No talk is ever given without first
indicating your humility. "I am
an ignorant man . . . "--all the talks start this
way. "I don't know nearly as
much as you men sitting around
here, but I would like to offer my
humble opinion . . . "--and then
he'll knock you down with logic
and wisdom.
-ALLEN QUEONE,
KIOWA, 1974
By: Terri Jean
At certain spiritual events or happenings, it is
possible for the spirits to come. Sometimes
these spirits look like sparklers of light, some-
times you can feel them, sometimes they will
look like live human beings. The spirits always
come for a reason. When we deal with the
spirit world, we need to be patient. The Great
Spirit will tell us the meaning of these hap-
penings when He is ready.
Great Spirit,
let me be
aware of Your
presence.
By: Don Coyhis
Life will not fail us if we do not fail it.
It is like a fresh flow from a spring that starts so
strong but puddles in those hard-to-cross places.
We are open to catch debris and easily riled, but we
can cleanse ourselves and move on.
We are life, and we can feed it or starve it.
Regret starves--but peace and rest can restore.
Look at sunlight and shadow playing across the
plains, see the rose-colored patches that lie like
swatches of fabric over the hills. Life is there, stir it
up and give it a place. It is the way of the Tsa la gi.
"Search for the truth. Indian values teach
the holistic approach to the use of
technology for mankind's good.
-Al Qoyawayma, HOPI
The Great Spirit has given us certain values to
live by. If we learn to think in harmony with
these values such as respect, love, patience,
tolerance, commitment, trust, etc., we cannot
get off track. No matter what we do, we will
always be in harmony. For example, if we are
respectful, then we will respect the earth, our
children, our women, our men and ourselves.
Indian values help us walk under the guid-
ance of the Great Spirit.
My Creator,
today I search
for the truth,
Your truth.
Please let me
see it.
By: Don Coyhis
"So don't be afraid. What we left behind,
leave it back there. Try to do some good.
Let's try and take a step, try to think
something good."
-Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
Every day is a new day. Sometimes we make
mistakes. We do not need to carry these mis-
takes along with us. Take the lessons and leave
the mistakes behind. Look forward to today.
Today we can do something good. Today we
can have good thoughts. Today we can think
kind, uplifting thoughts about ourselves. To-
day I will think good about ...
My Creator,
today I ask
You to direct
my thoughts.
Know who you are and don't worry
about what other people think. Be your own best
friend and resist trouble like wildfire. Be steadfast in
good times and bad, tell fear to get lost and do away
with doubt the way you would turn a hose on a fire.
Never fall into the habit of believing you
are always in the wrong. It can be a sufferer's trap,
like a wastebasket that catches all the trash. Time is
precious and you don't have time to stand in a hole.
Make a difference now by lifting your vision of
yourself. There's no such thing as bad blood when
your heart is right.
French trappers said a great many things to our
fathers, which have been planted in our hearts.
CHIEF JOSEPH
NEZ PERCE
By: Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Tiny moss pads decorate the path to the woods.
Bright green and glistening like pins in a pin-
cushion, they thrive where earlier there seemed to
be no life at all. The same potential rests in us, if we
could only believe.
Springtime feathers the wild plum in a profu-
sion of fragrant blooms, but now it stands in dor-
mant roughness until its season is due. Other trees
are individually lighted with brilliant oranges and
reds, and the sumac lies in groves of burgandy and
crimson.
Each tree and each growing thing stands in its
place and looks like everything else, until its season
comes to stand in the light. The same privilege is
ours if we stand faithfully and eagerly expect our
season to come. Wait for it, and it will surely come.
To make medicine is to engage upon a period of fast-
ing, thanksgiving, prayer, and thanksgiving.
-WOODEN LEG, CHEYENNE