As it was shared with me...

[truthsupplier]

George Caitlin lived and experienced the Indigenous Peoples with an attitude which was seldom extended towards "those heathens"... with permission:

Caitlin`s Creed

I love a people who have always made me welcome to the best they had.

I love a people who are honest without laws, who have no jails and no poorhouses.

I love a people who keep the commandments without ever having read them or heard them preached from a pulpit.

I love a people who never swear, who never take the name of God in vain.

I love a people who love their neighbor as they love themselves.

I love a people who worship God without a bible, for I believe that God loves them also.

I love a people whose religion is all the same,and who are free from religious animosities.

I love a people who have never raised against me, or stolen my property, where there was no law to punish for either.

I love a people who have never fought a battle with white men, except on their own ground.

I love and don`t fear mankind where God has made and left them, for there they are children.

I love a people who live and keep what is their own without locks and keys.

I love all people who do the best they can.

And oh, how I love a people who don`t live for the love of money!

George Caitlin (1796-1872)

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

This humble tool passes this to you, with Clear Spirit. He wishes your fondest dreams to rise up to meet you when you need them most, and expect them not. I would have you know, I believe Creator has smiled upon this being who works to be as is discribed in the above statement, and asks your thoughts be with him during his duties of this Day...

[truthsupplier]

THE GENTLE ART OF BLESSING

On awakening, bless this day, for it is already full of unseen good which your blessings will call forth; for to bless is to acknowledge the unlimited good that is embedded in the very texture of the universe and awaiting each and all.

On passing people in the street, on the bus, in places of work and play, bless them. The peace of your blessing will accompany them on their way and the aura of its gentle fragrance will be a light to their path.

On meeting and talking to people, bless them in their health, their work, their joy, their relationships to Creator, themselves, and others. Bless them in their abundance, their finances… bless them in every conceivable way, for such blessings not only sow seeds of healing but one day will spring forth as flowers of joy in the waste places of your own life.

As you walk, bless the city in which you live, its government and teachers, its nurses and street sweepers, its children and bankers, its priests, rabbis, imams and ministers.

The minute anyone expresses the least aggression or unkindness to you, respond with a blessing: bless them totally, sincerely, joyfully, for such blessings are a shield which protects you from the ignorance of their misdeed, and deflects the arrow that was aimed at you.

To bless means to wish, unconditionally, total, unrestricted good for others and events from the deepest wellspring in the innermost chamber of your heart: it means to hallow, to hold in reverence, to behold with utter awe that which is always a gift from the Creator. The person who is hallowed by your blessing is set aside, consecrated, holy, whole.

To bless is yet to invoke divine care upon, to think or speak gratefully for, to confer happiness upon - although we ourselves are never the bestower, but simply the joyful witnesses of Life's abundance. To bless all without discrimination of any sort is the ultimate form of giving, because those you bless will never know from whence came the sudden ray of sun that burst through the clouds of their skies, and you will rarely be a witness to the sunlight in their lives.

When something goes completely askew in your day, some unexpected event knocks down your plans and you too also, burst into blessing: for life is teaching you a lesson, and the very event you believe to be unwanted, you yourself called forth, so as to learn the lesson you might balk against were you not to bless it. Trials are blessings in disguise, and hosts of angels with gifts follow in their path. To bless is to acknowledge the omnipresent, universal beauty hidden to material eyes; it is to activate that law of attraction which, from the furthest reaches of the universe, will bring into your life exactly what you need to experience and enjoy.

When you pass a prison, mentally bless its inmates in their innocence and freedom, their gentleness, pure essence and unconditional forgiveness; for one can only be prisoner of one's self-image, and a free man can walk unshackled in the courtyard of a jail, just as citizens of countries where freedom reigns can be prisoners when fear lurks in their thoughts.

When you pass a hospital, bless its patients in their present wholeness, for even in their suffering, this wholeness awaits in them to be discovered.

When your eyes behold a man in tears, or seemingly broken by life, bless him in his vitality and joy: for the material senses present but the inverted image of the ultimate splendor and perfection which only the inner eye beholds.
It is impossible to bless and to judge at the same time. So hold constantly as a deep, hallowed, intoned thought that desire to bless, for truly then shall you become a peacemaker, and one day you shall, everywhere, behold the very face of the Creator.

~~~~~ Author Unknown ~~~~

[bigus_dickus]

I love a people who have always made me welcome to the best they had.

I love a people who are honest without laws, who have no jails and no poorhouses.

[...]



what about the others?

[truthsupplier]

BEING INDIAN IS ... watching John Wayne whip 50 of your kind with a single-shot pistol and a rusty pocket-knife on the late show.

BEING INDIAN IS ... having at least a dozen missionaries from twelve different faiths trying to save your heathen soul every year.

BEING INDIAN IS ... fighting with the U.S. Army to save your country from the evils of communists, and against the U.S. Army on your reservation to keep the Corps of Engineers from stealing all your land.

BEING INDIAN IS ..... having every third person you meet tell you about his great grandmother who was a real Cherokee princess.

BEING INDIAN IS ..... having 9 out of 10 people tell you how great they believe Jim Thorpe, Squanto, Tonto, and Little Beaver are.

BEING INDIAN IS ......loving fry bread.

BEING INDIAN IS ...... having high salaried BIA, PHS, OEO, HEW, and DOL white-collar bureaucrats tell you how much money is being spent on Indians these days.

BEING INDIAN IS ........ having the greatest grandparents in the world.

BEING INDIAN IS ......... having your teenage child come home from school and ask you about "the strange beliefs" of Indians that the teacher mentioned in school today.

BEING INDIAN IS ........ waiting (impatiently) for the new Tecumseh, Osceola, Crazy Horse, and Geronimo to appear.

BEING INDIAN IS ....... living on borrowed time after your 44th birthday.

BEING INDIAN IS ........listening to all the middle-class Tontos and Uncle Tomahawks tell you we must do things the "American Way".

BEING INDIAN IS ........feeding anyone and everyone who comes to your door with whatever you have.

BEING INDIAN IS ...... feeling the stares of all the whites in any public place you walk into.

BEING INDIAN IS ...... having your non-Indian wife dancing in full regalia at your tribal pow-wow.

BEING INDIAN IS ...... knowing the Great Spirit.

BEING INDIAN IS ......... having a Christian missionary tell you it is wrong to believe in more than one Divine Being, then listen to him tell you about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, St. Patrick, St. Christopher, St. Francis, etc. etc.

BEING INDIAN IS...having a large family of over a million brothers and sisters!

BEING INDIAN IS...feeling that Little Bear, Prays-for-All, Big Heart are more beautiful names than Jones, Smith or Brown.

BEING INDIAN IS...observing your children watching a cowboy and Indian TV western movie and cheer for the cowboys.

BEING INDIAN IS...graduating from a government Bureau of Indian Affairs school and not being able to read a 6th grade English book from your white friend's urban school.

BEING INDIAN IS...never making quick evaluations of people, but reserving judgment until their actions show what kind of people they really are.

BEING INDIAN IS...never giving up the struggle for survival.

BEING INDIAN IS...standing up for life principles and truths unashamed without having compromise your values.

BEING INDIAN IS...not only being proud of who you were born from, but mindful of how you conduct yourself in the world.

BEING INDIAN IS...to have your liberal white friends urge you to follow the same path as your Black brothers to gain some advantage.

BEING INDIAN IS...having your friends and relatives accuse you of being a traitor if you seek an education, earn more than $7,000 a year, wear a white shirt and tie, drive a car less than three years old, and live in a three bedroom home.

BEING INDIAN IS...having heard your grandparents and yourself say, "When they honor the treaties and we get our land claim payments"...then suddenly realize your children are saying the same words also.

BEING INDIAN IS...having your non-Indian friends go on a Vision Quest led by a white man to the mountains, but leaving you home because you can't make the $300 registration fee to attend.

BEING INDIAN IS...listening to your well-intentioned white brother try to tell you about your native spirituality.

BEING INDIAN IS...hearing from non-Indians how rotten the government has treated Indians, but still voting them back into office.

BEING INDIAN IS...listening to people tell you about their grandmother or great grandmother that was a Cherokee Indian Princess.

BEING INDIAN IS...seeing other Indians in search for an Indian identity.

BEING INDIAN IS...being greeted by non-Indians with pseudo names from real ancestors of your tribe.

BEING INDIAN IS...having to prove with documentation that you are one, when other races and people in the country don't have to.

BEING INDIAN IS...knowing that your ancestors were slaughtered like animals in the name of Christianity, and then being told that Christianity is out to save us.

BEING INDIAN IS...buying "authentic" Indian jewelry made in Taiwan or Japan
BEING INDIAN IS...learning of people becoming Indian without having an Indian mother or father.

BEING INDIAN IS...finding out that people think all Indians lived in tipis.

BEING INDIAN IS...being told that Columbus discovered America from his ship, when we were watching him from the shore.

BEING INDIAN IS...trying to relate to people who say they are mathematically 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, etc. degree of blood.

BEING INDIAN IS...wearing braids and being called a "hippie" by those who object to long hair.

BEING INDIAN IS...being whipped for speaking your own tribal language when on the school ground premises.

BEING INDIAN IS...watching your elders boast of Indian pride and leadership, between swigs of liquor from a half-empty bottle.

BEING INDIAN IS...having your brothers and sisters that are enrolled in the tribe treat you as second class citizen because you and/or your family chose not to walk the government's path.

BEING INDIAN IS...trying to search for tradition and truths of life when alcoholism and drugs poison the path to the answers.

BEING INDIAN IS...trying to talk to elders about the "old ways" and having them want to talk more about the rising price of cigarettes.

BEING INDIAN IS...going to school when you're young and having the teacher skip over the Indian chapter in the history book.

BEING INDIAN IS...seeing others forget the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

BEING INDIAN IS...having others make jokes about your heritage and culture.

BEING INDIAN IS...living in two worlds.

BEING INDIAN IS...knowing the word, "Indian", is not your true name.

BEING INDIAN IS...being called "Chief" or "Tonto" by patronizing non-Indians.

BEING INDIAN IS...being human, with human thoughts and feelings like your non-Indian brothers and sisters.

BEING INDIAN IS...being constantly on the alert for the government's tactics that will annihilate you and your tribe.

BEING INDIAN IS...holding onto a piece of paper treaty that was signed, but never honored.

BEING INDIAN IS...being told of the ten commandments, but see the white man subscribe to them only when convenient and in his favor.

BEING INDIAN IS...having non-Indians look at a barefoot Indian child that laughs, thinking he or she is poor.

BEING INDIAN IS...knowing alcohol doesn't make you Indian, just drunk.

BEING INDIAN IS...seeing elders die and the language & customs with them.

BEING INDIAN IS...seeing Mother Earth destroyed by those who don't know Her.

BEING INDIAN IS...seeing history books tell you Columbus discovered America.

BEING INDIAN IS...hearing others think all Indians wear war bonnets.

BEING INDIAN IS...having the government treat you like a prisoner of war.

BEING INDIAN IS...seeing the government spend billions of dollars abroad, but fail to honor the Indian treaties.

BEING INDIAN IS...sad,

BEING INDIAN IS...hard,

BEING INDIAN IS...crying,

BEING INDIAN IS...laughing,

BEING INDIAN IS...forever!

[truthsupplier]

what about the others?

I was gifted the heart to comprehend and extend without prejusticed opinion...

Mitakuye Oyasin... We are all related.

I`ll wager you too have "relatives" who you will tolerate because they are "family", but if you had the choice they would not be at "the family reunion".

It is the example set, and traditions followed which tends to announce your true intent. How many cheeks are turned, still allowing one to sit on?

Thank you for your response, it is appreciated.

[bigus_dickus]

Mitakuye Oyasin... We are all related.

yes we are!

I`ll wager you too have "relatives" who you will tolerate because they are "family", but if you had the choice they would not be at "the family reunion".

they are part of the family as much as i am. or else, they could once make a bigger family and exclude me, or maybe i am the one excluded from their reunion because of my beliefs. who is to judge and tolerate?

It is the example set, and traditions followed which tends to announce your true intent. How many cheeks are turned, still allowing one to sit on?

cheeks are turned not to offer a target to psychopathic individuals, but as an act of not intending to take revenge. is that clear?

Thank you for your response, it is appreciated.

thank you too. i have more to say.

[truthsupplier]

http://www.learningplaceonline.com/spirit/explaining.htm

Spiritual is not necessarily religious... it is personal and powerful.

As with beauty, it resides within the individual... does it need to be seen to be real?

[truthsupplier]

A sharing by one of my many trusted extended family members... my sister sings a fine song here!! I share it with clear conscience, and joy for the opportunity. As it was explained... waiting was worth the time, enjoy.
================================================== =========

Earthkeepers Return Home
by Tracy Younce 8/14/05
youncedjt@csinet.net
http://www.mayanmajix.com/art1857.html
==============================

While the needed rains blessed the land, Mother Earth welcomed her children home Saturday, August 13th, as a core group of Earthkeepers gathered near Lake Michigan. The children were honored for stepping into the circle and the Shawl dance was danced, honoring the Taking of the Shawl. It is no small thing......

You have heard the saying, "Home is where the heart is." Traveling bands of native people knew that as they broke camp each time and moved to another location, home moved with them. Home was not necessarily the movable dwellings or belongings but rather their connection to Mother Earth and to each other. The Home of any wanderer lives inside the hearts of those loved ones who represent security and nurturing no matter where the traveler may be. Remember, as our Elders share...to be native is not exclusive to any group. Everyone of us has come from an earth based culture at some time. We all have a memory of our connective-ness to the Earth hidden somewhere in our being.

In North America, the sense of loss was devastating when indigenous Native tribes were forced to walk the Trail of Tears and leave the area where they had been the Guardians of the land for centuries. However, each tribe knew that a new home could be created in another place, because as long as The Teachings lived, the Spirit of the People would live.

After the Trail of Tears, many new Traditions began to emerge from the ashes of the broken Spirit of the People. The Taking of the Shawl was one of those that came into being when some members of the "Red Race" could no longer live in the "White" world. Those who returned to The Teachings of the Earth Ways, took on the Shawl. The Shawl is a symbol of coming home to the arms of Mother Earth and being wrapped in her nurturing love.

Many indigenous Native people lost touch with the Traditional Teachings after the Trail of Tears. Many generations married into other races and lost touch with Mother Earth. In the ensuing years, as the Traditional Teachings have come to the attention of the public, the return of indigenous Native people to the ways of their ancestors has increased. Many of the mixed blood children of the "Red Race" and children of other races, have chosen the Good Red Road as well.

It is now the Time of the White Buffalo....and many people of many races are Taking the Shawl. An Elder of the Southern Ute tribe taught me that the Time of the White Buffalo would mark the return of many "Red" Ancestors who would not necessarily come back to The Good Red Road in "Red" bodies. Many people would feel confused at not having Indian blood and yet be drawn to the Good Red Road. Grandma B laughs at the joke Creator played sending many "Red" ancestors, whose ego's claimed they or their tribe had the true teachings, back in "White" bodies. For anyone to say that one Tribe has the corner on Tradition would be foolish. For anyone to say that they had been trained in the only Traditional Native methods would be very limiting. She foresees that this jealousy and ego will eventually serve as a growth tool and will work itself out as we moved into the Fifth World of Peace.

As women are nurturers and co-creators with Mother Earth, women were given the job of wearing the shawl and keeping the teaching of the Shawl alive. The Shawl teaches us that Mother Earth loves all her children and welcomes everyone home no matter what race, no matter how "naughty" they have been or what issues they have had. The Shawl teaches that we are not here to heal Mother Earth, she is quite capable of doing that herself, but we are here to heal ourselves so we may discover our roles in Creation. The Shawl teaches us to acknowledge the beauty in each unique expression of Creation whether it be human, Creature-being, Plant Person, Stone Person, or our worst enemy. Taking the Shawl should not be done lightly. Putting the Shawl around your shoulders is a commitment to alignment and a promise that harmony will be lived daily without exception. Taking the Shawl means that one is willing to exchange information and allow all Traditional Teachings to live so that the goodness of each can be shared by many. Many hard lessons have come to those who did not understand this obligation of the Shawl.

So it is no small thing you do...coming in spirit or in person to the Appreciation of Mother Earth dance rounds. As we honored the new generation for stepping into the circle and danced the Women's shawl dance, we affirmed it is time to let go of the "I" and Take the Shawl that covers the eternal "we".

Thank you Creator!

[bigus_dickus]

BEING INDIAN IS ... watching John Wayne whip 50 of your kind with a single-shot pistol and a rusty pocket-knife on the late show.

[...]


BEING INDIAN IS ...... feeling the stares of all the whites in any public place you walk into.

it's called racism, we all experience it from time to time..

BEING INDIAN IS ......... having a Christian missionary tell you it is wrong to believe in more than one Divine Being, then listen to him tell you about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, St. Patrick, St. Christopher, St. Francis, etc. etc.

god is the father, jesus the only "begotten" word of god (we are not begotten, we are made), and the virgin is your Great Spirit (holy spirit) and this is considered ONE indivisible entity of ONE substance.

the saints are not gods, but they are children of god, like we are, who are considered "holy" because of their teachings. they are not to be worshiped, but to be heeded. did the missionaries teach the wrong thing?

all the rest seems like nagging about racism and about injustice done to you people by "white" men. is that what being indian really is about?

[truthsupplier]

yigaquv osaniyu adanvto adad naqvv utlogasdi nihi
(May the Great spirits Blessings always be with you )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are reminded to be aware of our place on earth , and to fulfill our
obligations to our Nations, Our Family and our selves, the Natural Way
of the Creator.


Words say we are to awaken, stand up, be counted for you are reconized
in the Spirit world


Sent to me from a friend .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~


~Precious Lost Land~

Something about coffee perking in the early morn,
The smell of Mother Earth after an evening storm.

Taste of sweet red apples inside you dry mouth,
Holding a finger up to feel if the wind is in the south.

Warm breezes blow upon your face sweet and soft,
Hens cluck to chicks as they follow her to the hayloft.

Cats sleep with kittens in the warm summer sun,
Squirrels and coons chattering untill day is done.

Pink and purple violets popping up in flower beds,
Yellow sunflowers bobbing their new little heads.

Picket white fences home for mama and papa dove,
Fluffy clouds floating peacefully in blue skies above.

Grasshoppers eating on the deep green grass,
Dusty whirlwinds as farm machinery drive past.

Bossy swishing her tail in the red barn outside,
Old pal barks in the backyard where he is tied.

Clanging of water pails being pulled from the well,
Meal time when mama rings the silver triangle bell.

Porch swing hung from chains hooked at the top,
Watching frogs leaping from lily pads with a hop.

The farmhouse that was always painted every Spring,
Helping daddy look for his precious lost wedding ring.

Fresh brewed hot coffee smells are here no more,
Trees gone with apples we sold to the grocery store.

Dead Flower beds that once were in full bloom are gone,
Robins now driven faraway taking all their sweet songs.

Bossy's red barn sold out as pieces for window panes,
Old pal was burried under what once was our own lane.

Dried up well holding water pails full of holes and rust,
Our tringle bell is bent on the ground full of dirt and dust.

Old broken chains on the rotten house porch still holds the swing,
Looking around I soon found my daddy's precious lost wedding ring.

Walking to mama and daddy's grave plot with wedding ring in hand,
Placed it where his headstone was before they took away the land.

I went back to the farm I so dearly loved but was nevermore to be.

Octopus concrete roads all over the lands as far as the eye can see,
Heart filled with pain not seeing flowers,birds,bugs and my own apple tree.

Where I will always have wonderful memories of mama, daddy and me.

Tornado's, Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Burning hot Sun and mudslides today,
Stop! Think!

Care for the Earth for tomorrow children will have no place to play!!

Elly yeagle
July 25,2005

[truthsupplier]

I don`t mean to "bail out", but the quest for the almighty "frog skin" calls me to gainful employ. Might we pick this up later, when I return from "work"?

Thank you again for the open mind and thoughtful responses.

Sgi WaDo for the opportunity.