I wonder if the ground has anything to say: I wonder if the ground is listening to what is said…the earth says, God has placed me
here. The Earth says, that God tells me to take care of the Indians on the earth; the Earth says to the Indians that stop on the Earth feed them right. God named the roots that he should feed the Indians on; the water speaks the same way…the grass says the same thing… The Earth and water and grass say God has given our names and we are told those names; neither the Indians nor the Whites have a right to change those names, the Earth says, God has placed me here to produce all that grows upon me, the trees, fruit, etc. The same
way the Earth says, it was from her man was made. God, on placing them on the Earth, desired them to take good care of the earth do each other
no harm. God said.

Weatenatenamy, Young Chief of the Cayuse

The True Peace

~Black Elk Oglala Sioux Spiritual Leader (1863 - 1950)

Black Elk, Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux 1863-1950

Over a hundred years ago Black Elk had a vision of the time
when Indian people would heal from the devastating effects
of European migration. In his vision the Sacred Hoop which had been broken,
would be mended in seven generations.

The children born into this decade will be the seventh generation

***

You have noticed that everything an Indian does in a circle,
and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles,
and everything tries to be round.

In the old days all our power came to us from the sacred hoop
of the nation and so long as the hoop was unbroken the people
flourished. The flowering tree was the living center of the hoop,
and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace
and light, the south gave warmth, the west gave rain and the north
with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance. This
knowledge came to us from the outer world with our religion.

Everything the power of the world does is done in a circle.
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 nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.
The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon
does the same and both are round. 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. Our teepees were round like the
nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation’s hoop,
a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our
children.

A Ute Prayer

Earth teach me quiet ~ as the grasses are still with new light.
Earth teach me suffering ~ as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility ~ as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth teach me caring ~ as mothers nurture their young.
Earth teach me courage ~ as the tree that stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation ~ as the ant that crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom ~ as the eagle that soars in the sky.
Earth teach me acceptance ~ as the leaves that die each fall.
Earth teach me renewal ~ as the seed that rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself ~ as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness ~ as dry fields weep with rain.

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 affects everything in the universe

.Honor the sacred.
Honor the Earth, our Mother.
Honor the Elders.
Honor all with whom we
share the Earth:-
Four-leggeds, two-leggeds,
winged ones,
Swimmers, crawlers,
plant and rock people.
Walk in balance and beauty.

~passed down from White Buffalo Calf Woman * From Black Elk Speaks

Being Indian is an attitude a state of mind a

way of being in harmony with all things and all

beings It is allowing the heart to be the

distributor of energy on this planet to allow

feelings and sensitivities to determine where

energy goes bringing aliveness up from the Earth

and down from the Sky putting it in and giving

it out from the heart.
*my friend Exodus*

It is through this mysterious power that we too have
our being, and we therefore yield to our neighbors, even to our animal
neighbors, the same right as ourselves to inhabit this vast land.
*Sitting Bull*

You ask me to plow the ground. Shall I take a knife and tear my mother’s bosom?
Then when I die she will not take me to her bosom to rest. “You ask me to
dig for stones! Shall I dig under her skin for bones? Then when I die I cannot
enter her body to be born again. “You ask me to cut grass and make hay and
sell it and be rich like white men, but how dare I cut my mother’s hair?
““

“It was supposed that
lost spirits were roving about everywhere in the invisible air,
waiting for children to find them if they searched long and patiently
enough…[The spirit] sang its spiritual song for the child to
memorize and use when calling upon the spirit guardian as an adult.” -
Mourning Dove [Christine Quintasket], Salish

“The land is sacred.
These words are at the core of your being. The land is our mother, the
rivers our blood. Take our land away and we die. That is, the
Indian
in us dies.” - Mary Brave Bird