Kris-- LOL! No.....it doesn't sound "maudlin" to say our ancestors are always with us....not at all.... because if it is "maudlin," then, I"m maudlin also <g>
Chasing a rabbit here, but we moved here 10 years ago...a neighbor down the street told me that our valley area was haunted, since we live near the Cadron Ridge, which is part of the Trail of Tears....the other neighbors said she was an odd-duck (a few said "crazy") and to take what she said with a grain of salt..... I never thought she was "crazy," because I grew up with such things, so I believed her....she wasn't crazy.....our little one, a toddler at the time, would see a "brown man with long black hair" standing in our hallway from time to time....and even now, I often "sense" i'm not alone in the room..... I often have the sensation of something "touching" me on the shoulder, arm or back....and.....things have moved of their own accord, or things have been moved while we slept.....I have wind chimes in the living room and in the kitchen area and often, late at night, out of the blue, one of them will start chiming, like someone blew on the weighted "thingy" that hangs down..... We'll stop talking, look over and greet our "house spirit" and thank him for dropping in....<g> Also, at certain times, we can hear voices, like one would hear in a restaurant---muted and indistinct, but audible all the same...and we hear sounds like children on a playground.... Maybe we have some kind of vortex or "dimensional wall" in our house, I don't know, but i know we're not all crazy!! We all (4 of us) have experienced these things.... I know this is WAY off topic and probably not everyone's cup of tea, but that's what's happening here at the homestead, SO.....I know our ancestors, whether blood-kin or not, are with us....and I believe we are being watched over and protected because none of us feel "threatened" in any way.... Oh, a funny here....I changed up my living room a year or so ago....just wanted something "different" for awhile....have had the "lodge-Native" theme for as long as I can remember, so being a woman, I wanted to change things up a bit, you know?.....wanted to "modern-it-up" a bit, with some of the stylish stuff that was the "rave" at the time.... Bad move, I conclude, because our Spirit Brother must not have liked it---all the "new and different stuff" began falling off a shelf, walls, coffee table and breaking...bowls, candle holders, pictures and such....my husband said, "seems our house spirit doesn't like all this trendy stuff." So, I dragged out all the "old" stuff I"ve had for years back out and haven't had any more mis-haps since....LOL Now HOW did I get off on THAT?? I'm sorry it this has offended anyone!! I apologize if this has upset anyone....But.....this is "real" happenings around here, so i often forget that many folks don't believe in or like things of this nature....growing up, stuff like this occurred, and my family never gave it a second thought---it was just an accepted part of Life... ANYWAY.....what you wrote was beautiful....I honor your Wisdom.... I have a vivid image of the Elder / grandma chewing that man out, after debasing you as he did....LOL bet he was wondering what had gotten hold of him! :-) Gosh, I need to close...didn't mean to yap so long.....it's actually cool here today, and i guess I've had too much caffeine as a result.....LOL A blessed week to all- deb ----- Original Message ----- Date: Sun, 13 Oct 2002 17:33:45 EDT From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Native_American] Hiding one's heritage --part1_142.572ad4.2adb40b9_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit deb...you are never alone on the red road sis...there are lots like us, brothers and sisters..and of course, not to sound maudlin, but our ancestors are always with us, supporting us in our journey...and dont forget Creator is with us too...our steps are guided even when we dont know it! if i had never come 2000 miles from Pa to Co. i would never have met the gramma who put me on the right path to the Lakota band Blackfeet, and not the Montana Blackfeet Nation...there will always be those that to them, we dont "look" indian enough! or we werent raised in the "traditional" culture...there are snobs in every culture it seems! too many people still romantisize indians...Indian people are like everyone else...there are the kind, those willing to help, and also on the other side of the coin, the rude, snobbish and unkind, ready to critisize...oh well...that is human nature, and we are all of the same human family...i had one native man jump alllllllll over me because i agreed with him that all of Mother Earth is our church...he really layed into me! called me a wannabe, and worse, and told me to go back to my own culture! well one of the gramma's happened to be standing there, and SHE was all over HIM! she really layed into him...she told him he was not only disrespectful to me, as his elder, ( i was old enough to be his grandma) but.....that it was bigots like him who turned all the old teachings around about helping people find thier heritage and instructing them in indian ways...the elders will all help you once they know you are sincere, no matter what race you are! he later came and reluctantly apologized to me...i dont think he was really sorry, but i accepted his apology...so you see...there will always be those who will treat you this way...the solution, as i was taught by the elders, is not to get mad or defensive...but to be kind to them....sooner or later anyone who has hatred or rasicm in their hearts will suffer the consequences..it is not up to us to teach them, but thier own hearts and Creator... whew...sorry...didnt mean to preach! i just wanted to let you know that Creator knows who we are...our ancestors are with us, and WE in our hearts know exactly who we are...nuff said now...getting off my soapbox Kris Donadaghovi AiSv Nv wa do hi ya do (Til next we meet, Walk in Peace) --<<< --<<< --<<< Visit and show your support for the Grass Roots Oyate http://members.tripod.com/GrassRootsOyate Clemency for Leonard Peltier. 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