Monday 20 April 2009

Ghost Warriers

Shadows dance on canyon walls, They are shadows from my fire.
And from these walls Ghost Warriors call "Your history is a liar."
"Our sacred lands were stolen and this we can't forget."
"The spirits of our warriors who gave their lives for it."

But the wind whispers to me that the shadows I see are visions of when the west was young.
And the Indian danced around his council fire where prayers to the Great Spirit were sung.
They asked the Great Spirit to guide them in this their troubled time.
For the white man walked upon their land and said "This land is mine."

It was the search for yellow iron that became the red man's curse.
For the white man swarmed upon their land each fighting to be first.
And no amount of prayers could stop the coming flood.
Soon the yellow iron was bathed in Indian blood.

The Great Spirit couldn't help them they had to fight alone.
For the mountains and the desert that had always been their home.
The Indian was defeated and just seemed to fade away.
And his sacred lands were ravished it seemed in but a day.

The mountains were blasted open; the gold ripped from beneath the earth.
The wounded land lies silent now and has but little worth.
The Indian is gone forever from this land that once was his.
And no one seems to want it now not the way it is.

So now that you know their story, will you listen to the whispering wind?
The ghosts of ancient warriors are singing their songs again.
They're singing to the Great Spirit their sad and mournful prayers.
Asking Him to make whole again this land that once was theirs

Tears of a Nation

I met a man of many colors
And a tear was upon his cheek.
"Old man" I ask, "why do you cry
With such an agonizing weep?"

"Oh child" this man he says to me,
"My heart is broken in so many ways
That I believe this day to end
Will find me out stretched and far within
The encompassing earth of sin."

I sat down beside this man
And asked him "do not cry.
For what you think is so bad
That life will pass you by?"

He looks at me with such sad eyes.
And weeps ever more.
He holds his hands out to me
And alas, I do see
The anguish of his heart.

For his hands were different colors
One is red and the other white,
A leg he unclothed for me
Was as yellow as could be
And his other leg as black as night.

"I am the father of the world.
In case you do not know.
And my children have grown apart
And fight among themselves.

For when they do not get along
My arms and legs and hands and feet
Destroys the very life of me.

My hands of red and white
Will not feed this face of night.
And my legs of black and yellow,
Will not stand beneath this body
And support my heart and soul.

For they argue far too much,
And now I have grown old.

So here I sit in this haven
Of unwelcomeness.
And when this day ends,
A father I will not be.
For my children of many nations
Have forgotten how to accompany me.

My views on coyote creation story

Through our research into Native American culture we have looked at several key figures in the native culture. The figure that we have come across most is the coyote. This figure is meant to represent trickery and distrust. He is a character designed to bring fun and mischief to the different native tribes.

In examining our own culture to see if we could identify a character like coyote I struggled. I believe I found this hard because I was taking the Native American view of coyote to literally. I found a comparison in Christianity. The devil is our coyote. The Native Americans view there coyote as a master of trickery and some one who causes mischief. We look at the devil as the character in our culture that does the same thing accept Weston culture seems to take the ideas of mischief and trickery and view them as evils. When trying to find another character in Weston religion who matches up with coyote we could look at the Norse gods and the character of loci who is the son of Oiden. This character is more like the Native American idea of coyote because loci are the god of trickery.

The tribes differ greatly in language, ritual and general behaviour. A similar factor in all of the tribes though is coyote; all of the tribes also seem to share this similar view of coyote. My chosen tribe is the crow. The crow has an alternative view of coyote, there view is than coyote is not only a trickster but is also there god of creation. View my bog to see the coyote creation story.

Crow tales of Coyote

In the beginning, Old Man Coyote stood alone with water surrounding him. Two ducks swam by, and Coyote asked if they had seen anyone else. The ducks said no but thought that something might exist under the water.
Coyote asked if they would travel underwater for him and report on what they saw. The ducks did as they were asked, finding nothing. He asked again, and the ducks returned with a root. On the third try, they found mud and Coyote was happy. He told the ducks that they could build with it, and he began to shape and mold the mud into an island. He blew on it, and it expanded. He blew again, and it grew into the earth. The ducks said they did not like the earth's emptiness, so Coyote created grass and trees out of the roots that came from the water.
Coyote and the ducks loved the earth, but it was flat. They wanted rivers, valleys, mountains, and lakes. So it was done. Soon Coyote and the ducks made a perfect earth, but they grew lonely, with only the three of them to sit and enjoy the land. So Coyote molded dirt to form men and then more mud to create many types of male ducks. Soon, they realized that without women, the males could not have children. So with more dirt he made women and female ducks to populate the earth.
One day Old Man Coyote traveled upon the land and was surprised to find another Coyote. When asked where he came from, the younger brother, named Shirape, said he was unsure of his origin and only knew he existed. As the two traveled along, Shirape wanted Old Man Coyote to make other animals, for only ducks, humans, and the two Coyotes had been created. The elder Coyote agreed, and as he spoke the new animals' names, they were created. He said "Elk" and an elk appeared. He said "Bear" and a bear appeared. This is how it was until all animals were created.
Aside from the Crow story, Coyote is generally portrayed as a sly, keen trickster who uses his bizarre and comic behavior to teach lessons and inject humor into tribal life. Otherwise called a Heyoka, or clown, Coyote is blamed in many stories for what is unexplainable. It is said that Coyote caused the various colors of the world's people and that he once got his head stuck in a buffalo skull while trying to enjoy a dance performed by flies. He represents challenges, lessons, healing through irrelevance, and accepting contrary situations.
When Coyote is part of a creation story, or any other tale, it is certain that a moral or surprise will be present. One such tale comes from the Nez Percé, who lived in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. They trace their ancestry back to the tricky Coyote.

Native american creation stories

Long ago, before there were any people, the world was young and water covered everything. The earth was a great island floating above the seas, suspended by four rawhide ropes representing the four sacred directions. It hung down from the crystal sky. There were no people, but the animals lived in a home above the rainbow. Needing space, they sent Water Beetle to search for room under the seas. Water Beetle dove deep and brought up mud that spread quickly, turning into land that was flat and too soft and wet for the animals to live on.
Grandfather Buzzard was sent to see if the land had hardened. When he flew over the earth, he found the mud had become solid; he flapped in for a closer look. The wind from his wings created valleys and mountains, and that is why the Cherokee territory has so many mountains today.
As the earth stiffened, the animals came down from the rainbow. It was still dark. They needed light, so they pulled the sun out from behind the rainbow, but it was too bright and hot. A solution was urgently needed. The shamans were told to place the sun higher in the sky. A path was made for it to travel--from east to west--so that all inhabitants could share in the light.
The plants were placed upon the earth. The Creator told the plants and animals to stay awake for seven days and seven nights. Only a few animals managed to do so, including the owls and mountain lions, and they were rewarded with the power to see in the dark. Among the plants, only the cedars, spruces, and pines remained awake. The Creator told these plants that they would keep their hair during the winter, while the other plants would lose theirs.
People were created last. The women were able to have babies every seven days. They reproduced so quickly that the Creator feared the world would soon become too crowded. So after that the women could have only one child per year, and it has been that way ever since.

http://www.worldandi.com/public/1998/cljul98.htm

Sunday 19 April 2009

History of the Apsáalooke

We know where we came from, we know where we’ve been, and we know whom we are. We came through three transitions to become who we are. We were (Awaakiiwilaxpaake) People of the Earth, we were all one mankind, we became (Biiluke) on Our Side, we became (Awashe) Earthen Lodges, and we became Apsáalooke some 2000 years ago.
While we were (Awaakiiwilaxpaake) People of the Earth, when the birds and animals could talk, some of us wanted to fight each other. They wanted warfare. They approached our Creator and asked if they could fight each other. Our Creator said, “First you must prove to me that you are men enough to fight.” He placed a man, with a bow and arrow at the bottom of a sheer cliff in the water and told the men to dive off the cliff, but soon changed their minds once they saw the man with his bow and arrow cocked and ready to shoot anyone who dove off the cliff.
Finally one man walked up to the cliff and dove off into the water. He lay dead in the water with an arrow protruding from his collarbone and blood streaming from his nostrils. Our Creator said, “Iilak bacheek, there is a man (kooshtakaatbaawiik). I won’t make too many of him, (baapiihaaksee) from this day forward, (haaweewiakssaalah) try to wipe him out.” From that time we have been called Biiluke. Even unto this day we still refer ourselves as Biiluke.

While we were Biiluke. We lived in a wooded area with vast bodies of water (Balebilichke isaatkaasuuk). We were fishermen, we hunted small game and waterfowl, we dug up roots and bulbs, we gathered nuts and berries, and we trapped the fur-bearing animals for our clothing. We lived in makeshift shelters, lean-tos and wickiups. We migrated westward to the banks of the Big River, in search of a certain Sacred Tobacco Plant, which was to be found in a mountainous region. We became Awashe, Earthen Lodges.
We retained all of our survival skills, but we became farmers. Oral history says, “We didn’t stay there too long and we moved on, but for some reason we spoke the same language, which is still used today, after some two thousand years.” No Vitals with many of his family and friends of the Real Water Band, of the Awashe, broke from the band, in search of the Sacred Tobacco Plant. This was the exodus that commenced the Great Migration.
We migrated throughout the northern and southern plains, where we came upon lakes with salt on their banks. We ventured into Canada twice but the Sacred Tobacco Plant could not be found. No Vitals has passed away during the migration on the Great Plains. It was his son who carried on this quest and fasted on Cloud’s Peak and saw The Sacred Tobacco Plant glowing on the east slopes of the Big Horn Mountains, where “Raven Owner Was Badgered.” The Sacred Tobacco Society was initiated about this time, and that was the beginning of the Apsáalooke Nation. We picked up and adopted various aspects of our Apsáalooke way of life, as we progressed from one era to another.

http://www.crowtribe.com/history.htm

Native American monolouge

I had just been hunting with my older brother. He had given me a small bow and some arrows and had begun to teach me how to hunt, only small things like grouse and rabbits. A few days earlier he had shot down a buffalo with his long bow and boiled the meat to show me how. We were going to the traders to swap some of our meat for other supplies. When I went into the store it seemed very strange to me. I couldn’t understand why people would want to live in this stuffy little building with such a low roof. The smoke in the room hurt my eyes and stung my throat. While at the store we ran into some crow members of the black lodge tribe. My brother began talking to them and we decided to visit there camp. There camp was three days journey from the store and we made the trip with them. While making the trip we hunted for game. Two days into the trip my brother killed a dear and we made a fire and roasted the meat. The next day we were joined by two more crow and made our way to the camp.

When we were at the camp some men decided to go hunting. I was young but I wanted to see the hunt so I followed them without them knowing. They were running over the hills and climbing the cliffs. I found it hard to follow and eventually I saw them disappear over a cliff face.

You ran back over the cliff shouting something that I couldn’t quite make out. You came right over to me. All of the other hunters gathered around me as if the appeared from know were. You said that there was a bear ahead of us on the path and that we shouldn’t go any further until it had been dealt with. The other hunters ran back to the camp to gather more support. You rushed forward to deal with the bear. I just watched frozen in my place as you unsheathed your long bow. You began firing arrows at the bear. It rose up on its back legs and let out a yell like a man would. It turned and ran into the nearest bushes.

Unfazed by the bear you ran in after it without any fear. Just as you ran into the bush the other men from the tribe ran up behind me armed with rifles and yelling at you to come out of the bushes. All you could hear was the bear’s roars and your voice shouting out for help, you went silent and the bears roar turned into a low snarl. Pretty Hawk prepared his rifle in preparation for what was going to happen. There was silence as the group of crow men around me silently prepared themselves, all of a sudden the bear rushed out of the bush. The crow warriors let there arrows fly and fired there rifles the bear fell to the floor and drew its last breath. We pushed our way through the bushes to the clearing were you were. Your jaw had been crushed and your eye was hanging down your face, your ribs were exposed and you were clawing at the air grabbing out for anything you could. I watched as the men tried to help you.

Your breathing was shallow and your movements were slowly stopping. I stared at you and you looked back at me. You drew your last breath and then you were dead. We took your body and brought you back to the tribe. That was my last memory of you my brother.