WE HAVE NOT
INHERITED THE EARTH
FROM OUR FATHERS.....
WE ARE BORROWING IT FROM OUR CHILDREN.
         -Native American Saying
                   
                   
               Everything
            the Power of the World does
            is done in a circle.
            The sky is round, and I have
            heard that the earth is round
            like a ball and so are all the stars.
            The wind, in its greatest power,
            whirls. Birds make their nests in
            circles, for theirs is the same
            religion as ours. The sun
            comes forth and goes
               down again in a
               circle. The
               moon does
               the same, and
               both are round. Even
            the seasons form a great
            circle in their changing and al-
            ways come back where they were.
            The life of a man is a circle from
            childhood to childhood, and
               so it is in everything
               where power
                  moves.
                   
            - Black Elk, Oglala Sioux
 
 
            A Nation is not conquered
            until the hearts of its women
               are on the ground.
               Then it is done,
            no matter how brave its warriors
            nor how strong its weapons.
                   
            - Traditional Cheyenne saying
                   
 
               It is well
               to be good to women
            in the strength of our manhood
               because
            we must sit under their hands
            at both ends of our lives.
               -He Dog, Oglala Sioux
 
         The man who sat on the ground in his tipi
            meditating on life and its meaning,
         accepting the kinship of all creatures
         and acknowledging unity with the universe of
         things was infusing into his being the
            true essence of civilization.
            - Luther Standing Bear, Lakota
                   
 
               Every struggle,
               whether won or lost,
         strengthens us for the next to come.
            It is not good for people
               to have an easy life.
               They become
               weak and inefficient
            when they cease to struggle.
                   
               Some need
               a series of defeats
         before developing the strength and courage
               to win a victory.
            - Victorio, Mimbres Apache
 
            You must speak straight
            so that your words may go
               as sunlight into
               our hearts.
            - Cochise, Chiricahua Apache
                   
               The Indian believes
            profoundly in silence ---
               the sign of a perfect
               equilibrium.
               Silence is the
            absolute poise or balance
            of body, mind, and spirit.
                   
            The man who preserves
            his selfhood is ever calm
               and unshaken by
            the storms of existence...
                   
            What are the fruits of silence?
               They are self-control,
            true courage or endurance,
               patience, dignity,
               and reverence.
                   
               Silence is the
            cornerstone of character.
                   
            - Ohiyesa, Santee Sioux
                   
 
               Have patience.
               All things change
               in due time.
               Wishing cannot
               bring autumn glory or
            cause winter to cease.
               -Ginaly-li, Cherokee
 
               Peace...
            comes within the souls of men
            when they realize their
            relationship, their oneness,
               with the Universe
                  and
               all its powers,
                  and
            when they realize that
            at the center of the Universe
            dwells Wankan tanka,
                  and
               that this center
               is really everywhere.
            It is within each of us.
            - Black Elk, Oglala Sioux
                   
 
                Your
               mind must be
              like a tipi. Leave
           the entrance flap open so
          that fresh air can enter and
       clear out the smoke of confusion.
            - Chiefeagle, Teton Sioux
                   
                   
         The old people came literally to love the soil,
      and they sat or reclined on the ground with a feeling
         of being close to a mothering power.
         It was good for the skin to touch the earth,
         and the old people liked to remove their
      moccasins and walk with bare feet on the sacred earth.
                   
            Their tipis were built upon the earth
            and their altars were made of earth.
                   
      The birds that flew in the air came to rest upon the earth,
               and it was the final
         abiding place of all things that lived and grew.
                   
      The soul was soothing, strengthening, cleansing, and healing.
                   
         This is why the old Indian still sits upon the earth
            instead of propping himself up
            and away from its life-giving forces.
                   
         For him, to sit or lie upon the ground is to be able
         to think more deeply and to feel more keenly.
                   
         He can see more clearly into the mysteries of life
         and come closer in kinship to other lives about him.
         - Chief Luther Standing Bear, Teton Sioux

 
            When your time comes to die,
               be not like those
            whose hearts are filled with
               the fear of death;
            when their time comes,
               they weep and pray
               for a little more time
            to live their lives over again
               in a different way.
            Sing your death song,
            and die like a hero going home.
            - Tecumseh, Shawnee
                   
            Death cannot be helped.
               It is ever thus.
               Do not look
            where you have come from,
               but rather look
               forward
            to where you are to go.
               - Zuni proverb
 
           MAY SERENITY CIRCLE
               ON SILENT WINGS
               AND CATCH
            THE WHISPER OF THE WIND.

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