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Wednesday, January 6, 2016

"Earth Making"




Earth is floating on the waters like a big island, hanging from four rawhide ropes fastened at the top of the Sacred four directions. The ropes are tied to the ceiling of the sky, which is made of hard rock crystal. When the ropes break, this world will come tumbling down, and all living things will fall with it and die. Then everything will be as if the earth had never existed, for water will cover it. Maybe the white man will bring this about.
Additionally, in the beginning, water covered everything. Though living creatures existed, their homes, crowded, were up there, above the rainbow. "We are all jammed together," the animals said. "We need more room." Wondering what was under the water, they sent Water Beetle to look around.
Water Beetle skimmed over the surface but couldn't find any solid footing, so he dived to the bottom and brought up a little dab of soft mud. Magically the mud spread out in the four directions and became this island we are living on - this earth. Someone Powerful then fastened it to the sky ceiling with cords.
In the beginning, the earth was flat, soft, and moist. All the animals were eager to live on it, and they kept sending down birds to see if the mud had dried and hardened enough to take their weight. But the birds all flew back and said that there was still no spot they could perch on.
Then the animals sent Grandfather Buzzard down. He flew very close and saw that the earth was still soft, but when he glided low over what would become Cherokee country, he found that the mud was getting harder. By that time Buzzard was tired and dragging. When he flapped his wings down they made a valley where they touched the earth; when he swept them up, they made a mountain. The animals watching from above the rainbow said, "If he keeps on, there will only be mountains," and they made him come back. That's why we have so many mountains in Cherokee land.
At last, the earth was hard and dry enough, and the animals descended. They couldn't see very well because they had no sun or moon, and someone said, "Let's grab Sun from up there behind the rainbow! Let's get him down too!" Pulling Sundown, they told him, "Here's a road for you," and showed him the way to go....from east to west.
Now they had light, but it was much too hot because Sun was too close to the earth. The crawfish had his back sticking out of a stream, and Sunburned it red. His meat was forever spoiled, and the people still won't eat crawfish.
Everyone asked the sorcerers, the shamans, to put Sun higher. They pushed him up as high as a man, but it was still too hot. So they pushed him farther, but it wasn't far enough. They tried four times, and when they had the sun up to the height of four men, he was just hot enough. Everyone was satisfied, so they left him there.
Before making humans, Someone Powerful had created plants and animals and had told them to stay awake and watch for seven days and seven nights. ( This is just what young men do today when they fast and prepare for a ceremony.) But most of the plants and animals couldn't manage it, some fell asleep after one day, some after two days, some after three. Among the animals, only the Owl and the Mountain Lion were still awake after seven days and nights. That is why they were given the gift of seeing in the dark so that they can hunt at night.
Among the trees and other plants, only the cedar, pine, holly, and laurel were still awake on the eighth morning. Someone Powerful said to them,"Because you have done as you were instructed, you watched and kept awake, you will not lose your hair in the winter." So these plants stay green all the time.
After creating plants and animals, Someone Powerful made man and his sister. The man poked her with a fish and told her to go give birth. After seven days she had a baby, and after seven more days she had another, and every seven days another came. The humans increased so quickly that Someone Powerful, thinking there would soon be no more room on this earth, arranged things so that a woman could have only one child every year. And that's how it was.
Now, there is still another world under the one we live. You can reach it by going down a spring, a water hole; but you need underworld people to be your scouts and guide you. The world under our earth is exactly like ours, except that it's winter down there when it's summer up here. We can see that easily because spring water is warmer than the air in winter and cooler than the air in summer.



THE BOY AND THE TURTLES




Sioux

A boy went on a turtle hunt, and after following the different streams for hours, finally came to the conclusion that the only place he would find any turtles would be at the little lake, where the tribe always hunted them.
So, leaving the stream he had been following, he cut across country to the lake. On drawing near the lake, he crawled on his hands and knees in order not to be seen by the turtles, who were very watchful, as they had been hunted so much. Peeping over the rock he saw a great many out on the shore sunning themselves, so he very cautiously undressed, so he could leap into the water and catch them before they secreted themselves. But on pulling off his shirt one of his hands was held up so high that the turtles saw it and jumped into the lake with a great splash.
The boy ran to the shore but saw only bubbles coming up from the bottom. Directly the boy saw something coming to the surface, and soon it came up into sight. It was a little man, and soon others, by the hundreds, came up and swam about, splashing the water up into the air to a great height. So scared was the boy that he never stopped to gather up his clothes but ran home naked and fell into his grandmother's tent door.
"What is the trouble, grandchild," cried the old woman. But the boy could not answer. "Did you see anything unnatural?" He shook his head, "no." He made signs to the grandmother that his lungs were pressing so hard against his sides that he could not talk. He kept beating his side with his clenched hands. The grandmother got her medicine bag, made a prayer to the Great Spirit to drive out the evil spirit that had entered her grandson's body, and after she had applied the medicine, the prayer must have been heard and answered, as the boy commenced telling her what he had heard and seen.
The grandmother went to the chief's tent and told what her grandson had seen. The chief sent two brave warriors to the lake to ascertain whether it was true or not. The two warriors crept to the little hill close to the lake, and there, sure enough, the lake was swarming with little men swimming, about, splashing the water high up into the air. The warriors, too, were scared and hurried home, and in the council called on their return told what they had seen. The boy was brought to the council and given the seat of honor (opposite the door) and was named "Wankan Wanyanka" (sees holy).
The lake had formerly borne the name of Truth Lake, but from this time on was called, "Wicasa-bde" -- Man Lake.


Tuesday, January 5, 2016

I'm passing the light of peace, love and prosperity to you for 2016.


It's pretty cool don't kill it pass it on.

It's the light of Peace love And prosperity you're supposed to pass it on don't let it go out.




Monday, January 4, 2016

The Burden Basket



The Burden Basket teaches us not to leave our troubles at the door of another. If we rely on ourselves and our connection to the Great Spirit we learn to stretch into our own unique potential. If we become confused and we seek counsel, we should always use the advice given. We should not waste the time of others if we do not intend to respect and honor the wisdom given to us. We should also know that it is not our job to solve the problems of others. In doing so, we rob them of their right to self-reliance.

While we walk through our lifetime, we only carry the burdens we wish to carry. If we find pleasure or a feeling of importance because we have so much to handle, then we need to look seriously at our ideas of self-importance. The lesson of the Burden Basket is that we are all self-reliant and should use our own talents to find our own solutions.

Before the First People were forced onto reservations, Burden Baskets were used to gather wood by the women of the tribes. This wood would be used for cooking fires and Grandmother Fires to heat the inside of the lodges. The heating fires were so named because the wood was small enough that even a Grandmother could carry it. The wood was placed in the Burden Basket to free the hands to gather and collect items for cooking.

Native women were not asked to bear a burden heavier than their Burden Basket could handle. When not in use, the Burden Basket was hung outside of the home to serve another purpose. Native American etiquette differs from other cultures and the Burden Basket played a role in a custom honored by all Tribal members.

Before entering the home, all burdens were to be placed in the Burden Basket outside. Leave your complaints and problems outside, please. It is not polite to bring those troubles into the Sacred Space of the family you are visiting. The Burden Basket becomes a symbol of the internal strength of knowing how to keep your own counsel and not to inflict our burdens onto the shoulders of others.

It takes a strong heart to feel compassion for the burdens of others and not to take the burdens on as our own.

Burden Baskets were used for utilitarian means but also as a Guardian of the homes. Giving balance to the tribe as a whole and a reminder of respecting the happiness and privacy of those around us.