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Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 19:11:05 +0000
From: andre cramblit <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: New year wish
I would like to thank everyone for support this past year, and I wish
each all of you a happy and harmonious 2005. I would hope that the New
Year brings all people new opportunities to serve your communities and
provides chances to learn and grow.
I am not much for quoting Supreme Court Justices But Olive Wendell Holms
did say, âThe greatest thing in this world is not so much where we are,
but in which direction we are movingâ
I would add the following Native ideals:
Why not teach school children more of the wholesome proverbs and legends
of our people? That we killed game only for food, not for fun. Tell
your children of the friendly acts of the Indians to the white people
who first settled here. Tell them of our leaders and heroes and their
deeds. Put in your history books the Indian's part in the World War.
Tell how the Indian fought for a country of which he was not a citizen,
for a flag to which he had no claim, and for a people who treated him
unjustly. We ask this to keep sacred the memory of our people.
Grand Council of American Indians to the Mayor of Chicago, 1927
Good words do not last long unless they amount to something. Words do
not pay for my dead people. They do not pay for my country, now overrun
by white men. They do not protect my father's grave. They do not pay
for all my horses and cattle. Good words cannot give my back my
children. Good words will not give my people good health and stop them
from dying. Good words will not get my people a home where they can
live in peace and take care of themselves. I am tired of talk that
comes to nothing. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good
words and all the broken promises. There has been too much talking by
men who had no right to talk. It does not require many words to speak
the truth.
Chief Joseph
"If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian he can live in
peace.... Treat all men alike. Give them all the same law. Give them all
an even chance to live and grow. All men were made by the same Great
Spirit Chief. They are all brothers. The earth is the mother of all
people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.... Let me be a
free man -- free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade,
where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the
religion of my fathers, free to think and talk and act for myself -- and
I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty." (quote from Chief
Joseph, in 1879 speech in Washington, D.C.)
"A nation is not defeated until the hearts of its women are on the
ground. Then it is done, no matter how brave its warriors or how strong
its weapons." - Cheyenne proverb
More Life Lessons
What we have is because someone stood up before us. What our Seventh
Generation will have is a consequence of our actions today-Winona
LaDuke, Annishnabe
Language is a beautiful thing. When a people loses its language, then
it loses almost everything-Shan Davis, Karuk
The life of a person is a circle from childhood to childhood. Within
each child lies our future and our past-Anon
Indian humor is like frybread-it feeds the soul and nourishes
tradition-Truman Lowe
You got to be smartâbut be sure to use a little common sense-Hazel
James, Wiyot
âpeople must pursue acquire and own knowledge to achieve freedom;
otherwise we are mere slaves-Janine Pease-Pretty on Top, Crow
Women in leadership roles can help restore balance and wholeness to
our communities-Wilma Mankiller, Cherokee
When the Earth Mother, your land, is gone, you are walking towards a
slow spiritual death-Carrie and Mary Dann, Western Shoshone
Fools Crow, Ceremonial Chief of the Teton Sioux
The survival of the world depends upon our sharing what we have and
working together. if we don't, the whole world will die. First the
planet, and next the people.
Qwatsinas [Hereditary Chief Edward Moody], Nuxalk Nation
"We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and
children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can't
speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees."
Chief Luther Standing Bear - Lakota Sioux:
"I am going to venture that the man who sat on the ground in his tipi
meditating on life and its meaning, accepting the kinship of all
creatures, and acknowledging unity with the universe of things, was
infusing into his being the true essence of civilization."
"The elders were wise. They knew that man's heart, away from nature,
becomes hard; they knew that lack of respect for growing, living things,
soon led to lack of respect for humans, too."
Ancient Indian Proverb
"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was
loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our
Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children."
Sioux Indian
Even sticks and stones have a spiritual essence, a manifestation of the
mysterious power that fills the Universe.
Crazy Horse
"One does not sell the land people walk on."
Luther Standing Bear Oglala Sioux, 1868-1937
"The American Indian is of the soil, whether it be the region of
forests, plains, pueblos, or mesas. He fits into the landscape, for the
hand that fashioned the continent also fashioned the man for his
surroundings. He once grew as naturally as the wild sunflowers, he
belongs just as the buffalo belonged...."
Chief Joseph, Nez Perce
"All men were made brothers. The earth is the mother of all people, and
all people should have equal rights upon it. You might as well expect
the rivers to run backward as that any man who was born free should be
content when penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases."
Black Elk Oglala Sioux Holy Man, 1863-1950
"You have noticed that everything as Indian does is in a circle, and
that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and
everything tries to be round..... The Sky is round, and I have heard
that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind,
in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nest in circles, for
theirs is the same religion as ours....
Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come
back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from
childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves."
Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator
"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the
breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which
runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset."
Mourning Dove Salish, 1888-1936
"...... everything on the earth has a purpose, every disease an herb to
cure it, and every person a mission. This is the Indian theory of
existence."
Lone Man (Isna-la-wica) Teton Sioux
"... I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not enough for a
man to depend simply upon himself."
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."
Tom Brown, Jr., The Tracker
"We learned to be patient observers like the owl. We learned cleverness
from the crow, and courage from the jay, who will attack an owl ten
times its size to drive it off its territory. But above all of them
ranked the chickadee because of its indomitable energy for life."
Wintu Woman, 19th Century
"When we Indians kill meat, we eat it all up. When we dig roots, we make
little holes. When we build houses, we make little holes. When we burn
grass for grasshoppers, we don't ruin things. We shake down acorns and
pine nuts. We don't chop down the trees. We only use dead wood."
Unknown Speaker addressing the National Congress of American Indians in
the mid 1960's
"In early days we were close to nature. We judged time, weather
conditions, and many things by the elements--the good earth, the blue
sky, the flying of geese, and the changing winds. We looked to these for
guidance and answers. Our prayers and thanksgiving were said to the four
winds--to the East, from whence the new day was born; to the South,
which sent the warm breeze which gave a feeling of comfort; to the West,
which ended the day and brought rest; and to the North, the Mother of
winter whose sharp air awakened a time of preparation for the long days
ahead. We lived by God's hand through nature and evaluated the changing
winds to tell us or warn us of what was ahead. Today we are again
evaluating the changing winds. May we be strong in spirit and equal to
our Fathers of another day in reading the signs accurately and
interpreting them wisely."
Stephen McCluskey 1982
The Hopi have no real professional astronomers, instead they have
elders, widely educated in the ritually transmitted wisdom of clan and
tribe.
I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not enough to depend
simply upon yourself-- Lone Man (Isna-la-wica) Teton Lakota
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