"Sing praises to the sky,
Give blessings to the hills,
Feel the spirit of the mountains,
Sacred are the streams,
Be one with the Mother Earth."
"Oh, Earth, our Mother,
Your rivers flow like blood in my veins;
Your mountains pierce the sky like my dreams and visions;
Your evening star cradles me;
Your winds stir my inner;
You are the Giver of life and the Taker.
Our bodies are but one body.
Our spirits are but one spirit.
Of a few of Your secrets, I know.
The simple things teach me Your ways.
To know them is to know You.
When I am tired,
Your nightfall calms me to rest;
When I am lonely,
You send the animals to comfort me.
Your medicine is strong,
Your medicine is strong!"
| "We
learn these lessons of life from Nature, from our Earth Mother: the tree drops the old
limbs off in order to grow new ones. It rids itself of the old things that are useless and
never carries into spring the old, but blossoms forth with new life, new living--a chance
to be a new person."
"To achieve a balance and oneness with the spirit of life and
its many forms on Mother Earth, our elders have taught us to treat the environment, each
other and other people with respect as each individual has a role to fulfill while
traveling here. Our destiny is the cause of all that occurs within our life. The pattern
of the Great Spirit is over us all, but if we follow our own spirits from within, the
pattern becomes clear."
"Others have forgotten, some never know, that to be 'Indian" is to be human.
We have never really been recognized as a people who have human thoughts about life, love
and everything that make life worth living. Harmony and balance with Nature is the heart
of the Indian way . . . For thousands of
years, we have not merely occupied this continent, but have shown it respect and kept it
in balance. It is difficult for most people to know much of our past because our ancestors
left little evidence of their lives to retrace their time here. Yet, in less time than a
few men's lives, the non-Indian, through what is termed 'progress', has almost destroyed a
continent. Much of life has become endangered or is extinct. He can take flight on metal
wings to soar as his winged brothers, but once lost, can he rebuild a bird?" |
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