Indigenous Wisdom

“This we know. The Earth does not belong to us; we belong to the Earth. All things are connected, like the blood that unites one family. Whatever befalls the Earth, befalls the children of the Earth. We do not weave the web of life; we are only a strand of it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves”

. —Chief Seattle
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“Like the most of you, I was raised among people who knew – who were certain. They did not reason or investigate. They had no doubts…

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..We can be as honest as we are ignorant. If we are, when asked what is beyond the horizon of the known, we must say that we do not know. We can tell the truth, and we can enjoy the blessed freedom that the brave have won. We can destroy the monsters of superstition, the hissing snakes of ignorance and fear. We can drive from our minds the frightful things that tear and wound with beak and fang. … We can fill our lives with generous deeds, with loving words, with art and song, and all the ecstasies of love. We can flood our years with sunshine — with the divine climate of kindness, and we can drain to the last drop the golden cup of joy.”

― Robert G. Ingersoll, The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol 1: Lectures

black elk

Black Elk (1863-1950)
or Hehaka Sapa

Oglala Lakota Sioux
South Dakota, USA

“The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people 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 Wakan-Taka (the Great Spirit); and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us. This is the real peace, and the others are but reflections of this. The second peace is that which is made between two individuals; and the third is that which is made between two nations. But above all, you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is known that true peace, which, as I have often said, is within the souls of men.”

—Black Elk

Louise Erdrich by Persia Erdrich

“You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could.”

― Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum LP

henri-frederic-amiel
“Life is short and we have never

too much time for gladdening the

hearts of those who are traveling

the dark journey with us.

Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind.”

― Henri-Frédéric Amiel

“The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.”
―Oscar Wilde

“Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens”

― Jimi Hendrix

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“When you are in doubt, be still, and wait; When doubt no longer exists for you then go forward with courage.So long as mists envelop you, be still; Be still until the sunlight pours through and dispels the mists-As it surely will. Then act with courage.”

— Ponca Chief White Eagle, Go Forward With Courage

“Treat the Earth well.

It was not given to you by your parents,

It was loaned to you by your children.

We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors,

we borrow it from our children.”

— Sometimes attributed to Tasunke Witko

“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.”

– Chief Seattle

“May the stars carry your sadness away,

May the flowers fill your heart with beauty,

May hope forever wipe away your tears.

And above all, may silence make you strong.”

— Chief Dan George
…

“Before our white brothers arrived to make us civilized men, we didn’t have any kind of prison. Because of this, we had no delinquents. Without a prison, there can be no delinquents. We had no locks nor keys and therefore, among us there were no thieves.

When someone was so poor that he couldn’t afford a horse, a tent, or a blanket, he would, in that case, receive it all as a gift. We were too uncivilized to give great importance to civilized property. We didn’t know any kind of money and consequently, the value of a human being was not determined by his wealth.

We had no written laws laid down, no lawyers, no politicians, therefore we were not able to cheat and swindle one another. We were really in bad shape before the white men arrived and I don’t know how to explain how we were able to manage these fundamental things that (so they tell us) are so necessary for a civilized society.”

– John (Fire) Lame Deer, Sioux Lakota

www.nativecircle.com/wisdom.html

Resting 9,642 feet atop Medicine Mountain in Wyoming is this ancient Medicine Wheel. At an estimated 1,500 years old, it speaks to the knowledge and wisdom of Native people of long ago. There are 28 spokes of limestone boulders in the wheel, which alludes to the 28 days between lunar cycles. There are also a total of 7 stone formations in and around the wheel, which must surely be tied to the Indigenous teachings of the 7 sacred directions: East, South, West, North, Mother Earth, Father Sky and the Sacred Center.

“For shame! For shame! You dare to cry out ‘Liberty’ when you hold us in places against our will, driving us from place to place as if we were beasts.”

“If women could go into your congress, I think justice would soon be done to the Indians.”

— Sara Winnemucca – Paiute

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“The First Nations shall rise again and it shall be a blessing for a sick world; a world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separations; a world longing for light again.

I see a time of seven generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the Sacred Tree of Life and the whole earth will become one circle again.

In that day, there will be those among the Lakota who will carry knowledge and understanding of unity among all living things and the young white ones will come to those of my people and ask for this wisdom.

I salute the light within your eyes where the whole universe dwells. For when you are at that center within you and I am at that place within me, we shall be one.”

— Tasunke Witko (Crazy Horse) – Oglala Lakota

https://revolutionresource.org/2016/11/04/november-3-2016-riot-police-attack-and-injure-over-100-people-defending-standing-rock-burial-grounds

LaDonna Bravebull Allard, Sacred Stone Camp,

“They parked their armored cars on the graves of Matilda Gaplin, Eagle That Looks At Woman, and her are her daughters Louisa DeGrey Van Solen and Alma Parkins who once owned the Cannon Ball Ranch. Next to her is her husband Charles Parkins, and 11 babies. These are famous people for us here in Indian country. Matilda was the only woman to sign the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. Louisa was the first school teacher on Standing Rock. I am deeply hurt to see the desecration of their graves.”

Keystone Pipeline Spills
200,000 Gallons of Oil

Douglas Yankton, vice-chair of the Spirit Lake Tribe, northeast of Bismarck in neighboring North Dakota, expressed frustration when told of the spill.

“As Native American people, that’s why we’re opposed to pipelines,” Yankton said. “This is the reason why.”He said the plains tribes are especially concerned about potential spills near water sources. But accidents don’t have to pollute ponds, streams, or aquifers to be troubling.“Even if it’s not near water, you’re still doing damage to the land,” he said. “The land is just as sacred as the water.” Yankton said he was concerned that the Trump administration could not be trusted to safeguard land or water anywhere around the pipeline.

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/11/keystone-oil-spill-south-dakota-spd/

Today we mark the anniversary of one of the most shameful and extreme incidents of police violence at Standing Rock. We watched in disbelief and horror as a highly militarized police force turned water cannons and fire hoses on Water Protectors in sub-freezing temperatures, launched explosive grenades and fired rubber or plastic bullets and other Read More

https://sites.google.com/site/journalismresource/