Words of Wisdom

You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round............The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls, birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.........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.

Black Elk (1863 - 1950) Oglala Sioux Holy Man

The American Indian is of the soil, whether it be in the region of the forests, plains, pueblos or mesas. He fits into the landscape, for the hand that fashioned the continent also fashioned the man for his surroundings. He once grew as naturally at the wild sunflowers, he belongs just as the buffalo belonged.

Luther Standing Bear (1887 - 1939) Oglala Sioux Chief

Everything upon the earth has a purpose, every disease a herb to cure it, and every person a mission. This is the Indian theory of existence.

Mourning Dove (Christine Quintasket 1888 - 1936) Salish

The Great Spirit is in all things; he is in the air we breathe. The Great Spirit is our Father, but the earth is our Mother. She nourishes us; that which we put into the ground she returns to us.....

Big Thunder (Bedagi) (Late 19th Century) Wabanaki Algonquin

Conversation was never begun at once, nor in a hurried manner. No one was quick with a question, no matter how important, and no one was pressed for an answer. A pause giving time for thought was truly the couteous way of beginning and conducting a conversation. Silence was meaningful with the Lakota, and his granting a space of silence to the speech-maker and his own moment of silence before talking was done in the practice of true politeness and the rule that, "Thought comes before speech!"

Luther Standing Bear (1887 - 1939) Oglala Sioux Chief

When a man does a piece of work that is admired by all, we say that it is wonderful, but when we see the changes of day and night, the sun, the moon and the stars in the sky, and the changing seasons upon the earth, with their ripening fruits, anyone must realise that it is the work of someone more powerful than man.

Chased by Bears (1843 - 1915) Santee - Yanktonai Sioux

The voice of the Great Spirit is heard in the twittering of the birds, the rippling of the mighty waters and the sweet breathing of the flowers. If this is Paganism, then at present, at least, I am a Pagan.

Gertrude Simmons-Bonnin (Zitkala-Sa  1876 - 1938) Dakota Sioux

The Earth is the Mother of ALL PEOPLE, and ALL PEOPLE should have equal rights upon it. You might as well expect rivers to run backwards as that any man who was born a free man should be contented when penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases.

Joseph (Hinmaton Yalarkit) (1830 - 1904) Nez Perce Chief

From the earth comes all things. From our breath and our heartbeats comes music

Unknown

Hear me, four quarters of the world..........a relative I am ! Give me the strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is! Give me the eyes to see and the strength to understand, that I may be like you. With your power only can I face the winds.

Black Elk (1863 - 1950) Oglala Sioux Holy Man

There was a time when man took no more than he needed. That time has gone.

There was a time when he gave something back. That time is gone.

There was a time when he worshipped the Creator and Creation. That time is gone too.

And now that waters are polluted, our natural resources are all but gone and Creation is dying,

it's time for us to find our way BACK TO THE EARTH!

Unknown

And for the Flute Players...........

The earth has music for those who listen   (William Shakespeare)

I only need listen to the sounds of the earth travelling to my heart and then transmitted through my fingers and breath into haunting musical structures to have my soul transported to a higher ground wherein I may dwell, even if only briefly, in tranquill harmony with my being.

Tim "Windwalker" Crawford

*  Canada's Aurora Borealis Screensaver *