We practice, as we say in Indian Country, being “a good relative.” Based on this principle, we pursue a spiritually directed organizing strategy rooted in total awareness of the environment, past, and future, and acting in harmony with all in the natural world and humanity, in the present.
As our ancestors worked to fulfill their obligation to protect the plants and animals of the land, they also studied their non-human relatives for thousands of years. The Bear Clans, Bird Clans, etc. were given the responsibility to learn all they could about those creatures.
Different tribes interpret the Medicine Wheel differently. Each of the Four Directions (East, South, West, and North) is typically represented by a distinctive color, such as black, red, yellow, and white, which for some stands for the human races. The Directions can also represent:
- Stages of life: birth, youth, adult (or elder), death
- Seasons of the year: spring, summer, winter, fall
- Aspects of life: spiritual, emotional, intellectual, physical
- Elements of nature: fire (or sun), air, water, and earth
- Animals: Eagle, Bear, Wolf, Buffalo and many others
- Ceremonial plants: tobacco, sweet grass, sage, cedar
- https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/exhibition/healing-ways/medicine-ways/medicine-wheel.html
- https://www.stjo.org/native-american-culture/native-american-beliefs/four-directions/
- http://aktalakota.stjo.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8593
Some historians, including Donald Grinde of the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, have claimed that the democratic ideals of the Gayanashagowa provided a significant inspiration to Benjamin Franklin, James Madison and other framers of the U.S. Constitution. They contend that the federal structure of the U.S. constitution was influenced by the living example of the Iroquois confederation, as were notions of individual liberty and the separation of powers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Law_of_Peace#Influence_on_the_United_States_Constitution
Only those who have had visions of the thunder beings of the west can act as heyokas. They have sacred power and they share some of this with all the people, but they do it through funny actions. When a vision comes from the thunder beings of the West, it comes with terror like a thunder storm; but when the storm of vision has passed, the world is greener and happier; for wherever the truth of vision comes upon the world, it is like a rain. The world, you see, is happier after the terror of the storm.— Black Elk
In Lakota mythology, Heyókȟa is also a spirit of thunder and lightning. He is said to use the wind as sticks to beat the drum of thunder. His emotions are portrayed opposite the norm; he laughs when he is sad and cries when he is happy, cold makes him sweat and heat makes him shiver. In art, he is depicted as having two horns, which marks him as a hunting spirit.[6]. In some visions, he also appeared as a snow bird, a swallow, a horse, a dog, a night hawk, a frog, or a dragonfly.
Native Knowledge 360° provides educators and students with new perspectives on Native American history, cultures, and contemporary lives. https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/
Ledger art is a term for Plains Indian narrative drawing or painting on paper or cloth. Ledger art flourished primarily from the 1860s to the 1920s. A revival of ledger art began in the 1960s and 1970s. The term comes from the accounting ledger books that were a common source of paper for Plains Indians during the late 19th century.
- Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ledger_art
The Medicine Wheel, sometimes known as the Sacred Hoop, has been used by generations of various Native American tribes for health and healing. It embodies the Four Directions, as well as Father Sky, Mother Earth, and Spirit Tree—all of which symbolize dimensions of health and the cycles of life.
The Medicine Wheel can take many different forms. It can be an artwork such as artifact or painting, or it can be a physical construction on the land. Hundreds or even thousands of Medicine Wheels have been built on Native lands in North America over the last several centuries.
Movement in the Medicine Wheel and in Native American ceremonies is circular, and typically in a clockwise, or “sun-wise” direction. This helps to align with the forces of Nature, such as gravity and the rising and setting of the Sun.
Mount Umunhum gets its name from the Ohlone word for “resting place of the hummingbird.” Hummingbird is a central figure in the Ohlone creation story and an important part of their culture. Valentin Lopez, Chairman of the Amah-Mutsun Ohlone tribal band, reads the legend of how Hummingbird got fire from the Badger People. KQED Qwest video
Black Elk, the Lakota holy man, predicted long ago that his people would find new hope in the seventh generation. If his starting point was the arrival of the white man in the mid 19th century, the seventh generation is about at hand — and there is much reason for hope.
Stickball, a Native game that is the forerunner of lacrosse, can be played by a large number of players, sometimes involving entire tribal communities. It is especially popular among Southeastern Indians, including the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. In stickball, both teams must move the ball down the field using only their sticks—no touching or throwing of the ball is allowed. Points are scored by hitting the opposing team’s goal posts with the ball. The Choctaw hold an annual World Stickball Championship as part of the Choctaw Indian Fair.
"Warriors are not what you think of as warriors. The warrior is not someone who fights, because no one has the right to take another life. The Warrior for us is one who sacrifices himself for the good of others.
His task is to take care of the elderly, the defenseless, those who cannot provide for themselves, and above all the children, the future of humanity."
—Sitting Bull
@siznax