Native American Blog

ROAD TO DISASTER - WAKE UP AMERICANS

2012-01-27T14:23:00.000-05:00

American Apathy 1/3

American Apathy 2/3

American Apathy 3/3

Our Reservations Still listed as Prisoner of War Camps by our Federal government!

Newt Gingrich to Juan Williams: Americans Want Paychecks, Not Foodstamps

2012-01-19T15:08:00.000-05:00

The Bering Strait Theory by John Two Hawks

2012-01-16T10:28:00.000-05:00

These are excerpts, see here for more information and read Red Earth, White Lies by Vine Deloria for the complete story and evidence.

I will offer here a very condensed explanation of the facts that clearly demonstrate that the 'Bering Strait Theory' has never graduated beyond being a theory. Before I begin, however, I would offer that no one has ever exposed the foolishness of this myth with more research, intelligence, and eloquence than my fellow Oglala Lakota, Vine Deloria Jr., Phd. in his best-selling book, 'Red Earth, White Lies'. Read his chapter on the Bering Strait in this book and I assure you, you will never look at this 'theory' the same way ever again.

The Bering Strait Myth is not so much science as it is politics. Much objective modern science in the past several decades has even suggested that it is highly questionable if there ever was a so-called 'ice-bridge'. Yes, that's right, from an in-depth, intensive and non-politically affected scientific study of earth history, countless scientists (mostly non-American) have concluded that there most likely never was an 'ice-bridge'! When I was young, it was '12,000 years ago' when Indians supposedly migrated over the 'ice-bridge' into this continent. Over the years, I have watched this number go up from 12,000 years, to 20,000 years, and now in recent print, I have begun to see the number placed at 30,000 years! It seems that scientists just move the number back whenever something Indian is discovered that pre-dates their Bering Strait migration figure! I can tell you this, science does not have the market cornered on fact, nor on truth.

Most U.S. History books, and many other books written about North American Indigenous people, begin by propagating the Bering Strait Myth, telling the silly story of thousands, even millions, of early First Nations people migrating from Asia, crossing the so-called 'ice-bridge' of the Bering Strait. You may be surprised to discover that the scientists who support the Bering Strait Myth also want us to believe that many kinds of animals, plants, and even trees crossed over the Bering Strait into this Turtle continent. No kidding! Let me give you some more hard facts to help you discard, at long last, the foolish Bering Strait Myth once and for all.

First - Many Indigenous Nations have calendars that have been counting the years for a very long time. I am aware that the calendar of the Mohawk Indian Nation has been counting the winters for over 33,120 years. This pre-dates the so-called 'ice-bridge' of the Bering Strait theory, unless, of course, the Bering Strait scientists decide to move the interestingly illusive time period of our early migration back to 40,000 years! Many American Indian early histories tell of events that took place on this Turtle continent (North America) long before any so-called ice age. But, for political reasons, our histories have been mostly ignored. You see, the Bering Strait, in truth, is a theory that was born of the politics and propaganda of early America. In the midst of the American 'Manifest Destiny' social climate, the Bering Strait theory provided a 'scientific' means to justify the taking of ancestral Indian lands. In short, the mythical theory eased the conscience, as it was a way for land hungry immigrants to believe that, because Indian people were only 'recent inhabitants' of this land that it was not our 'homeland'. Therefore we were, in their minds, not any more the 'original people' in this land than they were. This was, and still is, the political power of the infamous 'Bering Strait theory'.

The Bering Strait theory would have us believe that all of North America was uninhabited by human beings of any kind until the supposed 'ice age'. The theory contends that the ancestors of American Indians originated in Siberia. Factual history of the ancient people of Siberia in those times indicates that these people had plenty to eat, were very settled into their communities, and the land they lived on. The Bering Strait theory wants us to believe that countless thousands of people from these well established communities in Siberia, despite the fact that they had everything they needed, just left everything behind to head north into a frozen tundra to 'chase and hunt game' (which, by the way, also decided for some crazy reason to leave their rich marshlands and head for the ice). Not only does it not make any logical sense, it doesn't make any historical, cultural or scientific sense! The culture of those ancient Siberian people is as different from North American Indigenous cultures as a shark is from an eagle! There are no cultural links between ancient Siberian peoples and the Native peoples of this continent to indicate any human descendancy connection. It simply makes no sense.

Then there is the 'ice bridge' itself… In order to create the Bering Strait 'bridge', we first need the timeless normal function of the earth's wind, evaporation and precipitation patterns to all of a sudden, just change completely. The wind streams need to begin to travel south to north, instead of west to east. In order to create the Bering Strait 'bridge', we need to drop the water level at least 200 ft. So an enormous amount of water needs to be evaporated - about 20.82 million cubic kilometers, enough water to cover an area of 5 million square miles with a sheet of ice 1.2 miles thick. To complete the process, we need this massive evaporation to take place in the warmer climates of the south, then the moisture laden clouds need to break the natural laws of the planet and head to the far north so they can then 'dump' their precipitation as ice over the area of the Bering Strait. To quote from Professor Vine Deloria Jr., "We cannot today conceive of a natural process that would evaporate this amount of water and transport it safely from the temperate zones to ensure that it precipitated as ice in Canada." As you can see, when you begin to explore the facts, it becomes more and more clear how ridiculous the Bering Strait theory really is. The Native people of this Turtle continent did not 'migrate' to this land… we have always been here…

You may notice that I keep italicizing the word theory. My reason for doing this is that I think it is very important to note that this myth is still identified today as a theory, not a fact. A theory is defined as: "an offered opinion which may not positively be true." Yet this theory is taught in schools still today as if it were the gospel truth. It is far from truth, and the time for it to be removed from lessons about American Indian people is long overdue.

I do encourage teachers to use this document in all classrooms where it has been decided to teach the truth of Indian culture. And again, I strongly suggest you get the book by Vine Deloria Jr., Red Earth, White Lies. May you be blessed on your journey to truth.

Obama - Dictator? - A Native American Perspective

2012-01-06T21:09:00.003-05:00

Oki Niksokowa

"The individual is handicapped by coming face-to-face
with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists!"

                - J. Edgar Hoover

Ever feel like there are no REAL PEOPLE out there anymore?
Ever wonder what happened to Obamas promises?
Ever wonder how deep his hatred for our society really runs?
Ever wonder "Is he trying to get even for Slavery?"
Ever wonder just how biased he truly is?
Ever wonder just what he meant when he said
         "I am going to fundamentaly change this country"?
Ever wonder if your now truly seeing him for what he is?

Last Rush in Babylon

LAST RUSH IN BABYLON
VOICES CATCHING UP
VOICES CATCHING UP
WATCH OUT CHILD
WATCH OUT CHILD
BABYLON FALLING DOWN
FALLING DOWN

SOCIETY A BROKEN PROMISE
ECONOMIES WAR CITIZEN WHORES
POLITICAL PIMPS
LEAVING US FLAT ON OUR BACKS
TRADING TODAY
WAITING FOR THE PROMISED LAND

ROLES PLAYING ROLES
COVERING EVERY DAYS FEAR
GOING OFF TO WORK
HAVING THE JOB DONE ON US
IN THE EYES OF GOD
BUILDING THE BOMB
LOVING THYSELF HATING THYSELF
IN THE ILLUSION

VOICES CATCHING UP
VOICES CATCHING UP
WATCH OUT CHILD
WATCH OUT CHILD
BABYLON FALLING DOWN

CALIGULA LAUGHS LOUDLY THROUGH TIME
TWISTING LOVE TO GET AT THE SEXES
CLASS IS MATERIAL CONSUMED
DESIGNER WORLDS
CREATE ELECTRIC IMPULSES
TURNING DOWN LIFE
THE REAL GOODBYE
SEE IT IN OÜR FACE
SEE IT EVERY PLACE

LAST RUSH IN BABYLON
VOICES CATCHING UP
VOICES CATCHING UP
WATCH OUT CHILD
WATCH OUT CHILD
BABYLON FALLING DOWN
FALLING DOWN
- JOHN TRUDELL

Please see these Native American Places

American Indian Tea Party Nation

Russell Means - Freedom

Russell Means - I beat Cancer

2011-12-15T15:48:00.000-05:00

MY MOTHER IS 1/4 PIIKANI

2011-12-13T09:49:00.000-05:00

Because many of us find ourselves in this position I share this email with you!

My mother is 1/4 piikani, and so I don't look the part so to speak, but I feel a connection to this world. To the old ways. Days when your people were thankful to our mother, and brothers upon her. It is ironic that I share more blood with the invaders of this continent than its people, for I would have stood beside my darker brothers to defend your home that has been taken.

It means nothing in these great many days after the event, but I am sorry for what my people have done in the past, and as the days progress, I am still the same person but I feel a greater conection to my lost heritage than I did before. I feel a brotherhood to the people of 1/8 of my blood more than all the white man's.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oki Brother
(This reply from Summer Fawn - my partner)

It matters not one iota whether you look the part or not, or what Native American blood quantum you have! There are plenty of “red apples” out there – people, who are red on the outside, but white on the inside … What matters is being a true Human Being. True Human Beings have red hearts.

You obviously feel that there is a rift between what you perceive to be the two opposing sides in you. And indeed, the genocide on millions of First People committed by a people who was so spiritually lost as to consider themselves superior to everyone and everything else was an abomination and a foul stain on the birth of this country. The atrocities cannot be undone, but they might be healed, and you can be a part of that healing of the past. Not with weapon in hand, but by remembering that which was dismembered.

So, if you feel an affinity with your heritage on your Mother’s side of the family, there is a very good reason why Spirit is guiding you in this direction. There are several books that will help you get started on your journey of rediscovery. A few examples are Ni-Kso-Ko-Wa, Blackfoot Spirituality, Traditions, Values and Beliefs by Long Standing Bear Chief, To Become a Human Being: The Message of Tadodaho Chief Leon Shenandoah by Steve Wall, The Ways of My Grandmothers by Beverly Hungry Wolf, The Sun Came Down: The History of the World as My Blackfeet Elders Told It by Percy Bullchild, The Blackfeet by Theresa Jensen Lacey (all can be found at amazon.com). And of course there is the Blackfeet Nation website http://www.blackfeetnation.com/ .

Please note that I am not saying that you should turn your back on the other side of your heritage. Before they lost their way, those ancestors too lived in tribal communities that knew and honored the sacred connection between all things. So if you decide to undertake this journey, you will actually be honoring both sides of your heritage.

Many Blessings and Happy Journey

On Sacred Ground

2011-12-05T15:50:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving Day or "ThanksTaking" Day?

2011-11-28T16:03:00.000-05:00

Grey-Haired Brigade

2011-11-24T20:29:00.000-05:00

Grey-Haired Brigade

They like to refer to us as senior citizens, old fogies, geezers, and in some cases dinosaurs. Some of us are "Baby Boomers" getting ready to retire. Others have been retired for some time. We walk a little slower these days and our eyes and hearing are not what they once were. We have worked hard, raised our children, worshiped our God and grown old together. Yes, we are the ones some refer to as being over the hill, and that is probably true. But before writing us off completely, there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration.

In school we studied English, history, math, and science which enabled us to lead America into the technological age. Most of us remember what outhouses were, many of us with firsthand experience. We remember the days of telephone party-lines, 25 cent gasoline, and milk and ice being delivered to our homes. For those of you who don't know what an icebox is, today they are electric and referred to as refrigerators. A few even remember when cars were started with a crank. Yes, we lived those days.

We are probably considered old fashioned and out-dated by many. But there are a few things you need to remember before completely writing us off. We won World War II, fought in Korea and Viet Nam . We can quote The Pledge of Allegiance, and know where to place our hand while doing so. We wore the uniform of our country with pride and lost many friends on the battlefield. We didn't fight for the Socialist States of America , we fought for the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave." We wore different uniforms but carried the same flag. We know the words to the Star Spangled Banner, America ,and America the Beautiful by heart, and you may even see some tears running down our cheeks as we sing. We have lived what many of you have only read about in history books and we feel no obligation to apologize to anyone for America .

Yes, we are old and slow these days but rest assured, we have at least one good fight left in us. We have loved this country, fought for it, and died for it, and now we are going to save it. It is our country and nobody is going to take it away from us. We took oaths to defend America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that is an oath we plan to keep. There are those who want to destroy this land we love but, like our founders, there is no way we are going to remain silent.

It was mostly the young people of this nation who elected Obama and the Democratic Congress. You fell for the "Hope and Change" which in reality was nothing but "Hype and Lies." You have tasted socialism and seen evil face to face, and have found you don't like it after all. You make a lot of noise, but most are all too interested in their careers or "Climbing the Social Ladder" to be involved in such mundane things as patriotism and voting. Many of those who fell for the "Great Lie" in 2008 are now having buyer's remorse. With all the education we gave you, you didn't have sense enough to see through the lies and instead drank the 'Cool-Aid.' Now you're paying the price and complaining about it. No jobs, lost mortgages, higher taxes, and less freedom. This is what you voted for and this is what you got. We entrusted you with the Torch of Liberty and you traded it for a paycheck and a fancy house.

Well, don't worry youngsters, the Grey-Haired Brigade is here, and in 2012 we are going to take back our nation. We may drive a little slower than you would like but we get where we're going, and in 2012 we're going to the polls by the millions. This land does not belong to the man in the White House nor to the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. It belongs to "We the People" and "We the People" plan to reclaim our land and our freedom. We hope this time you will do a better job of preserving it and passing it along to our grandchildren. So the next time you have the chance to say the Pledge of Allegiance, Stand up, put your hand over your heart, honor our country, and thank God for the old geezers of the "Grey-Haired Brigade."

Author, Anon. Grey-Haired Brigade Member

Footnote:

This is spot on. I am another Gray-Haired Geezer signing on. I will circulate this to other Gray-Haired Geezers all over this once great country. Can you feel the ground shaking??? It's not an earthquake, it is a STAMPEDE.

Russell Means OCT 27, 2011 Up-date

2011-10-29T19:00:00.000-04:00

100 Million Dead

2011-10-06T21:09:00.001-04:00

This type is Email is typical of the questions I get from confused folks who are having trouble figuring this concept out. Hopefully through this answer I can get some rest :)

Hello, When I was a young boy around 10 I had a near death experience in a drowning. I was alone in a big pool trying to get in a floating device when it tilted over. I remember going down backwards trying to swim but I was falling backwards fast. I remember seeing a bright light radiating in the water and then all I remember me walking up the pool stairs with nobody realizing I was drowning. I never, ever forget that and I'm now 41. Ever since then I was looking for answers on what happened and I was told that I survived for a reason. I've been on a spiritual quest and practicing native Indian spirituality. Ever since I was little I always been enthusiastic about native Indians and don't know why until now. I was told by few shamans that I was born a shaman healer and in my past life I was a female native Indian. I don't know how and where to start this gift. Can you give me some advice with all due respect?

-------------------------------------------------

Well here's my take for what it's worth. People who claim they know what you were in a past life are a dime a dozen.

Only you can know that and it is deep in your subconscious memory's. Most people are so busy trying to cover their present life's memory's that in no way can they bring those subconscious memories forward. That is not to say that no one can get there for you but I would place a heavy helping of doubt in their words unless your really sure of their accuracy.

You really do not have to go to far to determine what your here for. First consider the land your on and how much pain or happiness has been projected into it. Thoughts have form and are energetic so this land contains all the energy of the thoughts that have been projected into it.

Consider that over 100 million native people have died here at the hands of the European people that have stolen this land. Consider the terrible pain suffered as a result of these horrific acts. At that point your awareness should come around to the realization of why your so drawn to the Native People of this land. We as a species are very empathetic at the subconscious level and inherently feel all the pain and suffering that this land holds. Thus your need to follow our ways is a reaction to that feeling because you want to make it better. Good for you.

All of us are here for very simple reasons and the less we try to complicate those reasons with inaccurate information the more this makes sense. We are here to improve upon what we have learned in past lives. We are here to educate ourselves, no do not depend on someone else to educate you - you do this yourself. You can never stop learning right up to the day you die. Then we are here to help our brothers and sisters educate themselves so that we all can move forward on the ladder of evolution.

Whether you become a healer is up to you and how much non-egotistic value you place on that aspect of your life! If you really want to help others become better then by all means do it. But if this is for egoistic reasons all I can say is find another path to follow.

Hope this helps a bit.

Russell Means Part 2 HAS CANCER w/ Carpe Articulum Magazine Aug 2011

2011-09-06T14:37:00.000-04:00

Each one of us need to listen to this with rapt attention.

I understand it is long but you can break this up into bite size chunks if needed.

One thing I need to point out is that during this interview the mention is made that Russell is fighting the ignorance all by himself.

I'm here to say that is far from the truth. Dedicated people all over the world work for the rights and freedom of the Native American People!

When one person goes down another comes up. I am here to recognize those people and thank them.

The other thing I want to point out is that I agree totally with his view of matriarchy.

God knows everyone needs to learn to be gentle as a Mother knows how to be.

I learned it but only after a bitter - bitter fight with myself to let gentleness through.

Give real women a chance to change life as we know it. (I do not mean feminists who have damaged the human race beyond the bounds of decency.)

2011-08-16T14:48:00.000-04:00

Appeal from Russell Means

The Thick Dark Fog

2011-08-15T21:58:00.001-04:00

Mann V Ford Motor Co.

2011-07-15T09:35:00.001-04:00

Oki Niksokowa –

I live in what should be a pristine environment of the Adirondack Park in Northern New York! A national park that covers over 6 million acres of wilderness land, one that on any given weekend is invaded by out of state people from New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts to the point of overflowing. I have lived here most of my life which is a very long time to endure the incredible lack of freedom and privacy that should be afforded by all this space. During that time I have come to resent these out of stater's who come here and do to our Adirondack Mountains what they have done to their own states. I mean my God these people make a mess of their own environments to the point of non-livability and have nowhere to go but here and then they have the incredible lack of respect to mess up our home – criticize our laid back lives and impose their wills upon their hosts – something that would not be tolerated by Native People some 300 years ago.

I do realize that they provide a lot of income to the folk here who depend in tourism to make a living and that’s a good thing but to try to impose their unkempt environments and attitudes upon us is intolerable. I have often gone into outrageous tirades about these supposed responsible human beings who think only of themselves – but yet won’t do anything in their own states to make it livable and enjoyable again. I have been to the Pine Bush in central New Jersey and tried to picnic with my children in their parks amongst the garbage and litter that are everywhere and tried to swim in the ocean off Toms River only to come home with some disease from the incredible pollution of the water to the point that my children and my wife and myself all became sick at the same time within two days of that little outing into nature.

Why the hell does this continue without abatement, where are the Real Human Beings?

So when I saw the following article come out of New Jersey – promulgated by people who very obviously care I have to applaud their efforts and do anything I can to help their quest. Here is their story…. - Two Feathers

MANN v. FORD CHRONICLES THE EPIC BATTLE OF NEW JERSEYʼS RAMAPOUGH MOUNTAIN INDIANS AND THEIR MASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST THE FORD MOTOR COMPANY WHEN THE DOCUMENTARY DEBUTS JULY 18, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

The Ramapough Mountain Indianshave lived in the hills and forests of northern New Jersey, less than 40 milesfrom midtown Manhattan, for hundreds of years. In the 1960s, their neighbor in nearbyMahwah, the Ford Motor Company, bought their land and began dumping toxic wastein the woods and abandoned iron mines surrounding their homes.

Ford has acknowledged the dumping.In the 1980s, the Ramapoughʼs homeland was placed on the EnvironmentalProtection Agencyʼs list of federally monitored Superfund sites – and supposedlycleaned up by Ford. However, thousands of tons of toxic waste were left behind. In2006, the residents of Upper Ringwood, after suffering for years from a rangeof mysterious ailments, including deadly cancers, skin rashes and high rates ofmiscarriage, filed a mass action lawsuit seeking millions of dollars from Fordas compensation for their suffering. Ford denied all responsibility for theillnesses devastating the community and claimed its flawed cleanup had fullycomplied with all EPA rules.

MANN v. FORD tells the story of asmall community’s epic battle against two American giants: the Ford MotorCompany and the Environmental Protection Agency, which failed to ensure that Fordcleaned the land of deadly toxins and erroneously MANN v. FORD – 2 declared the communitysafe and clean of toxic waste.

Older Than America

2011-05-07T21:15:00.000-04:00

Oki - For all of you out there who think you understand the Ways of the Native People of this Land, watch this movie and then ask yourself how much you understand. We have suffered all of our lives from the disillusionment and hate of the white people. From your selfishness and greed and your religious malarkey that continues breed the type of priests in this movie. You call yourselves civilized and yet you continue to turn away from your own countrymen. We fight along side you in your wars that have nothing to do with us, we suffer when you suffer and we pay what you pay and yet you ignore us who are more in need than any other race that you can name. Our men suffer a death rate six times higher than the white man and our children commit suicide rather than suffer as their parents have and yet you ignore us. What separates white people from the evil that you bring down on us? - Two Feathers Redhawk

Watch and be truly educated - Ho

HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA’S 2001

2011-05-04T18:42:00.000-04:00

HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA’S MESSAGE ON THE
COMMEMORATION OF THE 1ST ANNIVERSARY OF SEPTEMBER 11,
2001

The September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on the
World Trade Center and the Pentagon were deeply
shocking and very sad. I regard such terrible
destructive actions as acts of hatred, for violence is
the result of destructive emotions. Events of this
kind make clear that if we allow our human
intelligence to be guided and controlled by negative
emotions like hatred, the consequences are disastrous.

How to respond to such an attack is a very difficult
question to answer. Of course, those who are dealing
with the problem may know better, but I feel that
careful consideration is necessary and that it is
appropriate to respond to an act of violence by
employing the principles of non-violence. This is of
great importance. The attacks on the United States
were shocking, but retaliation that involves the use
of further violence may not be the best solution in
the long run.

We must continue to develop a wider perspective, to
think rationally and work to avert future disasters in
a non-violent way. These issues concern the whole of
humanity, not just one country. We should explore the
use of non-violence as a long-term measure to control
terrorism of every kind. We need a well-thought-out,
coordinated long-term strategy. I believe there will
always be conflicts and clash of ideas as long as
human beings exist. This is natural. Therefore, we
need an active method or approach to overcome such
contradictions.

In today's reality the only way of resolving
differences is through dialogue and compromise,
through human understanding and humility. We need to
appreciate that genuine peace comes about through
mutual understanding, respect and trust. Problems
within human society should be solved in a
humanitarian way, for which non-violence provides the
proper approach.

Terrorism cannot be overcome by the use of force
because it does not address the complex underlying
problems. In fact the use of force may not only fail
to solve the problems, it may exacerbate them and
frequently leaves destruction and suffering in its
wake. Likewise, acts of terrorism, especially
involving violence, only make matters worse. We must
condemn terrorism not only because it involves
violence but also because innocent people fall victims
to senseless acts of terrorism such as what the world
witnessed on September 11th.

Human conflicts do not arise out of the blue. They
occur as a result of causes and conditions, many of
which are within the protagonists' control. This is
where leadership is important. It is the
responsibility of leaders to decide when to act and
when to practice restraint. In the case of a conflict
it is important to take necessary preventative
measures before the situation gets out of hand. Once
the causes and conditions that lead to violent clashes
have fully ripened and erupted, it is very difficult
to control them and restore peace. Violence
undoubtedly breeds more violence. If we instinctively
retaliate when violence is done to us, what can we
expect other than that our opponent to also feel
justified retaliating. This is how violence escalates.
Preventative measures and restraint must be observed
at an earlier stage. Clearly leaders need to be alert,
far-sighted and decisive.

In today's world expectations of war have changed. It
is no longer realistic to expect that our enemy will
be completely destroyed, or that victory will be total
for us. Or, for that matter, can an enemy be
considered absolute. We have seen many times that
today's enemies are often tomorrow's allies, a clear
indication that things are relative and very
inter-related and inter-dependent. Our survival, our
success, our progress, are very much related to
others' well being. Therefore, we as well as our
enemies are still very much interdependent. Whether we
regard them as economic, ideological, or political
enemies makes no difference to this. Their destruction
has a destructive effect upon us. Thus, the very
concept of war, which is not only a painful
experience, but also contains the seeds of
self-destruction, is no longer relevant.

Similarly, as the global economy evolves, every nation
becomes to a greater or lesser extent dependent on
every other nation. The modern economy, like the
environment, knows no boundaries. Even those countries
openly hostile to one another must cooperate in their
use of the world's resources. Often, for example, they
will be dependent on the same rivers or other natural
resources. And the more interdependent our economic
relationships, the more interdependent must our
political relationships become.

What we need today is education among individuals and
nations, from small children up to political leaders
to inculcate the idea that violence is
counterproductive, that it is not a realistic way to
solve problems, and that dialogue and understanding
are the only realistic ways to resolve our
difficulties.

The anniversary of the tragic events of September 11,
2001 provides us with a very good opportunity. There
is a worldwide will to oppose terrorism. We can use
this consensus to implement long-term preventative
measures. This will ultimately be much more effective
than taking dramatic and violent steps based on anger
and other destructive emotions. The temptation to
respond with violence is understandable but a more
cautious approach will be more fruitful.

The Dalai Lama

Dharamsala, India

Pine Ridge, South Dakota-Prisoner of War Camp 334

2011-04-17T11:30:00.002-04:00

Most of you who know me personally know that I am a complex, happy yet angry man of mixed Blackfoot and Scottish blood. I have fought hard for many years for an understanding of our Native American people of this land to gain a foothold in society where our people can pull themselves up and out of what was created for them by a selfish and greedy white man mind set.

I have watched the white man propel themselves along a pathway to self-destruction much as they have murdered my people in all ways. Spiritually – physically – mentally and morally we have been lied too, stolen from, massacred, used to gain personal uplifting (oh yes I am married to a Native American – how wonderful am I!), you name the Evil and it has been done to us.

But then you see what – a native society on the razors edge of total annihilation and you turn your selfish backs on us an go and help Haitians, people in the Middle East who incidentally are waiting for the opportunity to fulfill the order of the Koran to kill the infidel! You help anyone in the world except your own people!

What the hell is wrong with white people? You are the manifestation of the Anti-Christ traveling all over the world spreading the Good – Word of the bible that declares all unbaptized people ineligible to enter heaven? Who would have you believe the Dark Ages were created by some unknown sect of some unknown religion that we know nothing about? Who would have you believe that babies are born with original sin? That you can’t improve who you are unless you submit to the word of the Bible which is as corrupt as the men who wrote it?

How long is it going to take before you people start to understand the limitations religion places upon you? The problem is obvious in its egotistical objective of keeping you captive to an idea of someone else. It’s most prevalent Evil is that it steers you in a direction of the selfish beliefs of another human being – not GOD. It is because of this that you reject the natural compassion you were born with and take on someone else’s idea of compassion and you then ignore the insipid problem of the people you have stolen from in the first place.

A MOST CONVENIENT EVIL

Please watch the following: Pine Ridge, South Dakota-Prisoner of War Camp 334

Turn your hearts inside out and start to bring these people back to their rightful place in the world. You OWE them ………..

The Dawn Country

2011-03-15T18:30:00.002-04:00

An Exploration of Unconditional Love

2011-03-05T18:04:00.000-05:00

* Take any help you can get. Stay involved with some ongoing context for learning and working on communication. We all can receive invaluable support from courses we have taken.

There are groups of people willing to contribute to other people everywhere there are people. That is one fine thing about which we current humans should all be very happy. Some groups are better at supporting people than others, but the world is full of people who wish to contribute to other people.

* Grow or die. If you don't keep growing you go dead.

* Have a long conversation (some time when you are not arguing) about when you first got together and how your relationship has evolved over time. Talk about times of jealousy, times of not much of anything, times of not much sex, times of sex that's not much, times you have worked well together. Talk about how your marriage has been a cauldron. Talk about when you have made the cauldron into a flower pot.

Summary

We are back to the beginning now. Back to that little being whose life came on in the womb. Back to that little being we go and discover the source of love. Full love, in orgasm, in sleeping together, in cuddling, in cuddling children, is a loss of identity at a time when you know who you are more completely than ever. When you are lost in love, your personality is included in something bigger than itself or else it is obliterated. How lucky can you get?

An Exploration of Unconditional Love cont....

2011-03-02T17:36:00.000-05:00

* Create together some common cause you are both interested in and committed to accomplishing. This opens up the possibility of working together, in communication with each other, in agreement about what you are both dedicated to accomplishing. You feel helped by each other, grateful to each other, willing to acknowledge each other, and capable of bringing about results in the world together. Actually creating something together is a lot of fun. Babies are fun to create, although they are a hell of a lot of work for a long time. Creating is a lot more fun than bitching and whining.

* Stay involved with other people committed to telling the truth and to something bigger than their own comfort. An honest relationship with other couples supports your couple. Couples need another couple or two for friends. If intimacy doesn't extend to friends and extended family, the network of support is too thin. If you have even one good friend to both people, to whom both can talk and who supports both in telling the truth, you have a great resource.

* Make requests from your mate for what you want but stay willing to take care of yourself. You can practice this by picking something you usually bitch about your mate's not doing for you, and then sit down with them and practice. You say something like this: "If you want to please me, if you want to know what would make me happy, here is what I would really like for you to do . If you don't do that; it's O.K, I'm a big girl (boy), and I will take care of it myself. You are not obligated to make or keep me happy or to do what I want. I am responsible for my own happiness. If I get mad at you, I will handle it, and I'll get over it. If I get disappointed, I'll be responsible for my own disappointment." Wouldn't it be great to be married to someone who really did that? This is a fine basic sort of position to come from to relate to other people in general: here is what I want, but you don't have to provide it for me. You are invited and requested, but not obligated, to take care of me.

An Exploration of Unconditional Love cont...

2011-03-01T17:20:00.000-05:00

Desperation is a terrible basis for union.

If the couple I just talked about had gotten married when they got scared they were about to lose each other, and stayed married on that basis, it would have been a desperate union. That kind of marriage sucks.

Loving the holy human prototype is more important than loving the personality.

The holy human prototype is the person you see when you look into someone else's eyes without prejudgment. The holy human prototype is like a child. It is the noticer. It is the being, just like you, just across from you. It is the being who, you can tell by just looking, like looking in a mirror, has the same kind of electric circuitry as yourself. You can love that being of the other as much as you love yourself. When that being is a child, you can love him/her more than yourself. Beings do a better job of loving each other than minds.

Things That Help Couples Have A Powerful Relationship

* Complete any incomplete relationships with your parental family. Go have a revealing conversation with your father, mother, brother, sister, or any important earlier relation. This gives you completion as well as practice in renewal. This helps you finish incomplete situations from the past so you can begin living in the present, being present to each other, and living toward the future.

This is one of the most frequent mistakes we make. How can we have a clean clear relationship if we ae stuck with too many connections to the past? We start making excuses for these connections and we are lost at that point.

An Exploration of Unconditional Love cont....

2011-02-28T18:31:00.000-05:00

The man had a predictable built-in reaction to this, which was "Oh shit! Here we go again. Why can't I ever have a relationship work out? Just when I was thinking about us moving in together, she wants to back away. This is how it always goes. I am never quite good enough. I am good, but not good enough." As you see, the condition by this time had become two minds relating to each other as "Its", coming out of the same mouths that used to be used by their beings for love. They are both right about each other when they say "you changed" because, of course, both have changed. In just six weeks, they have changed from beings out of their mind with love into minded beings.

Half of these wonderful beginnings split up. If they are "like-minded" beings, they stay together in boredom the rest of their lives. If they escape their minds' beliefs about each other repeatedly, they have a successful relationship.

I talked to this particular man alone, and then to his lover and him together. I suggested that the way they had been telling the truth to each other in the beginning, and even in the moment of our speaking together, was what a powerful relationship is made of. I recalled to him and to myself how badly some of our previous relationships based on romantic love had worked out. I said, "Soap operas are full of people who are in love and start withholding from each other. The nostalgia for what used to be, combined with resentment and hope for renewal, produces what we call romantic love. Romantic love is highly overrated. Romantic love is not as strong as a new friendship based on telling the truth. Romantic love is still fun, though not as romantic, without the tragic overtones of soap opera that come from withholding and being secretive. Romantic love recurs, every now and then, rather than dying after the honeymoon is over, if people have open-to-each-other relationships. Keep working on telling the truth about everything that goes on with each of you and you can work your way through to a powerful relationship." That was my stand, and the place I listened to them from, and though I did my best and so did they, they didn't succeed. Those guys didn't make it. They parted, having learned another increment of information about relationships, but not a sufficient one to allow them to make that one work.

An Exploration of Unconditional Love cont...

2011-02-27T15:58:00.000-05:00

Next, after a few of these arguments, the two parties alternate between feeling insecure and feeling angry. When one gets angry, the other gets scared he or she is about to be abandoned. This alternating process occurs a few times. Then, a discussion like the following one occurs.

The fellow is his age makes no difference, has been divorced more than a few times, and is in a relationship with seeker who is being coached on having relationships based on telling the truth. His last lover had walked out on him; he still "loved" her, of course, since she had rejected him.

"I really love you", he said. "These month's since we met have been just great. I have never told anyone so much, or had such an honest relationship. I thought, in the beginning, there would be all kinds of bells and whistles. But there aren't any bells or whistles or rockets going off. I have dreaded this conversation for a some time now. I think I am more involved with you than you are with me. We have great sex. We laugh together all the time. But your not 'in love' like I have experienced before. And since we have been so honest about everything else I think we have to be honest about this."

An Exploration of Unconditional Love cont....

2011-02-26T18:11:00.000-05:00

Intimacy is not the same thing as romance.

Being "in Love" at the beginning of a relationship is wonderful. I think it is the result of us getting in touch with being, through another person. When you fall in love and get in that blissful state, you just love being, your being, and the being of the beloved, and the being of all beings in the world. You are "home" in that rediscovered sense of unity and bliss. As Kris Kristofferson sings:

She wasn't quite as pretty as
some others I have known,
and she wasn't good at
conversation when we were
alone,
but she had a way of makin' me
believe that I belonged.
And it felt like comin' home
when I loved her.

'Cause she brightened up my day
like the early mornin' sun
and she made what I was doin'
seem worth while.
Its the closest thing to livin' that
I guess I've ever known,
and it left me feelin' warm, when I loved her.

Kris Kristofferson, "When I Loved Her" 1968, BMG Music Publ.

It is not the way they look or how good they talk that makes us love who we love. Their ability to be with us is more powerful. It is their ability to make us "believe that we belong" that "leaves us feeling' warm", that renews that old spark that first happened in Mom an eternity ago.

Too bad that once we are warmed, and begin to "believe that we belong", the feeling becomes a belief to be preserved, and guarded, and defended, so the feeling will never go away. This of course, makes the feeling go away.

We end up resenting the person, with whom we used to be in love, for changing. When you start expecting the other person to live up to your expectations based on what you felt before, you are going to get disappointed and pissed off. If both people are in this place at about the same time, a nasty argument ensues. This hurt and anger get formulated into belief instead of gotten over. In a short while, you are trapped in the thought, "How could that bitch/bastard be so wonderful and so shitty to me? How can she/he be so cruel?"

Continues:

An Exploration of Unconditional Love - cont..

2011-02-25T12:55:00.000-05:00

A Short Story –

One day many years ago I and a friend visited Mesa Verde for the first time! Upon entry into the park I had a short vision of the whole place going up in smoke. Two weeks after we got back home the park burned – every bit that was burnable when up like tinder.

In the picture below you can see that it was taken from a vantage point across the canyon. This can easily be reached by a short drive. It is in fact an overlook on the western edge in which one can look at all the buildings on the other side.

On this day it was hot I recall 104 degrees and there was not a whisper of air moving anywhere. Nothing…

I felt very close to the ancestors here and I thought I could feel them clustered around us everywhere we went. From a pouch that I carried for sacred acknowledgements and thanks I pulled a pinch of corn meal, said a prayer and then let it trickle out of my fingers. As it left my fingers a breath of wind came up and blew it straight across to the dwellings before it fell into them.

I was indeed shocked as were all the people around us who numbered about 15 or 20 people. I have two particular friends in spirit that walk my same path and in fact at times they allow me to communicate with them. I knew they were there and I knew they peaked my curiosity. I said to them if that was the ancestors I need to see this again because I am human and filled with doubt as is everyone one a path of the Sacred. I heard “do it again”! I did – and from a silent air a wind arose and blew the corn meal across to the dwellings again.

From that point on I have had a special connection with the Anasazi and Mesa Verde and when things get hard for me as they are at this time in my life I get great relief from allowing my SELF to travel to Mesa Verde and talk to our people who are still there and ready to sooth and heal a hurt heart and soul.

From this special connection – no one person can totally take my attention away from the important things in life which are indeed few in number! The Sacred Path is life’s priority and all else falls a distant third to it! While the hurt may be real, it comes from unreal beings that have no consciousness outside themselves and therefore when they set out to hurt another, they in reality only hurt themselves. That is a special teaching if one fully understands the context one can thank the ancestors and Creator for finding a place of solace for you when you need it.

Aho

Two Feathers

An Exploration of Unconditional Love Pt. 4

2011-02-23T14:02:00.001-05:00

All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.
-Leo Tolstoy

As you might have noticed I changed the title of this series. In retrospect while the concept of intimacy turning to hate is a very real problem in our society that is not the message I am trying to get across. I am not in a place of hate and I don’t want to give that impression.

I am in a place of wonder however at the gross inept society that we live in.

To return America to a land of real honor you must first ask the indigenous people to forgive your forefathers mistakes and sins.

America is by far the most violent nation in the world today. Why America is so violent is the subject of much discussion and debate but never is anyone speaking to the real reasons or offering any real solutions.

Gun control, they say. We must put more controls. Yes more controls will do it. How about bullet control? Why not cutting everyone's hands off so if they want to shoot - only shooting with their feet. Yes, more controls. Let them keep their hands so they may vote for us. All in favor say Yea! The Yea's have it. More controls it is.

You want to understand why America is so violent, we are saying now; it is a curse from heavens for the violence committed upon the Native people upon their native soil. What goes around comes around.

Why is the Middle East suffering? For the same reasons, the sins of their ancestors who betrayed Prophet Muhammad and his companions and their continued disbelief - no effort to make amends. No remorse or sorrow.

Violence begets violence. It comes in many forms but the most destructive, abhorrent and vile violence is created within the family or the relationship and is mostly subtle and not immediately detectable. It comes in many forms such as a child being disrespectful to their parent or vice versa. Or woman seeking out a man for various reasons the most prevalent is support (gold diggers) but there can be excitement of the person as a reason or power or a host of other reasons and men do the same to women. What is worse is when they decide to get married and they make vows to each other not even having the slightest idea of what they are doing.

Does anyone anymore have any idea the power of a Vow and what happens when you break it? No it seems people only want instant gratification and to hell with the consequences. I once had a friend that I considered my best friend and she was from a people who would have rather died than break a vow. In fact they did die for their vows – century after century. I knew this going into the relationship and I knew how much she respected her ancestors and when a deeper connection came before us I readily agreed to it because I thought she knew the consequences of breaking those vows. But she did not or she thought the Universal Rules of Life didn’t apply to her or something because a few years later she broke those vows. When you break a vow, you effectively put a curse on yourself – most often for life.. You inevitably will suffer for this negative energy that you have surrounded yourself with. It may not be immediately apparent but it will come as sure as father Sun will be covered by the clouds of the cycle of life.

I would venture to say that most of the personal suffering that we do is a result of the breaking of Vows. How do I know such things? I pay attention to the minutest details of life and I listen to my ancestors. For example – the contemplation of the breaking of those vows came over a long period of time – I’m talking at least a year if not more. For a while the energy in our home was great and we were constantly in love with each other but there came a time when the contemplation and planning began, the energy turned very negative in our home to the point that even she was smudging the home to clear the energy on a daily basis. But it was no use because as she contemplated, the energy came back so day after day we suffered through this process. I knew what was up for having experienced this many times in the past. So I became fearful as well which did not help the situation.

Then the day of separation came. I dropped her off where she wanted to go. I went to work and came home. The energy was clear in my home and has stayed clear ever since she left. The first time I felt a need to smudge was 2 months later.

My point is this. First you never make a Vow that you don’t intend to keep. If you break it – you will pay for it in spades. As well as sometimes happens your loved ones will suffer along with you!

You say you are not responsible for what your ancestors have done? You say no, but you perpetuate the crimes and continue to reap the perceived rewards. But still you say you have no responsibility? You willingly inherited the benefits. Look all around you now at the world you have created…

An Exploration of Unconditional Love Pt. 3

2011-02-22T17:37:00.002-05:00

All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.

Leo Tolstoy

In many if not most tribal settings the children’s upbringing is a function of the whole tribe with the moral teachings coming from the aunts and uncles, not the parents. The feeling is that an aunt or uncle are enough separated from the emotions of a mom or dad that the advice they provide will be more attuned to the consciousness of the child and not the wants and needs of the parent.

The children are not punished but are subject to the peer pressure of their age groups and much emphasis is placed on how each child is viewed by the tribe as whole. It seems a child will react much more positively when they are directed by the opinions of other people besides their parents whom a child will much more likely rebel against. This in turn results in the ability of the parent to show the child how much they are loved if the parent does not have to then discipline the child which puts the child in a place of doubt about how much their parent truly loves them if they are constantly correcting them. This creates a competitive environment for the child where their emotional growth is encouraged instead of repressed as in other races who take the attitude of get out of my space you little brat so I can live without the stress or the responsibility that I know I have created for you but am too damn selfish and into what I am doing to have any time for you…..

To me our white/black society is positively the most ignorant selfish environment a child could have the misfortune to be born into that one can think of. If a non-native would take the time to study and get to know the native culture of this land and see how differently a native child grows up and responds to positive surroundings and carries this into adulthood we wouldn’t be seeing the high numbers of crime, divorce and suicide that we see. To add insult to injury the native culture has done this for thousands of years. Who the hell is keeping this secret? Who in the end are the losers? The white materialistic Smith vs. Jones monetarily completive morons you see out there struggling to be adults in a sub-teenage emotional state of non-growth or the poor families of most Native groups who put their society and its healthy survival ahead of their own selfish desires?

To add even more insult to injury many tribal people have adopted the outside influences that are destroying their children and their families.

I’m not just making a general statement about the USA; I’m talking about how kids are raised all over the world. People cannot figure out why 2/3rds of the world hate us! It’s not about how much we have here vs. there; it’s about the influences our selfish, self-serving ignorant smug citizens have on the rest of the world’s impressionable people. They see our riches and excesses and then they see how our people are towards each other and the calculations do not add up. It seems to these people of different countries that if you do goodness all your life and help your societies to stay well then you’re doomed to lack, want and suffering. But if you do evil and I am making no bones about this – our country is attuned to evil. Don’t believe that? How do you explain what is happening in Wisconsin or Arizona? Hell – How do explain New Jersey :) If you’re self-serving, you’re rewarded with riches. How does that not fit in with what our traditional elders are trying to get across to our thick but miniscule brains?

An Exploration of Unconditional Love Pt. 2

2011-02-21T14:45:00.001-05:00

All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.

Leo Tolstoy

I am going to attempt to show what I believe is the causation of all types of violence that is occurring in the world. While there are many forms of violence and the effects have many causes and come from many different places the reasons are coming from one place, one source and can in simplicity be resolved with a very different result than what we are seeing. What we are seeing coming from our species is there because if the lack of true intimacy in our lives. I question my own use of the word intimacy because it only engenders a limited understanding of what it truly represents but in reality intimacy extends to all aspects of our lives and we have to learn to extend it in all areas of our existence.

What we as a species tend to aspire to is a mimicry of those in our society that seem to get an inordinate amount of attention. Unfortunately this attention by all definitions is usually negative, one that attracts the interest of the general public and sells itself to the public as a way to be noticed and also to make money in the form of media attention. When we see someone doing good in our society we generally give an honorable mention if that and go on our way to the next noise maker. These noise makers cast themselves as victims and scream and yell until they get their way much like two year olds who have not learned that there are other ways to gain what they want.

In most Native Cultures the responsibility to teach right from wrong – good from evil – give vs. take is delegated by Creator to be the woman’s responsibility. In many native societies the culture is a matriarchal one and the patriarchs are expected to follow the woman’s directions. The women are heads of council they can be chiefs but normally select a responsible male for that role with the knowledge that the male is a stronger source of power because of their physicality! However the Chief is expected to follow the woman’s direction without question.

When there is a marriage in a matriarchal setting the man if he be Seneca by birth marries an Oneida he then takes the surname of his wife and becomes and is expected to adopt the Oneida culture. Why does this work so well in Native society and why is it not adopted by other societies if it works so well? Good question, it works because men by and large are warrior/hunter/providers and are disassociated from their families for long periods of time. They know little of the inner workings of the people while the women are in that circle almost 100% of the day and so have the greater control of what happens from minute to minute. Men are ego filled – strength associated – defenders of their circle and are expected to do many acts of various violence in order to protect their people. The reason for the Ego being so large is they are expected to perform insane acts of bravery in order to successfully defeat any challenger. Whenever they defeat an enemy they go through an incredible array of emotional reactions knowing they just looked death in the face and came out of it alive. In short these emotional reactions are not a good place to then make decisions regarding the peaceful interaction of the tribe.

“Well”, you might exclaim “that was then and this is now, there is no comparison to how they lived then vs. how we live now”! I beg to disagree, when in fact I believe things are so far out of balance today vs. the balance of the tribe 200 years ago that the situation is close to insane! Take the woman for instance; she has been stripped of all her connection to the influence and satisfaction of decision making for her family to the point that if she doesn’t have a successful career she isn’t a man. You heard it – I said a woman these days is expected to be men. Women’s lib anybody? While the man is going to work day after day knowing full well in the back of his mind that his and the survival of his family is dependent upon the whims of another person. If they are fired today they are out on the street tomorrow without any support of their tribe because they don’t have one. Homeless – Helpless – Hungry! Human destruction anyone?

Next time – more of this insanity! - Redhawk

An Exploration of Unconditional Love

2011-02-20T17:20:00.004-05:00

All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.
- Leo Tolstoy

Oki
I am going to take drastic detour from my normal ranting's to a place much more personal and closer to the heart. Some of you I am sure are going to be angry at what I am about to disclose and will ask to be unsubscribed from my mailing. That is fine if you cannot face truth now then so be it but I intend to post this on my blog as well. http://natalk.blogspot.com/
So if you start to come down off your bruised ego to a point of thinking maybe you don't know everything you can go there and read these postings.
On my way home today from Queensbury and grocery shopping I got caught up in listening to the 50^th Anniversary of Amnesty International on NPR and what it was attempting to accomplish and found myself wondering how the hell did we get to a place where such an organization is necessary. I look at the incredible selfishness of public employees across this great nation as demonstrated in Wisconsin to the Jasmine Revolution in China and I hear loudly and clearly the screams of a very unhappy group of the Human Race that is yelling " We are mad as hell and We aren't going to take this anymore."
I hear this and I ask why are we in the year 2011 and still dealing with stuff that should have been resolved in the dark ages? This in my opinion comes from a very basic place in our humanity which talks to our perceived well being and what is being demonstrated by the public at large as the way to accomplish the ideal life.
I am going to talk about the Intimacy of Romance and all that it's accepted evil entails to the abuse of the mate in place of the love of the mate that should be the result of the truth of love and its success. This is going to lead down a very personal road for me and I believe my life is a simple magnification of the individual experiences of others who are I am sure processing these same experiences to a lesser but no less damaging experience of life. I am 64 years old and this enables me to a place of honesty that in earlier years would not be so forthcoming. I have experienced the lack of love to the point of total discouragement of the human condition but I am not looking to extend my love/non-love experience so this enables me to a place of honesty that otherwise would discourage my hope of ever overcoming this failing.
Why? Because I believe this is the reason and the source of our problems as a society. Our experiences of relationship are what determine how we react to life as we know it in all its many variations. Example my dog tore up the living room the other day. I could have responded in anger and disciplined him severely however that couldn't be my response to such a loving companion. What was he trying to say to me? I know what he is saying and I am at a loss to know what to do about it. But I know I cannot teach him more anger….
So with all that said I will begin where there seems to be no end. Note this is an exposition of my life so to speak. While it is shameful, I have nothing to be ashamed of, but because I am Native American many people have attempted to take advantage of who I am. To those I say – if anything is uncovered that makes you uncomfortable –I am sorry but the story is going to be told. If you feel you wish to pursue me legally be my guest and stand in line. We will see how much more exposure your willing to stand up to by going to a public court. Win or lose your still exposed.

2011-02-20T15:34:00.000-05:00

Subject: Maxine Poses a Question

Let me get this straight . . . ..

We're going to be "gifted" with a health care
plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don't,

Which purportedly covers at least ten million more people, without adding a single new doctor,
but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents,

Written by a committee whose chairman says
he doesn't understand it,

passed by a Congress that didn’t read it
but exempted themselves from it,
and signed by a President who smokes,
with funding administered by a treasury
chief who didn't pay his taxes,

for which we’ll be taxed for four years before any “benefits” take effect,

by a government which has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare,

all to be overseen by a surgeon general who
is obese,

and financed by a country that's broke!!!!!

What the hell could Possibly go wrong?

The Law of Lessons

2011-02-08T18:28:00.001-05:00

We live at the behest of ourselves in order to learn the True lessons of life. Among these teachings are that you never hurt anyone including those that seem to aggravate you the most.

If a person aggravates you - you can bet they are getting a bit close to home and you must listen to the lesson. Those that aggravate the most have many of the qualities that you have that you wish you could abolish.

Those who hold grudges or use them to further their own agenda's are the Sacred Evil in our world! When challenged by Sacred Evil one must not give in to the temptation of retribution but instead think and do kind deeds for these vendors of terror! Through your unselfish acts of Love and compassion they will become less Evil and even begin to change for the greater good according to Creators laws.

If you cannot forgive a persons unkind words or deeds you become exactly the pain and suffering that you believe they have inflicted upon you. You will then live to re-experience the unkindness and the hurt that you believe has been done to you. To overcome these issues you do exactly the opposite that your fight or flight response is prompting you to do. You face the issue, you experience the issue, you hold it to your heart and you overcome it, not run away from it.

Aho - Two Feathers

Invictus

2011-02-01T21:21:00.000-05:00

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

A poem from the English Poet William Ernest Henley

Homeland | Bullfrog Films: 1-800-543-3764: Environmental DVDs and Educational DVDs

2011-02-01T21:09:00.000-05:00

Homeland | Bullfrog Films: 1-800-543-3764: Environmental DVDs and Educational DVDs

Mindfulness

2011-01-15T10:08:00.000-05:00

"Perhaps the more important power of Mindfulness is
its power to deal with distress. After practicing
Mindfulness for a while, we would make an important
discovery, that we tend to REACT towards situations.
When something happens, or somebody says or does
something, we react with anger, or happiness, or
hatred etc etc. From here, I learned the first and
most important lesson about happiness, that I am fully
responsible for how I feel. Thus, it is not skillful
to say, "he MAKES ME feel angry". If he "MAKES me"
feel angry, then why is it that ten other people in
the same situation would react in ten different ways?
And not all of them would be angry.

The truth is that *I* react with anger to the
situation. So it's more skillful to say, "*I* feel
angry about what he said", instead of "*HE* makes
me...". There is an important difference here. The
difference is that I take full responsibility for my
own feelings instead of putting the responsibility on
somebody else, and I started to look towards myself
for my own happiness. That, I realized, is the key to
happiness. If only we could work with our reactions,
we would stop being angry, or be less angry, in the
same situation. The same applies to other painful
feelings like disappointment, hatred etc.

This is where the power of Mindfulness lies. When I am
mindful of my state of mind and emotions at all time,
I begin to get a "feel" of how it works. When
something happens, I notice "anger
arising...arising...", and after a while, "anger
falling ... falling..., feeling of regret arising
...", and so on. What is most amazing is that after a
while, I began to develop some mastery over my
reactions! So when anger or hatred arises, I was
mindful of its arising and thus able to dissipate it.
I was no longer a slave of my reactions, getting
swamped by my feelings, but I had developed some say
of how I should feel.

The wonderful thing is that now, I was able to
practice what I already knew. In the past, I knew, for
example, that I should not have shouted at my friend.
Unfortunately, I couldn't control myself, and this "I
knew I shouldn't have" becomes just an elusive,
useless knowledge. It's just like a compulsive
gambler, he *KNOWS* for a fact that what he is doing
is hurting himself and his family, but he simply
couldn't help it. He has no mastery over himself. With
Mindfulness, I began to develop some mastery over
myself and I became more able to apply the "I should
not do it" knowledge to make my life better.

I discovered that with Mindfulness, I am more able to
work with my feelings. I became more patient, less
likely to be angry, more able to take disappointments,
more able to accept myself and those around me. I am
also more appreciative, my emotions more peaceful, and
my mind more concentrated. Simply put, I feel better."
~by Tan Chade Meng

Native American Product Sales

2011-01-01T15:34:00.000-05:00

Oki Niksokowa

If you are Native American or have access to genuine Native American products that you wish to sell I would be interested in hearing from you.

I have three site's to advertise your products.

Spiritalk Net

Native Americans Online

Native American Blogspot

If your willing to share a portion of your profits with us, we are interested in advertising your products for you.

Simply comment to this posting and include your contact information.
I will be in touch with you ASAP.

Waatowa Pistoto,
Two Feathers - Kainaiwa - Blackfoot Nation

Warrior Gene

2010-12-20T08:14:00.000-05:00

Found out something very interesting listening to PBS last week! Scientists have discovered a Warrior gene in about 30 % of males! This accounts for the rage and anger that some men display! This comes from the early days of our existance when we had to address killing life in order to live. Seems a selfish act but a necessary one if one is to survive. However in the natural order of things one knows in their existence that killing is not conducive to life. Very confusing to the average psyche.

Most men are dismayed when they go overboard and hurt someone they love and think "damn I didn't really want to do that" and then become ashamed of themselves and most become defensive and try to justify their actions with more anger.

Of course none of this is acceptable in normal society and it is the responsibility of the perpetrator to learn methods of control. But the first big step is knowing what may be causing the anger so that it ends the confusion of where it's coming from! If one knows from where their anger is generated they can more easily address the solution.

So women of the world you are not alone when dealing with difficult emotional responses and hopefully this will help all people show more compassion towards men instead of responding with separation because you don't feel you have what it takes to respond with helpful healing actions that would diffuse the issue and turn it into a positive result.

This from National Geographic:

About 30 percent of all men carry what’s known as “the warrior gene” – a tiny bit of DNA that predisposes them to violent behavior. A National Geographic show tonight called “Born to Rage” surveys the effect of this genetic material on the lives of various men from Southern California. One of those men is punk rocker Henry Rollins, who hosts the program.

What Does the Vision Quest Mean to Me?

2010-10-09T12:33:00.002-04:00

Oki Niksokowa,

When I was asked to give my interpretation of what a Vision Quest meant to me I was floored. What could I write that has not already been written and by more talented authors than myself? I would love to be original in what I write but today how original can one be? So I don't know what to say but I do have some unique and from what I have read around the earth as yet unsaid ideas about what a vision quest is.

To most a Vision Quest means long preparation, getting in the 'Zone', becoming one with Creator and prepare for a long journey into the mountains with nothing but a blanket and a pipe! Becoming prepared to go without food and water for up to four days or more depending upon the traditions of your people. You begin to realize that you and your people have strayed so far afield that you have no more traditions to follow! Then the panic begins: What have we lost, where have my people even gone, who can I depend upon for instructions, support, guidance and strength? We look high and low in the library, on the internet even in the faces that we pass on the street. "Oh great Creator what has happened to us, I am frightened and I do not believe I will be able to go on this Quest that you have clearly put in my mind to accomplish before I pass on to the waiting Sand Hills beyond the beyond!" "What will become of me? How will I be perceived and who will do the perceiving?" Then it is that we realize that we have no one qualified to perceive us in a teaching way. There is no one there to provide that much needed guidance that true Human Beings need to become beyond themselves. Why do I feel so alone and useless? What can I pass on to life that comes after me? Are we as a species truly lost and waiting for the annihilation to begin?

Then I hear my father "Two Feathers" come through to me in my spirit and say all problems can be solved – there is no question without an answer. It is up to you my son to hear and believe the answer no matter how discordant it may sound. You know many things and yet you know nothing and that is why you allow me and your grandfather Fools Crow to come and guide you. At 64 you know you are too unhealthy to go out into the mountains and sit alone! You will surely die from such an experience and yet you need to connect to the High Spirits now for guidance in the things you are yet unsure of. Time to change, Two Feathers and become a man once more. Time to realize that there are many ways to solve a problem and a Vision Quest is no different. Realize too that in the instructions we give you will remove the barriers of the Holy Mountains and distance. They are where you are. You can take the stresses of no food and water into your spirit and manufacture them at will with your mind. Remember all these practices are a way for you to separate yourself from this society you have been subjected to so that you can truly SEE reality. You can train yourself to reach a state of separation at will so that you will hear voices in other tongues, and the cries of the helpless in other lands, and the voice of the Eagle as he becomes one with you! You will hear the questions and the answers at the same time; you will know the coming of the future, and the pain in the hearts of those that seem to have no pain or disharmony. You will also know the solution to those cries of anguish that the people feel for the Earth and the grandfather Sun and the continued fear injected into them by a society that is as afraid as your brothers and sisters. You can be that place of guidance, solace, understanding and love – all you need to do is do it!

No, you do not necessarily need to Vision to find the answers to your life. You just need to "Show Up, and be Present" If you can prepare physically and mentally to go out on that Mountain and if you have the proper support mechanisms in place to assure your safety, then do so, but do not let obstacles get in your way. Always remember you have a WAY………………..

TO WALK THE RED ROAD

Long road winding

began in the stars

spilled to the mountain tops

carried in the snow

to the streams

to the rivers

to the ocean

it covers Canada

Alaska

America

Mexico

to Guatemala

and keeps winding

around the indigenous

The Red Road

is a circle

of People standing

hand in hand

People in this world

People between

People in the Spirit world

Star People

Animal People

Stone People

River People

Tree People

The Sacred Hoop

To walk the Red Road

is to know sacrifice

suffering

It is to understand Humility

It is the ability

to stand naked before God

in all things

for your wrong doings

for your lack of strength

for your discompasionate way

for your arrogance

because to walk the Red Road

you always know

you can do better.

And you know

when you do good things

it is through Creator

and you are grateful.

To walk the Red Road

is to know

you stand on equal ground

with all living things

It is to know that

because you were born human

gives you superiority over nothing.

It is to know that

every creation carries a spirit

and the river knows more than you do

the mountains know more than you do

The stone people know more than you do

the trees know more than you do

The wind is wiser than you are

animal people carry wisdom

And

You can learn from every one of them

because they have something

you don't

They are void of evil thoughts.

They wish vengeance on no one

they seek Justice.

To Walk the Red Road

you have God given rights

you have the right to pray

you have the right to dance

you have the right to think

you have the right to protect

you have the right to know Mother

you have the right to dream

you have the right to vision

you have the right to teach

you have the right to learn

you have a right to grieve

you have a right to happiness

you have the right

to fix the wrongs

you have the right to truth

you have a right to the Spirit World.

To Walk the Red Road

is to know your Ancestors

to call to them for assistance

It is to know that there is good medicine

and there is bad medicine

It is to know that Evil exists

but is cowardly as it is often in disguise.

It is to know there are evil spirits

who are in constant watch

for a way

to gain strength

for themselves

at the expense

of you.

To Walk the Red Road

you have less fear at being wrong

because you know

that life is a journey

a continuous circle

a sacred hoop

mistakes will be made

and

mistakes can be corrected

if you will

be humble

for if you cannot be humble

you will never know

when you have made a mistake.

If you walk the Red Road

you know that every sorrow

leads to a better understanding

every horror cannot be explained

but can offer growth.

To Walk the Red Road

is to look for beauty

in all things.

To Walk the Red Road

is to know

you will one day

cross to the Spirit World

and you will be

not afraid

May your Walk on the Red Road

be one of courage

for it takes a strong person

to learn and grow in The Creator

A person of Bravery

will seek Justice for all living things

with a steady ~ compassionate hand

May you never be afraid

to speak your truth

and may you

'sing your death song

like a Warrior going home'

as you

'are recognized in the Spirit World'

Hau

'Tea party' is polarizing, but has many 'closet admirers,' poll finds - CSMonitor.com

2010-09-15T11:08:00.000-04:00

'Tea party' is polarizing, but has many 'closet admirers,' poll finds - CSMonitor.com

Medicine Pipes: Bridging the Spiritual Gap

2010-09-12T09:42:00.000-04:00

Medicine Pipes: Bridging the Spiritual Gap

NativeRadio® Your portal to the beauty and mystery of Native American, Indigenous, and New Age Music

2010-09-04T12:53:00.000-04:00

NativeRadio® Your portal to the beauty and mystery of Native American, Indigenous, and New Age Music: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

A Letter of Protest

2010-07-17T09:56:00.000-04:00

Comment:

I was born Swedish therefore, my skin is white. I respect the

Native American Indian way of life, the circle which binds all of us

together. The words your leaders speak are true and strong. It is

uncomfortable for me to seek your council because of my skin color. I do

not mean to be disrespectful. I live in the valley of the moon for over 20

years, but two years ago a casino was built. No problem with that, I hope

the tribe makes a lot of money. They are poor. On the other hand, they have

probably seen little money until the debt that was used to build the casino

is paid. But this year the casino started to have outdoor concerts during

the summer months, a time for all to enjoy the outdoors. However, the music

travels far and wide to the point that your evening only turns into noise.

No more robin bird sounds only bass and percussion noise. We asked the

casino for help, turn down the sound, but they say there good neighbors and

the sound is not so bad. !

In fact, the casino says to have a barbecue and enjoy the music. Hmmm, we

have 17 more concerts to listen too. OK, I guess money speaks yet, what does

that mean for the eagle that lives in the trees next to the casino? Or,

even the birds, bears and other animals in the forest? What about the

children that sleep near the casino? I thought turtle island was scared?

So many questions and conflicts. The casino says they will continue on and

review the matter after the concert season is over. Do I believe them or do

I continue to voice my complaint? They have powerful rights, sovereign

rights and much money. But do they have the right to make money at the

expense of others when this sound travels beyond their land? Not an easy

answer. I don't think they hear the Native American chant, "Listen to the

Sound Great Spirit Circling around me." I speak for the eagle. What is

your council?

Oki Brother

Well I think you have hit the Nail squarely on its head and I am

in total agreement with you.

The problem is that many Red people have learned from the white man that

total disregard for nature, the rights of others and even disregard and

disrespect of Creators laws takes precedence as their true God has changed

into money.

While I am a Traditional and the Red people who are propagating this

thoughtless disregard for anything other than money are Progressives - they

still have the right guaranteed under the constitution to continue their

reckless behavior. There is little you can do to stop it but it is

reflective the white society in how they treat each other. So you can indeed

learn from this experience and thus possibly change things by thinking about

who you vote for in the political elections to come.

In my opinion and from where I sit this is direct result of the liberal

policies of a misdirected government gone over the edge of respect for Gods

laws and have converted to Dollar worship as their guiding light.

Conservative ways of thinking which is what your referring to in your email

have been totally denigrated and disregarded in the quest for cash. What you

see is the direct result of that mind set. Again the blame for the

destruction of earth rights, human rights, and sacred rights can be placed

directly on the heads of the white man.....

Waatowa Pistoto,

Two Feathers - Kainaiwa - Blackfoot Nation

http://www.spiritalk.net/

http://natalk.blogspot.com/

http://www.native-americans-online.com/

Essiac: Nature's Cure for Cancer

2010-05-02T18:06:00.003-04:00

Note: While this article states that Essiac has been in use since 1922 - in actuality it has been in use for many hundreds of years by the Native community of this country. - Two Feathers

An Interview with Dr Gary Glum by Elisabeth Robinson.

This is the story of a woman named Rene Caisse. For more than 50 years until her death in 1978 at the age of 90, she treated thousands of cancer patients, most of them written off by doctors as terminally ill, with her own secret formula. She called it Essiac - Caisse spelt backwards - and she brewed the tea herself, alone in her kitchen. Her patients swore by her. Men and women who believed she cured them of cancer, told their friends and families, wrote letters to politicians, swore affidavits, testified before the Canadian Parliament and pleaded with Rene to supply them with more Essiac. Husbands and wives of patients who died, wrote Rene letters thanking her profoundly for making life easier - free of pain- and longer for their loved ones. Her funeral in Bracebridge, about 170 km north of Toronto, was attended by hundreds of people including former patients Rene had treated for terminal cancer as far back as the 1930's and who were still on their feet to bury her and tell their stories.

The controversy Essiac inspires raged in Canada since the 1920's every few years in the public glare of the press, involving the highest medical, legal and political circles in Canada. But always that controversy centered on this one woman in the tiny village of Bracebridge, pop 9,000 or so. Rene Caisse was an unlikely public figure. She was a skilled nurse who didn't crave attention or money. "I never had $100 I could call my own" she used to laugh. She didn't charge a fee. She accepted only voluntary contributions - fruits, vegetables or eggs as often as not - from those who could afford them, and she didn't turn away people who couldn't make any payment at all.

The mayor of Bracebridge, Jim Lang, gave me a friendly greeting, said he was happy that someone was looking into the story of Rene Caisse, and got right to the point: She cured people that were given up on by doctors - totally given up on. They said, "You're going to die and there is nothing we can do about it. And then they went to Rene and 20 years later they were still walking. I know that for a fact because I knew Rene for probably 25 years."

She refused to reveal the formula to the Canadian government, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York - the world's largest private cancer research centre - and the National Cancer Institute, just to name some of the institutions that wanted the formula at one time or another. She wouldn't give them the formula until they would admit that Essiac had merit as a treatment for cancer. They refused to admit any merit until she gave them the formula. There were legitimate arguments made on both sides. The result was a tragic standoff.

This book tells the incredible story of Rene Caisse and her lifetime battle to bring forth Essiac, and reveals for the first time publicly how to acquire the formula to prepare Essiac in the privacy of your own home.

"The results we obtained with thousands of patients of various races, sexes and ages, with all types of cancer, definitely prove Essiac to be a cure for cancer. All studies done in four laboratories in the United States and one more in Canada fortify this claim."

Dr. Charles Brusch M.D./personal physician to the late President John F Kennedy Calling of an Angel 233pp ISBN 0-9620364-0-4 $35.00 Silent Walker Publishing PO Box 92856 Los Angeles California 90009 2130271-9931

INTRODUCTION

Rene Caisse was a nurse living in Canada who for a period of almost sixty years treated hundreds of people with an herbal remedy she called Essiac. She discovered this remedy through a patient in the hospital where she worked who had been cured of cancer. The patient had used an herbal remedy given her by an Ojibway herbalist.

Rene left the hospital in 1922 at age 33, and went to Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada where she began administering Essiac to all who came to her. The majority of those whom she treated came on referral with letters from their physicians certifying they had incurable or terminal forms of cancer and that they had been given up by the medical profession as untreatable.

Rene began gathering the plants and preparing the herbal remedy herself in her own kitchen, in a building lent her for her patients. She administered Essiac both orally and by injection. In cases where there was severe damage to life support organs, her patients died --- but they lived far longer than the medical profession had predicted, and, more significantly, they lived free of pain. Still others, listed as hopeless and terminal, but without severe damage to life support organs, were cured and lived 35-45 years (many are still living).

So startling was the effectiveness of this simple herbal remedy, it could not be ignored, and the Canadian Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Parliament became involved. Friends, former patients, and grateful families petitioned Canadian officialdom for Rene Caisse's right to administer the remedy to anyone who asked for it without the threat of interference from authorities. Fifty-five thousand signatures were collected on the petition. In 1938, Essiac came within three votes of being legalized by the Ontario government as a remedy for terminal cancer patients.

The story of Rene Caisse, her life, her work, and the effectiveness of the remedy she named Essiac, is told in a book Sun Bear received Calling of an Angel by Dr Gary L. Glum of Los Angeles. After reading the book and finding it to be informative, well documented and moving, I decided to interview Dr Glum. I verified the basic information in this book through Canadian sources, one an herbalist who knows of Rene Caisse and her work and who has personally made and successfully used Essiac.

As I completed my second conversation with Dr Glum, he said, "You're opening a Pandora's Box here, publishing this interview about Essiac." I disagreed, but began thinking about Pandora's "box". In the story of Pandora most well-known today, she is sent to the gods to curse humanity for offending them.

Pandora is given a "box" or container with instructions not to open it, which the gods know she will disobey. When Pandora does open the box, famine, war, plague, disease, pestilence --- all the ills of humanity --- are released. Then at the last comes hope, an antidote to despair.

But according to Barbara Walker's Encyclopedia, Pandora --- whose name means "all giving" was originally an image for Mother Earth. She had, not a box, but a honey vase like the Cornucopia from which flowed all life and creativity, as well as death and rebirth --- Earth's gifts to her children. Because we are natural beings in a natural world, it seems appropriate that a simple remedy composed of four common herbs, gifts of Earth, would suggest so much promise for us today.

INTERVIEW WITH DR GLUM

Elisabeth Robinson: To begin with, Dr Glum, can you tell us a little about how you became interested in the story you tell in Calling of an Angel, and how you learned about Rene Caisse and her work?

Dr Gary Glum: A personal friend of mine knew this woman, whose name I have promised not to reveal, who was living in Detroit, Michigan. Twenty years ago she had been diagnosed with cervical cancer in a Detroit hospital; where she was eventually given up as incurable and terminal. She was given about ten days to live.

She convinced her husband to make a trip to Bracebridge, Canada where she went to see Rene Caisse. She was treated with the herbal remedy developed by Rene --- Essiac --- and in a short time she didn't have a cancer cell in her body. So after that time this woman began dedicating her life to disseminating information about Essiac in the United States. When I met her, she was the only person in possession of the original herbal formula who would relinquish it. I got the formula for Essiac from her.

That's how it began. When I started, all I had was a piece of paper. I thought, what am I going to do with this? I decided, the best way to go would be to find the information behind Essiac and put it in book form and bring it to the world.

I learned about Rene Caisse from Mary McPherson who was a very close personal friend of Rene's, not only a friend but also a patient. Mary's mother and her husband were also patients. They were all treated for cancer and cured by Rene.

Mary worked with Rene beginning in the 1930's and she had in her possession all the documents that had to do with Essiac over the 40 years Rene administered it. All the documents Rene had were destroyed by the Canadian Ministry of Health & Welfare at the time of her death in 1978. They burned all that information in fifty five gallon drums behind her home.

ER: Why?

GG: Because they don't want this information in the hands of the public or the press or anybody else. They indeed found out what Essiac was in 1937. The Royal Cancer Commission hearings had then come to the same conclusions that Rene had - that Essiac was a cure for cancer.

ER: What is Essiac exactly?

GG: Essiac is a non-toxic herbal cure for cancer that's been in use with us since 1922. It's a formula made from four very common herbs.

ER: I would guess that virtually every person in the U.S. today has been touched by cancer, either personally or through a loved one. If this information is true, and the effectiveness of this remedy is actually medically documented, many lives could be saved. Why do you think the information on Essiac is not more widely known?

GG: The information is withheld because cancer is the second largest revenue producing business in the world, next to the petrochemical business. Money and power suppress this truth.

No-one has ever sought to cure cancer - only control it. I mean, the research institutes, federal governments, pharmaceutical companies, anybody that has a vested interest in the health care of cancer, including the American Cancer Society, any of these stalled benefactors to those who have contracted the disease - all of these institutes are involved in the money and power around cancer.

These institutions have influence over government and regulatory agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration.. The FDA recommends only allopathic treatments for cancer and other life threatening diseases. It does not approve nor make legal alternative treatments of any kind.

ER: You're saying the Essiac is in a position similar to, for example, laetril.

GG: Yes, the only reason laetril was stopped - and it couldn't be stopped any other way - was through the insurance companies. The insurance companies sent down a directive to all allopathic physicians stating that they could not cover them in any malpractice suit in the event they were treating people with any substance not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

ER: In your book you mention that the Brusch Clinic in Massachusetts worked with Rene Caisse and with Essiac, during the 1960s. Is this clinic still doing research with Essiac?

GG: Dr Charles A Brusch is not practicing at this time. He was a personal physician to the late President John F Kennedy. Dr. Brusch worked with Rene Caisse from 1959 to 1962. He worked with thousands of cancer patients. He also worked with the Presidential Cancer Commission, with others like Dr Armand Hammer, the American Cancer Society, and the National Cancer Institute.

Dr Brusch presented his findings after ten years of research. He had come to the conclusion that "Essiac is a cure for cancer, period." All studies done at laboratories in the United States and Canada support this conclusion.

Whereupon the Federal Government issued a gag order and said, "You've got one of two choices, either you keep quiet about this or we'll haul you off to military prison and you'll never be heard of again," so we never heard another word out of him.

Brusch's Essiac patients included Ted Kennedy's son who had a sarcoma in his leg, and who had his leg amputated. He was being treated at the time by the Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Farber didn't know how to save him, because no-one had ever lived with this type of sarcoma. So what he did was go to Dr. Brusch and say, how are we going to save Ted Kennedy's son? And Dr. Brusch made the suggestion to put him on Essiac, and after they did, he didn't have a cancer cell in his body. But all this information has been hidden from the public.

ER: Why?

GG: As I said, money and power.

ER: Do you know whether the remedy is being used or tested anywhere today in the U.S. or Canada?

GG: Right now Essiac is being used in every state in the United States, it's throughout Canada and into Mexico, its in Australia, Europe, Asia, and, recently, also in Africa. And the message of Essiac is beginning to make it's way worldwide. But it's still known on a very limited basis.

Of course now you also have the problem of herbal distributing companies throughout the world that are substituting ...low dock and curly dock for sheep's sorrel, which is one of the crucial ingredients in Essiac.

The sheep's sorrel is the herbal ingredient in Essiac that was found to be responsible for the destruction of cancer cells in the body, or their amalgamation where ...astasized cancer cells actually return to the original tumor site.

That research was done by Dr Chester ....ck at Sloan-Kettering in New York for over a three year period. But when they gathered that information, they withheld it from the general public - yet they gave it to the Canadian Ministry of Health and Welfare. The Canadian government then immediately banned the herb for sale and distribution.

ER: Banned a common weed like sheep's sorrel?

GG: Yes, sheep's sorrel is just a common weed that grows in abundance throughout North America. Just a common weed. (Note: After this interview was completed, Wildfire learned from an herbalist in Canada that the Canadian government has recently banned St John's Wort, also a common weed frequently used by herbalists.)

ER: Well, it seems banning sheep's sorrel would not be very effective if you could identify it for yourself.

GG: Yes, it's just a question of identifying the plant and then harvesting it correctly and drying it properly and then putting it together with the other herbs.

Rene would harvest the sheep's sorrel -Rumex acetosella- when it was four to six inches high. She cut it back and would let it grow up again, and she'd cut it back again. She would do that about three times and then she would let it go to seed. It will grow to about 14 or 18 inches.

She would take the herb cuttings home and lay them out at room temperature to dry them. She let the cuttings sit there for three or four days before she'd begin turning the herbs. Then she'd turn them every two days until they were properly dry, which took about ten days to two weeks. It takes about a bushel of harvested sheep's sorrel to produce one pound of the dried powdered herb which is used in the formula.

ER: Do you have the formula? It's not in your book. You do mention a video in the book.

GG: Yes I have it. Anyone can get it from me, free of charge. We don't sell the video anymore. We simply mail the formula to anyone who asks for it.

ER: Sun Bear told me you had problems getting the book published and distributed. What kind of problems?

GG: There wasn't a publishing company that would publish it. No one wanted to run the risk of a wrongful death suit. So I published the book myself. And as soon as I did, the IRS came in and slapped about a half a million dollars in tax liens against me and said, "You know this has got nothing to do with taxes. It's all about cancer." They actually started hauling the pallets of books out of my medical practice offices and confiscating them. I also had thousands of books that were confiscated by the Canadian government at customs. I have never received any of those books back. The only ones I have now are hidden in storage facilities.

ER: That's incredible - why do you think they are so interested in keeping this book out of circulation?

GG: Money and power, as I've said. Cancer is the largest revenue producing business in the world next to the petrochemical business. In Canada the book is being held up by the Ministry of Health & Welfare because they say it is "advertising."

ER: Advertising what? The video you don't sell any more?

GG: No, a cure for cancer.

ER: Can you explain what you mean by the publishers fearing a wrongful death suit?

GG: What you're dealing with is giving people a formula that they can make and use in the privacy of their own homes without the approval of the AMA or FDA or anybody else. If an attorney or any family member should decide, for whatever reason, that the reason someone expired was from the use of Essiac, then you are putting yourself up for a wrongful death suit. The contention is that if it isn't approved by the Food and Drug Administration, there's no legality in using it when you're dealing with a life threatening disease.

When Rene Caisse set up her clinical trials in Canada to test Essiac, she was given government permission to treat terminally ill cancer patients who had been given up for hopeless by the medical profession. That was one criteria. Secondly, this was all to be certified by a pathology report. And third, she could not charge anything for her services. She agreed to all these criteria and proceeded to treat people with Essiac. Many she treated were still here 35 years later to bury her when she died at age 90.

The best that anyone can do is try to disseminate this information to the public and let people make their own choices. That's all you can do. And just say, look, if you feel that Essiac has value in your life and the lives of your loved ones, you have the right to use it in the privacy of your own home and without anyone's approval.

You know, in 1937 Essiac came within three votes of being legalized as a treatment for cancer. People had garnered over fiftyfive thousand signatures on a petition to allow Rene to continue to use Essiac. The only reason the vote fell short, she found out years later, was that the College of Physicians and Surgeons met and said to the Parliament, if you don't respond to the political pressure and legalize Essiac, then we'll take a sincere look and give this woman a fair hearing. So Parliament didn't legalize Essiac.

So following the Royal Cancer Commission hearings Rene was allowed to continue her practice but only within the criteria I mentioned before, which allowed the Ministry of Health & Welfare to restrict peoples access to Essiac treatments.

I know this because I have a copy of the hearing transcripts which I got from Mary McPherson, which is some of the information that didn't get burned when Rene died.

ER: You mentioned earlier. What exactly was burned?

GG: All her research for that 40 year period of time. All the names, all her clinical data that she had collected. All her files.

ER: What about the records of the Brusch Clinic? It seems these would be convincing evidence.

GG: As far as I know all that material has been destroyed also. I knew that Rene had worked with Dr Brusch from 1959 to 1962, so I went to Dr Brusch's home in Cambridge, Massachusetts whereupon he delivered me the only materials he had left in his files on Essiac. One of those files was his own personal file where he had treated and cured his own cancer with Essiac. I have his personal records.

All the information in my book is verified by a sheet of paper with a signature and date on it, and those sheets and signatures are all originals. They are not copies.

ER: Have you had any personal experiences with Essiac?

GG: Yes, I can give you an example. He was a twelve year old boy named Toby Wood. He had acute lymphoblastic, which is one of the most virulent of all leukemias.

He had been on chemotherapy for four years and radiation for three. His mother's only hope in life was to find a cure for him. She went everywhere. She tried every alternative treatment.

Her last stop was Dr Alvados in Athens, Greece where her son's white blood cell count was 186,000. He had no red blood cells or platelets. He was hemorrhaging to death. So they transfused Toby in Greece, and put him on a plane to Alaska where he was given five days to live.

I met his mother's sister in Los Angeles while I was putting the book together and she asked if there was any credibility here. We sat down and talked. She then borrowed the money for a flight to Anchorage, and delivered a bottle of Essiac. By the time she got there Toby had three days to live. He was in a state of complete deterioration. He was given the Essiac and all the hemorrhaging stopped within 24 hours. Within three months all his blood tests were normal. I arrived in Alaska later that year and met him.

Toby Wood did die, and we finally found a pathologist who would do an exhaustive autopsy. We knew that he didn't have leukemia anymore. We wanted to find out the cause of death. It took four months to get the report back. The pathologist autopsied the brain, testicles, and all life support organs, including the bone marrow. No blast cells were found in any life support organ. There were a few stray cells in the testicles and the brain. Cause of death was damage to the myocardial sac of the heart, a result of the chemotherapy.

This was the first report anywhere in medical history of anyone surviving lymphoblastic leukemia. That information was taken to AP and UPI but they said it was not newsworthy.

Our information on Essiac has been sent around the world twice through Publishers Weekly magazine in a huge two page ad. We received no responses at all from any publishing company worldwide, no producers, no directors throughout the United States, no talk show programs, none of that. We can't access the media. In fact we talked to Philip Scheffler, producer of 60 Minutes. He read the book and we called him to ask him what he was going to do about it. He said, nothing. I said all the information in the book is verifiable. In other words it's the truth. I said if you're 60 minutes why don't you expose me and Essiac as a fraud. He said. nope, can't do it.

We took it to Joe Donally who is the executive news producer for ABC in New York. We said why not give it to Peter Jennings, Geraldo Rivera, Ted Koppel, one of those? He said, nope. We asked why not? He said because his phone lines would be invaded with 65,000 phone calls. We said, how sympathetic do you think a parent whose child is dying from leukemia would be to your 65,000 phone calls. He went on to say he's got a mortgage on his house and he's looking forward to retirement.

So that's the problem. No one wants this information disseminated. And it's not just the media, either. It includes the herbal companies who are now substituting curly dock for sheep's sorrel. So people are getting the wrong ingredients for Essiac, not to mention the five or six other formulas that are circulating which are different from the one I send out. These false formulas are being disseminated. There is a disinformation campaign going on here, somehow.

ER: Has this disinformation campaign started just since your book has been out?

GG: Previous to my book, none of this information was available to the general public at all. The public had no information outside a few assorted articles. Certainly the Essiac formula was not available to the general public at all. All that information was held by the Resperin Corporation in Toronto, Canada, which supposedly is a private institution.

However, they work hand in glove with the Canadian Ministry of Health & Welfare, who works directly with the American Food and Drug Administration and the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. The Essiac formula was never given to anyone by Resperin.

ER: Did the Resperin Corporation do any research on Essiac?

GG: They've done research since 1978 when the formula was relinquished to them by Rene for the purchase price of one dollar. As soon as they got the formula, they told Rene they had no further use for her. She had been under the distinct impression from the Ministry of Health & Welfare and the Resperin Corporation that she was to lead research activities that they so desperately wanted to put together.

But Rene had already done clinical trials. She had names and records. She thought the Resperin Corporation was politically powerful and had money enough to get Essiac into the public sector without compromising her values. Then she found out the Corporation was working closely with the government and administration and the Ministry of Health & Welfare.

So now people who were terminally ill given up as hopeless had to go through a federal bureaucratic maze to get the remedy. By then, for most of these people, it was too late. But even when people were cured, that information was not released to the public.

Resperin ran research tests on Essiac. One test was done in Northern Canada and the documents were falsified. For example, one man was listed as dead who a few months later knocked on Rene's door and said, "You know I want to thank you for the Essiac and for being part of this experimental program. Yet he was listed as dead in the research findings.

ER: It's beginning to seem amazing to me that any information at all about this remedy has survived the "conspiracy of silence" or outright destruction of records and so on.

GG: The only reason Essiac is known to the public is by word of mouth and because Essiac is what it is. What will keep Essiac known is it's effectiveness. Rene said it years ago. She said, look, if Essiac doesn't have any merit let me put it out there. If it doesn't have any merit it will kill itself. Of course she knew full well if people had the correct herbs, the remedy would stand on its own.. And that is exactly what Essiac has done over this period of time that we've been disseminating the information.

Rene also found that Essiac was a strong preventative. These findings were substantiated by Dr Albert Schatz at Temple University who discovered the cure for tuberculosis.

Rene also found that Essiac would normalise the thyroid gland. My wife was on two grains of thyroid since the sixth grade. After I met her, she started taking Essiac, and she hasn't taken a grain of thyroid since.

Rene also found that Essiac would heal stomach ulcers within three to four weeks. She felt that ulcers were a precursor to cancer.

Sir Frederick Banting, the co-discoverer of insulin, wanted to work with Rene. She had clinical cases where a person on insulin discontinued it with the Essiac, since no one knew how Essiac interacted with the insulin. Apparently Essiac regulated the pancreas in cases of diabetes mellitus. So these people then came insulin free.

Another thing I've found with Essiac is that I've experienced almost perfect health. As you get older you think, well, I'm forty now, these things happen. Well, these things don't have to happen. Since I've taken Essiac, I've experienced almost perfect health. It's amazing. I sleep like a baby, have all kinds of energy, and no sickness, not even a cold or the flu.

I also worked with the AIDS Project Los Angeles through their Long Beach and San Pedro districts. They had sent 179 patients home to die. They all had pneumocystis carinii and histoplasmosis. Their weight was down to about 100 pounds. Their T-4 cell counts were less that ten. The Project gave me five of these patients. I took them off the AZT and the DDI and put them on Essiac three times a day. Those are the only ones alive today. The other 174 are dead.

ER: That is incredible - but what kind of lives are they leading today?

GG: They're exercising three times a day, eating three meals a day. Their weight is back to normal. For all intents and purposes you wouldn't know they had a sick day in their lives. But this information is not being disseminated either, because AIDS is on the horizon as another big moneymaker. The chairman of the AIDS Project in Los Angeles makes over $100,000 a year.

Even the alternative health care professionals are out there to control, not to cure. Alternative medical practice is just as mercenary and deceptive as the allopathic. No one wants a cure for cancer or AIDS.

The alternative people are also in it for the money. What you're finding with Essiac is that it is not even allowed into the arenas of the alternative health care. So really what you've got out here is people continually perpetrating these lies against mankind. For money. For money and power. It's that simple.

Really once you think about it, the only reason we don't have solar power is that no one's figured out a way to sell Exxon the sun. It's true. If they could, you'd have solar power. You know you'd have it.

ER: So, in your own personal experience, this herbal remedy works to "cure" cancer, thyroid conditions, diabetes, AIDS, ulcers...

GG: It also cures the common cold. Essiac elevates the immune system. I've been taking one ounce a day for seven years, and in seven years I haven't had a cold, flu or virus.

ER: And all of this from a simple Native herbal remedy?

GG: Yes. Although Rene did alter it. She altered it with Turkish Rhubarb root -rheum palmatum . Turkish rhubarb root has a 5,000 year history. It actually came up from India into China and then was taken by the British.

ER: Turkish rhubarb root is not native to this country, nor available here. Herbs from foreign countries are fumigated and irradiated, so is it a good idea to use the Turkish rhubarb root?

GG: You can substitute ordinary rhubarb root. The other two ingredients are burdock root -arctium lappa - and the inner bark of the slippery elm -ulmus fulva . They are easy to obtain, usually. Sheep's sorrel -rumex acetosella is what destroys the cancer cells. The other three herbs are blood purifiers.

Essiac elevates the enzyme system and gives all cancer patients and all AIDS patients the enzymes that have been destroyed. Essiac elevates the enzyme system; it elevates the hormone system, which elevates the immune system, so the body can cure it's own disease.

ER: What about quantities?

GG: Even its worst enemy could never lay claim that Essiac had any deleterious side effects whatever. You can take Essiac safely, through all the clinical trials that have been done, up to six ounces a day. That's two ounces in the evening, two at midday and two in the morning. That's a high dosage. Rene had the correct herbs and she used as little as one ounce a week.

But look at the difference between then and now. The food didn't have carcinogens in it, and neither did the water, nor the air. So what have we done? We've killed the air, killed the water, killed the food. So what's left?

Nationwide, in the water we drink, over 2,100 organic and inorganic chemicals have been identified, and 156 of them are pure carcinogens. Of those, if you have a tumor, 26 are tumor promoting , so they make the tumor larger. But of course this information is not available to the public either. Those figures are from tests conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency which have never been distributed to the public.

ER: How did you get the information?

GG: From a Ralph Nader organization out of Washington DC. The media has not disseminated this information. Another problem is that very few people read books any more. We can only hope they'll read Calling of an Angel . Of course the problem right now is people getting the right herbs.

ER: Anything you'd like to add before we close this interview?

GG: I would like to say that I didn't do all this research because I feel I have a responsibility to other people. I did it because I have a responsibility to myself. I know that I've done all I can do to disseminate this information to the people.

I was the first person to release this information to the public and say, here it is, here's the formula, here's the story. So now the story is out there and look what is happening - its getting killed through a disinformation campaign. I mean Harvard, Temple, Tufts, Northwestern University, Chicago - all these institutions have tested Essiac with the right stuff, and they all came to the same conclusions as Rene Caisse. But all that information has been buried.

ER: Gary, it's been very interesting to speak with you.

GG: It's been a pleasure. You're opening a Pandora's Box, you know, publishing this interview.

ER: I think you're the one who's done that.

Dr Gary L. Glum, until some years ago, was a chiropractor with offices in Los Angeles California. His clients included well known professional athletic teams and Olympic teams.

In 1988 Dr Glum published Calling of an Angel, the story of Rene Caisse and Essiac. Some years ago he closed his practice and now devotes his time to investigative writing.

The official formula is provided below. Please note that Essiac is not distributed or sold through this site or through East West Network. For distributors, please check Essiac in Search Engines and verify correct ingredients.

Subject: Essiac Ingredients

MESSAGE: The Essiac ingredients are available in proper quantities.

1 lb 5oz - Burdock Root c/s (6 1/2 cups)

1 lb - Sheep Sorrel Lvs., Pwd

4 oz - Slippery Elm Bark, Pwd

1 oz - Turkish Rhubarb Root, Pwd

Makes 10 -two gallon batches

Also available 12 x 16 Amber Glass bottles with caps - They hold first 2 gall batch

DIRECTIONS TO PREPARE ESSIAC

FIRST READ DIRECTIONS THOROUGHLY

SUPPLIES NEEDED
2-3 gallon stainless steel pots with lids
1 - strainer
1 - stainless or wooden spatula
1 - funnel
1 - timer (optional) New amber glass bottles with caps.

You will need:
8 oz Measuring cup of Essiac from mixed materials
2 gallons distilled water

Bring to a hard boil (Takes about 30 minutes) The lid is on all the time (Except while stirring). Put in Essiac Herbs - Stir - Boil. Boil hard for 10 mins (Adjust flame as needed). Turn off stove - let sit for 6 hours. After 6 hours stir thoroughly, let sit for 6 more hours. After the last 6 hours, turn heat on and bring to boil. At boiling point turn off the heat, strain into pot #2 - Clean pot #1 - strain back into pot #1. Immediately pour into bottles and put the caps on (12 x 16 oz bottles). Must be bottled hot. Store in a dark cabinet.

DIRECTIONS FOR USE OF ESSIAC

Take Four Tablespoons of distilled water. Heat the water. To the heated water add Four Tablespoons (2 oz) ESSIAC. Mix and drink. To be taken at bedtime on an empty stomach. At least 2 hours after eating. Can be taken in the morning on an empty stomach. If taken in the morning do not eat for at least 2 hours after taking.

ONCE OPENED KEEP REFRIGERATED

Take Back Our Country from the Idiots

2010-04-10T08:58:00.001-04:00

HIGH SCHOOL --1959 vs. 2009

Scenario 1:
Jack goes quail hunting before school and then pulls into the school parking lot with his shotgun in his truck's gun rack.
1959 - Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.
2009 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario 2:
Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.
1959 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
2009 - Police called and SWAT team arrives -- they arrest both
Johnny and Mark. They are both charged with assault and both expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario 3:
Jeffrey will not be still in class, he disrupts other students.
1959 - Jeffrey sent to the Principal's office and given a good paddling by the Principal. He then returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2009 - Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin He becomes a zombie. He is then tested for ADD. The school gets extra money from the state because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario 4:
Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.
1959 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college and becomes a successful businessman.
2009 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to
foster care and joins a gang. The state psychologist is told by Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has an affair with the psychologist.

Scenario 5:
Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.
1959 - Mark shares his aspirin with the Principal out on the smoking dock..
2009 - The police are called and Mark is expelled from school for drug violations... His car is then searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario 6:
Pedro fails high school English.
1959 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English and goes to college.
2009 - Pedro's cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against the state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English is then banned from core curriculum. Pedro is given his diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario 7:
Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the Fourth of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle and blows up a red ant bed..
1959 - Ants die.
2009 -ATF, Homeland Security and the FBI are all called. Johnny is charged with domestic terrorism. The FBI investigates his parents --and all siblings are removed from their home and all computers are confiscated. Johnny's dad is placed on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario 8:
Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.
1959 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2009 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy.

This should hit every email inbox to show how stupid we have become. How many more ways does political mayhem have to reign before we take back our country from the idiots?
=======================

Answer Relevant Questions

2010-02-28T10:47:00.006-05:00

I recently was questioned by a college student which I think are relevant questions to ask and many folks I believe have some of these same questions in mind.

I do well with question and answer formats and find that format a wonderful forum to share ideas. So here are some. Please feel free to submit questions or observations when they arise.

Oki Niksokowa

I will answer your questions as my conscience dictates and good sense has its way.

First I recommend “Where White Men Fear to Tread” by Russell Means - Where-White-Fear-Tread

I think if you pay attention this book will answer many of your questions for you.

Next, I am going to try to answer these questions for my people, not myself. What I think has varying degrees of relevancy to why my People react to a white society driven by a culture very different from ours. This is about my people not me.

1) Are there any American Indian gatherings/groups/organizations in the area that you participate in? If so, how often do they meet and do you find them to be beneficial?

In fact, I know of none in the area that I would recommend. I used to teach publicly for around 13 years but stopped once I got older and concluded that what I had to say was not affecting society to any great extent. I was very naïve about what would take society to wake up and see what they were doing to each other. The fact as our people see it is that there are too many heads in the sand to be assured that the message is being heard.

In addition, there can be and are many charlatans who have large egos and no understanding of our people or who see other people as a money source for them, which is just as bad.

2) Briefly describe the influence of your parents while growing up and the way they shaped the way you look at the world.

What I can say about this is that my parents had the effect on me to look further into my Spirit than most people do. Without that impetus who knows where I would be today?

3) Are there any significant people in our history who are not American Indian that you look up to and respect?

For certain Winston Churchill and John Kennedy along with Ronald Reagan.

4) What is one thing from your culture, history, ancestors, etc. (anything) you could enlighten me on that I would never find in a textbook?

What you can never find in a textbook is how to listen to your heart and what your higher Spirit is telling you. Of course there may be the word written but can they relate what it takes to modify the character?

We are all individuals with no two people in the universe with the same path or goals. Most of us can only guess what our goals are and still cannot define specifically what the Spirit’s have in store for us. Most folks will not tell you that you are not in control of your destiny – that the Spirit’s control who you are, how you react, who you meet and what you do when you meet them. No books that I have read other than possibly Buddhist philosophy will tell you to let go of yourself and your values of yourself and let life take over for you. You can learn much from Buddhism but even that direction has to be dictated by your heart, not how you fit within society. We must be eager to let go judgments’ and look for opportunities to demonstrate that ability to ourselves.

Dealing with an egoistic world is the hardest thing you will have to learn – book’s by their very nature in order to convince you to continue to read direct you in covert ways or not so covert ways towards an egotistical view point of the author or its purpose or play directly to your ego. Very dangerous stuff this!

5) For those who are not in a minority group and have not experienced what you have faced throughout the years, do you find it difficult to form somewhat of a connection with those people?

Not only is it hard to form a connection with these folks it is hard to form a connection with most folks.

The farther along a Spiritual path one evolves the more distant societal directed life becomes. You find yourself yearning to be alone as it is the only intelligible world that remains in sync with what has been defined for your Spirit. It is lonely and yet you are not very lonely! You begin to find that the trees, the grass, the water and nature are more than enough to keep you interested and you simply do not have time for those that are left behind.

Waatowa Pistoto,

Two Feathers - Kainaiwa - Blackfoot Nation

http://www.spiritalk.net

natalk.blogspot.com

http://www.native-americans-online.com

The American Tradition Health

2009-09-19T10:48:00.001-04:00

The tradition of herbal medicine has always been strong in North America, thanks to the pooling of European and Native American skills during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Friendly Native American tribes shared their profound knowledge of healing with the first European settlers and introduced to them countless hitherto unknown medicinal and culinary herbs.

Many herbs are particularly useful for women's problems, notably squaw vine and blue cohosh, both uterine tonics. The settlers in their turn brought with them the seeds and roots of their most valuable herbs, which took hold and flourished in their new environment.

The religious sect called the Shakers lived by agriculture and were also the first white Americans to grow and sell herbs in commercial quantities. The Native Americans of Canada, the United States, and Mexico based their concept of natural medicine on the Great Spirit, and on the Medicine Wheel, within which we are all born and travel on life's journey.

The Wheel is made up of the Four Directions, each with its particular qualities and energies. Herbs are thought both to guide and to assist in healing. The Native Americans of the northeast recognized herbs to cure sore eyes, skin problems, abdominal complaints, and lung disorders, among other ailments. When they gathered the woodland herbs in high summer, the medicine men would begin by offering tobacco to the Four Directions of the Wheel and to the sky and earth. Herbs were gathered after ritual prayers and promises not to take more than was needed.

The Cherokee of the southeast recognized more than 100 types of medicinal herb. Some were used because they resembled the causative agent of the disease or because they looked like the part of the body affected. This compares with the medieval Western Doctrine of Signatures, where plants are named for their resemblance to body parts and used in remedies for that part. We know more about Cherokee medicine and herbal repertoire than any other Native American traditions because their great chief Sequoia developed a form of written language that was used to record rituals, prayers, and medicinal remedy recipes. The Cherokee believed that illness was caused by the spirits of dead animals, revenging themselves on human hunters, or by malcontented spirits or ghosts.

Diseases were named for their causes not their symptoms. Illnesses were cured by rubbing boiled herbs into the patient's skin or blowing dried herbs over them through a cane pipe. Singing and ritual formulas were also important. Much of Native American healing centered around purification, not just of the body but also of the spirit. Heat was considered a great purifier, and "hot" herbs were often administered to induce violent vomiting. Sweating out toxins in the "sweat lodge ceremony" was central to curing disease and maintaining health, and also purified the body in preparation for enlightenment. Fresh or dried herbs were burned during the ceremony and the smoke was considered to provide a link with the spirit world. Sage was a particularly important herb, and was believed to be especially sacred. For modern Native Americans who live on reservations, the use of herbs and other traditional methods of healing remains vitally important and is still preferred to conventional medicine.

Native American Medicine

2009-08-23T07:29:00.003-04:00

The gathered information passed down from Grandmother to medicine man or woman over thousands of years by the many North American tribes is now called collectively "Native American Medicine."

Some of the practices and remedies are from specific tribes, but more often these are all gathered together and the origin of a specific treatment has been lost among the ages.

As well it should be, perhaps, for the tribes of North America all believed one thing in common, that we are all at one with every other living thing in the sky and earth, and the elements are here for us to draw on their strength and cure disease, if only we would stand still long enough to listen. We are talking about medical practices over 40,000 years old. Traditions, cures, dances and remedies handed down through orally within a family and tribe.

It is an interesting fact that the Native American Medicine tradition was going on around the same time as TCM ( Traditional Chinese Medicine) on the other side of the world, and that both these traditions of practicing medicine are similar to Ayurveda ( medicine from India), in yet another part of the world.

All are based on the same beliefs-that your lifestyle and natural setting be taken into consideration before a specific type of treatment is recommended. Balance is the goal when achieving perfect health and emotional spirit. The subtle differences in the practice of such medicine are that cures and herbs are specific to the regions and the types of indigenous plants that are used.

These plants are believed to have their own spirits and therefore their individual intelligence, so that the plants are often consulted as to how best to help the patient. The plants are asked for permission to harvest them, and then gratitude is shown after the harvest, a practice which also can be found in ancient Celtic cultures. In Wales, pieces of copper or other metal were buried near the plant or under the tree from which the bark, root, or leaves had been harvested, in North American Medicine; tobacco is often used as an offering of gratitude. After these medicinal plants are harvested, they are applied in conjunction with chants, prayers, and dances to increase their power and to ask the spirits to help with the healing process.

A purification procedure is used before and after the healing session; smudging is to burn an herb and let the smoke wash over you and the room in which the treatment will be/was performed. Healers smudge between each session to purify and cleanse them and to release ant energy they might have gathered from the sick patient.

Sage and cedar drive away the negative energy, like the energy released with the pain from a sick person, or the negative energy the healer has picked up as a result of taking the pain from the patient and into them.

Far from the cooking spice, sage grows wild in many dry parts of North America, especially in the Southwest, but it can be found as far north as Eastern Washington State. Cedars has great healing and soothing powers, but if you burn it, make sure all of the smoke has dissipated before you enter the room, it is also poisonous. Sweet grass invites positive and happy spirits to join the healing circle, and they like something sweet to be placed in a corner of the room to snack on during the session. They love singing accompanied by the sound of drums and rattles.

The session will likely include some acupressure (uses the fingertips rather than needles), massage, and/or therapeutic touch. The laying on of the healer's hands is very calming and is used to soothe the patient as well as define where the pain is radiating from. Pain radiates heat, and the seasoned healer can feel this coming off the patient in much the same way a mother puts her hand on a sick child's forehead to feel for fever.

Spirit the Seventh Fire

2009-07-02T20:04:00.002-04:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
Amy Long
Two Sheps That Pass…
646.613.1101
amy@twoshepsthatpass.com

PETER BUFFETT RELEASES EXCLUSIVE SINGLES AND INTERACTS WITH FANS VIA NING COMMUNITY

NEW YORK, July 2, 2009 – Emmy-award winning composer, musician, songwriter, producer and philanthropist, Peter Buffett, has decided to revert back to the days of releasing singles using his exclusive Ning community as a launch pad. With the record business changing rapidly, Buffett believes that an album might cease to exist in the near future, therefore he has decided to put out one single per month, first solely to his Ning community, and then release it to the world one month after its exclusive debut.

The first in the series of exclusive singles “The Cut,” is already available in the community for streaming and on July 7th, fans will be able to purchase the song digitally. This is to coincide with the release of his next exclusive single on the community site July 6th.

Buffett’s Ning social network community provides a platform where members can receive exclusive material including videos, music and more. Similar to Facebook or MySpace, the Ning community allows members to interact with each other and add elements to their profiles, while receiving special content and alerts straight from Buffett. Unlike Facebook or MySpace, members have the chance to interact directly with Buffett via a monthly live chat, “Talk Back Tuesdays” on the first Tuesday of each month.

The first “Talk Back Tuesday” will be Tuesday, July 7th at 8pm EST. Peter will be online to discuss his new music, the upcoming book release, receive feedback on “The Cut” and more. Fans can log onto www.peterbuffett.com/ning to request an invitation to join the community in order to participate in the event.

ABOUT PETER BUFFETT

Peter Buffett is an Emmy Award-winning musician, songwriter, producer, composer, and philanthropist. He is also co-creator, along with Grammy-nominated, international recording artist Akon, of IsThereSomethingICanDo.com-- a social-networking website designed to promote social action. This spring, the pair released a new collaboration, "Blood Into Gold," which debuted at a special concert at the UN General Assembly for the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. He is the creative mind behind many of the original MTV bumpers of the ‘80s, and the climactic crescendos in the memorable “Fire Dance” scene in 1990’s Oscar winning film Dances with Wolves. While Peter has remained behind the scenes as a composer of jingles, movie soundtracks and atmospheric sound collections for the grand majority of his career, he began experimenting with vocals and a more eclectic pop/rock sound in recent years. His latest album is entitled Imaginary Kingdom, and was released on his own imprint, BeSide Records. Buffett first book, Life Is What You Make It, is scheduled for release in 2010 through Harmony (Crown). For more information, visit www.peterbuffett.com.

2008-11-18T15:24:00.003-05:00

November is National Native American Heritage Month. The purpose of this month long observance is to honor and recognize the original peoples of this land. Throughout our history, Native Americans have been an important part of the foundations of this country. Yet, they have often been overlooked, stereotyped or misunderstood. Beginning with the arrival of Columbus in 1492, Native Americans were nearly wiped out as a result of genocide, disease, U.S. policies and systematic removal from their lands. Today, Native Americans continue to face discrimination and injustices in part due to U.S. policies and corporate greed. Many suffer from the same social and economic challenges as other victims of long-term bias and discrimination. While some tribal Nations have begun to overcome these challenges, for the most part, Native Americans are very much separate and unequal members of society.

As we think about Native Americans, we must not only look to the past, but also look at the present and future. Today, Native Americans are struggling to preserve a range of basic civil rights including: the right to practice their spiritual and cultural traditions, to safeguard their lands and the environment, to ensure their voting rights, to eliminate the use of racist mascots by schools and professional sports teams and to hold the U.S. government accountable for its historic responsibilities to Native Americans. We should not only make National Native American Heritage Month a time to reflect and understand the history of Native Americans but to also understand our responsibility to ensure that their basic civil and human rights are upheld.

NARF Native American Heritage Month
For more information: http://narf.convio.net/mdw08
Tel: 303.447.8760 Email: crystal@narf.org www.narf.org

A Time to Renewal

2008-11-10T17:05:00.003-05:00

Oki Niksokowa ( All my Relatives )

We have just concluded a very destructive period in our history and while a very many of you think that the changes coming will be good and will benefit you history says otherwise.

The election of Barak Obama is certainly one filled with hope and positive motion but the corrupted actions done by those who think win at all costs is appropriate - you cannot create good from bad. Good and Evil do not mix and what was done to the candidates of both parties in an effort to win was driven by a selfish egoistic manic attempt to ascribe the power of positive action to someone other that yourself. The people who did this have given control of their lives to someone else, when you do that there is nothing left of you............

Native American Prophesy Pt. 1

Energy does not flow like that and those of you who are capable of looking deeper than the surface of your mirror know that what I say is true. You have only embedded in your future the path of destruction which has been foretold by many of those same people that you show respect for by being members of this Spiritalk List!

Native American Prophesy Pt. 2

I have learned over the years that one man cannot impact many with the power to change themselves because those people only want to hear what is wrong with someone else - not themselves. Therefor no positive change can happen in your life until you see the need for it and by your very nature you will deny. Cumulative positive change can only come if you all realize and admit your shortcomings and decide to do something about them as a group!

Native American Prophesy Pt. 3

There will be those of you who will say that the reason for this email is that I am ngry because my candidate did not win. I say this to you - while I did vacillate back and forth over who to vote for in the end I could not come to a good conclusion. This was supported by Spirit who told me I am not a party to this government and while I may be forced to pay taxes and the obey the laws, I only do so because I do not have the external support necessary to say NO!

Native American Prophesy Pt. 4

I do not feel I am a part of this undemocratic mayhem that you call your government and in the end I chose not to vote at all! That was my protest..... Not noticed by anyone, except those entities that are most important to me - the Spirits that guide me and my tongue!

Native American Prophesy Pt. 5

However there is still prophesy to deal with and the same prophesy is coming from enough varied sources that there definitely is validity to it and one needs to pay attention.

A Hopi Message to the People

The change that is needed will not come from Obama -

It must come from you....It must come from your bother, sister mother father all working for the survival of the tribe.

I am working on sending more of what I just sent because this is not an easy concept to understand when you have been trained to be a puppet!

My life is almost over, and one could say why do you care so much? I care because I have touched the next 7 generations. I want them to be here to feel that touch in a positive way!

No Obama cannot bring about the change you need! Only you can do this! Peace and healing in brotherhood and sisterhood do we walk!

Waatowa Pistoto,
Two Feathers - Kainaiwa - Blackfoot Nation

A Little Help Needed for a Brother Lost

2008-07-12T15:29:00.002-04:00

Oki Niksokowa:

This week I had an interesting email from someone who is in the throes of change and searching for his true family and at the same time searching for himself! I have decided to share it with you to serve two purposes. One being that upon revelation of this man’s name possibly someone can help him in his search for his family.

The second more important reason is that there are many of you out there in the same or similar situations which need resolution. So to that end please read my response to this man and take whatever you care to and apply it to yourselves as you see fit.

Honest Abe: to wit

I feel I have come full circle tonight by finding what was before me all the time.

I have longed for the Indian way to return to me as mother earth has been so good to me.

In my search for my past that the government took from me at a very early age and I think my folks allowed it to happen for my protection, I learned of this a few short years ago, that the family as I knew it was just make believe.

All this when I became drawn to the Indian way or as I like to call it more attuned with nature as my belief had always been that animals in there purity could teach so much more then man.

Upon settling into my new life grandmother built a teepee from brush and young timber and we sat and sang for hours it seemed her husband my step grandfather of whom I loved so much because everything seemed so easy with him and his pet name for me was Honest Abe. Well when I came to studying the Indian way I learned that lady was my mother and the man my dad’s dad or grandfather and he was clearly Indian to me. From that day forward I guess I longed for a teepee for my final home it just had all the earmarks of living in tune with nature and mother earth as we were to be. Anyway this all started my finding about my past around 1999 with help of my youngest daughter who I feel is a very old spirit. I have tried so hard to find my family since and learned that my birth certificate is sealed would take a lawyer to ask permission to see not have. Well this turned out to be no easy task as I am on fixed income and just can’t afford it so I set about with what I knew and started looking only to find that all that I thought were kin including sisters turned against me and have nothing to do with me since the death of the parents I knew as parents mother 1988 father 1989!

That all said I wanted only my Indian name back if I truly had that past which I have no reason to doubt for the few who have seen my spirit guide who has appeared to a few that saw him with me and said he was a very large Indian brave of the old dress. One of those good friends is supposed to be a direct descendant of Geronimo please forgive my spelling a very hard point for me. Thru many, many name changes on both my mother and my grandfather have hardly anything on my dad. I came upon this name tonight as one for my grandfather a possible so I entered his father’s name to see what came up which was “pah do pony” grandfathers name was always Mack to me and as I understand a brother named Oliver and was from that general area.

I spent some of my growing years in Kiowa county, drums and the pow wow music is second nature and so natural for me. Saying all this I know in my heart there is no other way then the Indian way and that if anyone can get my name back it would be this way and my Indian name is all that matters to me the other I understand would probably bring me a very large inheritance but not what would put my soul at ease except to be able to spend on my brother and sisters of mother earth. The name I knew my grandfather as was Mack Lindsey Holman born in Indian territory abt 1896 so if there is anything that you can help me spend my latter days with my real people it would be appreciated at least likeminded people , as I was so I shall be Honest Abe !

My Reply:

Oki Brother:

Sorry I took so long to get to this! Busy Week!

I have read what you have to say and it seems a very difficult task at best to come up with ancestors for you!

If you truly wish to follow the Relative Way however you will understand the simplicity of what I am about to explain.

To be of the Earth one needs to be free of the Earth in all that one perceives and understands of it.

In other words you must be willing to let go of your ancestors if you wish to get them back.

In the Native culture we are all individual beings belonging to no one but The All That Is!

Hope you understand this because it is all important in changing the way you are to the way you want to be.

Once you understand this and practice this you will know that what you once were you can never again become.

Once you understand this and practice this you will know that what your name was before has nothing to do with who you are today accept to know that the name served the energy to get you to the place you are now arriving at.

Once you understand this and practice this you will know that going forward requires a name that will serve to propel you forward, not keep you tethered to the past.

It is now necessary for you to seek a new name!

How you do this is up to you, but I recommend asking your Spirit People to choose one for you then wait till it comes in whatever form They choose for it to come in.

In the Native world your name is all important to your progression up the Ladder of Ascension! If it begins to not serve you so well, as they all do at some point or other then it is necessary to again ask for a new name.

In this way we go forward, not stay in the present or the past mired in our own muck so to speak.

Hope this gives you something to work on and if you have any questions please reply to this email address.

Waatowa Pistoto,

Two Feathers - Kainaiwa - Blackfoot Nation

Take Back the System

2008-06-08T18:06:00.002-04:00

Oki Niksokowa -

Todays sharing is done with regard to the political climate in this country!

In all things political I always look first at what is happening to our People the Original People of this land.

Then I look at the Economic, Societal and Foreign issues in that order.

I would consider it a favor if each one of you were to look at the following websites as a learning tool to determine how you will decide what is best for this land and all the people in it.

I am not afraid to admit that I am not liberal and not conservative (with the idea of maintaining the current status quo of our governmental policies)! I am in theory a conservative in the view of maintaining our cultural histories and following those lessons as a guide line in the process of changing what is necessary to change but not so radically changed that the end result has lost all of the energy of that which guided the change.

Today we are faced with the extension of the destructive power that has already begun to destabilize us as a nation. High home prices, high heating prices, high food prices and high gas prices. All spiraling upward out of control. I consider this a priority over everything else we as a nation have on our table.

Remember this year as predicted by the Mayan Culture - 2012 - It is now 2008 and one can readily see destruction trying to get a foot hold. It will - unless we stop it. That's the reason for predictions, to give us an opportunity to change.

I don't usually endorse a Liberal view point in my decision making process but because of what is happening and because of what your are about to see, I do not have a choice but to support Barack Obama! McCain is not who I want to see in power. He is old school conservative who does not seem to support any Native American agenda and in fact in the past has been very destructive of it.

I never thought I would say this - but in order for this country to survive the Chaos that it is in we need radical change that won't wait till after the election. NOW IS THE TIME.....

I am not in any way recommending to you who to vote for! That should be your choice alone but I am saying we cannot survive the Status Quo! We need Change now! I just heard someone say that in their home they use Oil heat to the tune of 992 gallons per year. They just got a qoute from their Oil company of $5.00 / Gallon. That's $4960 per heating season. Who the HELL can afford that outside of high paid politicians?

The time to take back control of our Country is now and we cannot count on our politicians to come to our rescue.

I advocate a 1960's protest environment that will shake the very walls of the White House.

Please look at these two sites as a small example of why I choose this way.

http://www.cain2008.org/

http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2008/06/08/ap/headlines/d915qsk01.txt

Waatowa Pistoto, Two Feathers - Kainaiwa - Blackfoot Nation

Is Forgiveness Possible?

2008-05-09T19:02:00.002-04:00

A well meaning student sent this to me and I have decided to share it with you in the hopes of a better understanding.

Student: There were many injustices done to Native people. Sometimes I wonder, why am I connected to the past injustices done to Indian people? Why am I so angry about the past? The Elders say our ancestors are alive within each of us. Therefore, I may experience anger and resentment inside of me because of the injustice done to them. The way I get rid of these past feelings is to forgive. It may be necessary to even learn to forgive the unforgivable.

Great Spirit, teach me the path of forgiveness; teach me the courage to forgive; teach me to let go. Give to me a forgiving heart.

Redhawk: Oki, I would agree that forgiveness is the answer however to simply forgive for the sake of going through the motion is senseless. In order for an entity to be fully capable of being forgiven there must be activity on the part of that entity displaying moral, intellectual and spiritual advancement regarding their understanding of the impact of the forgiveness. In other words that entity must first acknowledge the activity that need's forgiveness and then undertake positive corrective action that would earn that entity forgiveness.

In my humble opinion the invaders of this continent are at the same place now that they were at when they were outwardly stealing our land, raping and killing our women and children and committing the genocide of our race. I further maintain that this activity is still rampant with the full intent of absorbing what is left of us into a homogenous hodgepodge of diluted blood to the extent of making us unrecognizable as a race. Now it is being done covertly rather than overtly, but make no mistake about the intent which is still the same.

Therefore how is it possible to forgive and have that forgiveness stand for something that will help heal the wounds?

Then there is the concept of forgiveness and how it affects the SELF and him that needs forgiveness at least as the Self conceives the need. First and foremost is the necessity of the SELF to learn what forgiveness is and why it should be brought into being. How will forgiveness affect the Karma of the self as well as how will it affect Him that the SELF perceives as needing forgiveness. If the process is done through the awareness of only the SELF then forgiveness will affect only the SELF with no visible affect on the perpetrator. I say visible, because all thought has form and any thought directed at another will affect that other – it’s just that they will usually not know why the energy and therefore not relate it to what they did that needs to be forgiven. Therefore no lesson learned in the awareness of the other.

Consider if you will an excerpt from Thoreau’s book Walden in which he comments on the vagaries of the prospect of forgiveness:

"There is no odor so bad as that which arises from goodness tainted. It is human, it is divine, carrion. If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with a conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life ... No, in this case, I would rather suffer evil the natural way. A man is not a good man to me because he will feed me if I should be starving, or warm me if I should be freezing, or pull me out of a ditch if I should ever fall into one. I can find you a Newfoundland dog that will do as much. Philanthropy is not love for one's fellow-man in the broadest sense ... I never heard of a philanthropic meeting in which it was sincerely proposed to do any good to me, or the likes of me.

The Jesuits were quite balked by those Indians who, being burned at the stake, suggested new modes of torture to their tormentors. Being superior to physical suffering, it sometimes chanced that they were superior to any consolation which the missionaries could offer, and the law to do as you would be done by fell with less persuasiveness on the ears of those who, for their part, did not care how they were done by, who loved their enemies after a new fashion, and came very near freely forgiving them all they did.

Be sure that you give the poor the aid they most need, though it be your example which leaves them far behind. If you give money, spend yourself with it, and do not merely abandon it to them..."

As an observation made of these comments by Rupert Read, Manchester Metropolitan University!

What is it, almost to forgive? Is it to partially forgive? Well, we must surely understand what forgiveness simpliciter is first, before we may be able to understand what coming 'close' to or 'part-way' to may consist in. This is, I think, an important point, which will recur in our subsequent discussions.

But before we turn to the broad questions about forgiveness which will partly occupy those discussions, let us tarry a moment over the details of this striking excerpt from Thoreau. It does not, perhaps, wear its heart quite on its sleeve.

Two descriptors which I think apply to much of the above passage are "hyperbolic" and "ironical". Thoreau's dismissive and hyper-critical tone in dealing with 'the philanthropist' is, we are sure, exaggerated for effect. He has strong substantive points to make elsewhere in 'Walden' and elsewhere about (e.g.) the hypocrisy of the slave-owning charitable man; but we of course do not take literally the remarks above about running for one's life, or about the Newfoundland dog.

In the crucial paragraph specifically on the Jesuits and the Native Americans, the operative mode is more one of irony and satire - a satire on the clichés of Christianity, thus displaying the hypocrisy and (if you like) cultural- relativity of those clichés and of the values they are supposed to be connected with. The lovely invocation of the superiority of the tortured even to the supposed consolation offered them by the Jesuits - one cannot help but think here of a superiority of 'strength' and mind which itself implies a moral superiority - leads into an invitation to re-value the values of missionary and 'savage'. If we are to speak of forgiveness, Thoreau is perhaps saying, we might as well speak of it as involved in the lives of those to whom it can seem desperately alien - our ready-to-hand examples of it are liable to be comparatively unsatisfying, even hypocritical. (The irony, then, is in part that it nevertheless seems clear that we are probably not describing the Native Americans’ world-view aright if we describe it through a generally Judeo-Christian frame). We ought to think carefully, perhaps, before we claim ever to be forgiving, or even to see forgiving. "Forgiveness", like "neighborliness" and various other neighboring concepts, is a word which has become dangerously de-valued. One ought to take the remarks quoted above on the Jesuits and the Indians literally - at least in the sense that their power is such that we must take then deadly seriously.

My question is “is true forgiveness even possible?” To look at this more closely let’s look at what may be unforgiveable. One example may be Thoreau’s; how could one possibly forgive one’s own torturers? Well, what could be less forgivable than betrayal and mentally-torturing maliciousness? How does one overcome false accusation’s coming from anyone to say nothing about coming from one’s own family or intimate relations, past or present! I maintain that not much could be done to assuage the pain and loss of reputation that would be very hard to overcome! As long as there is any residue of pain, forgiveness is not complete or even possible. However if one can realistically forgive and have the pain completely gone then yes, it is possible. How many of us can accomplish such a concept? There is always pain connected to the energy surrounding the incident.

What then can we do to rid ourselves of the pain if forgiveness will not wipe it from our experience? Is it possible for the pain to completely leave the physical / mental entity upon which devastation was inflicted? I say then that acceptance of your pain as a process of living and giving yourself long periods of time will serve to greatly diminish the pain. To completely rid oneself of the pain could take many lifetimes of constant awareness and a knowledge that as each day goes by you separate yourself a little more from that which caused you such pain. New experiences and acquaintances will serve to teach that to hurt one another is unfortunately a natural process of humanity and to understand that is to greatly diminish the feeling of pain and suffering that one must endure as they process their own lessons, one by one.

The 'additional factor' is the will of the person in a position to forgive; their will must be a good will, and they must be ready not to think ill any more of the offender they are forgiving. That is the 'authenticity' required to validate forgiveness. Well, indeed, quite probably so; but does this enable us to understand how a particular act that was wrong and has been conceded to be wrong can be removed of its 'sting', of its harmful attachment to the committer of the act? That is to say: having a good and no-longer-angry will seems to be reasonably called a precondition for forgiveness, but does its mention manage to explicate or paraphrase or yield comprehension of it?

Ney, I say to the process of forgiveness! It takes much too much energy to process and all the while in the process of it you are experiencing the same pain as if it happened yesterday, much like a hypochondriac keeps themselves ill while trying their darnedest to find a miracle cure but not really convinced toward their own success lest they now have to lead a very different life without the pity and attentions gained by their fake posits! Instead much better spent the time of positive forward looking endeavors of staying happy by processing each moment as if it were the last you were to ever experience. Letting go of the desire to forgive or of being forgiven and instead living in the moment, walking a higher road than you did yesterday and realizing each new experience is the gift of life in its purest sense. We spend way too much time in the past so that what is in the future or right before us slips away into the past without notice.

To be happy is not to interfere with other process’s as they are the lessons of life for that person who by doing an unforgivable act is actually teaching themselves what not to do in the future if they are to progress up the Ladder of Ascension! Consider the possibilities of damage that forgiveness may cause in limiting the lessons for that being by confusing a plainly given lesson! If someone asks for forgiveness from you then you must consider all the ramifications of your decision before you give forgiveness. If each of you will completely heal by the forgiveness by all means it is incumbent upon you to do so, if not then hold until such time as needed to gain complete painless experience of each other.
Spend your time in smiles, not in the frowns of contemplative rehashing of what has come and is now gone but for your constantly giving old pain new life…….

In closing I offer this First American prayer for your interest: "As quietly as little rabbit's feet --- the morning-glory sun arrives to greet --- the Red Man as he worships in his way --- For this he asks the Spirit every day. Before I judge my friend, O let me wear his moccasins for two long weeks, and share the path that he would take in wearing them; then I shall understand and not condemn."

Just my opinion.... Redhawk

Is it possible I could join a Native American organization?

2008-02-23T09:26:00.008-05:00

Oki Everyone:

I was raking my pea sized brain for something meaningful to post on the Blog when someone emailed me with this inquiry. As I was replying it occurred to me that this is a great source of interest to a lot of folks who simply do not know what to do about their natural need to know more about First American culture and what they might do as individuals to help correct the incredible wrongs being done to them by the white culture.

It has also occurred to me that many uneducated non- native people now think they have no further responsibility to the native community because all Native people are rich due to the fantastic riches provided by the gambling casinos! I am here to say this. These casinos by and large are being run by what we native people call Red Apples. Red on the outside, white on the inside. They are anything but traditionals and you by now know a traditionals opinion of a nontraditional First American.

These casinos are benefiting but a very few people and the rest of us are not or will not glean any benefit from ill gotten gains from a Non – Native community activity. In addition these casinos are only located in a select few locations and most of the native people live far away in areas that barely support the local wildlife to say nothing of supporting a large enough community of people to benefit a casino. On top of that in states like Montana , gambling is legal so there are as many corner gambling parlors as there are corner convenience stores making it all but impossible for a casino to survive.

So on to the question posted by this interested person:

“Hi, I am not a Native American but have always been interested and respected your ways as Native Americans. I was born & raised In London, England but my Parent's are Irish. I’ve been in the United States now for just over 5 years. Is it possible I could join some kind of Native American organization? I love the way you people are so wise and your prayers and the respect for the earth and people and Animals are wonderful. I would be honored if I could become part of your Native American ways. Thank you.”

Oki - First I must welcome you to the US. We hope that you bring more happiness than you seek.

In the First American world there is no "organization" other than possibly AIM that you could join. AIM "American Indian Movement" is a semi radical organization that after the incident at Wounded Knee has had their guts torn from them by the US government and now is simply ineffective as any kind of source for change in the US.

If you find any organization that claims its purpose is Native based you can bet that if you look at the originators, you will find a non native person at its inception. So much for any validity!

First Americans are a very reserved group of people by and large and do not organize for the benefit of non natives. This is not to say however that if you approach your cause in a correct way to the native people that they will not let you in. But it's a show me what you can do society where you have to prove yourself to them with not only right intent but also right action. There is no way to do that but to move close to them, become involved in their daily life and in some way provide a better way of life for them than what you found them in.

This does not mean learning and performing their rituals which any Tom - Dick - or Harry can do but it does mean, helping them in their daily fight for survival in some way. Do for them what you do for your own family and you will have instant friends for life. Otherwise you’re just another white man to them wanting to steal their culture.

Aho - Two Feathers

To Be or Not to Be First American

2008-02-12T12:31:00.000-05:00

To Be or Not to Be First American
All through my life I have found myself caught in the conundrum facing both First Americans and folks of foreign nationality concerning blood quantum and its relationship to the right to claim membership in the First American community.

We get from the Native community opinions ranging from a complete welcome into our world for anyone who shows an interest to Keep Out signs from others who scream "if you’re not Full Blood you’re not First American."

While I understand the mindset of a person who makes such a claim, I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone can do so and also lay claim to their place in the Native Community in any kind of traditional manner! Again one must understand that I respect and recognize traditional people, and I would even say that if you’re not a traditional Native American you need resign your membership in your tribe and apply for membership in the white community which is where you belong.

Why do I say that? Because in the world that I belong to living traditionally is the correct way to live given that it has been the way of our people for thousands of years, and having supported us for so long a time as human beings coexisting within our environment without destroying it ever, is the correct way to live. Especially given the fact that in the white man’s world where one lives out of harmony with life, the environment responds in a very negative way to a very selfish and mindless grabbing of anything not tied down.

While it is true that First Americans are among those who are the keepers of a wisdom that most of Western so-called civilization has forgotten or chosen to disregard, being a wisdom keeper does not mean clutching the treasure to your breast muttering white man style, "mine, mine, mine!" It means that we have been put in a position to give! That according to the laws of Creator, we are in fact under an obligation to share!

What I am driving towards is that to live in a traditional manner is to live in a very spiritual manner – you simply cannot have one without the other. When I talk spiritual I am not talking religious which is a very different thing. Religions follow the doctrines and dictates and interpretations of other men who claim to have an in with Creator that none of the rest of us have and a belief that without those others to interpret the Word of God we would be forced into paganism and live without proper guidance. This specifies that there is a common understanding among all people who follow a religious life that most of us do not have the capability to think for ourselves and need to follow the Ego driven dictates of another human being who is susceptible to the same stupidity that the rest of us are.

I’m sorry, but that kind of life is for those who are simply too lazy to get off their suffocating mindsets and do their own work on themselves. It leaves them open to suffering the same fates as their parents and grandparents into oblivion. It is a sorry state of affairs to look at where we are now as a society and be presented with the sudden realization that we haven’t improved the way we interact as a society for thousands of years. We are still dealing with the strong beating up the weak, global conflict and hate for us emanating from our children.

If you are a Spiritual person you have a better understanding of your responsibility to yourself to live a very different life than those who allow others to tell them how to think. You understand that your place in the world is dictated by how you interact with others – with life and all its inhabitants. You understand the consequences of the lesson of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"! The ethic of reciprocity or "The Golden Rule" is a fundamental moral principle which simply means "treat others as you would like to be treated." It is arguably the most essential basis for the modern concept of human rights.

Once you follow this principle as a spiritual person you understand there is no difference between you and say a white person or a black person or yellow or any color. You understand that we are all in this together to help each other as best we can and to try to make life a bit easier for others! You understand that the lessons given to us by Creator are not something to be owned by any one ethnic community to be summarily doled out at the behest of any single entity but that they are to be shared equally so that we all have equal opportunities to progress and develop with the help of our social partners.

If you understand this principle of sharing and how Creator defines its use, not your brother or mother or tribal chief, you understand that you cannot be the wall that blocks another from finding how beautiful life is in all its simplicity! You understand the value of sharing your sweat lodge with another or the beautiful experience of the Pipe as you give thanks to Creator for all the friends you have and all the wonderful experiences you have that you want for your bother or sisters no matter their color.

As do all of us, I have a very special spiritual mentor who said a long time ago – "We are all in this together. We all have a common goal and that is to find our way back to the Light of Creation. Until we all get there – none of us can." That means we must share and help each other no matter what our walk in life is. It does not mean that any one of us get to pick and choose who we allow in.

It is worth remembering that in many Native traditions, be they First American or Aboriginal Australian or Greenland Inuit or whatever, peoples all over the world have called themselves by names that would translate into simply The Human Beings or The Real Human Beings. What this tells us is that the real issue here is not about being a First American but simply whether you are a Real Human Being or not, irregardless of blood quantum or skin color or place of birth!

Two Feathers

Discussion

2008-02-04T20:57:00.000-05:00

Most assuredly this Blog is for discussion!

Becoming Aware

2008-01-31T09:54:00.000-05:00

Oki Niksokowa – (All my relatives)

Welcome to this blog of a traditional Native American.

I have created this blog with the sole purpose of dispelling the ignorance of EGO in our world! I know even though my intent is pure and directed towards finding the Truth in life, that even these comments are generated via the EGO of the self. Given that knowledge I will attempt to keep personal opinion at bay and try to convey Truth as Creator directs it vs. my own mind.

Some of you may ask “how do I know which is which”? That is the question of the ages and needs addressing if I am to be perceived as believable. There is a very thin line between self evoked thought and what is coming from external sources and in the beginning, unless you’re a very unusual case, one will not be able to discern the difference.

The way to get to a place of discernment normally takes many years of meditation, enhanced awareness, and knowledge of the processes of Ego. When one practices to become Aware, one places much value on alone time without the input of other people like yourself. You spend many hours in Nature, in public places and simply processing life on an everyday basis. The basic requirement is the knowledge that your Ego is fighting for control and your willingness to be patient with your Ego but also to be in control of it so that it does not interfere with what you are accomplishing. Something like parenting a small child.

Once you gain control over these process’s you begin to notice an awareness that has been part of your unconscious all the time, but has been covered up by your need for attention and basic survival. The wonderful thing about gaining control over your Ego is that as you progress you find you need these basic inputs and dependencies less and less. As you develop there comes an awareness of outside communication seemingly from no-where within the realm of your understanding but there just the same. Some of you will become aware of this communication via various bodily stimuli something like my own which is a mild tickling in my left ear. When this happens you know something is trying to get your attention.

Then you become aware of two inputs to your awareness. Yours which is valid and very wise, but also from another source which under normal circumstances comes from and I simplify here, Creator. I will get into the concept of Creator in another post but I do not want to confuse the central issue here and that is how to begin to discern the difference between internal and external communication and knowing the Truth of the two which work in tandem!

One of the major challenges in this enhanced awareness is the need for peer approval. The more you need this, the less you will be able to perceive truth. Why? Because contrary to what has been taught you is that each human being is living a version of a lie constructed from their very complex experience of life! All life experience is understood via the lie of external and internal input. One of your purpose’s of living is to gravitate towards separating the personal lie of your experience from the Truth of your experience. Once you GET this, you understand some of that age old question of “Why was I born, what is the purpose of all of this suffering that I have been going through?” In short you need to become less and less reliant on external approval and more aware that within you is the ability to provide your own solace and love that you need.

I will leave this here as I know this is a lot to understand and I will try answer your questions the best I can without my own Ego interfering with your Truth!

Waatowa' pistoto,
Two Feathers - Kainaiwa