 'POW WOW'(Gathering of Nations)on a chat forum if you like.

I've been on this forum close to a year now and for a long while there couldn't understand why 'the people, their culture and their spirituality' wasn't being discussed 'hardly if not @ all on a large forum like this with so much diversity.

Later

Rebel.

Edited April 20, 2007 by REBEL

[Barek Halfhand]

Halu Kola,

I am Lakhota and I like your idea for this thread. I'm sure you know that there really isn't a "North American Indian Culture." There were over 300 distinctly different culturs on North America before the Waseechu arrived. We do not see ourselves as one culture of "North American Indians." That concept of grouping is hard for us to grasp. (I'm sure you knew that already, but just in case some other reader didn't.) It is sad that most of those cultures were lost. Being Lakhota who lives in two worlds, I still find things difficult. There are many good books that document many of group's stories. I will check on this because I don't have the book in front of me, but a good book of Iroquois stories is, I think, "Tales from the Spirit World." I will try to get the correct title and writer for you. Another good book on the subject is "The Primitve Mind." Again, I'll try to get the writer's name for you.

Hey all...

The more I study this on just a local level the more I realize how diverve the "tribes" were just in the area of southern Wisconson (the Black Hawk war) I have studied as of late..... I suppose to some degree we are all guilty of this "grouping" yet I feel threads like Mr Rebels' bring this to light in an intended respectful manor....

cheers!

Barek

Edited April 20, 2007 by Barek Halfhand

[War Eagle]

After reading this Wolfie, i hear & understand ya all to clear as to why you have so much love for the wolf & why they are so misunderstood...

MEANING WOLF:

All cultures have myths that embody a basic belief system about nature. Often myths originate from things encountered in nature and how they relate to man's existence. Myths can take many forms though and are not limited to the exploits of gods tossing lightening bolts, pieces of stone having special powers, or the stories of creation, but embrace any cultural experience that communicates something important about the world to the people of that culture. Unfortunately though, some myths relate things that are not rooted in truth or have little relevance to the human experience within a culture.

Many myths relate stories and wisdom drawn from animals in the world. Other myths relate fears and prejudices symbolized by animals, but one animal in particular has obtained an ubiquitous status in myth; the wolf. No animal has so thoroughly captured the imagination of so many cultures around the world. In European civilization, myths surrounding wolves evolved to eventually represent evil or malice and have become quaint stories as a result. The wolf in other parts of the world is frequently portrayed in a positive manner still holding much meaning in the lives of the people of those cultures. This positive portrayal of the wolf is perhaps best represented by myths of Native American tribes of North America. What the wolf represents through myth in European culture is sharply different from Native American culture. These differences are illustrated clearly by how the myths of these two cultures treat the wolf. Nearly all European myth surrounding the wolf is irrelevant having little to do with actual day to day living of European peoples, or even the purpose of the wolf in nature. The wolf myths of Native American people, however, have great relevance and have many things to say about the day to day meaning of living of Native American people.

The first example of European irrelevance, and the most universal wolf myth not only in Europe and Native American culture, but throughout the world, is that of the werewolf (Religion 432). The werewolf myths have many variations through the ages, but by far the most prevalent are myths that originated in medieval Europe. The popular notion of the werewolf in today's world has its roots from this time. The fear of this imaginary man-wolf beast reached near hysteria in France reaching its peak in the 1600's and resulted in the killing of hundreds of innocents for their alleged powers by burning them at the stake or other cruel acts of punishment. Werewolf myths persisted in France until the mid nineteenth century (Busch 86). One theory why the belief in werewolves became so prevalent is attributed to a "mythical-religious complex of wolf gods or in rituals of the return of the dead"(religion 432) where the wolf figured prominently in the ceremonies and the catalog of gods kept by ancient man. European fears surrounding the werewolf, such as the hysteria in France mentioned above, can be traced to religious beliefs about the wolf during the middle ages and medieval period.

As in the examples concerning werewolves, myths that induce the strongest beliefs are tied inherently to a prevailing religion or popular religious thinking and practice. This is true both in Native American and European culture. European religions tend to become disconnected through time losing their context to a culture or people, but certain themes seem to persist beyond the context where they originally had meaning (Deloria 66). Myth about wolves is just one such example of beliefs which had no real value to a people after the context of their origination had disappeared. However, the ideas persisted and were re-interpreted to fit a changing world. An example of realistic context falling away is the European Catholic church using the fear of werewolves to further its suppression of heresy during inquisitions (432). It was thought during the middle ages that werewolves are people who made a pact with Satan ( Bucsh 91) and the church capitalized upon these fears to further their own means. Belief in werewolves and the inquisition seem to have little relation to one and another, or for that matter people living in a more meaningful way as result of such beliefs.

European religious beliefs are plentiful outside of Christian tradition concerning wolves. They exemplify the wolf transformed from an animal involved in many important and meaningful processes of life to one primarily associated with evil as society evolved. For example, the classical Greek goddess of death, Hectate, had three heads, all wolves (Busch 86). Another is the ferryman Charon in Greek myth that traversed the river Styx delivering souls to Hades wore the ears of a wolf (86). Both examples show the wolf, or wolf qualities to be important in the spiritual transition of death. In older European traditions the wolf often symbolized transition, an emergence from one state to another (Religion 431). The Celts of the British Isles worshipped the wolf and deemed them the companions of gods (Busch 86). Even outside of Europe the wolf was worshipped as a great god. In Japan, Iran, and Scaythia the wolf is a god in these culture's archaic pantheons, too (Religion 431). In many of these cultures hunting was a primary means of existence. The wolf easily became the symbol of great hunting skill and was incorporated into religious tradition, but as European society shifted away from hunting to agrarian and animal husbandry as a means of living: "The wolf's reputation...became that of a voracious killer" (Busch 87) and the prevailing religious traditions supported and advanced this new belief. The religious tradition to have the most impact on European beliefs about the wolf is Christianity.

Early Christianity on the European continent employed the wolf, too, but instead of a symbol of nurturing or supernatural transition, the wolf became associated with evil and damnation as the agrarian way of life grew. The Bible describes Jesus as the shepherd protecting his herd of sheep from the wolf (The Bible, John 10:12). This would imply an intrinsic belief of the wolf as a symbol of sin and prurient influence. In Isaiah verse 11:16 of the old testament states "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb." This phrase is thought of as a metaphor of coming together of both the upper and lower under the Christian god (Religion 431), a stark contrast in comparison to the previous example and a throw back to an earlier time when the wolf represented more positive ideas. Another very prevalent notion in both the old and new testaments of the Christian Bible is the wolf as a tool of Satan and his henchmen. Wolves in this context are thought of as ravening or stealing away the souls of men (Religion 432). The wolf naturally preying upon domesticated animals easily transforms into the metaphor of Satan seducing the innocents of the Christian flock, drawing them away from their true nature as Christians into a state where they are compelled to unnatural acts. This is perhaps the most frequent religious wolf related thought to inseminate Christianity and popular European culture. The sad fact though is the image of the wolf in this context has little relation to anything based on reality and only serves not to enlighten thinking regarding this animal and its role in our world.

The fear and hatred of wolves European myths and religious thinking spawned over the centuries have resulted in the near extinction of the wolf upon the European continent and where ever European man has ventured. Bounties on wolves appeared early in both Greek and Roman civilizations and then in the rest of Europe by the fifteen hundreds (Busch 100). Europeans followed this pattern in North America, too. The first North American bounty for wolves originated with the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the mid seventeenth century (100). This process of eradication reached its apogee with the settlers movement west across the North American continent. Between 1883 and 1917 nearly eighty thousand wolf carcasses were brought in for collection of bounty moneys in Montana alone (102). Many men made glorious careers out of wolf bounty hunting in the west of the North American continent.

This movement and subsequent eradication along the way of the wolf as Europeans crossed the American continent is the clearest example of European attitudes concerning the relationship of man and wolf. Throughout the majority of European myths and fables, whether religious or popular in origin, man has to fear and conquer nature. The only good nature is that nature which is controlled for the benefit of the European, or for that matter what could now be called Western Civilization. The wolf, wile and untamable, and also a fierce predator, easily becomes the symbol of uncontrollable nature. The European traditions of wolf myth show a belief of man eternally pitted against nature and the tragic results of such belief.

As Europeans crossed the North American continent they also came into contact with the cultures native to that land. These Native American cultures held a widely different view of the wolf in their traditions and way of living. It is obviously diametrically opposed to what Europeans thought to be the truth about man's place within the European tradition. Native American traditions perhaps reflect what early European traditions held before the Christian tradition and complex social and technological advances took root.

The native peoples of the North America have many myths and traditions associated with the wolf and most, if not all, have something intrinsic to tell the people how to live in the world. The Pawnee of the great plains identified so strongly with the wolf and what wolf stories and myth represented that their hand signal for the wolf and the Pawnee people were nearly indistinguishable (Busch, p96). The Pawnee and many of the other Native American cultures revered the wolf for its great hunting prowess and would emulate this animal in ceremonies hoping to embodying these desirable characteristics, but the wolf participated in many other important stories aside from hunting.

The Eskimos have a story of an aged women abandoned and forced to survive in the cold. She turned into a wolf to do so(Busch 96). The Eskimos admired the great survival skills of the wolf.. Native American shaman held the wolf to be the source of great spiritual power (Religion 433). In the pacific northwest, "the doctoring societies of the Quilete and Makah Indians"(433)did wolf dances to heal sick members of their tribe. For many other Native American tribes wolves were thought to represent the corn god (433). With these example it is quite clear that the wolf took on many rolls in the myth of Native Americans. It is also clear that the image of the wolf was often of a creature who could teach, or give man wisdom about the world.

Certainly the wolf is seen as an intrinsic part of the world around these peoples. Like European cultures that crossed the continent, the beliefs associated with the wolf are deeply rooted to the religions practiced by these peoples. Unlike the Christian tradition though, Native American religions are closely associated to how these peoples live. Vine Deloria Jr. makes this observation in the book God is Red concerning the differences between Christian traditions and Native American traditions, "American Indians and other tribal peoples did not take this path in interpreting revelation and religious experience" (Deloria 66) meaning Christian tradition is thought to be valid by how well it explains the cosmos and man's place in it. He goes on to say in regards to Native American tradition, "The structure of their traditions is taken directly from the world around them, from their relationships with other forms of life"(66). Man has a vastly different role contextually in the world around him in Native American tradition.

This contextual relationship of man to nature is illustrated very well in a wolf myth titled Who Speaks for Wolf? This myth is presented as a learning story passed from generation to generation about the journey of a people in such for a new home land. It is meant to teach many things about the world in which these people live, but most importantly though it uses the wolf and the relationship the people have with this animal to teach these lessons, something grossly missing in European culture. The story is related through a grandfather telling it to his grandson as they sit by a campfire. He tells the grandson how his people needed to find a new land to support their growing numbers. The elders sent out many young men to look for a new land where the people could be themselves. All had returned, each with a place selected, accept one, the one they called Wolf's Brother. Wolf's Brother knew all there was to know about brother wolf. The elders of the tribe listened to each young man: "They listened to each among them, he who understood the flow of the water, she who understood long house construction, he who understood the storms of winter" (Underwood 25) then after listening to each they reached agreement. Then someone amongst them cried out, "But Wait, where is Wolf's Brother? Who, then, speaks for wolf?, but the people were decided"(26). The people began to move to the new place, then Wolf's Brother returned. He asked about the new place and said at once after hearing where the people had chose, "You have chosen the center place for a great community of wolf...but the people closed their ears"(27). The people settled into the new land and thought it was good.

The people began to see after a time that food disappeared "and wolf beyond"(29) in the shadows. At first this seemed a fair exchange to the people, some food for a place to live. Soon though it became much more for wolf became bolder and ventured into the village looking for food. The boldness of wolf caused the women to fear for the little ones. The men devised a system where they would drive off wolf should he come too near. The people discovered this required much energy and none was left to prepare for the long winter ahead. The elders of people gathered and "saw that neither providing wolf with food, nor driving him off gave the people a life that was pleasing. They saw that the wolf and the people could not live comfortably together in such a small space" (32). They considered then to "hunt down this wolf people until they were no more....They saw, too, that such a task would change the people: they would become wolf killers. A people who took life only to sustain their own would become a people who took life rather then move a little. It did not seem to them that they wanted to become such a people"(34).

The boy asks his grandfather whether the people always remembered to ask Wolf's question and in reply the grandfather says, "They remembered for a long time...long time. And when the wooden ships came...what we accomplish by much thought and considering the needs of all, they accomplish by building tools and changing the earth, with much thought of winter, and little of tomorrow. We could not teach them to ask Wolf's question....Tell me now my brothers, tell me now my sisters, who speaks for wolf?" (40).

It should be clear now regarding the differences of these two cultures, European and Native American, and how their myths relate the world to them. The differences perhaps are best outlined as the, "Tribal religions find a great affinity among living things....Behind the apparent kinship between animals...and human beings in the Indian way stands a great conception....Other living things are not regard as insensitive species. Rather they are people in the same manner as...human beings are people"(Deloria 89).

European myth and beliefs fail to recognize this, and in fact maintains its subjective stance in regards to the world around us. Some progress has been made though, but only in the last generation. The peoples of European cultures are finally beginning to consider the all in questions they ask and the things they consider. As time progress hopefully the myths about the world we hold to be true, but irrelevant, will fade away and be replaced with ideas that have value not only to our selves, but to all creatures.

by John Williams

I posted it before on this thread & someone else on another, but it has to be one of the most inspiring of all NA legends.

It's Native American lore & logic in it's simplicity & very best. -Rebel

“THE LEGEND OF THE TWO WOLVES''

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed." -Native American legend, author unknown.

Perhaps we should all take a moment and reflect on which wolf we are feeding – like when men in power use war to promote peace and televangelists are calling for assassinations. The legend lives in all of us who choose to recognize and feed it. -Unknown

Later...

[Isis2200]

Hi Rebel:

I think this is one thing we have in common. I have always had a deep respect for the Native American people. I think these people are wise; and because they have lived out in nature for so long, they have a deep spiritual connection not only with Nature(Mother Earth) but also with God, and things of a spiritual nature.

We would all do well to listen closely to what Native American Shamans have to say.

[Oxymoron]

I wonder is society going forward in quality of life or not. Maybe true happiness is living from the earth, living a spiritual life with family and friends. I think we have lost a huge part of the human exprience by seprating our selves from the flesh of the earth isolating our selves in a concrete jail. maybe we should stop gloryfing money and start gloryfing spiritualty love and closeness and not become junkies like the Hippie generation.

[Barek Halfhand]

Hey Rebel...

I paid a visit to the koshkonong effigy mounds during one of my recent Wisconson trips...but being the airhead that I am I forgot my camera ... I did manage a few cell phone pics and a video of the golf course plaque on the cluhouse lawn that overlooks the lake....the actual site markers down the road and is more like a nature path, witch makes it less like part of a golf course attraction and more of a historic site imho...

...next month I may visit the "Battle of Bad Ax" site (Black Hawk)....B

Edited July 21, 2007 by Barek Halfhand

[War Eagle]

Thanks Isis Native American Culture is awesome...FACT.

Hey Oxymoron, you summed that up to perfection man

Cool pics Barak, believe me if the chance comes and it will one way or another lol! to get to the States, i want to checkout as much of the NA sites as possible and or allowed.

Just some short clips of NA spirituality & inspiration...

...

[ZEB]

As some of the guys on this forum know i have a great interest and respect for the 'Native Nth American Indian People' of all nations, their traditional culture and way of life.

So i thought i'd start a thread on their ''Stories and Legends'', documented stories off the net like i've done or stories of your own that you've heard and or as told to you by family member elders if you prefer, illustrations and images welcome.

This first story is of the ''Sacred Pipe'' what many people refer to as The Peace Pipe.

Enjoy.

The Sacred Pipe of the T'salagi (The People)

Most all Nations have stories about the 'Sacred Pipe'. What many people refer to it as The Peace Pipe. Which is an incorrect Hollywood thought shown in the old west movies and cartoons. The Sacred pipe is to the Native Americans as the cross is to christian cultures.

The pipe, in one form or another, has come to most cultures around the world. Every group has used the pipe in one way or another and has stories of how they came to have it. The Lakota tell the story of the White Buffalo woman and how she first brought the pipe to them.

Just as the Tsalagi have this story.

It is not important how the pipe first arrived. Or who it came to first as all nations see themselves as the first to have this gift from creator. What is important is that the pipe is revered as a sacred item and also important is that it did come from The Creator. What is most important is that pipe was brought to all men of this world, for we all must share this world.

Long ago, but not long after the world was new, a tribe of red skinned people came to live on the lands which are around The Blue Smoke Mountains.

At this time, the animals of the world still talked to men and taught them how to live on and care for the land. These people were called " Ani Yun Wiya " or the One True People. In this tribe lived a brave warrior woman.

She was called 'Arrow Woman'. Arrow Woman was taught to use the bow, the spear and the knife. Even though it was a man's job to hunt and fight, Arrow Woman could shoot straighter with the bow than any man, she could throw the knife so as split a branch no bigger than your thumb and she could throw the spear into eye of a hawk in flight.

Because of all this, no man would tell her to be like a woman.

One day while on a hunt, Arrow Woman came upon the tracks of Yona the bear. She saw blood on the ground and knew him to be wounded so she followed his tracks. High into the mountains she followed. Soon she came to a place that she did not know. It was in this place, a place known only to the animals that she finally saw Yona the bear. He had a deep cut in his side and she saw him bowing down in prayer. She saw him bowing toward a large field of tall grass and speaking words that she had not heard before. Suddenly, the grass shimmered and became a lake. Arrow Woman saw Yona dive into the water. After a time he emerged from the water, his side was completely healed. Yona then saw Arrow Woman and walked to her. Yona told her, "this is the sacred lake of the animals. It is called, 'Atagahi' and it's location is known only to the animals. It is where we come for healing and strength. You are the first man creature to see the sacred lake.

You must never tell your kind of it's location for it is the home of 'The Great Uktena'. With these words Yona the Bear turned and walked into the woods and disappeared.

Arrow Woman was tired after following Yona all day so she decided to rest a while by this lake. She built a small fire and sat down to eat a meal that she had brought with her. She took a drink of the water from the lake and felt instantly refreshed. She was amazed, she felt strong as Yan'si the Buffalo. She felt as if she run faster than Coga the Raven could fly.

The woods were quiet, Unole the wind was sleeping, Nvda the sun was shinning bright but was not hot, the surface of the lake was completely calm, Arrow Woman began to get sleepy.

It was at this time that she saw 'Uktena', she had been told of him when she was a child but no one in her tribe ever claimed to have seen him. High above the water he raised his great serpent's head, the jewel in his forehead glistening.

He began to move toward her. Arrow Woman grabbed up her spear and stood up to face the great creature coming to her, standing proud, showing no fear, the way any warrior should. She raised her spear and prepared to strike the huge beast.

Uktena stopped a short distance from her. He smiled, his mouth was larger than a man was tall and full of teeth longer than man's forearm. He spoke to the brave woman on the bank of his lake. To her he said, "Put down your weapons for I mean you no harm. I come only to teach." Arrow Woman laid down her spear and began to relax, somehow knowing Uktena spoke truly.

Uktena told her to sit and to listen. Uktena dipped his head below the surface and came back up a moment later. In his mouth he had a strangely crooked stick and a leather pouch. These things he laid on the ground in front of Arrow Woman. Then the Great Uktena began to teach. He said,"This that I have laid before you is the Sacred Pipe of The Creator." He then told her to pick up the pipe. "The bowl is of the same red clay The Creator used to make your kind. The red clay is Woman kind and is from the Earth. Just as a woman bears the children and brings forth life, the bowl bears the sacred tobacco (tsula) and brings forth smoke. The stem is Man. Rigid and strong the stem is from the plant kingdom and like a man it supports the bowl just as man supports his family."

Uktena then showed Arrow Woman how to join the bowl to the stem saying, " Just as a man and a woman remain separate until joined in marriage so too are the bowl and stem separate. Never to be joined unless the pipe is used." Uktena then showed her how place the sacred tsula into the pipe and with an ember from the fire lit the tsula so it burned slightly. He told her this, "The smoke is the breath of The Creator, When you draw the smoke into your body, you will be cleansed and made whole. When the smoke leaves your mouth, it will rise to The Creator. Your prayers, your dreams, your hopes and desires will be taken to Him in the smoke. Also the truth in your soul will be shown to Him when you smoke the pipe. If you are not true, do not smoke the pipe. If your spirit is bad and you seek to deceive, do not smoke the pipe."

Uktena continued his lesson well into the night teaching Arrow Woman all of the prayers used with the pipe and all of the reasons for using the pipe. He finished just as the moon was beginning her nightly journey across the sky in search of her true love. He told Arrow Woman to wrap the pipe in cloth, keeping the parts separate. With this done He told her that she would never again be able to find this place but to remember all that she had learned. Uktena then returned to depths of the lake. Arrow Woman saw the water shimmer and become again the field of grass.

She left, taking with her the pipe and her lessons and a wondrous tale.

Ever since that time, The Ani Yun Wiya have used the sacred pipe and never again has any man seen the sacred lake of Uktena.

The pipe is not a symbol of things that are sacred. The pipe itself is sacred. Not everyone is called upon to be a pipe bearer. The person who carries the pipe and practices the pipe ceremonies and traditions has a great responsibility to his brothers and sisters, his land and country and even to the Earth Mother.

The pipe bearer does not 'own' the pipe he carries. He simply carries the pipe until the time comes for him to pass it to the next bearer. The pipe bearer is given certain powers of sight from the pipe as well as an ability to heal and purify. Should the bearer fall from grace and become a liar, thief, neglect his duties when asked, or become deceitful, the pipe would repossess these gifts and then the possibility of misfortune for the former bearer may exist.

One should be ready to accept the responsibility of the pipe for it may make demands upon you. It will become your teacher and guide. It can also be your worst enemy if used wrongly.

I leave it to you to decide if these words are truly said.

This is the way that I have learned.

As told by a Cherokee Elder.

Thanks Owl & Sunny...you know why

Awsome..info..Sunny told me about this...ZEB..I think she sent you my info...let me know

[War Eagle]

Thanks ZEB. I saw it, very cool stuff.

I took the opportunity and followed other links after that and found more stuff on NA culture/spirituality...

This man

(a legend imo)has a short story to tell about growing up as an NA...it is sad but a very inspiring story at that...

Although i have no time for the glitz & glam of Hollow-Wood and or mainstream tv, check out what these beautiful Native American Women have to say about NA's & mainstream on Tyra Banks. What the twins had to say blew me away...

Later...

[ZEB]

Thanks ZEB. I saw it, very cool stuff.

I took the opportunity and followed other links after that and found more stuff on NA culture/spirituality...

This man

(a legend imo)has a short story to tell about growing up as an NA...it is sad but a very inspiring story at that...

Although i have no time for the glitz & glam of Hollow-Wood and or mainstream tv, check out what these beautiful Native American Women have to say about NA's & mainstream on Tyra Banks. What the twins had to say blew me away...

Later...

Thanks,,,I will do and keep in touch...I am going to read all your post here...on this...I will be back in here ZEB

[War Eagle]

Just a few awesome pics sent to me by Rain Dancer enjoy .....

There is no more agony like bearing an untold story...

[War Eagle]

Some more classic artwork...

Thanks again RD...

[raindancer]

Some more classic artwork...

Thanks again RD...

Great Pictures! Looking Good. RD PS Got some more for you,

Edited September 7, 2007 by raindancer

[She-ra]

Hello All-

First, it has been wonderful reading this thread. THANK YOU.

And second, I know I've brought up this Book (and now newly released movie) on another thread. I thought I would post a little more details here for those who may be interested. This was recommended reading to me by a close friend. It is highly recommended by me as well!!

Take care, Jody

♥EAGLES ARE BEAUTIFUL!!♥ ~me

Book: Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee

2007 DVD Release

Source for below information:

Content

Chapter by chapter, this book moves from tribe to tribe of Native Americans, and outlines the relations of the tribes to the U.S. federal government during the years 1860-1890. It begins with the Navajos, the Apaches, and the other tribes of the American Southwest who were displaced as California and the surrounding states were settled. Brown chronicles the changing and sometimes conflicting attitudes both of American authorities such as General Custer and Indian chiefs, particularly Geronimo, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse, and their different attempts to save their peoples, by peace, war, or retreat. The later part of the book focuses primarily on the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes of the plains, who were among the last to be moved onto reservations, under perhaps the most violent circumstances. It culminates with the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the murders of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, and the slaughter of Sioux prisoners at Wounded Knee, South Dakota that is generally considered the end of the Indian Wars.

Impact of the book

It is difficult to overstate the impact of the book. As one reviewer put it:

"In the last decade or so, after almost a century of saloon art and horse operas that romanticized Indian fighters and white settlers, Americans have been developing a reasonably acute sense of the injustices and humiliations suffered by the Indians. But the details of how the West was won are not really part of the American consciousness ...

"... Dee Brown, Western historian and head librarian at the University of Illinois, now attempts to balance the account. With the zeal of an IRS investigator, he audits U.S. history's forgotten set of books. Compiled from old but rarely exploited sources plus a fresh look at dusty Government documents, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee tallies the broken promises and treaties, the provocations, massacres. discriminatory policies and condescending diplomacy."[1]

One strength of the book is its strong documentation to original sources.[2] Its message may not have been a welcome one, but it is backed with sources and references. It remained on best seller lists for over a year, and was still in print 35 years later.

Chapters

"Their Manners are Decorous and Praiseworthy"

The Long Walk of the Navahos

Little Crow's War

War Comes to the Cheyennes

Powder River Invasion

Red Cloud's War

"The Only Good Indian is a Dead Indian"

The Rise and Fall of Donehogawa

Cochise and the Apache Guerrillas

The Ordeal of Captain Jack

The War to Save the Buffalo

The War for the Black Hills

The Flight of Nez Percés

Cheyenne Exodus

Standing Bear Becomes a Person

"The Utes Must Go!"

The Last of the Apache Chiefs

Dance of the Ghosts

Wounded Knee

Title

Bury my heart at Wounded Knee is the final phrase of a 19th-century poem titled "American Names" by Stephen Vincent Benet. (The poem was not actually about the Indian wars.) The full quotation, "I shall not be here/I shall rise and pass/Bury my heart at Wounded Knee," appears at the beginning of Brown's book.

Film Adaptation

HBO Films has produced a film version of the book for the HBO television network. The film stars Aidan Quinn, Adam Beach, Anna Paquin, and August Schellenberg as Sitting Bull. The film debuted on the HBO television network Sunday, May 27, 2007.

[Abdullah]

thanks for sharing , interesting culture indeed ,

[War Eagle]

...more awesome NA art sent to me by RainDancer...

Buffalo Spirit

Lone Warrior

Ghost Vision