People of the Great Spirit, I Honor You

As soon as I clicked "PUBLISH POST" I couldn't help but feel my last posting had inadvertently slighted the native peoples of this great land and I want to address it. I was looking at it more from a writing standpoint than anything. While I do appreciate the pioneering spirit of my European ancestors - their fortitude to survive, their courage to blaze trails in search of a better life for themselves and their children - I haven't forgotten that it was some of those same "Pioneers" from the Whitman poem who stole from, raped, and ravaged this land, its people, and wildlife for profit. Of all people who've called this land their home, the Native American Indians have understood it best and respected it most. To do them honor and balance the karmic energy of this blog, I'd like to do another mash-up, this time using some famous Native American poems, prayers, and quotes.

(Please note, I did not author and do not own this material, I have simply compiled and arranged it. Try as I might I could not get the footnotes to work properly. The sources are below, in order, but without corresponding line numbers. Sorry, I tried!)

Angela's Native American Mash-up

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth, for she gives us all that we need for life. Earth teach me freedom ~ as the eagle that soars in the sky.

I can dance
below the surface
upon the rocky sand
I shall dangle near
the river bottom
suspended, floating free
like the embryo
I used to be.

Oh Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds
And whose breath gives life to everyone,
Hear me.
I come to you as one of your many children;
I am weak... I am small...I need your wisdom
and your strength.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever
behold the red and purple sunsets.
Make my hands respect the things you have made,
and make my ears sharp so I may hear your voice.
Make me wise, so that I may understand what you
have taught my people and
The lessons you have hidden in each leaf and each rock.
I ask for wisdom and strength,
Not to be superior to my brothers, but to be able
to fight my greatest enemy, myself.
Make me ever ready to come before you with
clean hands and a straight eye,
So as life fades away as a fading sunset,
My spirit may come to you without shame.

Great Spirit, we send greetings and thanks for the gifts of Creation. Everything we need to live a good life is here on this Mother Earth. For all the love that is still around us, we gather our minds together as one and send our choicest words of greetings and thanks to the Creator. Now our minds are one. Earth teach me renewal ~ as the seed that rises in the spring. There is no death. Only a change of worlds.
One does not sell the land people walk on. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

The time will soon be here when my grandchild will long for the cry of a loon, the flash of a salmon, the whisper of spruce needles, or the screech of an eagle. But he will not make friends with any of these creatures and when his heart aches with longing he will curse me

Great Spirit,
give us hearts to understand;
Never to take from creation's beauty more than we give;
Never to destroy wantonly for the furtherance of greed;
Never to deny to give our hands for the building of earth's beauty;
Never to take from her what we cannot use.
Give us hearts to understand
That to destroy earth's music is to create confusion;
That to wreck her appearance is to blind us to beauty;
That to callously pollute her fragrance is to make a house of stench;
That as we care for her she will care for us.
We have forgotten who we are.
We have sought only our own security.
We have exploited simply for our own ends.
We have distorted our knowledge.
We have abused our power.
Great Spirit, whose dry lands thirst,
help us to find the way to refresh your lands.
Great Spirit, whose waters are choked with debris and pollution,
help us to find the way to cleanse your waters.
Great Spirit, whose beautiful earth grows ugly with mis-use,
help us to find the way to restore beauty to your handiwork.
Great Spirit, whose creatures are being destroyed,
help us to find a way to replenish them.
Great Spirit, whose gifts to us are being lost
in selfishness and corruption,
help us to find the way to restore our humanity.~
Sources:
Chief Seattle
From a Haudenosaunee “Thanksgiving” Prayer
From an Ute Prayer
A poem by Sharmagne Leland-St. John
Ojibwa Prayer
From a Haudenosaunee "Thanksgiving" Prayer
From an Ute Prayer
Chief Seattle
Crazy Horse, Sept. 23, 1875
From “The Invitation” by Oriah Mountain Dreamer (A Native American Elder)
Chief Dan George
A Native American Prayer, origins unknown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I understand the need to grow and advance civilization, but why at such reckless speeds? I understand the desire to prosper, but at what cost? There must be balance. Harmony and balance are as essential to life as air and water. Even the squirrels in my backyard understand this. They know if they do too much damage, Mother Nature will step in and keep them in line. So, who is keeping us in line? We, the arrogant, rebellious teenagers, must be grating Her very last nerve.

- Angela Friberg 7/2/10