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Elder Meditation
We look to other peoples in other
lands to recognize and stand with this Circle of Life."
-Traditional Circle of Elders
Santa Clara Pueblo
All people on the Earth are brothers and
sisters. We may be different colors, different ages, different sizes,
different genders. We may have different values, different knowledge,
different cultures. We may call the Great Spirit by different names,
have different ceremonies. We may have different beliefs,
different habits, different clothes and different hairdos. In the Indian
Way, all people are welcome to the Circle.
Great Spirit,
help me welcome my
brothers and sisters to my
Circle.
WEBSITE NOVEMBER UPDATES
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Funny
Bones
No offense intended for any individuals or tribes.
"Knock knock" "Who's there?" "Dishes"
"Dishes who?" "Dishes da Navajo police... OPEN UP!"
An Osage lady had just bought a new car
with her head right money. She sent her Ponca boyfriend to the back of the car
to check out her turn signals.
"Are they working?" she asked. The Ponca guy responded "Yes...
No...Yes...No...."
Eco-Notes:
Eco-Friendly
Christmas Trees
The Holidays
are almost here! How about an eco-friendly
Christmas Tree this year? Here are some resources to guide you:
What
should we get this year, a fake tree or a real tree? A cut tree or a live
tree? The most eco-friendly tree: Avoid plastic trees made from
petroleum, and buy a real tree from a small-scale sustainable (organic)
grower to avoid pesticides and herbicides. If you live in a city or if an
evergreen tree is inappropriate to your landscape, buy a cut tree and
recycle it after the Holidays. If your environment can support a live tree,
be sure to plant it with care after the Holidays! Or, consider not buying a
tree at all and decorating an outside tree as an alternative or donating to
nonprofit organizations that plant trees to restore the environment.
2) Simple Solution:
http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/home/341
Eco-benefits of tree recycling. Why
buying a live Christmas tree with roots is an eco-friendly Christmas
tradition. How Christmas tree farms benefit the environment. When Christmas
trees are not eco-friendly.
Instructions on how to plant
your live tree after the Holidays.
If you
have a cut tree, please be sure to MULCH, COMPOST, or RECYCLE it after the
Holidays, instead of putting it out in the garbage where it will end up in a
land fill.
5)
Alternatives: Don't buy a tree, and
instead
6) or consider
donating your time/money to:
American
Forests works to protect, restore and enhance the natural capital of trees
and forests. Healthy forests filter water, remove air pollution, sequester
carbon, and provide homes for wildlife. Help plant trees to restore areas
damaged by wildfire, where critical wildlife habitat has been lost, and to
clean our air and water.
Give a tree in honor of friends and loved
ones and bring hope and opportunity to a family in need. Trees are planted
to restore eroding hillsides, replenish the soil with nitrogen and serve as
wind breaks.
Trees For The Future is an organization
that has been the steward of planting trees throughout the world since the
early 70's. Their mission of sustainable agroforestry thoughout the world
involves planting trees on degraded lands to minimize soil erosion, supply
forage for animals, and provide a source of fuelwood.
Manataka
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Store
GRANDMOTHERS SPEAK
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Bear Star
(Bear Clan)
By Waynonaha Two Worlds
In
a time beyond time, I was with my mother Ursula. My walk was not of
this land, but one of the stars in the multiverse. My mother took me
through the Milky Way the spirit of the sky world, she showed me where
to gather the sweet fruit of the many galaxies. Life was good and we
where happy all was safe and at peace. We were many in those days and we
held the sky as our world the galaxy was our place to sleep and dream.
My mother one
day said, “it is time for me to place you in your own land. In time you
will be alone and I want you to always have your star to come home too.”
With this said she bit off a piece of the moon and threw it out into the
limitless space of time. I watched as it spun off into the darkness and
vanished. Next we traveled to the sun and again she bit off a large
piece of this molten liquid and threw this out into space. I watched as
the shining light of the sun flew into the darkness and united with the
small piece of the moon. They spun around and around until they formed
between them a round ball of blue and white. This small ball then flew
off on its own dancing and spinning between them.
After a long time my mother took me to see
this new blue ball that she had created called Ursula or home of the
Bear Star.
It was a
wonderful place full of water and trees of every kind like the ones we
saw in the long lost galaxies that we traveled.
There were
many plants and animals and fishes. Birds of all colors and size filled
the water and the air.
With her claws
my mother dug great rivers and made mountains by pulling the soil this
way and that until she was pleased with what she had done. In the side
of one of the mountains she dug a deep hole into the heated center of
the blue ball.
She went in
and told me to follow her so I entered this hole in the blue ball and
found it warm and comfortable.
READ MORE...
Waynonaha Two Worlds. Copyright (c) 2006 by Waynonaha Two
Worlds. All publication rights reserved.
Funny
Bones
No offense intended for any individuals or tribes.
Two Rosebud Indians stole a hog, and put
it on the front car seat between them. Suddenly they hit a roadblock. Thinking
fast, they disguised the hog by putting sunglasses on it, and by tying a
lady's scarf around its head. The trick worked, and the deputy let them go.
"Don't that break your heart?" the deputy asked the sheriff as they drove away.
"Them two Indian boys ... out with that beautiful white woman."
GRANDMOTHER'S SPEAK:
From Grandmother Selma
The Lodge of the People is much
more than just a shelter from the elements, for it , as do most terms in our
culture, has symbolic significance and lessons to teach us and the
generations to come.
There are fifteen poles in the
average lodge and each one has symbolic meaning attached to them, each one
carries a lesson.
1.
Obedience: obedience in following the traditions and teachings that
were passed to us by our ancestors and the elders of today.
2.
Happiness: Happy heart, mind and soul to share our homes with others,
our home literally becoming theirs.
3.
Respect: Respect for all living life forms, the two-legged's, the
finned ones, the creepy crawlers, the solid ones...or standing ones. To
allow each being to be as they are without judgment or ridicule, to their
face or behind their back. Respecting them for who they are, where they
are, at the level of growth and development that they are.
4.
Humility: knowing we are no less and certainly no more than another,
knowing that we are only a small part of the total whole, one strand in the
massive web of life. Know that all life was created by a higher power and
knowing that we too make errors on our life walk.
5.
Acceptance: Accepting all life as our relations, knowing that we are
truly connected to all life forms and to all two legged's as well.
6.
Strength: Showing patience in times of stress, not complaining but
learning to endure, knowing we will eventually understand the over-all
picture. Strength of character, of min, of soul, of spirit and then
strength of resolve and body.
7.
Cleanliness: Clean minds, clean spirits, clean hearts and clean souls
lead to clean bodies and actions , along with thoughts within and of that
body.
8.
Rearing: Caring for, teaching, protecting and being proud of the
young,the youth and the child.They are the future and must be prepared to
care for the ones that will follow in their footsteps.
9.
Thankfulness: Thankful not only for our blessings, the bounty of Earth
Mother, the beauty that surrounds, our health, our relations, but...also
thankful for our lessons, tragedies, trials and tribulations, for they serve
to polish us like gem stones....to remove our flaws and to create the
polished, shiny results.
10. Hope:
Hope for the future, for the return of the traditions. for the peace of the
world;s peoples and for unity of all living forms.
11.
Sharing: freely sharing our blessings, our basic needs, our love, our
teachings, our traditions, our dreams and our visions. Sharing all
willingly, sharing all that makes us who and what we are, what we have been
and what we will become.
12.
Protection: Protection of not only our body, life and limb; but
protection of the values, principles, teachings, customs; protection of the
physical, but even more so of the spiritual, ceremonial, traditional and
sacred.
13. Love:
the ability to give of your heart to others, to love others or even
yourself. Unconditional acceptance of another just as they are, knowing
that everything has a Divine purpose and is of by Divine design.
14. Faith:
An inner knowing or level of trust that things are as they should be.
That challenge will result in victory, that hurt will result in growth,
added understanding and added depth and wisdom. Faith in the Creator, His
ultimate plan, His direction and His constant companionship.
15.
Mystery: The ability to trust the unknown, to venture into the realms
beyond our own, to allow vision to occur and to accept the information as
factual from them. The ability to seek and ac accept the " magic of life
and after life".
The flags are also symbolic
also. They are symbols of our interdependence with and on all other life
forms. It all works together to support the whole. For all the poles and
symbolism come together to support the covering that forms the end result.
The Lodge of the People is in
fact a life force in it's own right. Let us always honor it as a
teaching elder and strive to honor it's lessons.
Submitted by Selma
Palmer, 2003 All Rights Reserved
GRANDMOTHERS SPEAK
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Magdala
Rameriz
Maya Priestess |
Beautiful Sisters and Brothers all over the world,
I was talking to the Mother
this morning and she was saying about the importance in this time space to
live in a sacred manner...this is what she spoke.
Living in a sacred manner is
very much understanding the cycles of life, the flow of live, and all is
within the self, embracing the self. then, embracing oneness is possible.
The new world is about
relationships, and human being start by building a good relationship with
the self, it is the place where sacredness resides, and a lot of work needs
to be done, understand the ways to forgive yourself, how it feels forgive,
what is the essence of forgiveness, how to do it?
For such a long time people
refer to the verbs and an action, and if it is a physical thing, a third
dimensional thing, then it is complete and easy to understand, now, the
great Mother is asking to relate to this verbs and action from within, and
we are being responsible for the actions including forgiven. When forgiven
is embrace, then peace comes into the heart, transmutations of the self is
there. Peace exist when human being is able to embrace sacredness, to
forgive themselves, is not very much about forgive others, or ask for
forgiveness to others. Forgive exist in the essence. Others will reflect
back the forgiveness, that is "curing the relationships" is all about. all
is within the self, then living in a sacred manner comes into being.
Human being said, "thank you
for my life", thankfulness only can come when surrender to life in the
spirit is possible then life is doing a surrender to the self. the perfect
relationship between life and self. human being born with surrender, and
they should live with surrender in there hearts.
Self is alive, means life is
the self, as self is life, the perception is the clue and the technique, the
love and the law, life is not just a series of events in time space, a
linear perception of time, but life is a powerful connectiveness through the
essence, human being is a connector. Events are a perfect synchroncity of
that connection.
Series of events is only a
consequence of the relationship within the self. the perception of the self,
when human being work in the self then is possible to live in a sacred
manner for whatever you are in the doing, it is because the relationship
within the self and the embracing connectiveness.
Our ancestors lived in a
sacred manner, now it is the time for this generation embrace living in a
sacred manner, for all is related.
FEATURE STORY
American Indian Christmas Customs
© 1999-2003 by Maria Hubert. All
rights reserved
Many
of the AmerIndian peoples have been Christianized for several hundred years.
Over this time customs which were introduced to them by the missionaries have
become adapted and are an integral part of the traditions, especially around
the Christian festivals of Easter and Christmas.
Many
Tribes, including the Laguna Indians, who accepted Christianity some 400 years
ago, have the custom of a dance on Christmas Eve, where gifts are offered at
the Manger. There are many examples of representations of the Christmas Crib
where the glad tidings are brought to braves in the fields by the great
Thunderbird; or scenes with the wise men being replaced by the chiefs
representing the great Nations.
Handsome Fellow
There
is a mysterious fellow whom I have been told about on several occasions. He is
a handsome brave who wears white buckskins, and brings gifts. His name,
appropriately is 'Handsome Fellow'. I would love to tell you more about him,
but so far no-one has come forward with that information! Other gift bringers
come at different times of the year, often in the summertime, but the gift
bringing element is definitely part of the American Indian culture.
The First Christmas Carol
According
to Huron tradition, their first Christmas Carol was written by a Jesuit
missionary priest, Fr Jean de Brebeuf, around 1640-41. The Hurons had a
particular devotion to Christmas. Fr Brebeuf wrote about the devotions they
had. He said that they built a small chapel of fir tree and bark in honour of
the manger at Bethlehem. This became the 'stable' where Jesus was born. Some
travelled as much as two days to be there for the Christmas celebration.
The
Huron Carol has become a well known and much loved carol today. The original
was written in the Huron tongue, with a symbol like a figure '8' to represent
a vowel sound not common in the English tongue. This sound was 'ou'.
Estennialon de tsonue
Jesus ahatonhia
Onnauateua d'oki n'onuandaskuaentak
Ennonchien skuatrihotat n'onuandilonrachatha
Jes8s ahatonhia
The
original words were written in French and Huronian. The carol we all sing
today was an interpretation
of the original, and not a translation. There were five verses. The first
verse is as follows:
Chrétiens, prenez
courage,
Jésus Sauveur est né!
Du malin les ouvrages
A jamais sont ruinés.
Quand il chant mervielle,
A ces troublants appas
No prâtez plus l'orielle:
Jésus est né, In excelsis gloria!
At the third verse,
the chiefs would process solemnly towards the little chapel, bearing gifts for
the christchild:
Voici que trois Rois
Mages,
Perdus en Orient,
Déchiffrent ce message
Encrit au firmamente:
A'Astre nouveau les hante
Ils la suivront lá-bas,
Cette étoile marchante:
Jésus est né: In excelsis gloria!
Amerindian Christmas Cribs
Many lovely cribs have been made by
American Indians. Keena Cribs from Canada are wonderfully hand painted clay
crib with the chiefs of the Plains, Forest and Inuit Tribes bringing gifts.
The animals at the manger are the Fox, the Buffalo and the Bear. The Hurons
made a traditional tent of skins and their figures were all dressed as native
Americans. I have in my own collection a colourful wool nativity made by the
Hopi tribe, with the Thunderbird bringing the glad tidings, which I purchased
from Wallys Christmas Wonderland in Michigan, some years ago. One of the
loveliest scenes I have ever seen is a painting by Yellowman. It appeared in a
copy of the Augsburg Christmas Annual some years ago.
http://www.christmasarchives.com/amerind.html
Funny
Bones
Two Rosebud guys on relocation spied a sign in a cafe window that said
"hot-dogs." Thinking they were some other kind of dogs, they ordered two
to go and went to a park to have lunch. The first Rosebud guy looked
inside his sack, and then threw it down in disgust. "What part did you
get?" asked his buddy.
FEATURE
STORY...
A
Native Christmas
by
Looks for Buffalo and Sandie Lee
European
Christmas for Native Americans actually started when the Europeans came over
to America. They taught the Indian about Christianity, gift-giving , and St.
Nicholas. There are actually two religious types of Indian people in
existence. One of these is the Traditionalist, usually full-blooded Indians
that grew up on the reservations. The second type is the Contemporary Indian
that grew up in an urban area, usually of mixed blood, and brought up with
Christian philosophy.
Traditionalists
are raised to respect the Christian Star and the birth of the first Indian
Spiritual Leader. He was a Star Person and Avatar. His name was Jesus. He
was a Hebrew, a Red Man. He received his education from the wilderness. John
the Baptist, Moses, and other excellent teachers that came before Jesus
provided an educational foundation with the Holistic Method.
Everyday is our
Christmas. Every meal is our Christmas. At every meal we take a little
portion of the food we are eating, and we offer it to the spirit world on
behalf of the four legged, and the winged, and the two legged. We pray--not
the way most Christians pray-- but we thank the Grandfathers, the Spirit,
and the Guardian Angel.
The Indian
Culture is actually grounded in the traditions of a Roving Angel. The
life-ways of Roving Angels are actually the way Indian People live. They
hold out their hands and help the sick and the needy. They feed and clothe
the poor. We have high respect for the avatar because we believe that it is
in giving that we receive.
We are taught as
Traditional children that we have abundance. The Creator has given us
everything: the water, the air we breathe, the earth as our flesh, and our
energy force: our heart. We are thankful every day. We pray early in the
morning, before sunrise, the morning star, and the evening star. We pray for
our relatives who are in the universe that someday they will come. We also
pray that the Great Spirit's son will live again.
To the Indian
People Christmas is everyday and the don't believe in taking without asking.
Herbs are prayed over before being gathered by asking the plant for
permission to take some cuttings. An offer of tobacco is made to the plant
in gratitude. We do not pull the herb out by its roots, but cut the plant
even with the surface of the earth, so that another generation will be born
its place.
It is really
important that these ways never be lost. And to this day we feed the elders,
we feed the family on Christmas day, we honor Saint Nicholas. We explain to
the little children that to receive a gift is to enjoy it, and when the
enjoyment is gone, they are pass it on to the another child, so that they,
too, can enjoy it. If a child gets a doll, that doll will change hands about
eight times in a year, from one child to another.
Everyday is
Christmas in Indian Country. Daily living is centered around the spirit of
giving and walking the Red Road. Walking the Red Road means making
everything you do a spiritual act. If your neighbor, John Running Deer,
needs a potato masher; and you have one that you are not using, you offer
him yours in the spirit of giving. It doesn't matter if it is Christmas or
not.
If neighbors or
strangers stop over to visit at your house, we offer them dinner We bring
out the T-Bone steak, not the cabbage. If we don't have enough, we send
someone in the family out to get some more and mention nothing of the
inconvenience to our guests. The more one gives, the more spiritual we
become. The Christ Consciousness, the same spirit of giving that is present
at Christmas, is present everyday in Indian Country.
Looks
for Buffalo is an Oglala Sioux Spiritual Leader, the full-blood Oglala
grandson of Chief Red Cloud and White Cow Killer, and a Cheyenne Oglala
Leader. Sandie Lee Bohlig, spiritual healer, counsels and teaches around the
globe.
http://www.ewebtribe.com/Christmas/NAChristmas.htm
INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHTS...
Instructions for Life
1.
WANNA BE A MEMBER OF MANATAKA? 
3)
How to Plant a Tree:
Heifer
International:
RED HAWK
- Christmas
Gifts 
