The People and 500 years for 500 Nations.

 Many, many Moons ago a new people came to the shores of Turtle Island.  In the North The People could understand the speak of the new people as the languages were almost the same. The People of the North of Turtle Island thought the new people might be insane because they spoke backwards.  Their language was spoken in reverse and was hard to follow.  It took much time for the Elders to understand the new people's speak, but they eventually did and trade began.  

In the South The People feared the new people because the new people began telling The People that they were the Old Gods and should be respected as Such.  The People began resisting and there was war.  

On the middle shore The People at first did not understand what they were seeing.  Floating cities appeared on the horizon of the Big Water, and in these cities was a population of new people that did not know the ways of life on Turtle Island and had to be taught in order to survive.  These new people did have members of The People with them and were reunited with family long gone.  Then the Troubled Times began. 

On the opposite shores of Turtle Island a new people arrived that  was much like The People that lived on those shores.  These new people were seeking refuge and wished to be hidden.  Then arrived the hunters of men who were seeking a holy man from far away claiming he had murdered an Eastern Prince. 

On every shore of Turtle Island a new people arrived and on every shore chaos soon followed.  The People found it necessary to protect family and friends the long wars began. 

Every group of new people that came to Turtle Island and began trading, communicating, and learning from The People had a trait they all shared.  In time they all began claiming the land as their own.  They all said that, a "God" was giving it to them.  They all began taking what was The People's and not theirs.  Even The People Themselves became a claimed thing.  The People began to disappear. 

The beginning of this occupation began 500 years ago, and to this day the pains of The People are still felt world wide.  

The New Order on Turtle Island just celebrated it's Holiday of Thanksgiving, and should respect The People for the gift of the knowledge of survival without which there would be no celebration.   For 500 years the 500 nations have endured, now The People and the new people are ONE People.  The Sacred Wheel is of all races of man and Turtle Island is our beginning.  

For all races of man and woman that live on Turtle Island Celebrate the ending of Native American Month with respect, pride, and the Joy of being Human for there is light in the distance.  

Peace and Balance,

John

The Medicine Wheel

 

The sun rises early in the East.  Yellow and bright rising high.  Grandfather Yappa begins his walk toward the South in Search of his older Brother Okaga.  In the South high in the sky the sun Anpetu heats the desert Red and the lizards find shade. Okaga then walks his way West in search of his older Brother Io, who is unknown and holds all  the secrets of age.  Io wears a black cloak and always points to the West as he walks to the North in search of the Elder brother Wazi, he is called Waziyatta the sage of the North who stands barefoot in the snows of the North cloaked in a white buffalo blanket facing all before him.  Wazi walks again to the East to wake the youngest of the four Yappa.  And the cycle begins again.

In the Center is the unborn Spirit, Umi also called Yummini, the whirlwind.  Who spins and marvels at all his elder brother's accomplishments.  Umi the unborn spirit of man that lives in the rainbow Tipi looked over by the daughter of Skan skan, the great sky.  San Wi, Pte San Wi, the White Buffalo Calf Woman, who teaches us all we know about being human.  Who 27 generations ago came to Umi and taught man the 7 sacred rites, and gave Hollow Horn the first Chununpa, the sacred pipe. 

So I look into the Four faces and say: HO Wakan Tanka Tunkasila, HO Ina Mahka Kunsi ye, HO Topa Tate Tunkasila, Pte San We, Skan Skan, Inyan, Mia Umi Tani na Cisjila, Hear my Call...  Mitakuye Oyatsin Hetchetu yelo, HO...

Peace and Balance,

John

Thunder Being

 

A howl was heard over the roar of the wind.

The trees were bent low and the light was dim.

I don't know what noise that was,

but the hair stood up on the back of my neck cuz

a memory was being laid like brick

a black cloaked shadow

eyes as red as fire

stood staring

when I realized the howl was me

then, a crack as loud as thunder

lightning on the floor

IBOM, WakanInyan is walking.   

They Called The Wind Myriah.

 

When I was young the Northern Desert of Montana was a source of comfort.  Late on a summer evening I could go out onto a bluff, sit, and listen to the wind.  It would blow warm and comfortable upon my face, and if I listened real hard I would hear my name blowing in on the wind.  In Northern Montana at the height of summer the sun stays out for quiet a long time compared to the latitudes of New Hampshire.  If you draw a line along the latitudes of my home town of Havre following the proper curve of the globe, you will find yourself at a little higher up than Quebec city in Montreal.  That's because of the angular alignment of our continental shelf, and the simple curve of the Earth.  

The Northern Desert, that's High Plains to those in the know, sits almost dead center in the grain belt of the United States and Canada, the High Desert.  Some have called the wind Mariah, makes a good song lyric, my grandmother's folk would say Tate the wind, or Topa Tate, the four winds. I'll just say Grandpa Wind. 

Sitting up high on a bluff and listening to the wind used to be a thing.  Today people just look at you weirdly.  Of course if you do things right, there's no one around to look at you in the first place.  

Solitude is a great teacher, and a great council.  Practicing solitude as part of our thing from time to time can bring us that much closer to a possible beginning, a possible enlightenment.  Listening for answers from sources outside those of standard normality is a practice of great patience and reverence.  If a person is a believer in otherworldly things, that listening becomes the beginnings of faith a path to the spirit.  I'm not talking about religion, I'm speaking of spirituality and enlightenment, the Great Awakening.  

When it comes to you, you won't be expecting it, it will just appear in you and the knowing will be.  And all this writing will only be an exercise of tossing words to those who will catch.  

I used to sit on the bluff and listen to the wind, I heard it calling my name, I had learned to listen.

Peace and Balance,

John

Happy Dead Bird Day

 

Tomorrow is the national Holiday that we give thanks to the Dead Bird.  The Dead Bird is a large indigenous creature that was grown and fostered on this continent many moons ago by rather large forces from the nether realms of Lunch Box.  Lunch Box is a secret plain where all holiday food is stored by the government until it can be released to the general public through the attribution and price fixing of the Walmart Giant.  Only those with the Top Ultra Magnetic Security Clearances have access to such knowledge. 

Lunch Box includes Large Dead Bird, Mashed and Smashed Potatoes, usually delegated to the space program, Yams, the code name of the other Potato, Corn, an ancient fuel source, a Frothy Adult Beverage, this keeps Uncle Lenny at Bay, and the pride of the day, Pumpkin Pie, just because topped with an adulterous amount of whipped cream.

Lunch Box has been used to monitor the Holiday in our neighbor Canada as a cultural exchange and a First Nations Power Up.  So far the First Nations have held back the urge to take over Canada, but have decided that the gig is pretty ok up there.  Then there's the rumor about the United States, shhhh.

Dead Bird Day began as Thanksgiving, but the name was unofficially changed by those that realize that being thankful for 500 years of occupation is a waste of time and energies, there is always that Canadian rumor.  You never know. 

So, until then when we can truly Say Happy Thanksgiving, I say to you, Have a Swell Dead Bird Day, and don't over indulge in Pumpkin Pie, the power can be explosive.

Peace and Balance,

John

White Buffalo Calf Woman (Pte san Wi)

I did not write this.  It comes from a website dedicated to Lakota/Dakota history and myth.  

 In the days before the Lakota had horses on which to hunt the buffalo, food was often scarce. One summer when the seven sacred council fires of the Lakota Oyate (Nation) had camped together, there was very little to eat. Two young men of the Itazipcho band – the ‘Without-Bows’ – decided they would rise early and look for game. They left camp with dogs still yawning, setting out across the plain, accompanied by the song of the yellow meadowlark.

After a while the day began to grow warm. Crickets chirruped in the waving grass, prairie dogs darted their holes as the hunters approached, but still spotted no real game. So the young men made towards a little hill to see further across the vast expanse of level prairie. Reaching it, they shielded their eyes and scanned the distance, but beheld coming out of the growing heat haze something bright, walking on two legs, not four. Soon they recognized her as a beautiful woman in shining white buckskin.

Coming closer, they noticed her buckskin wonderfully decorated with sacred designs in rainbow-colored porcupine quills. She carried a bundle on her back, and a fan of fragrant sage leaves in her hand. Her jet-black hair was loose, except for a single strand tied with buffalo fur. Eyes full of light and power, she transfixed the young men.

Now one of the men filled with burning desire. “What a woman!” he said sideways to his friend. “And all alone on the prairie. I’m going to make the most of this!”

“You fool,” said the other. “This woman is holy.”

But the foolish one made up his mind, and when the woman beckoned, he needed no second invitation. Reaching out for her, a great cloud enveloped them both. When it lifted, the woman stood, and at her feet remained nothing but a pile of bones with terrible snakes writhing among them.

“Behold,” said the woman to the good hunter in Lakota, so he thought her one of his tribe and approached. When he saw his dead friend’s remains, he menaced her with his bow but she proclaimed, “I am Wakan (holy) and your weapons cannot hurt me.  Do as I say and you will not regret it.” He relented and she continued, “I come to your people with a message from Tatanka Oyate, the Buffalo Nation. Return to Chief Hehlokecha Najin (Standing Hollow Horn) and tell him what you have seen. Tell him to prepare a tipi large enough for all his people, and to get ready for my coming.”

The young man ran back across the prairie, gasping for breath as he reached camp. With a small crowd of people already following, he found Standing Hollow Horn and related the story that the sacred woman was coming. The chief ordered several tipis to be combined into one big enough for his band. The people waited with anticipation for the wakan woman to arrive.

After four days the scouts posted to watch for the holy woman saw something coming towards them in a beautiful manner from across the prairie. Then suddenly the woman appeared in the great lodge, walking round it in a sunwise direction. The chief addressed her respectfully, saying: “Sister, we are glad you have come to instruct us.”

She told him what she wanted done. In the center of the tipi they were to put up an owanka wakan, a sacred altar, made of red earth, with a buffalo skull and a three-stick rack for a holy bundle she brought. They did as directed, and she traced a design with her finger on the smoothed earth of the altar. She showed them how to do all this, then circled the lodge again sunwise. She stopped before Standing Hollow Horn as he sat in the west of the lodge, and held her bundle before him in both hands.

Again the chief spoke, saying: “Sister, we are glad. We have had no meat for some time. All we can give you is water.” They dipped some wacanga, sweet grass, into a skin bag of water and gave it to her, and to this day the people dip sweet grass or an eagle wing in water and sprinkle it on a person to be purified.

“Look on this,” she said about her bundle, “and always love and respect it. It is very sacred. No one who is impure should ever touch this, for it contains the chanunpa, the sacred pipe.” She unrolled the skin bundle and took out a pipe, and a small round stone which she put down on the ground. She presented it to the people and let them look. She grasped the stem with right hand and the bowl with her left, and thus the pipe has been held ever since.

She filled it with chan-shasha, red willow-bark tobacco. She walked around the lodge four times after the manner of Anpetu-Wi, the great sun. This represented the circle without end, the sacred hoop, the road of life. The woman placed a dry buffalo chip on the fire and lit the pipe with it. This was peta-owihankeshni, the fire without end, the flame to be passed on from generation to generation.

She told them that the smoke rising from the bowl was Tunkashila’s breath, the living breath of the great Grandfather Mystery. “With this you will, during winters to come, send your voices to Wakan Tanka, your Father and Grandfather.”

She showed the people the right way to pray, words and gestures. She taught them how to sing the pipe-filling song and how to lift the pipe to the sky, toward Grandfather, and down toward Grandmother Earth, to Unci, and then to the four directions of the universe. “With this pipe you will walk on the Earth, which is your Grandmother and Mother. The Earth is sacred, and so is every step that you take on her. The bowl of the pipe is of red stone; it is the earth. With your feet resting upon the earth and pipe stem reaching into the sky, your body forms a living bridge between the Sacred Beneath and the Sacred Above. Wakan Tanka smiles upon us, because now we are as one: earth, sky, all living things, the two-legged, the four-legged, the winged ones, the trees, the grasses.

“Together with the people, they are all related, one family. The pipe holds them all together.

Carved into the pipe and facing the center is the buffalo calf, who stands for all the four-leggeds who live upon your Mother. The buffalo represents the universe and the four directions, because he stands on four legs, for the four ages of creation. The buffalo was put in the west by Wakan Tanka at the making of the world, to hold back the waters.

“Every year he loses one hair, and in every one of the four ages he loses a leg. The sacred hoop will end when all the hair and legs of the great buffalo are gone, and the water comes back to cover Mother Earth.

The stem is of wood, which stands for all that grows on the Earth. These twelve hanging feathers from Wanblee Galeshka (Spotted Eagle) stand for all the winged creatures. All these living things of the universe are the children of Mother Earth. You are all joined as one family, and you will be reminded of this when you smoke the pipe. Treat this pipe and the earth with respect, and your people will increase and prosper.”

The woman told them that seven circles carved on the stone represented the seven rites in which the people would learn to use the sacred pipe. The first was for the rite of “keeping the soul”, which she now taught them. “It should be for you a sacred day when one of your people dies. You must then keep his soul as I shall teach you, and through this you will gain much power; for if the soul is kept, it will increase in you your concern and love for your neighbor. So long as the person, in his soul, is kept with the people, through him you will be able to send your voice to Wakan Tanka.”

The remaining rites they would learn in due course.

The woman made as if to leave the lodge, but then turned, speaking to Standing Hollow Horn again. “This pipe will carry you to the end. Remember that in me there are four ages. I am going now, but I will look on your people in every age, and at the end I will return.”

She now circumambulated slowly around the lodge in a sunwise direction. The people were silent and awed. Even the hungry young children watched, their eyes alive with wonder. Then she left.

After she had walked a short distance, she faced the people again and sat down on the prairie. The people gazing after her with amazement witnessed her transforming into a young red and brown buffalo calf…then rolled over and became a yellow buffalo calf….then rolled again into a black one. She continued further into the prairie, and then lay down and rolled over one more time, looking back at the people.

Standing, she appeared as a white buffalo. She walked on until only visible as a bright speck in the distant prairie. She kept moving, stopping to bow to the four directions of the earth, and finally disappeared over the hill.

As soon as she had vanished, buffalo in great herds appeared, allowing themselves to be killed so that the people might survive. And from that day on, our relations, the buffalo, furnished the people with everything they need — meat for their food, skins for their clothes and tipis, and bones for their many tools. Until, of course, the herds no longer sustained the people…but that is another story.

Mitakuye Oyasin, We are all related.

Peace and Balance,

John

Wi and Han Wi

 A long time ago the warrior Anpao was in love with the maiden Wi.  He tried many things to gain her attention and favor.  Anpao would hunt and bring her the finest deer hides.  He would create the most elaborate tipi's with the best buffalo hides.  He would bring her the finest horses.  Anpao did everything he could think of to get her attention.  

Wi had eyes for another.  She was always looking out for Anpetu, the sun warrior.  She would watch for his arrival and on his approach would run and hide.  Wi was afraid of Anpetu's brightness. His glare blinded her.  

Anpao was jealous and created a terrible idea.  He traveled to Anpetu's tipi to do battle with what he thought were the Gnasty's that lived there.  Anpao found himself in a perpetual battle with the monsters from the sun.  

Each morning Anpetu would make his approach, and Wi would run and hide.  And every night Anpetu would sleep and Wi would gaze upon him as he slept.  But, when the warrior Anpao made is presence known thru Anpetu, Wi found herself gazing out at a reflection waiting for Anpetu.  What came instead was the conflict Between Anpetu and Anpao.  The monsters of the sun were dancing.  Because of this conflict once every month Wi can gaze upon Anpetu and Anpetu can share space with Wi.  Anpao sleeps. 

During this time Wi and Han Wi share the skies.  The sun and the moon can be seen dancing together while the Darkness and the Light battle for conquest of the monsters of the sun.  Who never appear.  

Peace and Balance,

John

Pipe Carrier

 According to Lakota History, the Sacred Pipe was brought to Earth about 19 generations ago by Pte San Wi, The White Buffalo Calf Woman at a time when the seven tribes were gathered in council.  The people were starving, the hunting was bad, no Buffalo were to be found.  Pte San Wi came to the people and instructed them on the importance of living in balance with nature.  She taught them about the sacred directions and the Grandfathers of the Four Winds. Then she taught them everything they needed to know about the making, handling, and caring for the sacred pipe.   Then she taught the people how to pray.  She taught them the sing and how to use the pipe as a tool to communicate with Great Spirit Grandfather, Wakan Tanka Tunkasila.  In this way the people could ask for Tatanka to return and sacrifice himself for the people so that they could eat and survive.  The Buffalo was listening, and Great Spirit Grandfather sent him to the people.  The people began to prosper, ate well, and live in balance. It was a good thing.

There are two types of pipes, the personal pipe that can be owned and used by anyone for personal prayer and ceremony.  This pipe should not be shared.  It is intended to be used by and for the person who owns it.  The other is carried by the Pipe Carrier to be used for the people.  This pipe is used by the Pipe Carrier either alone, or with others in ceremony.  It is shared by a group for the whole that the prayer will arrive on mass to Great Spirit Grandfather for the betterment of all either for Teaching or Healing, or Both.  

A Pipe Carrier carries this task from lifetime to lifetime.  He is born to the task, he does not earn it.  This is something that was given to him before he arrived on this Earth.  Today due to the mix in cultures and the rise in spiritual awareness, the pipe has taken on the weight of cultures from all over the globe.  This is a good thing, and a bad thing.  Those who jump into an indigenous Pip Ceremony blindly without the knowledge and background to ground them to the Earth are running great spiritual, emotional, and mental risks.  The misuse of such things can lead to madness and death.  However those who have a calling and come to these things with respect and humility may add to the power of humanity and spread the healing and love to all the people. 

The Pipe reflects both the masculine and feminine side of nature.  The bowl with it's hole to accept the stem represents the feminine, the stem that in inserted into the bowl is the male.  Alone they will not function, but together they are a whole conduit to Great Spirit Grandfather. Only together will the prayer pass from the pipe to the Four Winds, to Great Grandfather.  The stem is the organic nature of existence, and the bowl is the inorganic aspect of the Earth, the fire is the ever present spirit.  Yin Yang. 

There are many correct ways to conduct a Pipe Ceremony.  The reader may find one that fits them the best, however there are a few practices that should be followed before beginning and when finishing the ceremony.  First it is important to smudge or sage yourself and any one else using the pipe.  This spiritually cleanses the participant and protects from spiritual problems.  Second is to maintain the utmost respect and humility while participating in ceremony.  Keeping your practice at the highest levels of respect and humility keeps you, me, and all that much closer to the Creator.  

Pipe Carriers are Healers, Warriors, Teachers, and Sacred Clowns.  We are the rugs that others come to and clean their feet on.  We are the bowls of water that are passed around to quench the thirst of the many.  We are the words that the Four Winds whisper into the hearts of the people.  We are Happy and Stand in High Honor to be of service, Mitakuye Oyatsin Hetchetu yelo, HO.  For all of my relations it is so.  

Peace and Balance,

John

The Potato

The potato is one of the main staples in the United States.  It is a root that is native to the Americas and the secret additional part of the Three Sisters plus one,  maize, beans, squash, and potatoes.  Generally when you think of Native American food you think of the Three Sisters, Maize, (Corn), Beans, and Squash of all kinds, but what is left out that actually occupies a greater portion of the pot is the potato.  

The potato wasn't actually a staple in Ireland until the English brought it back from the Americas.  The English couldn't figure the potato out and gave it to the Irish in hopes of getting rid of a problem, the potato.  The Irish figured it out and the rest is legend.  Ireland became so enthralled with the potato that several excellent dishes were developed and the potato for many generations became the main crop of the Misty Isle.  This is one of the main causes of the potato blight.  Over planting, and poor farming technique.  Pretty soon, no potatoes which cost many lives and started a migration that eventually lead to the fact that there are more Irish folks in the United States than there are in Ireland.  Followed the potato home.

Potatoes are fun food.  You can do so much with a potato, and create many wonderful dishes of goodness.  One of my favorites is a potato hash that I've mastered through practice and taste testing.  Take 6 or 7 potatoes, peel them and chop them into bite sized chunks and place in a preheated frying pan with good slab of butter.  Add a few dashes of Garlic salt, Basil, Kosher salt, and Black Pepper, and let begin to brown.  Chop up a couple of large white or yellow onions and add to the potatoes.  Let cook together.  When the spuds start to brown add a chopped up Kielbasa, of your own choice and cover.  This takes about 45 minutes to cook.  The last few minutes uncover to let brown more and release the steam.  Serve with salsa or ketchup or whatever catches your fancy.  Eatem up yum.  

Potatoes are also very good for you.  The Starch in a potato helps to regulate cholesterol levels, it helps maintain proper sugar absorption, and helps keep caloric regulation normal.  However, that's not an excuse to over indulge in the potato because to much of a good thing is no longer a good thing, ya know Vern.  

So to you I say during the Native American Heritage Month, enjoy your potatoes, with a good helping of the Three Sisters, Maize, Beans, and Squash, your health and your bod will appreciate you.

Peace and Balance,

John