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When God Made the Dakotas
Tim Kessler, a native of North Dakota, is a writer and a seasonal park ranger in the Dakotas. He wrote this creation story for children ages 5 and older as an expression of his love of this land.
The Great Spirit, Wakantanka, comes to Woksape, the medicine man of the Dakotas, asks him what kind of land he would like for his people. He answers with eagerness that he wants mountains, lush forests, lakes, and desert canyons. But these have already been given to others. But instead of being disappointed or angry, Woksape says:
"Oh, Great Spirit, it is you who have made all that is. All who walk the earth know your generosity. You are great and wonderful and loving. Give to your people, the Dakotas, whatever you have left to give and it will be good."
And so the Great Spirit reaches into his medicine bag and creates wonders and beauties that take away Woksape's breathe. In Kessler's text and in the illustrations of Paul Morin, we see the special glories of the Dakotas, a place like no other place on earth.
A Native American creation story that salutes the beauty of the Dakotas, a special place on earth.
Profiles in Wisdom
Stephen McFadden's Profiles In Wisdom: Native Elders Speak About the Earth draws together interviews with an extraordinary group of Native American keepers of wisdom. These 17 elders suggest ways of understanding the major challenges facing people today as we come to terms with environmental degradation and cultural confusion.
As McFadden points out in his introduction, these teachings have in common "reverence for the Earth as the basic source of our livelihood; recognition that we are in a spiritual relationship with all of life; and tolerance of other beliefs or attitudes." The Native American elders emphasize the importance of seeing ourselves as caretakers of the earth and of one another. They embrace a diversity of spiritual practices and celebrate "the rainbow colors" of humanity. An attitude of gratitude comes through in their statements about nature, the turn of the seasons, and the special gifts of animals.
Profiles in Wisdom contains discerning counsel for all those who want to step alertly on their Earthwalk.
Interviews with 17 Native American elders about reverence for the Earth.
When the Night Bird Sings
Joyce Sequichie Hifler is the best-selling author of A Cherokee Feast of Days and Think on These Things. Descended from the Sequichie family, who were marched to Oklahoma over the Trail of Tears, she was recently inducted into the Indian Territory Hall of Fame. In this well-written memoir, Hifler pays tribute to those who nourished and nurtured her with wisdom and love during her childhood on the prairie.
"The song of the night bird," notes the author, "is a serenade to life." Listen to the melodies she presents on these pages. Her resourceful mother taught her to pray: "I learned from Mama that the true church is within each of us, and it is a personal responsibility to keep it orderly and to worship there often." When she was feeling bad about the way she looked, Grandmother E Lis I would say: "Speak to yourself. Tell yourself you are fine looking, and everything around you will agree and want you to be happy."
Hifler communes in the woods, honors the resiliency of violets that will let nothing stamp out their goal of blooming, and respects the power of the wind that carries life and changes the seasons. At one point Hifler observes: "Slowly, the prairie becomes a great sheet of white paper, unmarked and waiting for me to write with my spirit." Think of this memoir as the story of her Native American spirit.
A well-written memoir.
Medicine Cards
This book and card set is one of the most popular systems and it's no wonder. In Native American tradition, medicine is "anything that improves one's connection to the Great Mystery and to all life." Using teachings from the Choctaw, Lakota, Seneca, Aztec, Yaqui, Cheyenne, Cherokee, Iroquois, and Mayan traditions, the authors have identified the medicine of 44 animals that have traditionally been considered as guides. Each of the beautifully illustrated cards depicts the animal in a medicine shield. Nine blank medicine shield cards are included in the deck so that you can add other animals with whom you feel a special kinship.
The companion book identifies the lesson to be learned from each animal's behavior. Elk teaches about stamina; bear, introspection; rabbit, fear; frog, cleansing; snake, transmutation; armadillo, boundaries; horse, power; bat, rebirth, etc. Both upright and contrary (when the card is drawn upside down) applications are given for each card. These are explained by delightful retellings of Native American legends, sayings, and observations.
The authors assert that every person has nine power or totem animals that "emulate each person's abilities, talents, and challenges" during his or her Earth Walk. They provide instructions for a one-time selection of cards to identify these totems and explain the particular medicine of each position. Other creative spreads use familiar Native American images such as the medicine wheel, the sun lodge, and Father Sky/Mother Earth.
The Medicine Cards helps us get back in touch with the spiritual wisdom that abounds in nature. They are fun and easily understood — making them a good choice for a first experience with cards, especially for children.
Native American wisdom in a book and card set with forty-four animals providing lessons.
Walking on the Wind
Godfrey Chips, a Lakota medicine man, says, "I'm the Spirit's janitor. All I do is wipe the windows a little bit so you can see out for yourself." That's exactly what Michael Garrett, a student and teacher of the Cherokee Way, does in this supple and enlightening paperback. The goal is to help us "walk the path of good medicine" which means to be in harmony with the universe and its sacred rhythms.
Garrett opens up the whole concept of intuition by describing it as our cellular phone that doesn't need a calling card, monthly bills, or a limit to the number of calls. He explains the Cherokee "Rule of Acceptance" which involves letting things unfold in their own time. With "The Rule of Opposites" we can realize that everything serves a meaningful and important function in our lives. "Is and isn't are not really opposite poles on a linear continuum, but rather they exist in a circle, where one is an extension of the other." With this perspective, we can make the most of negative energies such as anger or disappointment. Garrett also gives his interpretations of the powwow, the significance of eagle feathers, and the sacred art of giveaway.
Try a Spiritual Practice on Kindness
A supple and enlightening resource on this Native American path.
Sacred Space
Denise Linn, an American of Cherokee descent, is an internationally known lecturer, healer, and writer. Just as the body reveals our inner state, she explains, our homes reflect our soul and spirit. Ever enter a room after an argument has occurred there? One can sense a thickness in the air which must be cleansed of bad vibrations. Linn, who has studied with shamans, exorcists, and others for 24 years, suggests practices which can "harmonize and clarify the energy" in your domicile. There are sections on Native American smudge ceremonies, the art of placement, home protectors and energizers, and rituals for moving to a new place. Some of the same principles are applied in a chapter on creating a sacred space in your office. This information is both interesting and useful.
Ideas and practices on dealing with the energies of your home and office.
Christ is a Native American
This book is based on the titular Catholic professor of theology's research on native communities across Canada since 1982. After looking at the historical interaction of Amerindians with Christianity, the author presents a sturdy overview of their spiritual universe. Peelman views it as "the source of profound solidarity between the individuals, the community, the cosmos, the spiritual powers, and the Great Mystery." He then goes on to discuss several Amerindian images of Christ — namely as a wounded healer, a liberator, a community builder, and "the Son of the Creator, our older brother." Christian Amerindians are already beginning to use the sacred pipe, the sun dance, and the vision quest as vehicles to express their faith and belief. Christ Is a Native American is a thought-provoking book about the spiritual journey of native peoples.
Based on this Catholic professor of theology's research on native communities across Canada since 1982.
The Beautiful and the Dangerous
Barbara Tedlock's The Beautiful and the Dangerous: Encounters with the Zuni Indians is a fascinating book. The author accompanied her anthropologist husband to the Southwest in the early 1970s. She became so intrigued by the wonder and the terror of Zuni sacred beliefs and practices that she switched her career path from art to ethnography.
Tedlock's friendship with a tribal elder and his wife enables her to explore their sacred songs and ceremonies. She witnesses the activities of Zuni sacred clowns, the making of pottery, the butchering of a deer, the preparation of special foods, and poignant prayer and healing rituals. Throughout these accounts, the author is sensitive to the poverty of most Zuni Indians and their susceptibility to alcoholism and debilitating diseases.
Tedlock concludes: "In today's rapidly changing multicultural world we are all becoming ethnographers, gathering, inscribing, and interpreting what others say and do in order to make sense of our own sayings and doings." The Beautiful and the Dangerous is a tribute to the spirituality of these survivors.
One woman's experiences among these Native Americans over the past 22 years.
Zuni Fetishes
This book, Hal Zina Bennett offers advice on using these small and-carved animal figures as tools for self-exploration. The author compares them to the icons of Christian faith which were used to remind a person of values appropriate to a life of reverence. The Zuni oracle system is a spiritual resource being used by an increasing number of people, and this paperback explains some of the reasons why.
Offers advice on making the most of these small hand-carved animal figures as tools for self-exploration.
Pigs in Heaven
Writer and critic Ursula LeGuin has identified relatives, relatedness, and relationships as three major themes in the fiction of Barbara Kingsolver. These motifs are certainly predominant in her latest work, Pigs in Heaven. The two lead characters here were first introduced in Kingsolver's The Bean Trees.
Taylor Greer and her adopted daughter Turtle are on vacation at the Hoover Dam when the six year old sees a man fall into a spillway. After the fellow is rescued, the media picks up story. Annawake Fourkiller, an Indian activist lawyer, watches them on Oprah Winfrey's TV show. She goes on the warpath when she hears that Taylor didn't get permission from the Cherokee Nation to adopt Turtle. The two meet in Tucson to discuss the welfare of the child. Shortly afterwards Taylor and Turtle flee for parts unknown.
Meanwhile, Taylor's 61-year-old mother Alice leaves her TV-watching husband who has become totally noncommunicative. She links up with Taylor and Turtle in Las Vegas and gives them the money they need to continue on the road. Then Alice decides to pay a visit to her Cherokee cousin Sugar who lives in Heaven, Oklahoma. Maybe she can help her iron things out.
This spirited followup to The Bean Trees continues Barbara Kingsolver's fascination with Native American spirituality. Here the Cherokee tribal values of tradition, ritual, and mutuality are contrasted with "the looking out for number one" value system of the rest of society. Kingsolver makes Taylor into an immensely appealing mother who will do anything to keep Turtle with her. When she finally agrees to visit Heaven, Oklahoma, to see what the Cherokee Nation has to say about her custody case, there are several surprises in store for her.
Pigs in Heaven is a rich, robust novel about relatives, relatedness, and relationships. It celebrates the spiritual benefits of belonging to a tribe of people who know more than your name.
A masterful spiritual novel about relationships.