What is that? What
do our children know of the Native American wisdom?
I was brought up on
the cowboys and Indians load of rubbish or load of ‘guffoo’.
The truth being the
western man went under their orders and raped, pillaged, murdered,
mutilated, desecrated, destroyed, burned and tortured the placid
sacred tribes that
roamed the Americas or should I say Turtle
Island.
“From Tellico
blockhouse at the little Tennessee the government supplied
the Cherokees with plows, spinning wheels and other implements
intended to
transform them into
European peasants.”
Get the
picture? The European
peasants were already heavily conditioned and easily controllable so
they took them from the hell they called Europe and promised them a better life.
You
just have to sort the savages out.
“To the European we
looked uncivilized
But inside we were
civilized
The European looked
civilized but inside he was uncivilized”
But how could so
few conquer so many?
Chemical
warfare?
A plague of
smallpox deliberately spread done the trick. What vast armies could
not accomplish. Once the numbers had diminished the drunken cavalry
could do the rest.
“I have seen two
generations of my people die
Why will you
destroy us?”
Powhatan,
1607
So through our
conditioning we became ignorant of the truth. It got so bad that
they actually made a statue of John Wayne on a
horse.
He is an actor he
acts he plays parts wrote by others.
What he portrays is
fiction……..get it?
“One British
officer noted disapprovingly (conditioned)
There is no law nor
subjection amongst them. The very lowest of them thinks himself as
great and as high as any of the rest
Every one of them
must be courted for their friendship so what is called
great and leading men amongst them are commonly old and middle aged
people who know how to give a talk and may influence the minds
of the young fellows for a time. But every one is
his own master”
Dawes,
1883
I wonder what is
wrong with the very lowest thinking he is the very highest. So what
was their wisdom that we uncaringly destroyed?
“It is the story of
all life that is holy and good to tell and of us two leggeds sharing
in with the four leggeds and the wings of the air and all green
things for these are the children of one mother and their father is
one spirit.”
Black
elk
So here were people
at one with themselves and with the earth. The grandfathers told
stories to the youth to educate them in the manner of being truthful
not only to others but to themselves.
How to respect
others, how to respect themselves
How to care for the
elderly, listen to the wisdom they have accumulated. Take note of
their stories of creation and a reverence for the Great Spirit.
Respect the earth, she feeds us, she shelters us, she heals
us.
Respect all the
animals observe them they are here to teach us. Understand the
plants, the trees, their meanings and their use. Seek out the plants
that heal internally and externally.
Respect the woman
for they bring in the next generation. Treat with respect our own
bodies, know them, and understand them.
So in today’s
ramshackle economy where every form of abuse is on offer, how do we
start to understand?
“Our religion is
not one of paint or feathers it is a thing of the
heart.”
Follower of
handsome lake, Seneca, 1905
So it starts in
every one of us
Open your heart,
take off the masks we have been compelled to wear and learn to be at
peace with ourselves.
It starts with
intention.
- By Tony Tippler