Some Native quotes from our elders.
Lakota Instructions for Living
passed down from White Buffalo Calf Woman.
"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."
The True Peace
Black Elk, Oglala Sioux & Spiritual Leader (1863 - 1950)
"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."
Chief Dan George;
"Look at the faces of my people.
You will find expressions of love and despair,
hope and joy, sadness and desire, and all the
human feelings that live in the hearts of people
of all colours. Yet, the heart never knows the
colour of the skin."
Resolution of the Fifth Annual Meetings of the Traditional Elders Circle, 1980
"There are many things to be shared with the Four Colors of humanity in our common destiny as one with our Mother the Earth. It is this sharing that must be considered with great care by the Elders and the medicine people who carry the Sacred Trusts, so that no harm may come to people through ignorance and misuse of these powerful forces."
Chief Seattle
"When the Earth is sick, the animals will begin to disappear, when that happens, The Warriors of the Rainbow will come to save them."
These are the words of our Native elders. The wisdom of our people, ALL Native peoples. Is this the same wisdom spoken today? Are these the voices we hear in our hearts and follow? I can not help but wonder...What would these same elders type on this group page if they were here today?
I am not taking sides in this, and many will put down anything I type just because it comes from me. But before you put this post down remember these are not my words. These are the words of the great elders of our Native nations. If you put them down it is not me you dishonor or disrespect, it is your elders. Hear the words of our great elders, feel them, digest them, know them, live them.
Hear your own Grandmothers and Grandfathers, what would they say? Yes the pain and oppression of our people was and is great. How can you help your people, your childern? Will the voice that speaks from pain heal them? Will our gift to our childern be a voice of resentment and pain, or will it be the voice of love, and healing. We can not change what has been done, and many things that will keep being done. But we can change how we respond. It is our choice to respond with harsh put down humor, or to think deeply and take our time before speaking, and speak with wisdom of compation. True wisdom speaks softly and with out hurtful humor. The white man has been your enemy, he is also your Brother. We are all childern of the Creator. We all share the Mothers back as our home. Yes Brothers and Sisters do fight each other from time to time. But they also remember who their Mother and Father are, all colors of people have the same Mother {Earth}, and the same Father {Creator}. How long will we keep hating our family? When will we know forgivness and unity? We are all different, it is okay to be different. An oak tree may have 1,000s of leafs, they are all oak leafs, but not one is exactly like another. Can one leaf hate another for being different? We all share the same tree as home, and some share the same branch. Let us all be the leaf we must to feed the tree and make our branches strong. In that we all will gain strangth, in that we will all be the tree.
May we all walk in the beauty of the Creator.
