Tribal Spirituality

What does 'tribal spirituality' mean to you?
What are your feelings about spirituality of tribes?
What topics would you like to discuss about tribal spirituality? 
What is your experience of the spirituality of tribal cultures?

Definitions:
Tribal: Relating to, or having the character of a tribe, a group, clan or village often related by ancestry, race or allegiance to a common leader or lineage.


Tribal can refer to someone (for example, a Tribal chief), a culture (i.e. the Cherokee culture) or a society (for example, the Inuit tribal government) based upon or relating to, tribes or clans. Tribalist as an attitude emphasizes ethnic identity or pride in a cultural sense, as opposed to folkish ideologies focused on race. In popular culture, tribal refers to a type of design or image that is loosely influenced by artwork of indigenous peoples …
Hinduism dictionary
Tribal Index
Tribe derives from [13th century. Via Old French tribu< Latintribus “one of three ethnic divisions of the Roman people” < tri- “three”]

 Spirituality: Spirituality the quality or condition of being spiritual derived from spirit [13th century. Via Anglo-Norman< Latin spiritus “breath” < spirare “breathe”]

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Other resources in this group:
Quotes from the spiritual wisdom of specific tribes can be posted in the appropriate thread of Windows of Light, following the guidelines in the first post on each thread. Please write the name and location of the tribe.
Links about sources for understanding spirituality of different tribes - please add them here:Sources for Tribal Spirituality
 Videos or book resources, pl provide a link and we will point you to the appropriate thread in the Books and Multimedia room
Parables about topics discussed in this group can be posted in the Parables, Myths and Legends room [please follow the Guidelines for Posting ]
Prayers, Mantras & Spiritual lyrics is another room that can benefit by material from spirituality of tribal cultures.

Re: Tribal Spirituality

torchholder said -


TRIBAL SPIRITUALITY   -  The Evolution of Tribes and Religion

 The natural evolution of man bonded him into tribal groups.

People of all countries survived better this way, supporting each other, hunting together, gathering together food and shelter, discovering medicinal herbs, developing traditions, and developing their views of the world and their interactions with nature and their creator or view of their higher power.

They preserved their traditions by teaching themselves and their children, and passing down the traditions faithfully from generation to generation.
Wars, Time, lack of written tradition, and failure to transfer the knowledge
contributed to the loss of some tradition.

Some people felt the need to organize their tribes into governments, and over time, the needs of the tribes were neglected, and the governments became dominant, as laws were enacted, and the chiefs no longer held any powers.

spiritual beliefs evolved into religion, as tribal spirituality became regimented, and written down by religious leaders, into holy texts. churches, mosques, and temples became the places of worship for the people.

some people saw no need for these larger governments, and their legacy left us with purer forms of their spirituality. this is the main focus of this topic, although all countries have tribal heritages, but some of those traditions have been lost over time.

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. This is a place to collect the information for all tribes, their name            
  their traditions, their beliefs, and their wisdom.

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. place a subtopic, naming the tribe, and country

 - description of belief system, animistic, deistic, creator,
   shamanistic,  or whatever describes their belief system best

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. details of belief system

. organization of tribe, chief, shaman, medicine man, medicine or wise woman,
  holy man, war council, tribal council

. interactions, and beiiefs about nature, animals.

.  usage of plants, animals, medicines, beliefs

. open description of overall beliefs and examples

. quotes of famous leaders of the tribe

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thank you for contributing to this topic

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Thank you Torchholder, what awakened your interest in tribal spirituality?
 

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Duh!! I was looking for a natural outreach from the creator to his creations, since neither, Christianity, Buddihism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism answered all my questions about the creator or creation.

Desire creates Karma. I read up on the Sioux Holy Men and other tribes, and the more I read, the more i understood that their spirituality was a natural outreach to them from the creator.

I was going to bring my future wife back to Ohio from Washington, and I decided to stop at Pine Ridge Reservation, and look for a Lakota Holy Man, to see what He believed first hand.

I met Delmar Dreaming Bear, told him of my desire, he and Rick Goodweasel examined me to make sure that my desire was pure, and they invited me to be
adopted into the Oglala tribe, in an Inipi Holy Ceremony.

I was reborn as a Red Man Oglala in the gathering, and felt the immediate presence of love and acceptance by my brothers, and Tunkashiela, Grandfather,
our Creator.

In one Ceremony, I penetrated the barrier to God that had dogged me all of my life.  From that day forward, I have been able to talk to God as a trusted friend.

The barrier was my own fear of God, from all the crap I had been fed by religion.
Yes, God wants us to be like him, to be pure, but he is willing to work with what we are, one day at a time. We are all on probation, but we all have access to him.

Jesus ? Jesus was Gods witness here on Earth, and He did what He said He did.
Take that to the Bank. God loves Us, Jesus loves Us. There is no turning away, unless it is you turning away from them.

This has changed my life forever, and I want to share it with others, to relieve their search and suffering, and to show them that they too can have direct access to God.

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Torchholder, thank you for sharing how you found your path.  That is the wonder of the many paths that have come into earth; each of us can find the one that leads to what we know in our innermost hearts to be 'true'.

The important thing is, to honor that need within us to search and keep searching till we find it. Not to allow the ones that try to tell us they are the 'only' way, and bind rather than liberate.

In the video they say 'Konkashila' [minute 3:18] - I assume this is another word for  'Tankashiela' ?

I love the way he mentions different different tribal cultures and their prophecy in this video.  I am really enjoying this video as we are connecting to Earth and Gaia in this community. I'd love the first video as this one starts mid-way into his talk.

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Truth is simple, not a complex concept but unfortunately it is not simple to think simple.

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Thanks for bearing the torch and starting with this intro. I welcome this and look forward to more discussion. I have a respect for all religions knowing we have this brief breath in time all paths help when we find the ones that work for us. We all have gains sharing with each other.

I found part 1 Indigenous Native American Prophecy Elders Speak

part 2 Indigenous Native American Prophecy Elders Speak

part 3 Indigenous Native American Prophecy Elders Speak

part 4 Indigenous Native American Prophecy Elders Speak 

part 5 Indigenous Native American Prophecy Elders Speak

part 6 Indigenous Native American Prophecy Elders Speak 

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Yes. This series whetted my appetite for what became my tribal rebirth and connection to God. The Hopi tribe is one of the oldest, if not the oldest surviving tribe, and they have prophecys that are amazing to me,

Including the arrival of the white man in america, and the domination of the red man, the decline of mother earth, the abandonment of a group of white men back to the Indian ways, and the eventual extinction of the white mans exploitation of the earth.

This time is coming, and we need to join the Indians in their natural way, or die off like the dinosaurs. For me, my choice is clear, I will embrace their ways.

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Lakota, Dakota, Nakota tribes, North/South Dakota, USA
=====================================================

(link to wikipedia topic below)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakota_people


Black Elk, Oglala Lakota, Great Holy Man of the Lakota

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I went ahead and added this link to the library
Sources for Tribal Spirituality -North American Tribes
And…Simple Truths, I started finding some quotes and
posted the first under the topic Wisdom. I am learning
about environment and giving back to the land from
studying this Torchholder for starters.  Thanks for the honor.

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White Buffalo Calf Woman - The Seven Sacred Rituals of the Lakota
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( Link to page follows )

http://www.kstrom.net/isk/arvol/lamedeer.html


White Buffalo Calf Woman Statue
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Re: Tribal Spirituality

The picture is such a beautiful statue. I appreciate the link and the entire page you share is worth reading. I share this paragraph for starters.

…”With this holy pipe,” she said, “you will walk like a living prayer. With your feet resting upon the earth and the pipestem reaching into the sky, your body froms a living bridge between the Sacred Beneath and the Sacred Above. Wakan Tanka smiles upons us, because now we are as one: earth, sky, all living things, the two-legged, the four-legged, the winged ones, the trees, the grasses. Together with the people, they are all related, one family. The pipe holds them all together.”… as told by John Fire lame Deer

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What is Wakan ? Wakan is Holy, Mysterious
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Wakan was anything that was hard to understand. 
A rock was sometimes wakan.  Anything might be wakan. 
 When anyone did something that no one understood, this was wakan.

  If the thing done was what no one could understand, it was Wakan Tanka.  How the world was made is Wakan Tanka.  How the sun was made is Wakan Tanka.
  How men used to talk to the animals and birds was Wakan Tanka. 
 Where the spirits and ghosts are is Wakan Tanka.

  How the spirits act is wakan.  A spirit is wakan…

…The sun, the moon, the morning star, the evening star, the north star,
 the Pleiades, the Big Dipper, the rainbow - -these are all wakan…

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The Seven Sacred Rituals
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( Link follows, of the Rituals )

http://nativeamericanfirstnationshistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_seven_rituals

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We can write to Jeffrey R Gudzune and ask if it's ok to reprint The Seven Rituals The Bedrock of Lakota Beliefs. Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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The Inipi Sweat Lodge Ceremony
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link follows

http://www.findinghome.20m.com/about_3.html

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I started a topic called Purification and linked it to be discussed further by this methodology here.

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another inipi link

http://www.deepcreekyoga.com/Inipi.html

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a deeper link on inipi

http://ezinearticles.com/?Native-American-Sweat-Lodge-Inipi-Ceremony&id=2089226

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a link on inipi and other ceremonies

http://www.wolflodge.org/wolflodge/voices/ceremony.htm

[mod: added these links to Purification as mentioned.]

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deep link on inipi


http://www.elexion.com/lakota/rites/inipi2.html

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The Seven Sacred Rituals of the Lakota
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1. The Inipi Sweat Lodge Sacred Ceremony
2. The Hunka - Adopting Relatives Ceremony ( Involves Inipi, also)
3. The Seeking a Vision Quest ( Involves Inipi, also )
4. The Coming of Age Ceremony for Young Women
5. The Keeping of the Soul Ceremony for Recent Dead Relatives
6. The Sacrifice to the Sun Ceremony for the Tribe
7. The Throwing of the Buffalo Ball by Young Women

8. The Yuwipi Spirit Tent Ceremony (newer tradition) 

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The Hopi tribe is one of the oldest, if not the oldest surviving tribe, and they have prophecys that are amazing to me

I was blessed to be allowed to witness one of their ceremonial dances on a visit to their reservation many moons ago. Our little group were the  only non-Hopi there, and we just stumbled onto the dance, standing at the top of one of the adobe homes as the elders danced in the center courtyard. That was like an initiation for me, and I remember that sense of complete wonder and also the feeling that I would never forget those moments.

How do prophecies link to their spirituality?

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Vision Quest (Hanbleca) - Source of Prophecys, and Personal Quests
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Their Holy Men have dreams and visions, sometimes in a vision quest, where they
go “up on the hill”, usually to a sacred site or cave, they are “staked out” in a perimeter have to stay in the perimeter, chant and walk in the four directions, talking to the creator, waiting for a totem animal to come to them, a hidden message, with a meaning they must discuss with the Holy Man, and their brothers, in an Inipi debriefing, to interpret the unfolding of the vision.

They take no food, or water on the vision quest, wear only a loincloth and a heavy blanket, purify themselves before in a ceremony with a Holy man in an Inipi sweat lodge, and are given “medicine pouch”, tokens that are blessed, items that are selected to attract the vision that they are seeking.

They are purified with sage or cedar smoke, take a sacred pipe and tobacco prepared by the Holy Man, and many prayers are given for them in the Inipi by their brothers, who know what is the vision He is seeking.

 The preparations for the vision quest are prepared for a week ahead of time, and the Holy Man, and his brothers watch over him, and come for Him when He has had his vision, or when 4 days have passed and no vision appeared to Him.

In that case, it is a very bad omen for Him, and he goes back to his home, disgraced.

 Not only that, his brothers and the Holy Man take it very bad in compassion for Him, and it reflects bad on the tribe, the thought being that they are being punished for not following the traditions correctly by the creator.

Only the most successful Visions achieve Prophecy, and Prophecies, as in the one that the Hopis had, where they foretold the coming of the White Man, and his domination of them, are the rarest of the rare.

Most Vision Quests are seeking a personal vision, to determine their spiritual path and animal totem(s), even communication with the Creator, or the Thunder Beings or Mother Earth, or Guardians of Creation.

Some Vision Quests are done for the whole tribe, to seek guidance and blessing for an important spiritual undertaking, such as a yearly Sun Ceremony.

The Vision Quest is at the essence of what becomes the personal and tribal connection to the Creator, and all of Creation.

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seeking a vision
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All native american tribes honor each others beliefs, and they share many common beliefs, including the Inipi, the Vision Quest, the belief in Adopting
sincere non-indians into the tribe, the rite of womanhood, the rite of manhood,
the sacred pipe, the chanunpa, and the use of sage and bitterroot and tobacco
as offerings and purification herbs, face and body painting, wearing of feathers,
shells as sacred relics, and selected parts of sacred animals.

There is a strong bond and respect between american tribal groups, and they honor each others beliefs as sacred. What I have studied about south and central american natives leads me to believe that they are very similar in ceremony and rites to the north american tribes. The Hopi migrated from south and central america, and they are very much at home with tribes from the areas they used to inhabit, and understand their beliefs in depth.

Tribal groups all over the world have similar rites of manhood, womanhood, adoption, animism, uses of local herbs for medicines, bonds to mother earth, the moon, the sun, astronomy, guardian spirits or elementals, and parables of creation, and of the origins of their peoples.

tribal groups are more alike all over the world to each other than they are
like the general population.  They are good, true, simple, honest people, and a
meeting of one tribal member with another tribal member from a different area
would be treated with respect, honesty, and brotherhood.

One interesting note. The Inuit, or Eskimo, as we call them, have been spread across the northern hemisphere all over the world, north america, europe, and asia, and are related by blood and language and traditions.  They are one of the oldest tribes in memory.

Tribal people are much alike, Hunter-Gatherers with some Farming.
They are as much alike in character and outlook as Farmers from one country
are similar to Farmers in other countries.  Their world view is the same.

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I have been working on a unified field theory of religion and creation and the relationship of the unseen creative world with the “real world” all of my life.

What creates cannot “exist”, and what exists can only re-create its own kind.

What is now called the “God Matrix”, the matrix that connects all of creation to the creator, a continuous matrix that connects all planes of existence, and supports the theory of relativity.

Explains how the Creator knows instantaneously what is happening light years away with his creations, and how He can control all of Creation..

On the level of religion,  my theory is that there is a superset of absolute truths that apply to the relationship between humans and their creator,  and that many of our inherited beliefs are erroneous, irrelevant, contradictory, or solved by metaphysical contradictions where opposites can be true simultaneously on different levels.

God is very adaptable when it comes to calling his children to him, and He is willing to work with our current beliefs, culture, biases, and religion, and will
adapt the message to us, so that we can find our path to him.

This explains the differences in approach between tribal, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Islam, Taoism and other religions.  I believe that a devout follower of any of these beliefs can succeed in connecting to the Creator.

The Creator is within and without, everywhere and nowhere, and it matters not at all whether you believe in God within You, or a Biblical Bearded God.

The True Seeker seeks with their desire for God, and finds Him.

Re: Tribal Spirituality

Torchholder, I'm wondering if The Mayans would fall under this topic. The 1st time I saw a photo of the image below I was breath taken!

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The Mayan, and the Aztecs, and the Olmec are all ancestors of the Hopi Indians, and in truth, share a common path with American Indians, and a common vision.

Hopis were used to interpret symbolism of these Civilizations, and their insights and understanding exceeded what anthropologists and archeologists were able to come up with.

For good reason. Their ancestors were neighbors of these tribes, and were very familiar with the symbology and the traditions and spirituality.

Yes, certainly South American Tribes, Central American Tribes, Australian Tribes,
Polynesian Tribes, African Tribes, Carribean Tribes, Inuit Tribes, Canadian Tribes,
Tibetan Tribal Roots, Uiguirs, Jain Tribal Origins, Celtic Tribes, Druidic Tribes, 
Viking Tribes, and any other Tribal Groups from all over the Globe that had Holy Men, Medicine men and women, Shamans, Voodoo, Animistic traditions, and Guardian Spirits.

This is a wide-open subject covering the roots of all civilizations. Egyptian spirituality and tradition, Sumerian traditions, Babylonian traditions, Greek Gods and Mythology and Spiritual  traditions, the Oracle at Delphi, Stonehenge, etc.   

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ice cave
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my personal sweat lodge experience - safety of sweat lodges
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i am torchholder, adopted oglala in an inipi ceremony by delmar dreaming bear, and rick goodweasel, in pine ridge reservation. this experience changed my life,
and my ways, and i am eternally grateful that my brothers adopted me into the tribe, and gave me this incredible experience.

there is a reason why this experience needs to be controlled, and that the best host is selected to give the inipi. good judgement is always necessary, taking into account the weaker ones and the newbies is part of that trust.

yet, the native americans have had no problem initiating and adopting outsiders, but they question them and make sure that their desire is pure, and observe them as they experience this bonding to the tribe.

there is good reason why they object to outsiders experimenting with this inipi.

those who have a true desire should attend with the tribe, and be joined.
this is an all or nothing proposition, and is not for amateurs or experimenters.

these accidents do nothing for any of us, and can cause a backlash against the practice entirely.  this would be tragic indeed, because inipi purification is at the heart of most tribes.

it would be like outlawing communion for catholics.

we are all together, we are all one, i am the same as you.

torchholder 

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i have been adopted by an oglala family, and been reborn as an oglala,
 along with my wife, and i feel strongly that i am now oglala, and the responsibility for worshipping as they worship.

 i was a white man, but now i am red man.

this happened thru my oglala brothers and sisters, who accepted my spirit,
and thru wakan tanka, tunkasheila,  the great mystery, our creator.

 i am building my own inipi lodge, and i will worship in the oglala way.

i talk with grandfather every day, and he helps be to be worthy, to understand wakan, the spirit in all of his creation, and he will guide me every day to accomplish this, and it will be wakan, holy.

this is an everything, or nothing proposition, and this is what the spirit tells you in your mind. you do the right thing.

 when you are ready to become one with a tribe, interview with a holy man,

 have the true desire to be one with his tribe, honor their traditions, go to inipi with them conducting the inipi,

and you will be as i am, one with the tribe and our creator.

to whom much is given, much is required.
to whom much is given, who are not ready, that much is taken away, or lost.

be willing to give all to achieve this rebirth, and
 i can assure you, it is more than worth the sacrifice.

we are all together, we are all one…your brother, torchholder

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I was going to bring my future wife back to Ohio from Washington, and I decided to stop at Pine Ridge Reservation, and look for a Lakota Holy Man, to see what He believed first hand.

I met Delmar Dreaming Bear, told him of my desire, he and Rick Goodweasel examined me to make sure that my desire was pure, and they invited me to be
adopted into the Oglala tribe, in an Inipi Holy Ceremony.

I was reborn as a Red Man Oglala in the gathering, and felt the immediate presence of love and acceptance by my brothers, and Tunkashiela, Grandfather,
our Creator.

In one Ceremony, I penetrated the barrier to God that had dogged me all of my life.  From that day forward, I have been able to talk to God as a trusted friend.

The barrier was my own fear of God, from all the crap I had been fed by religion.

Yes, God wants us to be like him, to be pure, but he is willing to work with what we are, one day at a time. We are all on probation, but we all have access to him.

Jesus ? Jesus was Gods witness here on Earth, and He did what He said He did.
Take that to the Bank. God loves Us, Jesus loves Us. There is no turning away, unless it is you turning away from them.

This has changed my life forever, and I want to share it with others, to relieve their search and suffering, and to show them that they too can have direct access to God.

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One thing Torchholder, my darling husband, forgot to mention about that special day in which we both were invited to participate in that sweat lodge ceremony…was that he and I were the first non-native american's to participate in over 14 years in that Oglala Sioux community's particular sweat lodge.  We did not know this at the time of the invitation or the ceremony itself but found out after the fact. Learning this, we felt particularly honored that this special group of people accepted us readily into their family group as they did and even today, consider us as part of their extended family.  This is not something the average american family would do.  It was an incredible experience for us both and we both came back changed forever.
___________
Photo of Bob with Delmar Dreaming Bear on left and Rick Goodweasel on Right

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same picture, lightened up

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This thread is a very beautiful window in our blessed group of One Light, thank you so much for this work

love

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I can just imagine how blessed the experience must have felt, Barb.

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THE GOOD RED ROAD - WHAT IS IT ?
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The Good Red Road is the Lakota Path of the Natural Way,
of Appreciation, Care, of All Living Things, Mother Earth, Father Sky
Following the Good Red Road does for Lakota
 what meditation does for Buddhists - It makes them wise beyond their years
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The Good Red Road - Questions, and Feelings

All of The Earth, its Fullness, and Goodness, Its Bounty, Its persistence and patience, the Creatures thereof, the Plant Kingdom, those that Walk, those that Fly, those who do not move, Our Brothers, Our Sisters.

These are All of Our Relations, given to Us for Our Life by Our Creator, Who loves us, and wants to have a relationship with Us as We live upon this Earth that He has made.

We are all together upon this World that We live in, We live, and give permission to others to live as they choose.

At least do no Harm. We will not do to Others,
 what We do not want them to do to Us,
 Keeping Peace,  for they are the same as We are,
 even though  they may appear very different,

 inside, they are as One Spirit to Us, and Our Creator.

 We were all Created from the Spirit Body of Our Creator,
 He lives in Us, Breathes in Us, and Cares for Us,
in the same way that We care for Ourselves,
 and Our Loved Ones.

All is One. Love is All, Love is for All, and Comes from
Our Creator, Who Loved Us so much,
 that He Created Us from His Own Spirit Body,
and Gave Us Body of Flesh,
so that We might Experience Life,
that His Spirit in Us might breathe the Fullness of All of Creation.

What does this speak to Your Heart ?
 How Does this make You feel ?
What thoughts about this Path cross Your Mind.?
How can We grow in this Enlightened Way ?

The Answers and Feelings and Thoughts, and Wisdom
 that come from this Knowledge of Creation,
those that We come up with, will determine Our Path
along the Way of the Good Red Road of All of Creation.

Post Your Thoughts, Feelings, Wisdom and Answers, or Truth
Here, and We will Post Ours, and Honor and Respect Where
You are along the Way, for We are all on the Same Path,
the Same Way.

The Good Red Road of Creation.

Bless the Creator, and Bless the Creator Within.

With Love, Torchholder  

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More Good Red Road
=========================
There is Greatness in this Earth, and in Ourselves, but none of this will
appear to Us Unless We Connect with It. It is all about Connection.

 Your Computer does nothing until you Connect it to the Electricity,
 and Connect it to the Phone system, and Connect it to the Internet,
 which Connects you to the World.

So We must Connect to Our Source, Mother Earth, and all of Her Creatures,
for from Her Womb, Father Sky, Grandfather, Tunkashiela, God,
 as We know Him, created all that is.

Life is all about Relativity.
 We only exist in connection, and relation with everything else,
 everyone else in creation.

The closer and tighter the bond between Us and the Earth,
 the Wiser, More Peaceful, and Happy we will become.

 Because Then We know that We belong, that We are Loved,
and Wanted, and Needed, that We are Family to All the Earth, Beloved.  

=============================================================================

Dearly Beloved, We are Gathered Here, In the Sight of Our Grandfather, Who Created Us, Living with Our Mother, who gives us Life every day.

All Our Relations are Here, those that also are Given life from Our Mother.

Shall We Love them ? Even though they do not recognize Us ?

Or Will We be as They Behave, Looking at Us,
 Wondering why We are looking at them,
distrustful, cautious, and even fearful ?

No. This is ignorance, unnecessary, stupid. 

 We will reach out to them and Connect,
and they will see that We are Relations,
 that all their distrust was a deception, an illusion.

Then We will be Relations, and Happy, and Content, at Peace.

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Thank You, Mother Earth, Thank You, Father Sky.

Thanks be to All My Relations.  We Are All One.

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Interview with Little Crow video
=================================

 It is characteristic of these good, honest, humble, and simple people,
 who talk only about what is really important, and have no interest in our complicated, confused world of consumerism and gratification of the self. 

How does this Talk with Little Crow affect You ? What is He saying ? What are the concepts and truths that come out of this, what is profound about what He is saying ? It is simple, yet complicated, and profound, mysterious, and Wakan.,

He asks not Who you are ?, but What You are ? 

 You are a Child of the Earth,  a Water Baby,
 and fed, and nurtured by this Earth, all the Creatures and Plants that you consume keep you alive,
 and yet, how often do you honor their sacrifice of their lives in order to keep yourself and your family alive ?

This is true giving, giving your life so that others may live.
 We do not see it this way, but Tribal People of true ways see it this way, and they are correct. 

This is the essence of the Tribal Way, to understand that the bond between you, the creatures and plants that sacrifice in order for you to live,

 This is a sacred bond, Wakan, and We should Honor the sacrifice that makes it possible for us to live, to learn how We are all connected as beings with the
Creator, to seek that connection, be connected, and walk the Golden Path
of Enlightenment.
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Ikitomi, the Trickster, the Spider Man, and the Dream Catcher
====================================================================

“Long ago when the world was young, an old Lakota spiritual leader
 was on a high mountain and had a vision.

In his vision, Iktomi, the great trickster and teacher of wisdom,
 appeared in the form of a spider.

Iktomi spoke to him in a sacred language that only the
 spiritual leaders of the Lakota could understand.

As he spoke Iktomi, the spider, took the elder's willow hoop which
 had feathers, horse hair, beads and offerings on it and began to spin a web.

He spoke to the elder about the cycles of life …
 and how we begin our lives as infants
 and we move on to childhood, and then to adulthood.

 Finally, we go to old age where we must be
 taken care of as infants, completing the cycle.

“But,” Iktomi said as he continued to spin his web,
 “in each time of life there are many forces – some good and some bad.

 If you listen to the good forces, they will steer you in the right direction.

 But if you listen to the bad forces, they will hurt you
and steer you in the wrong direction.”

He continued, “There are many forces and different
directions that can help or interfere with the harmony of nature,
and also with the great spirit and-all of his wonderful teachings.”

All the while the spider spoke, he continued to weave his web
 starting from the outside and working toward the center.

When Iktomi finished speaking, he gave the Lakota elder
 the web and said…”See, the web is a perfect circle
but there is a hole in the center of the circle.”

He said, “Use the web to help yourself and your people to reach
 your goals and make good use of your people's ideas, dreams and visions.

“If you believe in the great spirit, the web will catch
your good ideas – and the bad ones will go through the hole.”

The Lakota elder passed on his vision to his people and now
the Sioux Indians use the dream catcher as the web of their life.”

Re: Tribal Spirituality

HUNGRY FOR MORE, LIKE THIS ? TRY MY NEW GROUP -

TRIBAL WAYS - NATIVE SPIRITUALITY
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Re: Tribal Spirituality

Thank You, KES, everyone has been wonderful and supportive and encouraging Me to continue to work on this Sacred Path.
I am deeply touched and moved by the appreciation, support, and love shown by all of these, and by You, dear one.
Torchholder

Re: Tribal Spirituality

Thank you for this awesome  thread!!!

love

Re: Tribal Spirituality

The Wisdom Keepers of the Lakota, and Other Traditions

Click Below Link to View These Videos
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http://groups.gaia.com/tribalways/discussions/view/507495

Re: Tribal Spirituality

Beautiful link

Re: Tribal Spirituality

Lakota Life Initiative Series
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http://groups.gaia.com/tribalways/conversations/view/507963

Re: Tribal Spirituality

How the Beaver stole fire from the Pines (Nez Perce)      

Once, before there were any people in the world, the different animals and trees lived and moved about and talked together just like human beings.
 
The pine trees had the secret of fire and guarded it jealously, so that no matter how cold it was, they alone could warm themselves.
 
At length an unusually cold winter came, and all the animals were in danger of freezing to death. But all their attempts to discover the pines' secret were in vain, until Beaver at last hit upon a plan.

At a certain place on the Grande Ronde River in Idaho, the pines were about to hold a great council. They had built a large fire to warm themselves after bathing in the icy water, and sentinels were posted to prevent intruders from stealing their fire secret.
 
But Beaver had hidden under the bank near the fire before the sentries had taken their places, and when a live coal rolled down the bank, he seized it, hid it in his breast, and ran away as fast as he could.

The pines immediately raised a hue and cry and started after him.
Whenever he was hard pressed, Beaver darted from side to side to dodge his pursuers, and when he had a good start, he kept a straight course.
 
The Grande Ronde River preserves the direction Beaver took in his flight, and this is why it is tortuous in some parts of its course and straight in others.

After running for a long time, the pines grew tired. So most of them halted in a body on the river banks, where they remain in great numbers to this day, forming a growth so dense that hunters can hardly get through.


A few pines kept chasing Beaver, but they finally gave out one after another, and they remain scattered at intervals along the banks of the river in the places where they stopped.


There was one cedar running in the forefront of the pines, and although he despaired of capturing Beaver, he said to the few trees who were still in the chase, “We can't catch him,but I'll go to the top of the hill yonder and see how far ahead he is.” So he ran to the top of the hill and saw Beaver just diving into Big Snake River where the Grande Ronde enters it. Further pursuit was out of the question.

The cedar stood and watched Beaver dart across Big Snake River and give fire to some willows on the opposite bank, and re-cross farther on and give fire to the birches, and so on to several other kinds of trees. 
Since then, all who have wanted fire have got it from these particular trees, because they have fire in them and give it up readily when their wood is rubbed together in the ancient way.

Cedar still stands alone on the top of the hill where he stopped, near the junction of the Grande Ronde and Big Snake rivers. He is very old, so old that his top is dead, but he still stands as a testament to the story's truth.
 
That the chase was a very long one is shown by the fact that there are no cedars within a hundred miles up stream from him. The old people point him out to the children as they pass by.

“See,” they say, “here is old Cedar standing in the very spot where he stopped chasing Beaver.”

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Note : In a Jicarilla Apache version of this story, it is Fox who tricks the fireflies out of their fire secret. Arriving from the sky, flying on the back of a wild goose, Fox makes the first drum ever. Beating it, he teaches the fireflies how to dance. Their watchfulness relaxes as they sway to the rhythm of the drum, and they dance themselves into a trance. Fox steals their fire by putting glowing embers in his bushy tail, and with his tail burning like a torch, he brings fire to the human beings.

- Based on an account in the Journal of American Folk-Lore, 1890.

Tags: nez perce

Re: Tribal Spirituality

More Links to Animal Spirit Fables
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